Management systems, management methods, programs, systems and methods

Abstract

When adding a new destination candidate to the destination list, the management server queries the transmission terminal to ask whether it is okay to register it as a destination candidate. If the transmission terminal approves the registration, the new destination candidate is added. However, when the transmission terminal does not manage its own destination list and the management server manages it, there has been no method disclosed for deleting a destination candidate from the destination list. [Solution] The administrator terminal 20a sends a deletion request to the transmission management system 40 to delete the transmission terminal 10ca, which is not under management, from each destination list (destination list management DB) of the transmission terminals under management (10aa, 10ab) (ST31). As a result, the transmission management system 40 performs a batch deletion from each destination list (destination list management DB) (ST32) and sends a deletion completion notification to each transmission terminal (10aa, 10ab, 10ca) (ST33).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an invention for managing destination candidates of a predetermined transmission terminal.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the demand to reduce business trip expenses and business trip time, transmission systems for conducting video conferences and the like via communication networks such as the Internet have become widespread. In such a transmission system, when a call is started between a plurality of transmission terminals, transmission and reception of image data and audio data are performed, and a video conference can be realized.

[0003] Also, in order to make it easier for a user to select a desired destination terminal from destination candidates for a call, it is also possible to display a destination list on the start terminal side that requests the start of the call, so that the user can select the desired destination terminal (see Patent Document 1). Further, when registering a new destination candidate in the destination list, the management server may inquire of the transmission terminal to be a new destination candidate whether it may be registered as a destination candidate, and if registration is approved on the side of the transmission terminal to be a new destination candidate, a new destination candidate is registered (see Patent Document 2).

[0004] On the other hand, in the case of a mobile phone, it is well known that the user of this mobile phone can delete a destination candidate from the destination list registered in his or her own mobile phone.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the invention described in Patent Document 2, the start terminal does not manage the destination list itself, and a management server (transmission management system) connected to this start terminal via a communication network manages the destination list. In such a case, Patent Document 2 does not disclose a method for deleting a destination candidate from the destination list.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The invention according to claim 1 is a transmission management system for managing destination candidates for a predetermined transmission terminal, comprising: a storage means for storing related information which associates start terminal identification information for identifying a start terminal that is a transmission terminal that requests the start of communication among the transmission terminals, and destination candidate identification information for identifying destination candidates for the start terminal; a receiving means for receiving a deletion request to delete a specific destination candidate identification information from among the destination candidate identification information associated with a specific start terminal identification information; and a deletion means which deletes the specific destination candidate identification information from among the destination candidate identification information associated with the specific start terminal identification information in the related information, based on the deletion request received by the receiving means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] As described above, the present invention has the effect of being able to delete desired destination candidates from the relevant information, even when the transmission management system manages related information equivalent to a destination list. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a transmission system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the transmission and reception status of image data, sound data, and various management information in the transmission system. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the image quality of the image data. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is an external view of the transmission terminal. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the transmission terminal. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of the relay device, terminal management system, destination registration system, program provision system, and maintenance system. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a functional block diagram of the terminal management system and destination registration system that constitute the transmission management system. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a conceptual diagram of the terminal authentication management DB. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a conceptual diagram of the terminal management DB. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a conceptual diagram of the destination list management DB. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a conceptual diagram of the request management DB. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a conceptual diagram of the administrator DB. [Figure 13] Figure 13 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the registration process of destination candidates. [Figure 14] Figure 14 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the registration process of destination candidates. [Figure 15] Figure 15 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the deletion process of destination candidates. [Figure 16] Figure 16 is a flowchart showing the management method by the transmission management system. [Figure 17] Figure 17 is a conceptual diagram of the authentication screen. [Figure 18] Figure 18 is a diagram showing a conceptual diagram of the administrator registration screen. [Figure 19] Figure 19 is a conceptual diagram of the management terminal list screen. [Figure 20] Figure 20 is a conceptual diagram of the management terminal registration screen. [[ID=�9]] [Figure 21] Figure 21 is a conceptual diagram of the confirmation screen for deleting the management terminal. [Figure 22] Figure 22 is a conceptual diagram of the destination candidate registration screen. [Figure 23] Figure 23 is a conceptual diagram of the destination candidate deletion screen. [Figure 24] Figure 24 is a conceptual diagram of the destination candidate deletion screen. [Figure 25] Figure 25 is a flowchart showing the registration and deletion processes of the management terminal. [Figure 26] Figure 26 is a flowchart showing the registration and deletion processes of destination candidates. [Figure 27] Figure 27 is a conceptual diagram of the administrator DB according to the second embodiment.

Embodiments of the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] 〔First Embodiment〕 First, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 26.

[0011] <Overall Configuration of the Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a transmission system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the transmission and reception states of image data, audio data, and various management information in the transmission system. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the image quality of image data.

[0012] In addition, the transmission system 1 includes a communication system for mutually transmitting information, emotions, etc. between a plurality of terminals. This communication system is a system for mutually transmitting information, emotions, etc. between a plurality of communication terminals (corresponding to the "transmission terminals" in the present embodiment) via a communication management system (corresponding to the "transmission management system" in the present embodiment), and a TV (video) conference system, etc. can be cited as an example.

[0013] First, the transmission system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is constructed by a plurality of transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab,...), displays (120aa, 120ab,...) for each transmission terminal (10aa, 10ab,...), a plurality of administrator terminals (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d), a plurality of relay devices (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d), a transmission management system 40, a program providing system 90, and a maintenance system 100. Further, the transmission management system 40 is constructed by a terminal management system 50 and a destination registration system 80.

[0014] Multiple transmission terminals 10 transmit data by sending and receiving image data and sound data as examples of content data. Text data is another example of content data. Furthermore, the content data only needs to include at least one of the following: image data, sound data, or text data.

[0015] In the following, any transmission terminal among multiple transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab, ...) will be referred to as "transmission terminal 10," any display among multiple displays (120aa, 120ab, ...) will be referred to as "display 120," and any relay device among multiple relay devices (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d) will be referred to as "relay device 30."

[0016] Furthermore, the transmission terminal 10 that requests the start of a video conference, etc., is referred to as the "starting terminal," and the transmission terminal 10 that is the destination (relay destination) to which the request is received is referred to as the "destination terminal." In addition, the transmission terminal 10 that requests the registration of the other party's transmission terminal 10 in its own destination list is referred to as the "requesting terminal," and in this case, the other party's transmission terminal 10 is referred to as the "requesting terminal."

[0017] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, in the transmission system 1, a management information session sei is established between the initiating terminal and the destination terminal via the terminal management system 50 for sending and receiving various management information. In addition, four sessions are established between the initiating terminal and the destination terminal via the relay device 30 for sending and receiving four types of data: high-resolution image data, medium-resolution image data, low-resolution image data, and sound data. Here, these four sessions are collectively shown as the image / sound data session sed. Note that it is not always necessary to go through the relay device 30 between the initiating terminal and the destination terminal; the image / sound data session sed may be established directly between the initiating terminal and the destination terminal.

[0018] Here, we will explain the image resolution of the image data handled in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 3(a), there is a low-resolution image that serves as the base image, consisting of 160 pixels horizontally and 120 pixels vertically; as shown in Figure 3(b), there is a medium-resolution image consisting of 320 pixels horizontally and 240 pixels vertically; and as shown in Figure 3(C), there is a high-resolution image consisting of 640 pixels horizontally and 480 pixels vertically. Of these, when passing through a narrowband path, low-quality image data consisting only of the low-resolution image data that serves as the base image is relayed. When the bandwidth is relatively wide, medium-quality image data consisting of the low-resolution image data that serves as the base image and the medium-resolution image data is relayed. Furthermore, when the bandwidth is very wide, high-quality image data consisting of the low-resolution image data that serves as the base image, the medium-resolution image data, and the high-resolution image data is relayed.

[0019] The relay device 30 shown in Figure 1 relays content data between multiple transmission terminals 10. The terminal management system 50 centrally manages login authentication from the transmission terminals 10, management of the call status of the transmission terminals 10, management of the destination list, and the communication status of the relay device 30. The image data may be video, still images, or both.

[0020] Multiple routers (70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, 70ab, 70cd) select the optimal route for image and sound data. In the following, any router among (70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, 70ab, 70cd) is referred to as "Router 70".

[0021] The program provision system 90 is equipped with a hard disk (HD) 204, described later, and stores transmission terminal programs for enabling the transmission terminal 10 to perform various functions (or enabling the transmission terminal 10 to function as various means), and can transmit transmission terminal programs to the transmission terminal 10. In addition, the HD 204 of the program provision system 90 also stores relay device programs for enabling the relay device 30 to perform various functions (or enabling the relay device 30 to function as various means), and can transmit relay device programs to the relay device 30.

[0022] Furthermore, the HD204 of the program provision system 90 also stores a transmission management program for enabling various functions in the terminal management system 50 (or enabling the terminal management system 50 to function as various means), and can transmit the transmission management program to the terminal management system 50. In addition, the HD204 of the program provision system 90 also stores a destination registration program for enabling various functions in the destination registration system 80 (or enabling the destination registration system 80 to function as various means), and can transmit the destination registration program to the destination registration system 80. Note that the terminal management program and the destination registration program are treated collectively as the transmission management program.

[0023] The maintenance system 100 is a computer for maintaining, managing, or servicing at least one of the following: the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the terminal management system 50, the destination registration system 80, and the program provision system 90. For example, if the maintenance system 100 is installed in Japan and the transmission terminal 10, relay device 30, terminal management system 50, destination registration system 80, or program provision system 90 is installed overseas, the maintenance system 100 remotely performs maintenance such as maintenance, management, and servicing of at least one of the following via the communication network 2. In addition, the maintenance system 100 performs maintenance such as managing the model number, serial number, sales destination, maintenance inspection, or failure history of at least one of the following: the transmission terminal 10, relay device 30, terminal management system 50, destination registration system 80, and program provision system 90, without using the communication network 2.

[0024] Incidentally, the transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab, 10ac, ...), relay device 30a, and router 70a are connected via LAN2a. The transmission terminals (10ba, 10bb, 10bc, ...), relay device 30b, and router 70b are connected via LAN2b. Furthermore, LAN2a and LAN2b are connected via a dedicated line 2ab that includes router 70ab, and are constructed within a designated area A. For example, area A is a business office in Tokyo, LAN2a is constructed within Sales Department 1, and LAN2b is constructed within Sales Department 2.

[0025] On the other hand, the transmission terminals (10ca, 10cb, 10cc, ...), relay device 30c, and router 70c are connected via LAN2c. The transmission terminals (10da, 10db, 10dc, ...), relay device 30d, and router 70d are connected via LAN2d. Furthermore, LAN2c and LAN2d are connected via a dedicated line 2cd that includes router 70cd, and are constructed within a designated area B. For example, area B is the Osaka office, LAN2c is constructed within Development Department 1, and LAN2d is constructed within Development Department 2. Areas A and B are each connected via the Internet 2i from routers (70ab, 70cd).

[0026] Furthermore, the terminal management system 50, the destination registration system 80, and the program provision system 90 are connected to the transmission terminal 10 and the relay device 30 via the Internet 2i. The terminal management system 50, the destination registration system 80, and the program provision system 90 may be installed in region A or region B, or in any other region.

[0027] In this embodiment, the communication network 2 is constructed using LAN2a, LAN2b, dedicated line 2ab, Internet 2i, dedicated line 2cd, LAN2c, and LAN2d. This communication network 2 may include locations where wireless communication such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) is performed, in addition to wired communication.

[0028] Furthermore, in Figure 1, the four sets of numbers shown under each transmission terminal 10, each relay device 30, terminal management system 50, each router 70, destination registration system 80, and program provision system 90 simply represent typical IPv4 IP addresses. For example, the IP address of transmission terminal 10aa is "1.2.1.3". While IPv6 could also be used instead of IPv4, IPv4 will be used for simplicity in this explanation.

[0029] Each transmission terminal 10 may be used not only for calls between multiple business locations or between different rooms within the same business location, but also for calls within the same room, or between outdoors and indoors, or between outdoors and outdoors. When each transmission terminal 10 is used outdoors, wireless communication such as a mobile phone network is used.

[0030] <Hardware configuration of the embodiment> Next, the hardware configuration of this embodiment will be described using Figures 4 to 6. Figure 4 is an external view of the transmission terminal. Hereinafter, the longitudinal direction of the transmission terminal 10 will be described as the X-axis direction, the direction perpendicular to the X-axis direction in the horizontal plane will be described as the Y-axis direction, and the direction perpendicular to both the X-axis and Y-axis directions (vertical direction) will be described as the Z-axis direction.

[0031] As shown in Figure 4, the transmission terminal 10 comprises a housing 1100, an arm 1200, and a camera housing 1300. The front wall 1110 of the housing 1100 is provided with an intake surface (not shown) formed by multiple intake holes, and the rear wall 1120 of the housing 1100 is provided with an exhaust surface 1121 formed by multiple exhaust holes. As a result, a cooling fan built into the housing 1100 can draw in outside air from behind the terminal 10 through the intake surface (not shown) and exhaust it to the rear of the terminal 10 through the exhaust surface 1121. A sound-collecting hole 1131 is formed on the right wall 1130 of the housing 1100, allowing sounds such as voices, noises, and background noise to be collected by a built-in microphone 114, which will be described later.

[0032] An operation panel 1150 is formed on the right wall 1130 side of the housing 1100. This operation panel 1150 is equipped with several operation buttons (108a to 108e) described later, a power switch 109 described later, and an alarm lamp 119 described later, as well as a sound output surface 1151 formed by several sound output holes for passing sound output from the built-in speaker 115 described later. In addition, a housing section 1160 is formed on the left wall 1140 side of the housing 1100 as a recess for housing the arm 1200 and the camera housing 1300. Multiple connection ports (1132a to 1132c) are provided on the right wall 1130 side of the housing 1100 for electrically connecting cables to the external device connection I / F 118 described later. On the other hand, the left side wall 1140 of the housing 1100 is provided with a connection port (not shown) for electrically connecting the cable 120c for the display 120 to the external device connection I / F 118, which will be described later.

[0033] In the following explanation, "operation button 108" will be used to refer to any operation button (108a to 108e), and "connection port 1132" will be used to refer to any connection port (1132a to 1132c).

[0034] Next, the arm 1200 is attached to the housing 1100 via a torque hinge 1210, and the arm 1200 is configured to rotate vertically relative to the housing 1100 within a tilt angle θ1 of 135 degrees. Figure 4 shows the state when the tilt angle θ1 is 90 degrees.

[0035] The camera housing 1300 is equipped with a built-in camera 112, which will be described later, and can capture images of the user, documents, and the room. A torque hinge 1310 is also formed on the camera housing 1300. The camera housing 1300 is attached to the arm 1200 via the torque hinge 1310. The camera housing 1300 is attached to the arm 1200 via the torque hinge 1310, and is configured to rotate in the up, down, left, and right directions relative to the arm 1200 within a pan angle range of ±180 degrees θ2 and a tilt angle range of ±45 degrees θ3, with the state shown in Figure 4 being 0 degrees.

[0036] Furthermore, since the relay device 30, terminal management system 50, destination registration system 80, program provision system 90, and maintenance system 100 all have the same appearance as a typical server computer, a description of their appearance will be omitted.

[0037] Figure 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the transmission terminal. As shown in Figure 5, the transmission terminal 10 of this embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that controls the operation of the entire transmission terminal 10, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 that stores programs used to drive the CPU 101, such as an IPL (Initial Program Loader), a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 used as a work area for the CPU 101, a flash memory 104 that stores various data such as transmission terminal programs, image data, and sound data, an SSD (Solid State Drive) 105 that controls the reading or writing of various data to the flash memory 104 according to the control of the CPU 101, a media drive 107 that controls the reading or writing (storage) of data to a recording medium 106 such as flash memory, an operation button 108 that is operated when selecting a destination for the transmission terminal 10, a power switch 109 for switching the power of the transmission terminal 10 ON / OFF, and a network I / F (Interface) 111 for transmitting data using the communication network 2.

[0038] Furthermore, the transmission terminal 10 includes a built-in camera 112 that captures images of a subject and obtains image data according to the control of the CPU 101, an image sensor interface 113 that controls the drive of the camera 112, a built-in microphone 114 that inputs sound, a built-in speaker 115 that outputs sound, an audio input / output interface 116 that processes the input and output of sound signals between the microphone 114 and the speaker 115 according to the control of the CPU 101, a display interface 117 that transmits image data to an external display 120 according to the control of the CPU 101, an external device connection interface 118 attached to the connection port 1021g shown in Figure 4 for connecting various external devices, an alarm lamp 119 that indicates abnormalities in various functions of the transmission terminal 10, and bus lines 110 such as an address bus and a data bus for electrically connecting each of the above components as shown in Figure 8.

[0039] The display 120 is a display unit composed of liquid crystal or organic EL that displays images of the subject and operation icons. The display 120 is connected to the display I / F 117 by cable 120c. This cable 120c may be a cable for analog RGB (VGA) signals, a cable for component video, or a cable for HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or DVI (Digital Video Interactive) signals.

[0040] The camera 112 includes a lens and a solid-state image sensor that converts light into electric charge to create an image (video) of the subject. As the solid-state image sensor, CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or CCD (Charge Coupled Device) are used.

[0041] External devices such as external cameras, external microphones, and external speakers can be connected to the external device connection interface 118 via USB (Universal Serial Bus) cables, etc. When an external camera is connected, it is driven in priority over the built-in camera 112, according to the control of the CPU 101. Similarly, when an external microphone or external speaker is connected, it is driven in priority over the built-in microphone 114 and built-in speaker 115, respectively, according to the control of the CPU 101.

[0042] Furthermore, the camera 112, microphone 114, and speaker 115 do not necessarily need to be built-in; the configuration may allow only external cameras, external microphones, and external speakers to be connected. Also, the recording medium 106 is configured to be detachable from the terminal 10. In addition, any non-volatile memory that reads or writes data according to the control of the CPU 101 may be used, not limited to flash memory 104, but also including EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM), etc.

[0043] Furthermore, the above-mentioned transmission terminal program may be distributed as an installable or executable file, recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 106. Alternatively, the above-mentioned transmission terminal program may be stored in ROM 102 instead of flash memory 104.

[0044] Figure 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of the relay device, terminal management system, destination registration system, program provision system, and maintenance system. The terminal management system 50 includes a CPU 201 that controls the operation of the entire terminal management system 50, a ROM 202 that stores programs used to drive the CPU 201 such as an IPL, a RAM 203 used as the work area of ​​the CPU 201, an HD 204 that stores various data such as terminal management programs, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 205 that controls the reading or writing of various data to the HD 204 according to the control of the CPU 201, a media drive 207 that controls the reading or writing (storage) of data to a recording medium 206 such as flash memory, a display 208 that displays various information such as cursors, menus, windows, characters, or images, a network I / F 209 for data transmission using the communication network 2, a keyboard 211 with multiple keys for inputting characters, numbers, and various instructions, a mouse 212 for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting processing targets, moving the cursor, etc., and a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only) as an example of a removable recording medium. The system includes a CD-ROM drive 214 that controls the reading or writing of various data to the Memory 213, and bus lines 210 such as an address bus and a data bus for electrically connecting the above components.

[0045] The above-mentioned terminal management program may be distributed as an installable or executable file, recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording media 206 or CD-ROM 213. Alternatively, the terminal management program may be stored in ROM 202 instead of HD 204.

[0046] Furthermore, since the relay device 30 has the same hardware configuration as the terminal management system 50 described above, its description will be omitted. However, the HD204 contains a program for controlling the relay device 30. In this case as well, the relay device program may be distributed as an installable or executable file on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 206 or CD-ROM 213. Alternatively, the relay device program may be stored in ROM 202 instead of HD204.

[0047] Furthermore, since the destination registration system 80 has the same hardware configuration as the terminal management system 50 described above, its description will be omitted. However, HD204 contains a destination registration program for controlling the destination registration system 80. In this case as well, the destination registration program may be distributed as an installable or executable file on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 206 or CD-ROM 213. Alternatively, the destination registration program may be stored in ROM202 instead of HD204.

[0048] Furthermore, the program provision system 90 and the maintenance system 100 have the same hardware configuration as the terminal management system 50 described above, so their description is omitted. However, the HD204 contains a program for providing programs to control the program provision system 90. In this case as well, the program provision program may be distributed as an installable or executable file on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 206 or CD-ROM 213. Alternatively, the program for the program provision system may be stored in ROM 202 instead of HD204. The same applies to the maintenance system 100 and the maintenance program.

[0049] In addition, as another example of the detachable recording medium described above, the software may be configured to be recorded and provided on computer-readable recording media such as CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or Blu-ray Disc.

[0050] <Functional configuration of the embodiment> The functional configurations of the terminal management system 50 and the destination registration system 80 will be explained below with reference to Figures 7 to 12. Figure 7 is a functional block diagram of the terminal management system and the destination registration system that constitute the transmission management system.

[0051] (Functional configuration of the terminal management system) First, the terminal management system 50 will be described. The terminal management system 50 comprises a second communication unit 51, a second authentication unit 52, a memory control unit 53, and a memory unit 60, as shown in Figure 6 with its hardware configuration and terminal management program. The memory control unit 53 comprises a memory / read processing unit 54, a second extraction unit 55, a terminal management unit 56, a destination list management unit 57, a request management unit 58, and a second determination unit 59. The memory unit 60 comprises a terminal authentication management DB 61, a terminal management DB 62, a destination list management DB 63, a request management DB 64, and an administrator DB 65.

[0052] Figure 8 is a conceptual diagram of the terminal authentication management DB 61. In the terminal authentication management DB 61, information indicating the terminal ID and password is managed as related information. This terminal ID is identification information for identifying the transmission terminal 10. The terminal ID (an example of terminal identification information) may be identification information stored in the transmission terminal 10 in advance, or it may be identification information entered by the user of the transmission terminal 10 into the transmission terminal 10. The password is the password that the transmission terminal 10 uses to log in to the transmission management system 40 using the terminal ID. Note that the records in the terminal authentication management DB 61 may have columns (fields) other than those mentioned above.

[0053] Figure 9 is a conceptual diagram of the terminal management DB62. In the terminal management DB62, information such as terminal ID, name, operating status, reception date and time, and terminal's IP address are managed as associated information. The terminal ID is identification information for identifying the transmission terminal 10. The name is the name of the transmission terminal 10. However, it may also be the name of the user of the transmission terminal 10 or the name of the department. The operating status is the latest operating status of the transmission terminal 10. The reception date and time is the date and time when the login request from the transmission terminal 10 to the transmission management system 40 was received. The IP address is the IP address of the transmission terminal 10. Note that records in the terminal management DB62 may have columns other than those listed above.

[0054] Figure 10 is a conceptual diagram of the destination list management DB63. In the destination list management DB63, the terminal ID of the starting terminal and the terminal IDs of potential destination terminals are managed as related information. Note that records in the destination list management DB63 may have columns other than those mentioned above.

[0055] Figure 11 is a conceptual diagram of the request management DB64. In the request management DB, the terminal ID of the requesting terminal and the terminal ID of the requesting terminal are managed as associated information. The terminal ID of the requesting terminal is identification information for identifying the transmission terminal 10 that requested the registration of a destination candidate. The terminal ID of the requesting terminal is identification information for identifying the transmission terminal 10 that the transmission terminal 10 identified by the requesting terminal ID is requesting as a target for registration of a destination candidate. Note that the records in the request management DB64 may have columns other than those described above.

[0056] Figure 12 is a conceptual diagram of the administrator DB65. In the administrator DB65, the administrator ID, password, terminal ID of the management terminal, administrator email address, and administrator attribute information are associated and managed as related information. Note that, as related information, it is sufficient that at least the administrator ID, terminal ID of the management terminal, and administrator attribute information are associated.

[0057] Of these, the Administrator ID is identification information for identifying the administrator of the transmission terminal 10. The Administrator ID may also be the administrator's name. The Password is the password used to log in to the transmission management system 40 using the Administrator ID. The Terminal ID of the Management Terminal is identification information for identifying the management terminal (transmission terminal 10) managed by the administrator. The Administrator Email Address is the administrator's email address. The Attribute Information includes affiliation information indicating the department to which the administrator belongs within an organization such as a company, job title information indicating the position, and authority information indicating the authority, etc. The Attribute Information may consist of any one of these pieces of information (affiliation information, job title information, authority information), or it may be a combination of at least two or more of these pieces of information. Note that the records in the Administrator DB 65 may have columns other than those mentioned above.

[0058] Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, Administrator A uses administrator terminal 20a and manages multiple transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab, ...) connected to LAN2a as its own management terminal. Administrator B uses administrator terminal 20b and manages multiple transmission terminals (10ba, 10bb, ...) connected to LAN2b as its own management terminal. Administrator C uses administrator terminal 20c and manages multiple transmission terminals (10ca, 10cb, ...) connected to LAN2c as its own management terminal. Administrator D uses administrator terminal 20d and manages multiple transmission terminals (10da, 10db, ...) connected to LAN2d as its own management terminal.

[0059] Returning to Figure 7, the second communication unit 51 communicates with the transmission terminal 10 and other systems via the communication network 2.

[0060] The second authentication unit 52 performs authentication when a transmission terminal 10 logs into the terminal management system 50 (transmission management system 40) in order to begin communication with another transmission terminal 10. Specifically, the second authentication unit 52 uses the terminal ID and password included in the login information received by the second communication unit 51 as search keys and searches the terminal authentication management DB 61 in the storage unit 60. The second authentication unit 52 determines whether or not to allow login to the terminal management system 50 by determining whether or not the search keys match the information in the terminal authentication management DB 61.

[0061] The terminal management unit 56 manages the operational status of the transmission terminal 10 that has requested login to the transmission management system 40. The terminal management unit 56 updates the record in the terminal management DB 62 corresponding to the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that has requested login to the transmission management system 40. Specifically, if the login is successful, the "operational status" is changed from offline to online (transmission possible), and the "reception date and time" and "IP address" are updated.

[0062] The second extraction unit 55 searches the destination list management DB 63 using, for example, the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that requested login to the transmission management system 40 as a search key, and reads out the terminal IDs registered as destination candidates for the transmission terminal 10 that requested login. The second extraction unit 55 also searches the terminal management DB 62 using the extracted terminal ID as a search key, and reads out the operating status of the transmission terminal 10 for each extracted terminal ID. This read terminal ID and operating status are transmitted via the second communication unit 51 to the transmission terminal 10 that requested login to the transmission management system 40. Through this process, the display 120 of the requesting transmission terminal 10 displays a destination list showing destination candidates, and the user of the transmission terminal 10 can establish a session sed between the transmission terminals 10 by specifying the desired destination from the destination list, thereby enabling communication between the transmission terminals 10.

[0063] The establishment of a session sed between the transmission terminals 10 may be done via the transmission management system 40, or it may be done directly without the system. Furthermore, the transmission terminals 10 can exchange content data using the session sed.

[0064] Furthermore, the second extraction unit 55 can also search the destination list management DB 63 using the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that requested login to the transmission management system 40 as the search key, and extract the terminal ID of the starting terminal from the record that has registered the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that requested login as the terminal ID of a candidate destination. As a result, the second extraction unit 55 can extract the corresponding operating status by searching the terminal management DB 62 using the terminal ID of the starting terminal that has registered the transmission terminal 10 that requested login as a candidate destination as the search key.

[0065] The request management unit 58 adds, modifies, and deletes records in the request management DB 64.

[0066] The destination list management unit 57 adds, modifies, and deletes records in the destination list management DB 63. For example, the destination list management unit 57 extracts records from the destination list management DB 63 in which the terminal ID of the requesting terminal managed in the request management DB 64 matches the terminal ID of the starting terminal in the destination list management DB 63. Then, the destination list management unit 57 adds the ID of the requesting terminal to the terminal ID column of the candidate destination in the extracted record.

[0067] The storage and reading processing unit 54 performs the process of storing data in the storage unit 60. The storage and reading processing unit 54 also performs the process of reading the data stored in the storage unit 60.

[0068] The second determination unit 59 determines whether the terminal ID and administrator ID (first administrator ID) received by the second communication unit 51 are associated in the related information (first determination). If the second determination unit 59 determines that they are not associated, it determines whether there is another administrator ID (second administrator ID) associated with this terminal ID in the related information (second determination). Furthermore, if the second determination unit 59 determines that there is a second administrator ID, it determines whether the attribute information associated with the first administrator ID in the related information (first attribute information) and the attribute information associated with the second administrator ID in the related information (second attribute information) are the same (third determination).

[0069] (Functional configuration of the destination registration system) Next, the destination registration system 80 will be described. The destination registration system 80 comprises a first communication unit 81, a first authentication unit 82, and a display control unit 83, as shown in Figure 6 with its hardware configuration and terminal management program. Furthermore, the display control unit 83 comprises a storage / reading processing unit 84, a first extraction unit 85, a screen creation unit 86, and a first determination unit 87.

[0070] Of these, the first communication unit 81, the storage / read processing unit 84, and the first extraction unit 85 have the same functions as the second communication unit 51, the storage / read processing unit 54, and the second extraction unit 55, respectively, so their explanation will be omitted. Although the destination registration system 80 does not have a storage unit, the storage / read processing unit 84 and the first extraction unit 85 can achieve the same functions as the storage / read processing unit 54 and the second extraction unit 55 by accessing the storage unit 60 of the terminal management system 50 via the communication network 2.

[0071] The first authentication unit 82 performs authentication when the transmission terminal 10 or the administrator terminal 20 logs in to the destination registration system 80 (transmission management system 40) in order to add or delete destination candidates. In other words, requests to add or delete destination candidates can be made not only from the transmission terminal 10 but also from the administrator terminal 20.

[0072] Furthermore, the first authentication unit 82 uses the terminal ID (or administrator ID) and password included in the login information received by the first communication unit 81 as search keys to search the terminal authentication management DB 61 (or administrator DB 65) in the storage unit 60. The first authentication unit 82 determines whether or not to allow login to the destination registration system 80 (transmission management system 40) by determining whether or not the search keys match the information in the terminal authentication management DB 61 (or administrator DB 65).

[0073] The screen creation unit 86 creates the authentication screen (see Figure 17), administrator registration screen (see Figure 18), management terminal list screen (see Figure 19), management terminal registration screen (see Figure 20), and destination candidate registration screen (see Figure 22), etc. The screen creation unit 86 creates the screens using HTML (HyperText Markup Language), for example.

[0074] Next, using Figures 13 to 15, we will explain several patterns for registering candidate recipients managed in the recipient list.

[0075] (Pattern 1) The first pattern is shown in Figure 13, and illustrates the registration process when a user of transmission terminal 10aa wants to register transmission terminal 10da of a different organization (for example, a different "business office") as a destination candidate in their destination list. Figure 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the destination candidate registration process.

[0076] First, transmission terminal 10aa sends a destination candidate registration request to the transmission management system 40, indicating that it requests that transmission terminal 10da be registered as a destination candidate for transmission terminal 10aa (ST11). Next, the transmission management system 40 sends an approval request to transmission terminal 10da, indicating that it is requesting approval to register it as a destination candidate for transmission terminal 10aa (ST12). In response, transmission terminal 10da sends a response to the transmission management system 40 indicating approval or denial (ST13). If the transmission management system 40 receives a response indicating approval, it registers transmission terminal 10da as a destination candidate for transmission terminal 10aa in the destination list management DB 63, and sends a registration completion notification to transmission terminal 10aa and transmission terminal 10da indicating that destination registration has been completed (ST14).

[0077] (Second pattern) The second pattern is shown in Figure 14, and illustrates the registration process when a user of transmission terminal 10aa (first user aa) wants to register transmission terminal 10ab of the same organization (for example, the same "department") as a destination candidate in their destination list. Figure 14 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the destination candidate registration process.

[0078] First, transmission terminal 10aa sends a destination candidate registration request to the transmission management system 40, indicating that it requests the registration of transmission terminal 10ab as a destination candidate for transmission terminal 10aa (ST21). Next, the transmission management system 40 determines whether the requesting terminal, transmission terminal 10aa, and the requesting terminal, transmission terminal 10ab, are both managed terminals of the same administrator A (transmission terminals under the management of administrator A) (ST22). If, as a result, transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab are both managed terminals of administrator A, the transmission management system 40 registers transmission terminal 10ab as a destination candidate for transmission terminal 10aa in the destination list management DB 63 without having to request approval from transmission terminal 10ab, as in ST12 above, and sends a registration completion notification to transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab indicating that the destination registration has been completed (ST23).

[0079] Furthermore, the destination candidate registration request shown in ST21 may be made by administrator A from administrator terminal 20a to the transmission management system 40. Also, when administrator A makes the destination candidate registration request, it is possible to make a single request for destination candidate registration for multiple transmission terminals 10 at once.

[0080] (Third pattern) The third pattern is shown in Figure 15 and illustrates the deletion process when the administrator (administrator A) of transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab wants to delete all destination candidates for transmission terminal 10ca, which is under the management of another administrator (administrator C), from the destination lists of transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab, which are under their management. Figure 15 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the destination candidate deletion process.

[0081] First, administrator terminal 20a sends a destination candidate deletion request to the transmission management system 40, indicating that it requests the simultaneous deletion of destination candidates for transmission terminal 10ca from the respective destination lists of transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab (ST31). Next, the transmission management system 40 simultaneously deletes destination candidates for transmission terminal 10ca from the respective destination lists of transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab (ST32). At the same time, destination candidates for transmission terminals 10aa and 10ab are simultaneously deleted from the destination list of transmission terminal 10ca. As a result, administrator A deletes the destination candidates in bulk without requiring the user of transmission terminal 10aa (first user aa) and the user of transmission terminal 10ab (second user ab) to each request deletion of destination candidates, and sends a deletion completion notification to each transmission terminal (10aa, 10ab, 10ca) indicating that the destination deletion has been completed (ST33).

[0082] <Operation or processing of the embodiment> Next, the operation or processing of this embodiment will be described using Figures 16 to 27. Figure 16 is a flowchart showing the management method by the transmission management system 40.

[0083] First, the first authentication unit 82 of the destination registration system 80 determines whether it has received a login request by administrator ID from the administrator terminal 20 operated by the administrator via the communication network 2 (step S101). If it has received a login request by administrator ID (step S101, Yes), it proceeds to step S102. If it has not received a login request by administrator ID (it has received a login request by terminal ID from a user) (step S101, No), it performs login processing by terminal ID (step S199). Note that the transmission terminal 10 can only register destination candidates in its own destination list, but the administrator can register destination candidates in all destination lists of the management terminals (transmission terminals 10 under its management).

[0084] Figure 17 is a conceptual diagram of the authentication screen of the transmission management system 40. Before the login request in step S101, the screen creation unit 86 displays, for example, the authentication screen shown in Figure 17 on the administrator terminal 20 operated by the administrator via the first communication unit 81.

[0085] The screen data for Figures 17 to 25 is held by the screen creation unit 86 itself. Alternatively, the screen data for Figures 17 to 25 may be stored in the storage unit 60, and the storage / reading processing unit 84 may read the screen data from the storage unit 60 at the command of the screen creation unit 86.

[0086] Returning to Figure 16, if it is determined in step S101 that a login request has been made using the administrator ID (step S101, Yes), the first authentication unit 82 determines whether administrator information such as the administrator ID and password is registered in the administrator DB 65 (step S102). If the administrator information is registered in the administrator DB 65 (step S102, No), the first authentication unit 82 approves the login (step S104). On the other hand, if the administrator information is not registered in the administrator DB 65 (step S102, Yes), the screen creation unit 86 displays a registration screen on the administrator terminal 20 being operated by the administrator via the first communication unit 81, registers the administrator information entered on the registration screen in the administrator DB 65, and then logs in to the destination registration system 80 (step S103). An example of a case where administrator information is not registered in the administrator DB 65 is, for example, when using the initial setup password to become an administrator for the first time.

[0087] Figure 18 is a conceptual diagram of the administrator registration screen. In step S103, the administrator terminal 20 displays, for example, the administrator registration screen shown in Figure 18.

[0088] Returning to Figure 16, the screen creation unit 86 creates the management terminal list screen shown in Figure 19, and the first communication unit 81 displays the data of the management terminal list screen by sending it to the administrator terminal 20 (step S105). Figure 19 is a conceptual diagram of the management terminal list screen. This management terminal list screen shows a list of transmission terminals managed by the administrator. The management terminal list screen is created using the terminal ID and name in the terminal management DB 62, and the terminal ID of the starting terminal (same as the terminal ID in the terminal management DB 62) and the terminal IDs of the destination candidates in the destination list management DB 63.

[0089] Specifically, in order for the screen creation unit 86 to create the management terminal list screen shown in Figure 19, the first extraction unit 85 searches the administrator DB 65 using the administrator ID received by the destination registration system 80 as a search key and obtains the terminal ID of the administrator terminal associated with the administrator ID. This makes it possible to identify the transmission terminal 10 managed by a specific administrator. Furthermore, the first extraction unit 85 searches the destination list management DB 63 for the terminal ID of the starting terminal using each obtained terminal ID as a search key and obtains the terminal ID of the destination candidate associated with each terminal ID. Also, the first extraction unit 85 searches the terminal management DB 62 using the terminal ID obtained in the same manner as above as a search key and obtains the name associated with each terminal ID. Based on the information obtained by the first extraction unit 85 in this way, the screen creation unit 86 can create the management terminal list screen.

[0090] The management terminal list screen displays the following buttons: "Register Management Terminal" button to register a new transmission terminal 10 as a management terminal, "Delete Management Terminal" button to remove a transmission terminal 10 that is already registered as a management terminal, "Register Destination Candidate" button to register a new transmission terminal 10 as a destination candidate, and "Delete Destination Candidate" button to remove a transmission terminal 10 that is already registered as a destination candidate.

[0091] The management terminal list screen also displays checkboxes (C1, C2, C3, CN) for selecting each terminal ID. Furthermore, a checkbox CA is displayed for selecting all terminal IDs at once. The management terminal list screen also displays a "Logout" button for logging out. Each checkbox and button is selected when clicked by the administrator.

[0092] Next, the screen creation unit 86 determines whether the "Register Admin Terminal" button or the "Delete Admin Terminal" button has been selected on the administrator terminal 20 (step S106). If either the "Register Admin Terminal" button or the "Delete Admin Terminal" button is selected (step S106, Yes), the (admin terminal registration and deletion process) described later is performed (step S107). On the other hand, if neither the "Register Admin Terminal" button nor the "Delete Admin Terminal" button is selected (step S106, No), the process proceeds to step S108.

[0093] Next, the screen creation unit 86 determines whether the "Register Destination Candidate" button or the "Delete Destination Candidate" button has been selected on the administrator terminal 20 (step S108). If the "Register Destination Candidate" button or the "Delete Destination Candidate" button has been selected (step S108, Yes), the (process of registering and deleting destination candidates) described below is performed (step S109). On the other hand, if neither the "Register Destination Candidate" button nor the "Delete Destination Candidate" button has been selected (step S108, No), the process proceeds to step S110.

[0094] Next, the screen creation unit 86 determines whether the administrator's operation is finished based on whether the "Logout" button is selected on the administrator terminal 20 (step S110). If the "Logout" button is selected (step S110, Yes), the destination registration system 40 logs out of the administrator terminal 20 (step S111). If the "Logout" button is not selected (step S110, No), the process returns to step S106.

[0095] (Processing of registering and deleting management terminals) Next, the process of registering and deleting a management terminal in step S107 will be explained using Figures 19 to 21 and Figure 25. Figure 20 is a conceptual diagram of the management terminal registration screen. Figure 21 is a conceptual diagram of the management terminal deletion confirmation screen. Figure 25 is a flowchart showing the process of registering and deleting a management terminal.

[0096] First, the first determination unit 87 determines whether to register a management terminal by determining whether the administrator has selected the "Register Management Terminal" button or the "Delete Management Terminal" button on the management terminal list screen shown in Figure 19 (step S201). If the "Register Management Terminal" button is selected (step S201, Yes), the screen creation unit 86 transmits the management terminal registration screen data shown in Figure 20 to the administrator terminal 20 via the first communication unit 81.

[0097] In response, the administrator terminal 20 displays an administrator terminal registration screen as shown in Figure 20. This administrator terminal registration screen displays multiple "Registered Terminal ID" input fields for the administrator to enter the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that they wish to register as their new administrator terminal. When the administrator enters the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 in the "Registered Terminal ID" input field and presses the "Register" button, the administrator terminal 20 sends a registration request to the destination registration system 80, including the terminal ID entered in the "Registered Terminal ID" input field and the administrator ID of the administrator who entered it. As a result, the first communication unit 81 of the destination registration system 80 receives the registration request. The storage / reading processing unit 84 then adds the terminal ID entered as the Registered Terminal ID to the terminal ID column in the record containing the administrator ID used in the login process in step S101 in the administrator DB 65 of the terminal management system 50 (step S202).

[0098] On the other hand, if it is not a registration of a management terminal (step S201, No), the first determination unit 87 determines whether it is a deletion of the transmission terminal 10 (step S203). If it is a deletion of a management terminal (step S203, Yes), the screen creation unit 86 sends a deletion request to the terminal management system 50 via the first communication unit 81, including the terminal ID checked (selected) in the checkboxes (CA, C1~CN) in Figure 19 and the administrator ID of the entered administrator. The storage / read processing unit 54 of the terminal management system 50 then deletes the terminal ID for which deletion was requested from the record in the administrator DB 65 where the administrator IDs used for login processing are managed (step S204). If it is not a deletion of the transmission terminal 10 (step S203, No), the process ends. Also, during the process in step S203, the screen creation unit 86 displays the management terminal deletion confirmation screen shown in Figure 21 on the administrator terminal 20 via the first communication unit 81. Figure 21 is the management terminal deletion confirmation screen. In this case, if the administrator presses the "OK" button, the process in step S204 above will be executed, and if the "Cancel" button is pressed, the process in step S204 above will not be executed.

[0099] Although Figure 20 illustrates an example where the administrator enters the terminal ID, the system is not limited to this. For example, the terminal ID may be entered by specifying a file containing the terminal ID (such as specifying the path necessary for the screen creation unit 86 to access that file).

[0100] (Processing of registering and deleting recipient candidates) Next, we will explain the process of registering and deleting recipient candidates using Figures 22 to 24 and Figure 26. Figure 22 is a conceptual diagram of the recipient candidate registration screen. Figures 23 and 24 are conceptual diagrams of the recipient candidate deletion screen. Figure 26 is a flowchart illustrating the process of registering and deleting recipient candidates. Here, we will explain the example of (Pattern 3) shown in Figure 15.

[0101] First, the first determination unit 87 identifies the requesting terminal (step S301) by receiving a requesting terminal from administrator terminal 20a by administrator A, which is one of the management terminals under administrator A's management that wishes to register or delete a requesting terminal. Specifically, when administrator A checks the checkbox of the transmission terminal (terminal ID) that they want to be the requesting terminal on the management terminal list screen shown in Figure 19 and presses the "Register Destination Candidate" button, the requesting terminal that wishes to register a destination candidate is identified. Also, when administrator A checks the checkbox of the transmission terminal (terminal ID) that they want to be the requesting terminal on the management terminal list screen shown in Figure 19 and presses the "Delete Destination Candidate" button, the requesting terminal that wishes to delete a destination candidate is identified.

[0102] Next, the first determination unit 87 determines whether the operation such as pressing a button received from the administrator terminal 20a is an operation indicating the registration of a destination candidate (step S302). For example, the first determination unit 87 determines whether the "Register Destination Candidate" button on the administrator terminal list screen shown in Figure 19 has been pressed. If it is not an operation indicating the registration of a destination candidate (step S302, No), the system proceeds to step S313. If it is an operation indicating the registration of a destination candidate (step S302, Yes), the display control unit 83 transmits data for the destination candidate registration screen shown in Figure 22 to the administrator terminal 20a via the first communication unit 81, causing the administrator terminal 20a to display the destination candidate registration screen (step S303).

[0103] As shown in Figure 22, the destination candidate registration screen displays multiple "Registered Terminal ID" input fields for entering the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that is to be newly registered as a destination candidate. In addition, for each Registered Terminal ID, as shown in ST12 of Figure 13, a checkbox is displayed to select whether or not to omit the process of requesting approval from the requesting terminal to ask if it is okay to register the requesting terminal as a destination candidate in the requesting terminal's destination list.

[0104] Next, returning to Figure 26, Administrator A enters the desired terminal ID in the "Registered Terminal ID" input field on the destination candidate registration screen shown in Figure 22 and presses the "Register" button, thereby accepting the designation of the transmission terminal 10 to be registered as a destination candidate (step S304). The terminal ID of this transmission terminal 10 to be registered is sent from the destination registration system 80 to the terminal management system 50. More specifically, the first communication unit 81 of the destination registration system 80 sends a destination candidate registration request to the second communication unit 51 of the terminal management system 50. This registration request includes the terminal ID of the requesting terminal (the requesting terminal identified in step S301) requesting the registration of the destination candidate, the terminal ID of the requested destination terminal (the requested destination terminal indicated by the terminal ID entered on the screen in Figure 22), and the logged-in administrator ID. In addition, if the approval omission checkbox for each registered terminal ID on the destination candidate registration screen shown in Figure 22 is checked, the registration request includes approval request omission information indicating that the requesting terminal should omit the approval request for registration.

[0105] Next, the second determination unit 59 of the terminal management system 50 determines whether or not the omission of approval processing has been requested for each requesting terminal that may be registered as a destination candidate based on the received registration request (step S305). Specifically, if the received registration request includes information requesting the omission of approval requests, the second determination unit 59 determines that an approval request is not required for requesting terminals that have checked the checkboxes shown in Figure 22, and that an approval request is required for requesting terminals that have not checked the checkboxes.

[0106] If the checkbox in Figure 22 is not checked, the second determination unit 59 refers to the administrator DB 65 to determine whether the terminal ID (specific terminal ID) and administrator ID (first administrator ID) of the requested terminal that has been requested to be registered as a destination candidate are associated (step S306). If they are associated (step S306, YES), the process proceeds to step S307, as approval is not required. If they are not associated (step S306, NO), the process proceeds to step S308 for further determination.

[0107] Next, in step S308, the second determination unit 59 determines whether the destination candidate to be registered is also managed by other administrators by determining whether there are other administrator IDs (second administrator IDs) associated with a specific terminal ID in the administrator DB 65. If there are other associated administrator IDs (step S308, YES), the second determination unit 59 further determines whether the first attribute information associated with the first administrator ID and the second attribute information associated with the second administrator ID are the same in the administrator DB 65 (step S309). If the first attribute information and the second attribute information are the same (step S309, YES), the process proceeds to step S307. If there are no other associated administrator IDs in step S308 (step S308, NO), or if the first attribute information and the second attribute information are not the same in step S309 (step S309, NO), the process proceeds to step S310.

[0108] Next, in step S310, the first communication unit 81 of the destination registration system 80 sends a destination registration approval request to the transmission terminal 10 that has been requested to be registered as a destination candidate. More specifically, this can be achieved by the following process, for example.

[0109] Specifically, if it is selected not to omit approval in step S305, the request management unit 58 of the terminal management system 50 adds a new record to the request management DB 64 that associates the requesting terminal ID and the requesting terminal ID included in the received registration request. The second extraction unit 55 of the terminal management system 50 then searches the terminal management DB 62 using the terminal ID of the requesting terminal in the request management DB 64 as the search key to extract the corresponding operational status information. If the operational status is communicable (for example, online (transmission possible)), the second communication unit 51 sends an approval request for destination registration to the communicable transmission terminal 10. For transmission terminals 10 whose operational status is not communicable (for example, offline), an approval request is sent when the operational status is updated to communicable.

[0110] Next, after step S310, the second determination unit 59 of the transmission management system 40 determines whether or not it has received an approval response from the requesting terminal that received the approval request (step S311). If the second communication unit 51 has received an approval response (step S311, Yes), the process proceeds to step S307. In step S307, the destination list management unit 57 registers the terminal ID of the requesting terminal as a destination candidate when the requesting terminal becomes the starting terminal in the destination list management DB 63, and also registers the terminal ID of the requesting terminal as a destination candidate when the requesting terminal becomes the starting terminal (step S307). In other words, the requesting terminal and the requesting terminal are registered as destination candidates for each other. Note that in step S307, the requesting terminal and the requesting terminal may not be registered as destination candidates for each other, and only the terminal ID of the requesting terminal may be registered as a destination candidate for the requesting terminal.

[0111] Then, once registration is complete, the second communication unit 51 sends a registration completion notification to the requesting terminal and the requesting terminal (step S312). After the above process is complete, the request management unit 58 of the terminal management system 50 deletes the completed registration record from the request management DB 64. If the omission of approval was not requested in step S305 (NO), there is no need to delete the request management DB 64 for the terminal ID of the requesting terminal and the terminal ID of the requesting terminal, as no new record has been added to it.

[0112] Even if the answer in step S305 is NO, step S306 may still be executed. In this case, step S307 can be executed regardless of whether or not a response to the approval request for registering the destination candidate was received, or whether or not that response indicates approval.

[0113] Next, we will explain the process of deleting recipient candidates.

[0114] If the answer in step S302 is NO, the first determination unit 87 determines whether or not the operation indicates the deletion of a destination candidate (step S313). Specifically, when the "Delete Destination Candidate" button on the management terminal list screen in Figure 19 is pressed, the first determination unit 87 determines whether or not the first communication unit 81 has received a request to delete a destination candidate from the administrator terminal 20. In this case, the destination candidates of the transmission terminal 10 that are checked in the checkboxes (CA, C1~CN) on the management terminal list screen are subject to deletion.

[0115] If the operation does not indicate the deletion of a destination candidate (step S313, No), the process shown in Figure 26 ends. If the operation indicates the deletion of a destination candidate (step S313, Yes), the screen creation unit 86 displays a destination candidate deletion screen, as shown in Figure 23 or Figure 24, on the administrator terminal 20 via the first communication unit 81, and the first determination unit 87 identifies the destination candidate to be deleted based on the terminal ID selected and entered by the administrator (step S314). Figures 23 and 24 are conceptual diagrams of the destination candidate deletion screen.

[0116] Step S314 will now be explained in more detail using Figures 23 and 24. The destination candidate deletion screen shown in Figures 23 and 24 displays radio buttons for "Delete all destination candidates" and "Delete specified destination candidates." The destination candidate deletion screen also displays multiple "Delete Terminal ID" input fields for the administrator to enter the terminal ID of the destination candidate to be deleted, as well as a "Delete" button to be pressed when executing the deletion and a "Cancel" button to be pressed when canceling the deletion.

[0117] Figure 23 shows the state where the administrator has pressed the "Delete specified destination candidate" radio button and entered the destination candidate's terminal ID "01ca" in the "Delete Terminal ID" input field. On the other hand, Figure 24 shows the state where the "Delete all destination candidates" radio button has been pressed. In the case shown in Figure 24, all destination candidates are to be deleted, so the "Delete Terminal ID" input field is shaded and the administrator cannot enter a terminal ID.

[0118] Here, we will explain the third pattern shown in Figure 15. Specifically, the following describes the case where administrator A checks the checkbox CA on the management terminal list screen shown in Figure 19, presses the "Delete Destination Candidate" button, then presses the "Delete Specified Destination Candidate" radio button shown in Figure 23, enters the terminal ID "01ca" in the "Delete Terminal ID" input field, and finally presses the "Delete" button.

[0119] In this case, in the destination list management DB63, the initiating terminals that have terminal ID "01ca" as a destination candidate are the initiating terminals indicated by terminal ID "01aa" and terminal ID "01ab". Therefore, administrator A has selected the requesting terminals (10aa, 10ab) indicated by terminal ID "01aa" and terminal ID "01ab". Also, administrator A has requested administrator terminal 20a to delete the destination candidate indicated by terminal ID "01ca" from the destination candidates of each initiating terminal indicated by terminal ID "01aa" and terminal ID "01ab". As a result, the first communication unit 81 receives the destination candidate deletion request from administrator terminal 20, and the first determination unit 87 identifies the transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab) indicated by terminal ID "01aa" and terminal ID "01ab" as the initiating terminals, and identifies the transmission terminal 10ca indicated by terminal ID "01ca" as the destination candidate to be deleted.

[0120] Next, based on the deletion request received by the second communication unit 51 via the first communication unit 81, the storage / reading processing unit 84 deletes the terminal ID "01ca" from the list of candidate destination terminal IDs in the destination list management DB 63 for each record where the terminal ID of the starting terminal is "01aa" and "01ab" (step S315). As a result, the second communication unit 51 sends a deletion completion notification to the requesting terminal (transmission terminal (10aa, 10ab)) and the requesting terminal (transmission terminal 10ca) indicating that the deletion of the destination has been completed (step S316).

[0121] In step S315, even in records where the terminal ID of the starting terminal is "01ca", the terminal IDs "01aa" and "01ab" may be removed from the terminal IDs of the destination candidates.

[0122] <Main effects of the embodiment> As described above, according to this embodiment, even when the destination list management DB 63 is managed on the transmission management system 40 side, it is possible to delete desired destination candidates from this destination list management DB 63.

[0123] Furthermore, the terminal IDs of multiple or all destination candidates can be deleted in bulk from the destination list management DB63 for multiple or all initiating terminals. This has the effect of saving each user of an initiating terminal (transmission terminal 10) the trouble of individually deleting the terminal IDs of multiple or all destination candidates.

[0124] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of this embodiment will be described using Figure 27. Here, another example of the administrator DB 65 shown in the first embodiment will be described. Figures 27(a) and (b) are conceptual diagrams of the administrator DB according to the second embodiment. As shown in Figure 27, the administrator DB 65' of this embodiment is constructed with two tables. That is, as shown in Figure 27(a), the first table manages the administrator ID, password, administrator email address, and attribute information in association. Also, as shown in Figure 27(b), the second table manages the administrator ID and terminal ID in association. Thus, the information shown in Figures 27(a) and 27(b) corresponds to the "related information" shown in the first embodiment. Note that the administrator ID, password, terminal ID, administrator email address, and attribute information are the same as in the first embodiment, so their explanation will be omitted.

[0125] In this case as well, the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above are achieved.

[0126] [Other Embodiments] In addition, in the above embodiment, at least one of the processes in step S306 and step S308 may be omitted.

[0127] Furthermore, the transmission management system 40 can be applied to any communication system that enables communication between transmission terminals 10. For example, it can be applied to video conferencing systems, audio conferencing systems, audio telephone systems (including mobile phone systems), text chat systems, or whiteboard sharing systems. The transmission terminal 10 may be a dedicated terminal for the aforementioned communication system or a dedicated terminal for a game, or it may be a general-purpose terminal such as a personal computer, smartphone, mobile phone terminal or tablet terminal. The terminal management system 50 and the destination registration system 80 may be information processing devices equipped with the functional blocks illustrated in Figure 7, and may be dedicated server devices or general-purpose terminal devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0128] 1. Transmission System 10 Transmission terminals 20 Administrator terminals 40 Transmission Management Systems 50 Terminal Management Systems 51. Second Communications Unit (An example of a receiving method) 54 Memory and Retrieval Processing Unit 59 Judgment Department 60. Memory Unit (An Example of a Memory Means) 61 Terminal Authentication Management DB 62 Terminal Management DB 63. Destination List Management Database (An example of a storage method) 64 Request management DB 65 Administrator DB 80 Destination Registration System 81. First Communications Unit (Example of Receiving Method) 84. Memory / Read Processing Unit (Example of Deletion Method) 87 Judgment Department [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0129] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-074453 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-085208

Claims

1. A transmission management system for managing destination candidates for a predetermined transmission terminal, A storage means for storing related information which includes initiation terminal identification information for identifying an initiation terminal that is a transmission terminal requesting the commencement of communication among the aforementioned transmission terminals, and destination candidate identification information for identifying a destination candidate for said initiation terminal. A receiving means that receives a deletion request to delete a specific destination candidate identification information from among the destination candidate identification information associated with a specific starting terminal identification information, A deletion means that deletes the specific destination candidate identification information from among the destination candidate identification information associated with the specific starting terminal identification information in the related information, based on a deletion request received by the receiving means, A transmission management system characterized by having the following features.

2. A transmission management system according to claim 1, A transmission management system characterized by having a transmission means for sending a deletion completion notification indicating that the deletion has been completed to a destination candidate indicated by the destination candidate identification information deleted by the deletion means.

3. The transmission management system according to claim 2, characterized in that the transmission means transmits the deletion completion notice to the starting terminal indicated by the specific starting terminal identification information.

4. The transmission management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein if the deletion request indicates the deletion of specific destination candidate identification information associated with a plurality of specific initiating terminal identification information, the deletion means deletes each specific destination candidate identification information associated with the plurality of specific initiating terminal identification information in the related information.

5. The transmission management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein if the deletion request indicates the deletion of specific destination candidate identification information associated with all initiating terminal identification information, the deletion means deletes each specific destination candidate identification information associated with all initiating terminal identification information in the related information.

6. If the deletion request indicates that a plurality of specific destination candidate identification information among the destination candidates associated with a specific initiating terminal identification information be deleted, the deletion means deletes the plurality of specific destination candidate identification information associated with the specific initiating terminal identification information in the related information, as described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. If the deletion request indicates that all destination candidate identification information among the destination candidates associated with a specific initiating terminal identification information be deleted, the deletion means deletes all destination candidate identification information associated with the specific initiating terminal identification information in the related information, as described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. The transmission management system according to claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the deletion means deletes data in bulk.

9. A management method performed by a transmission management system that manages destination candidates for a predetermined transmission terminal, The transmission management system has a storage means for storing related information which is associated with initiating terminal identification information for identifying an initiating terminal that is a transmission terminal that requests the start of communication, and destination candidate identification information for identifying a destination candidate for the initiating terminal. The aforementioned transmission management system is A receiving step that receives a deletion request to delete a specific destination candidate identification information from among the destination candidate identification information associated with a specific initiating terminal identification information, A deletion step in which, based on the deletion request received in the receiving step, the specific destination candidate identification information is deleted from among the destination candidate identification information associated with the specific starting terminal identification information in the related information, A management method characterized by performing the following actions.

10. A program for causing a computer to perform the method described in claim 9.

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