Distribution management device, message distribution system, and distribution management method

Abstract

To distribute a message so that the message normally reaches even the same mobile phone number.SOLUTION: A distribution management server for transmitting a message to a communication terminal by using a telephone number as a destination comprises: a same telephone number distribution state table for storing a telephone number of a target to which the message has been transmitted in the past and a distribution date and time; a distribution personal information table for storing a telephone number of a target to which the message is to be distributed; and a distribution date and time table for reading out the telephone number of the target to which the message is to be distributed from the distribution personal information table and specifying the distribution date and time of transmitting the message to the same telephone number as the read out telephone number from the same telephone number distribution state table. And a distribution control unit that determines whether or not a reference time has elapsed from the specified distribution date and time, transmits the message to be distributed to the server of the communication carrier when the reference time has elapsed, and transmits the message to be distributed to the server of the communication carrier after the reference time has elapsed when the reference time has not elapsed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a distribution management device, a message distribution system, and a distribution management method. [Background technology]

[0002] When companies or organizations enter into contracts with consumers or hand over various certificates, they may use SMS (Short Message Service) to send notification content to the consumer's smartphone or other communication device. When sending a message using SMS, delivery data containing the mobile phone number to which the message is to be delivered and the message to be delivered is prepared in advance, and the message is delivered to the mobile phone number included in this delivery data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-012368 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, if the same mobile phone number (hereinafter referred to as the same telephone number) is included among the multiple mobile phone numbers included in the distribution data, the second message will be sent after the first message is sent to the same telephone number.However, if multiple messages are sent to the same telephone number, there is a possibility that the second and subsequent messages will not reach the communication terminal properly.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a distribution management device, a message distribution system, and a distribution management method that can distribute messages so that they arrive correctly even if the mobile phone number is the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is a distribution management device that sends messages to a communication terminal using a telephone number as the destination via a telecommunications carrier's server, and includes: a same-phone-number distribution status table that stores telephone numbers of targets to which messages have been sent in the past and the distribution date and time; a distribution personal information table that stores telephone numbers of targets to which messages are to be delivered; and a distribution control unit that reads out the telephone number of the target to which the message is to be delivered from the distribution personal information table, identifies from the same-phone-number distribution status table the distribution date and time when the message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number, determines whether a reference time has elapsed since the identified delivery date and time, and if the reference time has elapsed, causes the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier's server, and if the reference time has not elapsed, causes the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier's server after the reference time has elapsed.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is a message delivery system that sends a message to a communication terminal using a telephone number as the destination via a telecommunications carrier's server, and includes: a same-phone-number delivery status table that stores telephone numbers and delivery dates and times of recipients to whom messages have been sent in the past; a delivery personal information table that stores telephone numbers to which messages are to be delivered; and a delivery control unit that reads the telephone number to which the message is to be delivered from the delivery personal information table, identifies the delivery date and time when the message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number from the same-phone-number delivery status table, determines whether a reference time has elapsed since the identified delivery date and time, and if the reference time has elapsed, causes the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier's server; and if the reference time has not elapsed, causes the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier's server after the reference time has elapsed.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is a distribution management method executed by a computer that sends a message to a communication terminal using a telephone number as the destination via a telecommunications carrier's server, the method including: storing the telephone number of the target to which the message is to be delivered in a distribution personal information table; reading the telephone number of the target to which the message is to be delivered from the distribution personal information table; identifying the delivery date and time when a message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number from a same telephone number distribution status table that stores telephone numbers of targets to which messages were sent in the past and the delivery date and time; determining whether a reference time has elapsed since the identified delivery date and time; if the reference time has elapsed, causing the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier's server; and if the reference time has not elapsed, causing the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier's server after the reference time has elapsed. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] As described above, according to the present invention, messages can be delivered so that they arrive correctly even if the mobile phone number is the same. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a message delivery system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2 is a schematic functional block diagram illustrating the functions of the distribution management server 1. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a distribution personal information table 1021. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a same telephone number delivery status table 1022. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a general flow from data submission to delivery of a message to a terminal device. [Figure 6] 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the functions of a distribution program executed in the distribution management server 1. FIG. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the distribution management server 1. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the distribution management server 1 when managing the distribution personal information table as a whole system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A message delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a message delivery system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the message delivery system S, a delivery management server 1, a company server 2, a carrier server 3, and communication terminals 4 (4a, 4b) are connected via a network NW.

[0012] The delivery management server 1 transmits a message to the communication terminal 4 via the communication carrier server 3. The delivery management server 1 is an information processing device managed by a business operator that provides a service that accepts message sending requests from the company of the company server 2 and sends the messages to the communication terminal 4 via the telecommunications carrier server 3. The business operator that manages the delivery management server 1 may be the same as the company of the company server 2. The delivery management server 1 controls the sending of messages requested for delivery by the company server 2. The delivery management server 1 communicates with the company server 2 and the telecommunications carrier server 3 via wireless or wired communication.

[0013] The company server 2 is a server device managed by a requester who requests the delivery management server 1 to deliver a message to a destination user. The requester is, for example, a company or organization (e.g., a bank, an insurance company, etc.) that provides information to the destination user. The company server 2 communicates with the delivery management server 1 via wireless or wired communication. If there are multiple companies, a different company server 2 may be provided for each company. Furthermore, the company server 2 may be used not only by companies but also by organizations (such as local governments and administrative agencies).

[0014] The telecommunications carrier server 3 is a server device managed by a telecommunications carrier. The telecommunications carrier is, for example, an MNO (Mobile Network Operator) that provides communication services using telephone numbers to the communication terminal 4, using communication lines that the carrier owns or operates. Here, if there are multiple telecommunications carriers, a telecommunications carrier server 3 is provided for each telecommunications carrier.

[0015] The communication terminal 4 is, for example, any one of a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, and the like. A consumer makes a contract with a telecommunications carrier of the telecommunications carrier server 3 to use a communication service using the communication terminal 4. The communication terminal 4 is capable of communicating using the communication service provided by the contracted telecommunications carrier. A mobile phone number (hereinafter simply referred to as a telephone number) is assigned to the communication terminal 4, and the communication terminal 4 has the function of communicating with this telephone number as the destination. The communication terminal 4 has a display unit such as a liquid crystal display that displays information, and an operation unit such as a touch panel that accepts user operations. The communication terminal 4 communicates with the communication carrier server 3 via wireless or wired communication. The user may be, for example, a consumer. Furthermore, the user may not be a consumer, but may be an organization, group, or the like, as long as the user can receive services provided by the company that operates the corporate server 2.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram illustrating the functions of the distribution management server 1. As shown in FIG. The delivery management server 1 includes a communication unit 101, a storage unit 102, a duplication flag assignment unit 103, a delivery control unit 104, and a data processing unit 105. The delivery management server 1 transmits a message to the communication terminal 4 via the telecommunications carrier server 3, using the telephone number as the destination. The communication unit 101 communicates with the company server 2 , the carrier server 3 , and the communication terminal 4 .

[0017] The storage unit 102 stores various types of information. The storage unit 102 is configured by a storage medium, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), flash memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), random access read / write memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), or any combination of these storage media. The storage unit 102 may be, for example, a nonvolatile memory. For example, the storage unit 102 stores a distribution personal information table 1021 and a same telephone number distribution status table 1022 .

[0018] The personal information delivery table 1021 includes telephone numbers of recipients to whom messages are to be delivered. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the personal information distribution table 1021. As shown in FIG. The personal information distribution table 1021 includes the target telephone number for distribution, scheduled delivery date and time, delivery format, delivery content, and duplication flag. The personal information distribution table 1021 is created in advance by the company server 2 that wishes to distribute the message, and is sent from the company server 2 to the distribution management server 1 together with a delivery request (delivery request) before the scheduled delivery date and time. If the delivery content is different, a different personal information distribution table 1021 is generated for each different content.

[0019] The target telephone number is the telephone number to which the message is to be delivered. In the personal information delivery table 1021, the same telephone number may be registered as the destination telephone number for the same message. An example of a case where the same telephone number is registered multiple times is when the same consumer applies for multiple applications for services provided by the company or organization that operates the enterprise server 2, and the same telephone number is registered as the contact number for the application procedures. Another example is when the same consumer applies for multiple applications for services provided by the company or organization that operates the enterprise server 2, and the same telephone number is registered as the contact number for the application procedures. For example, if a resident who owns multiple real estate properties enters into a contract for each property using the same telephone number, the company that entered into the contract with the resident may send a message to the same telephone number, addressing each of the contracts for each property. The scheduled delivery date and time indicates the date and time when the message is scheduled to be delivered. The delivery format is information that defines whether a message is to be delivered using SMS (Short Message Service) or RCS (Rich Communication Services). The content of the distribution is a message to be conveyed to consumers. The message may include information about the contract or certificate of the user whose phone number is registered as a contact. 3 shows a case where the message itself is associated with the target telephone number, but a message ID for identifying the message may be stored in the personal information distribution table 1021 in association with the target telephone number, and a message table in which the message ID is associated with the message may be stored in a table separate from the personal information distribution table 1021. When the distribution management server 1 distributes a message, the message corresponding to the message ID stored in the personal information distribution table 1021 may be called up from the message table and distributed. Figure 3 shows a case where the content of each message is "Contract-related Message A" and the same message is sent to the same phone number. For example, it shows that two identical messages, "Contract-related Message A," will be sent to the phone number "090-1234-XXXX" on the same date and time, "May 13, 2024, 12:00:00." Therefore, the duplicate flag is set to "1." Furthermore, for the telephone number "090-2345-YYYY," it is indicated that the same message will be sent on the same date and time, and the duplication flag is set to "1." For the telephone numbers "090-7315-XXXX" and "080-1298-XXXX", the duplicate flag is set to "0" because the same telephone number is not registered. 3 shows the case of the distribution content "contract-related message A," but for other distribution content (for example, contract-related message B, certificate-related message A, certificate-related message B, etc.), a different distribution personal information table will be generated. Also, even if the distribution personal information tables are different because the messages to be sent are different, if it is indicated that messages will be sent to the same telephone number on the same date and time, a duplication flag of "1" may be set for the same telephone number even in these different distribution personal information tables.

[0020] The same telephone number delivery status table 1022 stores telephone numbers and delivery dates and times of targets to which messages have been sent in the past. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the same telephone number delivery status table 1022. The same telephone number delivery status table 1022 includes delivery target telephone numbers and delivery dates and times. The target telephone number for distribution indicates a telephone number to which a message has been sent in the past, with the target telephone number included in the personal information distribution table as the destination. Each target telephone number for distribution is a different telephone number. The delivery date and time indicates the date and time when a message was delivered to the phone number indicated by the delivery target phone number. For example, if "2024-05-13 12:00:30" is stored as the delivery date and time for "090-1234-XXXX," this indicates that a message was sent to "090-1234-XXXX" at "2024-05-13 12:00:30."

[0021] The delivery date and time is the date and time when the delivery management server 1 requests the telecommunications carrier server 3 to deliver the message. Alternatively, the delivery date and time may be the date and time when the message is actually delivered from the telecommunications carrier server 3 to the communication terminal 4.

[0022] The duplication flag assigning unit 103 determines whether or not there are any distribution target telephone numbers with the same telephone number set among the distribution target telephone numbers included in the distribution personal information table, and if there are any distribution target telephone numbers with the same telephone number set, writes "1" to the duplication flag associated with that distribution target telephone number, and if there are no identical telephone numbers, writes "0" to the duplication flag. The duplication flag setting unit 103 executes the process for setting the duplication flag before the date and time determined as the scheduled delivery date and time set in the personal information delivery table.

[0023] The delivery control unit 104 reads the telephone number to which the message is to be delivered from the delivery personal information table, identifies the delivery date and time when the message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number from the same telephone number delivery status table, and determines whether a reference time has elapsed since the identified delivery date and time. The reference time can be set to any time, but it should be the time from the previous message delivery to the current message delivery, and should be a time that allows a certain interval to be left so that the message is not processed as a message that will not be sent in the telecommunications carrier server 3. The reference time may be, for example, 30 seconds. Here, if multiple message transmission requests addressed to the same telephone number are made within a short period of time, the transmission requests may be rejected by the telecommunications carrier server 3. If the transmission requests are rejected, it is possible that each message will not arrive successfully at the communication terminal, even if the request to send the message has been made to the telecommunications carrier server 3. If the message content is advertising, the impact on the consumer using the communication terminal may not be significant even if the message does not arrive at the communication terminal. However, there are some messages that must be reliably delivered to the communication terminal. Examples of messages that must be reliably delivered to the communication terminal include messages that, if not delivered to the communication terminal, could prevent the consumer from smoothly completing various procedures, or messages related to services for which transmission is restricted. More specifically, these include messages related to contracts, certificates, etc.

[0024] Examples of messages related to a contract include a message for electronically sending a contract to be signed, a message for notifying the contents of the contract, and a message for notifying that the contract procedures have been completed. Certificate-related messages include, for example, a message to certify that the contractor is the actual contractor, a message to certify that the transfer of various rights (claims, etc.) has been notified, and the like. When the same individual or organization enters into multiple contracts or applications, the same telephone number may be registered as a contact telephone number in each contract or application.

[0025] There are SMS and RCS as mechanisms for sending messages using a telephone number as the destination. However, RCS is a service that is intended to be sent from the official account of a company or organization, so the sending company or organization is known. Even if multiple message requests are made to the same telephone number in a short period of time, the telecommunications carrier server 3 will accept the requests and send the messages without rejecting them. On the other hand, since it cannot be denied that SMS may be used for fraudulent activities such as phishing scams, if multiple transmission requests are made within a short period of time to the same phone number, the transmission requests may be rejected by the telecommunications carrier server 3, and the messages may not be sent. In this case, in the case of SMS, even if the sender is the same company (company server 2), if multiple transmission requests are sent within a short period of time to the same phone number, the transmission requests may be rejected by the telecommunications carrier server 3.

[0026] Furthermore, when the distribution management server sends a transmission request to the telecommunications carrier server to have the server send a message, the distribution management server may log the message transmission request and send the log to the company that requested the submission of the distribution personal information table. In this case, the distribution management server sends a log indicating that the transmission request has been completed to the company server, and the company that references the log can determine that the message transmission has been completed. However, in reality, the telecommunications carrier server may reject the transmission process for at least some of the transmission requests received from the distribution management server because multiple messages to the same phone number have been sent within a short period of time. As a result, the content perceived by the company may differ from the actual delivery status.

[0027] Furthermore, if the reference time has elapsed, the delivery control unit 104 causes the telecommunications carrier server 3 to send the message by sending a transmission request for the message to be delivered to the telecommunications carrier server 3. Furthermore, if the reference time has not elapsed, the delivery control unit 104 causes the telecommunications carrier server 3 to send the message by sending a transmission request to the telecommunications carrier server 3 after the reference time has elapsed.

[0028] The data processing unit 105 processes various types of data. For example, the data processing unit 105 stores the data stored in the distribution personal information table 1021 in a distribution queue provided in the distribution management server 1. By storing the data based on the distribution personal information table 1021 in the distribution queue, the data is managed by the distribution control unit 104 as a message subject to distribution control.

[0029] In the above-described distribution management server 1, the communication unit 101, the duplication flagging unit 103, the distribution control unit 104, and the data processing unit 105 may be configured by a processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated electronic circuit. Furthermore, the distribution management server 1 may be a physical server, or may be a cloud server provided by a cloud computing service.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a general flow from the submission of data in the personal information distribution table to the distribution of a message to a terminal device. The company server 2 generates submission data to be registered in the distribution personal information table, and submits the data by transmitting the generated submission data to the distribution management server 1 (step S1). The submission data includes, for example, the telephone number to be distributed, the scheduled date and time of distribution, the distribution format, the message to be distributed, etc. When the data processing unit 105 of the distribution management server 1 receives the submission data from the company server 2 via the communication unit 101, it performs preprocessing on the received submission data and then writes and stores the data in the storage unit 102 (step S2). The preprocessing may be processing to check whether the data format of the personal information distribution table is correct, etc. Also, here, even if there are multiple identical phone numbers among the distribution target phone numbers in the personal information distribution table, they are not excluded and are stored in the storage unit 102. Thereafter, the data processing unit 105 instructs the duplication flag assigning unit 103 to perform processing to assign a duplication flag to the pre-processed manuscript submission data (step S3).

[0031] The duplication flag assignment unit 103 references the telephone numbers to be distributed in the distribution personal information table stored in the memory unit 102, determines whether or not the same telephone number exists, and writes a duplication flag according to the determination result (step S4), thereby generating the distribution personal information table. For example, in the personal distribution information table shown in FIG. 3, the distribution content "contract-related message A" is registered in association with the distribution target telephone number "090-1234-XXXX," and it is registered that the same message will be sent to the same telephone number. Therefore, it is assumed that the same message will be delivered to the same distribution target telephone number "090-1234-XXXX." In this way, when there are messages with the same telephone number set as the distribution target telephone number, the duplicate flag assignment unit 103 assigns a duplicate flag "1" to each of the distribution target telephone numbers. As a result, a duplicate flag "1" indicating the existence of a duplicate telephone number is assigned to each of the two records in which the distribution content "contract-related message A" with the distribution target telephone number "090-1234-XXXX" set is registered.

[0032] Similarly, for the target telephone number "090-2345-YYYY," there are two records in which the delivery content "Contract-related message A" is registered. Therefore, it is assumed that the same message will be delivered multiple times to the target telephone number "090-2345-YYYY." The duplication flag assigning unit 103 sets the duplication flag "1" for these target telephone numbers. On the other hand, for the target telephone numbers "090-7315-XXXX" and "080-1298-XXXX," the message to be delivered is the same, but since there is no record with the same telephone number set, the duplication flag assignment unit 103 assigns a duplication flag of "0" to each, indicating that there are no duplicate telephone numbers. In this way, there are cases where multiple messages with the same telephone number set among the telephone numbers to be distributed are included in the personal information distribution table submitted from the corporate server 2. The company that operates the corporate server 2 requests that all of these messages for the same telephone number be delivered successfully to the communication terminal. Also, while Figure 3 illustrates the case of the distribution content "contract-related message A," there are cases where different distribution content (for example, contract-related message B, certificate-related message A, certificate-related message B, etc.) may be generated as different distribution personal information tables. Even if the messages to be sent are different, messages may be registered to be sent to the same telephone number at the same date and time. In other words, different messages may be sent to the same telephone number at the same time. In such cases, the duplication flag assignment unit 103 may set a duplication flag of "1" for each record in which messages are registered to be sent to the same telephone number at the same date and time, even if the distribution personal information tables are different.

[0033] When the process of assigning the duplicate flag is completed, the delivery control unit 104 performs a confirmation process to determine whether the current date and time matches the scheduled delivery date and time set in the delivery personal information table (step S5), and if the current date and time matches the scheduled delivery date and time, performs a delivery process to have the message delivered from the telecommunications carrier server 3 (step S6). The telecommunications carrier server 3 sends the message instructed to be delivered by the delivery management server 1 to the communication terminal 4, addressing it to the mobile phone number (step S7). The communication terminal 4 receives the message sent from the telecommunications carrier server 3 (step S8).

[0034] Next, the processing of the distribution management server 1 will be further explained. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the functions of the distribution program executed in the distribution management server 1. As shown in FIG. The delivery control unit 104 of the delivery management server 1 executes multiple delivery programs for message delivery processing, thereby enabling parallel processing of a large number of messages included in one personal delivery information table. The number of delivery programs executed in parallel is arbitrary, but for example, the number of delivery programs executed in parallel may be set to 10. The number of delivery programs may be determined depending on the number of messages to be sent included in the personal delivery information table submitted from the company server 2, the processing capacity of the delivery control unit 104, etc. The ten distribution programs may be divided into a first distribution program Pa and a second distribution program Pb1.

[0035] The first delivery program Pa is a program that performs processing to deliver messages that have been assigned a duplicate flag of "0." That is, the first delivery program Pa reads messages stored in a delivery queue 69 based on the personal delivery information table, and if the message has been assigned a duplicate flag of "0," it performs processing to deliver the message (reference numeral 60), and if the message has been assigned a duplicate flag of "1," it enqueues the read message in the same telephone number waiting queue 68 (reference numeral 61). In this case, the first delivery program Pa does not deliver messages that have been assigned a duplicate flag of "1."

[0036] The second delivery program Pb is a program that delivers messages with a duplicate flag of "1." Specifically, the second delivery program Pb prioritizes the same telephone number waiting queue 68 over the same telephone number waiting queue 68 and the delivery queue 69. The second delivery program Pb reads messages waiting in the queue from the same telephone number waiting queue 68, and performs delivery processing if a reference time has passed since the last time a message was sent to the same telephone number. If the reference time has not passed, the program returns the message to the same telephone number waiting queue 68 without delivering it, and then reads the remaining messages waiting in the same telephone number waiting queue 68 and performs delivery processing (reference numeral 65). Furthermore, when all messages stored in the same telephone number waiting queue 68 have been delivered, the second delivery program Pb refers to the messages stored in the personal information delivery table and performs delivery processing (reference numeral 66). In this case, the second delivery program Pb can also deliver messages with a duplicate flag of "0."

[0037] The number of first delivery programs Pa and the number of second delivery programs Pb may be determined according to the proportion of messages expected to be sent to the same phone number among the total number of messages included in the personal information delivery table. For example, if it is expected that there will be few cases in which multiple messages are sent to the same phone number among the messages included in the personal information delivery table, the number of first delivery programs Pa may be 9 and the number of second delivery programs Pb may be 1. Furthermore, if it is expected that the personal information delivery table will contain many messages to the same phone number, the number of second delivery programs Pb may be 2 or 3, or the number of second delivery programs Pb may be greater than the number of first delivery programs Pa.

[0038] In this way, the delivery control unit 104 performs delivery processing using the first delivery program Pa and the second delivery program Pb, and the first delivery program Pa does not perform delivery processing for queues stored in the same phone number waiting queue 68, but instead processes messages for which the same phone number is not set, so there is no need to wait until the reference time has elapsed for messages with the same phone number, and the only program that may wait can be the second delivery program Pb. This makes it possible to avoid multiple programs waiting, avoiding the time required for processing to deliver messages to be delivered that are included in the personal information delivery table from being prolonged, and suppressing a decrease in the processing speed for performing delivery processing.

[0039] Next, the processing of the distribution management server 1 will be further explained. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the distribution management server 1. The distribution control unit 104 of the distribution management server 1 reads out and executes each of the first distribution program Pa and the second distribution program Pb from the storage unit 102, thereby executing each of the plurality of distribution programs. Furthermore, the data processing unit 105 reads out the personal information distribution table 1021 from the storage unit 102 and stores it in the distribution queue. The distribution program of the distribution control unit 104 reads a message from the distribution queue (personal information distribution table) (step S101), and reads the duplication flag and distribution format corresponding to the message (step S102).

[0040] The delivery program of delivery control unit 104 refers to the read duplication flag and delivery format, and determines whether the same phone number exists and whether the delivery format is SMS (step S103). If the determination result indicates that the duplication flag assigned to at least the message to be delivered is "0" (step S103-NO), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 determines that there are no identical phone numbers and proceeds to step S108. Also, in step S103, if at least the delivery format is not SMS (for example, RCS) (step S103-NO), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 proceeds to step S108.

[0041] Then, when the processing advances to step S108, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 issues a transmission instruction to the telecommunications carrier server 3 to perform message delivery processing (step S108). Here, if the delivery format is specified as RCS, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 causes the message to be sent by RCS. As a result, the message addressed to the phone number is delivered from the telecommunications carrier server 3 to the communication terminal 4. If the determination in step S103 is NO, the distribution program of the distribution control unit 104 skips the update process (step S109) of writing the distribution status to the same telephone number distribution status table 1022 (does not perform the update process).

[0042] On the other hand, if the same telephone number exists and the delivery format is SMS (step S103-YES), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 determines whether its own delivery program is the first delivery program or the second delivery program (step S104). If the distribution program of the distribution control unit 104 is the first distribution program (a program that processes messages whose duplicate flag is "0") (step S104-NO), it enqueues the queue read this time into the same telephone number waiting queue (step S111) and proceeds to step S101. On the other hand, if the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 is the second delivery program (a program that processes a message whose duplication flag is "1") (step S104-YES), it reads out the delivery status of the same telephone number as the currently read telephone number from the same telephone number delivery status table 1022 (step S105). If the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 is able to read out a past delivery date and time as the delivery status (step S106-YES), it determines whether the current date and time is a reference time or not from the past delivery date and time (step S110). Here, if a past delivery date and time can be read out as the delivery status, it means that a message has been sent to the same telephone number in the past.

[0043] If the current date and time is equal to the reference time since the previous delivery date and time (step S110-YES), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 proceeds to step S108 and performs message transmission processing (step S108). On the other hand, if the current date and time has not passed the reference time from the previous delivery date and time (step S110-NO), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 enqueues the message to be subjected to this delivery process in the same telephone number waiting queue (step S111), and proceeds to step S101.

[0044] On the other hand, if the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 cannot read out the past delivery date and time as the delivery status (step S106-NO), it determines that the same phone number exists but that this is the first message delivery (no message has been sent to the same phone number in the past), and writes the current date and time and the phone number to be delivered as the delivery status in the same phone number delivery status table 1022 (step S107).Then, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 performs message delivery processing (step S108).Here, if the delivery format is specified as RCS, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 causes the message to be sent by RCS.As a result, the message addressed to the phone number is delivered from the telecommunications carrier server 3 to the communication terminal 4. After completing the message delivery process, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 updates the delivery status of the same telephone number delivery status table 1022 by writing the current delivery date and time thereto (step S109). Here, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 associates the telephone number to which the message is to be delivered with the current date and time when the message is delivered to the telecommunications carrier server 3, and writes the correspondence to the delivery status in the same telephone number delivery status table 1022. By writing the current date and time as the delivery date and time in step S109, even if the delivery date and time has already been written in the same telephone number delivery status table, it is possible to store in the same telephone number delivery status table a time that is closer to the time when the delivery request was actually made, thereby enabling more accurate management of elapsed time.

[0045] When all messages stored in the distribution personal information table are read as distribution targets in step S102 and all queues registered in the same telephone number waiting queue have completed transmission, the distribution control unit 104 deletes the data stored in the same telephone number distribution status table. Then, when the next distribution personal information table is submitted from the company server 2, the distribution management server 1 executes distribution processing for the submitted distribution personal information table. Furthermore, if multiple personal information distribution tables 1021 have been generated due to differences in the content of the messages to be distributed, the above process is executed for each of the personal information distribution tables 1021. Therefore, whether the same message is sent to the same phone number or multiple different messages are sent to the same phone number, messages can be delivered so that they arrive correctly.

[0046] According to the embodiment described above, when multiple messages are sent to the same phone number, after the first message is sent, the second message is sent after a reference time has elapsed. Therefore, the second message is not excluded from the delivery targets in the telecommunications carrier server 3, and can be sent from the telecommunications carrier server 3 to the communication terminal 4. As a result, even when multiple messages are sent to the same phone number, all of the messages can be delivered to the communication terminal. As a result, even multiple messages that need to be delivered reliably to the same phone number can be delivered to the communication terminal.

[0047] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, among the delivery programs executed by the delivery control unit 104, when the first delivery program reads a message with a duplicate flag of "1" from the personal information delivery table, the program enqueues the message in the same telephone number waiting queue without sending it, and delivers a message with a duplicate flag of "0" for a message with a duplicate flag of "0." As a result, when sending a message with a duplicate flag of "1," if the timing of the previous transmission to the same telephone number is within a reference time, the program must wait until the reference time has elapsed. However, the first delivery program enqueues the message with a duplicate flag of "1" in the same telephone number delivery status table without delivering it, reads the next message from the personal information delivery table, and performs delivery processing. Furthermore, since the first delivery program does not wait until the reference time has elapsed for a message with a duplicate flag of "1," it can prioritize and deliver messages with a duplicate flag of "0." Therefore, delivery processing can be performed smoothly even when there are more non-duplicate telephone numbers than duplicate telephone numbers.

[0048] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, the second delivery program refers to the waiting queues enqueued in the same phone number waiting queue in step S101 to refer to the messages, so that messages with the same phone number that are waiting to be sent can be delivered with priority over messages that do not have the same phone number. This allows the delivery program that delivers messages with the same phone number and the delivery program that delivers messages that do not have the same phone number to process messages with the same phone number and messages that do not have the same phone number in parallel.

[0049] In the above embodiment, it is determined in step S104 whether the delivery program is the first delivery program or the second delivery program. However, if the delivery control unit 104 executes one delivery program without distinguishing between the first delivery program and the second delivery program, and performs the sending process for messages with both the overlap flags "0" and "1," the process of step S104 may be omitted and the process of step S105 may be executed if the answer is YES in step S103.

[0050] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, a distribution personal information table is generated for each company and submitted to the distribution management server 1. As a result, even if distribution personal information tables are registered in the distribution management server 1 at different times from multiple companies, the distribution personal information tables of each company can be distributed individually.

[0051] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, the personal information distribution table submitted by the company server 2 is received and stored in the storage unit 102. Therefore, before delivering a message based on the personal information distribution table, the duplicate flagging unit 103 can determine whether or not there are any identical telephone numbers (duplicate telephone numbers) among the telephone numbers to be delivered. For messages that do not have identical telephone numbers, the first delivery program Pa sends a delivery request to the telecommunications carrier server 3, and for messages that have the same telephone number set, the second delivery program Pb can read them from the identical telephone number waiting queue 68 and send a delivery request to the telecommunications carrier server 3. This makes it possible to deliver messages efficiently, even in cases where the same telephone number exists in the personal information distribution table, without being affected by waiting time.

[0052] In the above embodiment, we have explained the case where the distribution management server 1 obtains a different distribution personal information table for each company and performs distribution processing based on each distribution personal information table, but it is also possible to manage the distribution personal information table as a whole system rather than managing the distribution personal information table separately for each company. Next, another embodiment will be described in which the personal information distribution table is managed as a whole system. The functions of the delivery management server 1 in this other embodiment are similar to those shown in Fig. 2, but the operations are different. Also, in this other embodiment, it is not necessary to add a duplicate flag before delivering a message, so the delivery management server 1 does not need to have the function of the duplicate flag adding unit 103. In addition, in the distribution management server 1 in this other embodiment, the same telephone number distribution status table comprehensively registers in advance all telephone numbers to which messages can be sent in the telecommunications carrier server 3. Here, all telephone numbers from which the communication terminal 4 can receive messages may be registered regardless of whether a message distribution request has been made. For example, all telephone numbers assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to communication carriers so that they can communicate with the communication terminal 4 based on the Telecommunications Number System may be stored in the same telephone number distribution status table.

[0053] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the distribution management server 1 when managing the distribution personal information table as a whole system. Here, the distribution personal information table received from at least one company server 2 is stored in the storage unit 102. When the data processing unit 105 of the distribution management server 1 receives the distribution personal information table from one company server 2 and then receives it from another company server 2, the data processing unit 105 may separate the schema for each company and register the records in the distribution personal information table under each schema, or may add the records to the distribution personal information table records stored in the storage unit 102 and store them.

[0054] The distribution program of the distribution control unit 104 reads a message from the distribution personal information table (queue) (step S201), and reads the duplication flag and distribution format corresponding to the message (step S202).

[0055] The delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 reads out the delivery status of the delivery target telephone number set as the destination of the read message from the same telephone number delivery status table (step S203). Then, the distribution program of the distribution control unit 104 determines whether a reference time has elapsed since the previous distribution date and time as the distribution status, based on the distribution date and time read from the same telephone number distribution status (step S204).

[0056] If the current date and time is equal to the reference time since the previous delivery date and time (step S204-YES), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 writes a status indicating that the message is being delivered as the delivery status in the same phone number delivery status table 1022 in association with the phone number to be delivered (step S205). Here, for phone numbers to which a message has been delivered at least once in the past, the delivery date and time of the previous delivery is written as the delivery date and time in the same phone number delivery status table 1022, and the status "Delivered" is written. Then, the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 performs a message delivery process by causing the carrier server 3 to transmit the message (step S206). When the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 performs the message delivery process, it updates the delivery status by writing the current delivery date and time and a status indicating that the message delivery process has been completed in association with the telephone number in the same telephone number delivery status table 1022 (step S207). Here, by writing the current date and time in the delivery date and time when the message is delivered, it is possible to manage whether or not a reference time has passed.

[0057] On the other hand, if the current date and time has not yet passed the reference time from the previous delivery date and time (step S204-NO), the delivery program of the delivery control unit 104 enqueues the message to be subjected to this delivery process in the same telephone number waiting queue (step S208), and the process proceeds to step S201.

[0058] The delivery control unit 104 may refer to the same phone number waiting queue after all messages to be delivered registered in the delivery personal information table have been sent, and send messages from the same phone number waiting queue, or may send a predetermined number of messages registered in the delivery personal information table, and when step S202 is reached, perform processing from step S203 onwards for at least one queue registered in the same phone number waiting queue.

[0059] In the above-described embodiment, the distribution personal information table 1021, the same telephone number distribution status table 1022, the duplicate flag assignment unit 103, the distribution control unit 104, and the data processing unit 105 are described as being provided within the distribution management server 1, but these functions may be configured to be included in the message distribution system S, and for example, at least one of these functions may be provided in the company server 2 or the business server 3 rather than in the distribution management server 1, or may be provided in a distributed manner across multiple server devices.

[0060] The distribution management server 1 in the above-described embodiment may be implemented by a computer. In this case, a program for implementing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program may be loaded into a computer system and executed. Note that the term "computer system" as used herein includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as hard disks built into a computer system. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" may also include devices that dynamically store programs for a short period of time, such as communication lines used when transmitting programs via networks such as the Internet or telephone lines, or devices that store programs for a fixed period of time, such as volatile memory within a computer system serving as a server or client. The program may be designed to implement only a portion of the above-described functions, or may be capable of implementing the above-described functions in combination with a program already stored in the computer system, or may be implemented using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0061] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs within the scope of the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1. Distribution management server 2. Corporate Server 3. Telecommunications carrier server 4, 4a, 4b Communication terminal 101 Communications Department 102 Storage section 103 Duplicate flagging section 104 Distribution control section 105 Data Processing Unit 1021 Distribution Personal Information Table 1022 Same telephone number delivery status table NW Network Pa 1st Distribution Program Pb 2nd Distribution Program S Message Delivery System

Claims

1. A delivery management device that sends a message to a communication terminal using a telephone number as a destination via a server of a communication carrier, a same telephone number delivery status table that stores telephone numbers and delivery dates and times to which messages have been sent in the past; a personal information delivery table for storing telephone numbers to which messages are to be delivered; a delivery control unit that reads out a telephone number to which a message is to be delivered from the personal information delivery table, identifies a delivery date and time when a message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number from the same telephone number delivery status table, determines whether a reference time has passed since the identified delivery date and time, and if the reference time has passed, causes the message to be delivered to a server of the telecommunications carrier, and if the reference time has not passed, causes the message to be delivered to a server of the telecommunications carrier after the reference time has passed; A distribution management device having the above configuration.

2. The message includes information about the contract or certificate of the user whose phone number is registered as a contact. The distribution management device according to claim 1 .

3. A message delivery system that sends a message to a communication terminal using a telephone number as a destination via a server of a communication carrier, a same telephone number delivery status table that stores telephone numbers and delivery dates and times to which messages have been sent in the past; a personal information delivery table for storing telephone numbers to which messages are to be delivered; a delivery control unit that reads out a telephone number to which a message is to be delivered from the personal information delivery table, identifies a delivery date and time when a message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number from the same telephone number delivery status table, determines whether a reference time has passed since the identified delivery date and time, and if the reference time has passed, causes the message to be delivered to a server of the telecommunications carrier, and if the reference time has not passed, causes the message to be delivered to a server of the telecommunications carrier after the reference time has passed; A message delivery system having:

4. A delivery management method executed by a computer that sends a message to a communication terminal using a telephone number as a destination via a server of a communication carrier, comprising: storing the telephone number of the person to whom the message is to be delivered in a delivery personal information table; A telephone number to which a message is to be delivered is read from the delivery personal information table, and the delivery date and time when a message was sent to the same telephone number as the read telephone number is identified from a same telephone number delivery status table that stores telephone numbers and delivery dates and times of targets to which messages were sent in the past; determining whether a reference time has elapsed since the specified distribution date and time; If the reference time has elapsed, the message to be delivered is transmitted to a server of the communication carrier, and if the reference time has not elapsed, the message is transmitted to a server of the communication carrier after the reference time has elapsed. A distribution management method including:

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