Business Support System and Business Support Method

Abstract

To enable remote employees to experience and communicate as if they were actually at the company.SOLUTION: A business support system that supports the work of employees online includes: a storage unit for storing panoramic image data, which is data of 360-degree panoramic images of a plurality of positions in the office; a screen editing control unit for setting the existing position and line-of-sight direction of the employee based on an operation of the employee, displaying to the first employee a panoramic screen obtained by synthesizing an employee image showing the second employee on the existing position of the second employee to an image of the line of sight of the first employee from the position of the first employee based on the panorama image data; and a communication control unit that cooperates with a predetermined online communication tool and activates a dialogue between the first employee and the second employee through the online communication tool based on the operation by the first employee to the employee image of the second employee.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for supporting online business operations. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, Japanese companies have tended to be hesitant to introduce remote work, placing emphasis on employees sharing physical space and time with each other. However, in recent years, as attention has been focused on responding to the crisis caused by the new coronavirus infection, many companies have reached a major turning point in introducing remote work.

[0003] Remote work has been made possible and is becoming more sophisticated through various technologies. For example, thin client technology is one technology that enables secure remote work. Thin client technology ensures the security of internal company information related to work when employees work remotely.

[0004] In addition, various technologies are improving collaboration between employees who actually come to the office and those who work remotely. For example, tools such as online video conferencing systems enable various forms of remote communication. These tools allow employees to hold meetings and talk with internal or external parties who are remotely located, even when they are at home. In addition, it is now possible to identify where employees who actually come to the office are located in the office using technology that links the MAC addresses of LAN cables and monitors attached to seats to the personal computers (hereafter abbreviated as "PCs") connected to them, and technology that identifies the location of PCs from the Wi-Fi wireless devices to which they are connected.

[0005] Also, technology has been proposed that allows remote work to be experienced as if the employee is actually in the office. Patent Document 1 proposes the use of virtual reality (hereinafter abbreviated as "VR") for remote work. By using VR, employees can get the same sense of realism as if they were actually in the office while at home.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] However, in remote work, there is a problem that the feeling and high-quality communication as if actually going to the company cannot be obtained.

[0008] One object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology that enables employees working remotely to have a feeling and communication as if actually going to the company.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] A business support system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a business support system that supports an employee's work online, and includes a storage unit that stores panoramic image data that is data of 360-degree panoramic images of a plurality of positions within an office, and sets the presence position and line-of-sight direction of the employee based on the operation of the employee. Based on the panoramic image data, a panoramic screen obtained by synthesizing an employee image indicating the second employee at the presence position of the second employee with an image seen from the presence position of the first employee in the line-of-sight direction of the first employee is displayed on the first employee. A screen editing control unit, and a communication control unit that cooperates with a predetermined online communication tool and activates a dialogue between the first employee and the second employee by the online communication tool based on an operation of the first employee on the employee image of the second employee.

Effects of the Invention

[0010] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an experience and communication as if an employee working remotely is actually present at the company.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] In this embodiment, a business support system is shown that supports the work of employees working in an organization where employees who actually go to the office to work and employees who work online at home or the like are mixed. In this example, by displaying a screen (hereinafter also referred to as a "panorama screen") in which an employee icon is synthesized on a 360-degree panorama image of an actual office, an employee working offline can also get the feeling of actually being at the office. In addition, by being able to start an online communication from the panorama screen, online communication becomes possible in a feeling similar to when actually at the office. Also, by displaying a screen (hereinafter also referred to as a "map screen") in which an employee icon is synthesized on a map overlooking the office, it is possible to overlook on the map screen where each employee is virtually or actually seated in the office. Further, when an employee is virtually seated, a screen (hereinafter also referred to as a "workboard screen") that lists the schedules and labor information of that employee himself and other employees belonging to the same team as himself can be displayed. Employees can view the schedules and labor information of the members of the team at a glance on the workboard screen.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a business support system. The business support system includes a personal computer operation status management server (hereinafter also referred to as "personal computer" as "PC") 111, a communication tool 121, a schedule management terminal 131, a real seat detection system 141, a user terminal 151, a control server 1901, a space information management terminal 161, an employee basic information management terminal 171, and a labor information management terminal 181.

[0015] Each of the PC operation status management server 111, the communication tool 121, the schedule management terminal 131, the real seat detection system 141, the user terminal 151, the control server 1901, the space information management terminal 161, the employee basic information management terminal 171, and the labor information management terminal 181 is configured as a computer having, as hardware, a processor, a main memory, a storage device, a communication device, an input device, and a display device.

[0016] The storage device stores data in a writable and readable manner, and this storage device stores various data. The processor reads the data stored in the storage device into the main memory and executes the processing of the software program using the main memory. By the processor executing the software program, each part constituting each device is realized. The communication device transmits the information processed by the processor via a communication network including wired, wireless, or both, and transmits the information received via the communication network to the processor. The received information is used by the processor for software processing. The input device is a device that receives information by an operator's operation input such as a keyboard or a mouse, and the input information is used by the processor for software processing. The display device displays image and text information on the display screen in accordance with the software processing by the processor.

[0017] The PC operation status management server 111 has a PC operation status control unit 112, a data storage area 113, and a server communication control unit 114. The PC operation status control unit 112 controls the operation status of the PCs used by each employee for work. The data storage area 113 stores PC operation status management data.

[0018] Figure 2 is a table showing an example of PC operation status management data.

[0019] In the PC operation status management data, for each PC used by each employee, that is, the user terminal 151, the IP address, MAC address, employee ID, status, and update date and time are recorded. The "IP address" is the IP address set for the PC. The "MAC address" is the MAC address set for the PC. The "employee ID" is the identification information of the employee using the PC. The "status" is the state of the PC. "Startup" in the status means the PC is started and the employee is operating it. "Absent" means the PC is started, but the employee has not operated the keyboard or mouse for a certain period of time or more. "Not started" means the PC is not started. The "update date and time" is the date and time when any one or more of the IP address, MAC address, employee ID, and status were last updated.

[0020] The server communication control unit 114 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 991 of the PC operation status management server 111. The details of the functions of these respective units will be described later.

[0021] The communication tool 121 has a communication control unit 122, a data storage area 123, and a server communication control unit 124. The communication control unit 122 controls online communication between employees or between employees and external parties using external communication tools such as Zoom (registered trademark) and Microsoft Teams (registered trademark). The data storage area 123 stores communication tool management data.

[0022] Figure 3 is a table showing an example of communication tool management data.

[0023] In the communication tool management data, as the usage status of the external communication tool, the connection request date and time, the source IP address, the source MAC address, the source employee ID, the destination IP address, the destination MAC address, the destination employee ID, the destination connection status, and the destination connection date and time are recorded. When a call by the external communication tool is a call between the source and multiple destinations, the destination IP address, the destination MAC address, the destination employee ID, the destination connection status, and the destination connection date and time for each destination are recorded.

[0024] The "connection request date and time" is the date and time when the call was requested on the PC of the source that requested the call. The "source IP address" is the IP address of the PC of the source. The "source MAC address" is the MAC address of the PC of the source. The "source employee ID" is the identification information of the employee of the source. The "destination IP address" is the IP address of the PC of the destination that received the call request. The "destination MAC address" is the MAC address of the PC of the destination. The "destination employee ID" is the identification information of the employee of the destination. The "destination connection status" is information indicating whether the destination is connected to the source. The "destination connection date and time" is the date and time when the destination and the source are connected.

[0025] The server communication control unit 124 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 991 of the communication tool 121. The details of the functions of these units will be described later.

[0026] The schedule management terminal 131 has a schedule information control unit 132, a data storage area 133, and a server communication control unit 134. The schedule information control unit 132 performs control related to the schedule information of each employee. The data storage area 133 stores the schedule management data of each employee.

[0027] Figure 4 is a table showing an example of schedule management data.

[0028] In the schedule management data, for the events set in the employee's schedule, the registration date and time, employee ID, event name, start time, end time, location, and participant ID are recorded. The "registration date and time" is the date and time when the event was registered in the schedule. The "employee ID" is the identification information of the employee who registered the event in the schedule. The "event name" is the name of the event. The "start time" is the start time of the event. The "end time" is the end time of the event. The "location" is the location where the event is held. The "participant ID" is the identification information of the employee who participates in the event.

[0029] The server communication control unit 134 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 991 of the schedule management terminal 131. The details of the functions of these units will be described later.

[0030] The real seat detection system 141 includes a real seat detection control unit 142, a data storage area 143, and a server communication control unit 144. The real seat detection control unit 142 performs control to detect that an employee is actually seated in an office seat. The data storage area 143 stores seat information, which is data related to the actual or virtual seating of employees.

[0031] Figure 5 is a table showing an example of seat information.

[0032] Seat information records the registration date and time, office ID, floor, date, seat ID, classification, employee ID, start time, end time, and update date and time as information regarding an employee's actual or virtual seating at an office seat. The "registration date and time" is the date and time when the seating was registered. The "office ID" is the identification information of the office where the seat of the seating is located. The "floor" is information indicating the floor within the office where the seat of the seating is located. The "date" is the date when the seating was conducted. The "seat ID" is the identification information of the seat of the seating. The "classification" is the classification of the seating. The "classification" includes "REAL" indicating actual seating, "VIRTUAL" indicating virtual seating, and "RESERVATION" indicating reservation of actual seating. The "employee ID" is the identification information of the employee who conducts the seating. The "start time" is the start time of the seating. The "end time" is the end time of the seating. The "update date and time" is the date and time when the information regarding the seating was last updated.

[0033] The server communication control unit 144 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 991 of the real seat detection system 141. Details of the functions of these respective units will be described later.

[0034] The user terminal 151 is a terminal device such as a PC used by each employee, and has a team switching control unit 152, a communication request control unit 153, a seat reservation designation control unit 155, a screen display control unit 156, a vital management control unit 157, a search request control unit 159, and a server communication control unit 154. The team switching control unit 152 performs control for switching the team to be reflected in the display as its own team when an employee belongs to a plurality of teams. The communication request control unit 153 performs control for starting online communication. The seat reservation designation control unit 155 performs control for reserving an office seat in advance when an employee actually goes to work. The screen display control unit 156 controls the display of the screen. The vital management control unit 157 performs control for acquiring the vital information of an employee. The search request control unit 159 performs control for executing a search for an employee on the map. The server communication control unit 154 realizes communication with the control server 1901 of the user terminal 151. Details of the functions of these units will be described later.

[0035] The space information management terminal 161 has an office information control unit 164, a data storage area 163, and a server communication control unit 162. The office information control unit 164 performs control for managing 360-degree panoramic images and map data of the office.

[0036] The data storage area 163 stores space information, which is data of 360-degree panoramic images at each coordinate of the office, and map data overlooking the office.

[0037] Figure 6 is a table showing an example of space information.

[0038] Spatial information records the office ID, office name, floor, type, coordinates, coordinate file, and update date and time as the image data of the office and related information. The "office ID" is the identification information of the office shown in the image. The "office name" is the name of the office shown in the image. The "floor" is the information indicating the floor of the office shown in the image. The "type" is the type of the image. The "type" includes "photo", which is the actually taken image, and "3D model", which is the virtually created image. The "coordinates" is the information indicating the coordinates of the viewpoint position of the image. The "coordinate file" is the image file of the image. The "update date and time" is the date and time when the image or its information was last updated.

[0039] Map data is data showing a 2D map overlooking the office and the existence positions of seats and meeting rooms on the map. The map data is predefined and set.

[0040] The server communication control unit 162 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 992 of the spatial information management terminal 161. The details of the functions of these units will be described later.

[0041] The employee basic information management terminal 171 has an employee basic information control unit 174, a data storage area 173, and a server communication control unit 172. The employee basic information control unit 174 performs control for managing employee basic information. The data storage area 173 stores employee basic information.

[0042] Figure 7 is a table showing an example of employee basic information.

[0043] For the basic employee information, for each employee, the employee ID, name, affiliated head office, affiliated department, affiliated section, position, face photo, and update date and time are recorded. The "employee ID" is the identification information of the employee. The "name" is the name of the employee. Each of the "affiliated head office", "affiliated department", and "affiliated section" is the head office, department, and section to which the employee belongs in the company. The "position" is the position of the employee in the company. The "face photo" is the image file of the employee's face photo. The "update date and time" is the date and time when the employee's basic information was last updated.

[0044] The server communication control unit 172 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 992 of the employee basic information management terminal 171. The details of the functions of each of these units will be described later.

[0045] The labor information management terminal 181 has a labor information control unit 184, a data storage area 183, and a server communication control unit 182. The labor information control unit 184 performs control for managing employee labor information. The data storage area 183 stores labor information.

[0046] Figure 8 is a table showing an example of employee labor information.

[0047] For the employee labor information, for each employee, the employee ID, name, overtime hours (current month), overtime hours (previous month), overtime hours (average of two months), overtime hours (average of six months), overtime hours (year-to-date), number of days off taken (year-to-date), and update date and time are recorded. The "employee ID" is the identification information of the employee. The "name" is the name of the employee. The "overtime hours (current month)" is the overtime hours of the employee for the current month. The "overtime hours (previous month)" is the overtime hours of the employee for the previous month. The "overtime hours (average of two months)" is the average value of the overtime hours of the employee for the most recent two months. The "overtime hours (average of six months)" is the average value of the overtime hours of the employee for the most recent six months. The "overtime hours (year-to-date)" is the cumulative value of the overtime hours of the employee for this year. The "number of days off taken (year-to-date)" is the number of days off taken by the employee this year. The "update date and time" is the date and time when the employee's labor information was last updated.

[0048] The server communication control unit 182 realizes communication with the control server 1901 via the communication network 992 of the labor information management terminal 181. Details of the functions of these respective units will be described later.

[0049] The control server 1901 transmits and receives data with the PC operation status management server 111, the communication tool 121, the schedule management terminal 131, the real seat detection system 141, the user terminal 151, the space information management terminal 161, the employee basic information management terminal 171, and the labor information management terminal 181, and realizes various functions for supporting the work of employees.

[0050] The control server 1901 has a communication control unit 1902, a weather information acquisition unit 1903, a communication control unit 1904, a status control unit 1905, a team information management control unit 1906, a communication control unit 1907, a team information data storage area 1908, an icon control unit 1909, an office seat management control unit 1910, a screen editing control unit 1911, a seat information data storage area 1912, an office data storage area 1913, an employee basic information data storage area 1914, an employee labor information data storage area 1915, a basic information control unit 1916, and a communication control unit 1917.

[0051] The seat information data storage area 1912 stores the seat information shared by the control server 1901 and the real seat detection system 141. Therefore, the seat information stored in the seat information data storage area 1912 is the same as that stored in the data storage area 143 shown in FIG. 5.

[0052] The office data storage area 1913 stores the space information shared by the control server 1901 and the space information management terminal 161. Therefore, the space information stored in the office data storage area 1913 is the same as that stored in the data storage area 163 shown in FIG. 6.

[0053] The employee basic information data storage area 1914 stores the employee basic information shared by the control server 1901 and the employee basic information management terminal 171. Therefore, the employee basic information stored in the employee basic information data storage area 1914 is the same as that stored in the data storage area 173 shown in FIG. 7.

[0054] The employee labor information data storage area 1915 stores the employee labor information shared by the control server 1901 and the labor information management terminal 181. Therefore, the employee labor information stored in the employee labor information data storage area 1915 is the same as that stored in the data storage area 183 shown in FIG. 8.

[0055] The team information data storage area 1908 stores team information regarding a group (hereinafter also referred to as a "team") composed of one or more employees belonging to the company. It is possible for an employee to belong to multiple teams. Also, a team does not only refer to the department to which an employee belongs in the company. A group of projects that straddle departments or a group composed of employees who joined the company at the same time may be set as a team.

[0056] FIG. 9 is a table showing an example of team information.

[0057] In the team information, for each team, the team ID, team name, employee ID, and update date and time are recorded. The "team ID" is the identification information of the team. The "team name" is the name of the team. The "employee ID" is the identification information of the employees belonging to the team. The employee ID is recorded for the number of employees (hereinafter also referred to as "members") belonging to the team. The "update date and time" is the date and time when the information regarding the team was last updated.

[0058] The communication control unit 1902 realizes communication via the communication network 991 with the control server 1901, the PC operation status management server 111, the communication tool 121, the schedule management terminal 131, and the real seat detection system 141. The communication control unit 1907 realizes communication between the control server 1901 and the user terminal 151. The communication control unit 1917 realizes communication via the communication network 992 with the control server 1901, the spatial information management terminal 161, the employee basic information management terminal 171, and the labor information management terminal 181. The communication control unit 1902, the communication control unit 1907, and the communication control unit 1917 may be integrally configured.

[0059] The weather information acquisition unit 1903 acquires weather information indicating the weather at the location of the office from an external server that provides meteorological information for each location.

[0060] The communication control unit 1904 receives a communication request from the user terminal 151 and, in cooperation with the communication tool 121, realizes online communication between employees or between employees and outsiders.

[0061] The status control unit 1905 cooperates with the PC operation status management server 111 and the schedule management terminal 131, and determines the status of each employee based on the PC operation status management data and the schedule management data.

[0062] The team information management control unit 1906 creates team information and records it in the team information data storage area 1908.

[0063] The basic information control unit 1916 acquires spatial information, employee basic information, and employee labor information, and records them in the office data storage area 1913, the employee basic information data storage area 1914, and the employee labor information data storage area 1915. As a result, the spatial information, the employee basic information, and the employee labor information can be easily used in various processes.

[0064] The office seat management control unit 1910 creates seat information for seats in the office based on a virtual seating notification from the user terminal 151, a request for a real seating reservation from the user terminal 151, and a real seating notification from the real seat detection system 141, and records it in the seat information data storage area 1912. Also, the office seat management control unit 1910 searches for the seat where the designated employee in the seat information is seated and outputs the search result.

[0065] The icon control unit 1909 generates icon data including an image and text to be displayed in association with each employee's icon based on team information, employee basic information, employee labor information, the status of each employee, and a vital abnormality notification from each employee's user terminal 151.

[0066] The screen editing control unit 1911 generates a panorama screen, a map screen, and a list screen to be displayed on the user terminal 151 of the employee. At this time, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates a panorama screen to be displayed on the user terminal 151 of the employee based on the employee's location and line-of-sight direction, space information, weather information, search results, and icon data of each employee. Also, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates a map screen based on map data, search results, icon data of each employee, and the location of each employee. Also, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates a workboard screen based on the icon data of each employee, employee basic information, employee labor information, and schedule management data.

[0067] Figure 10 is a flowchart of the pre-setup process. The pre-setup process is executed before starting the operation of this business support system.

[0068] In step S0101, the space information management terminal 161 acquires space information and map data from the data storage area 163 (S0102) and uploads them to the control server 1901. The uploaded data is sent from the server communication control unit 162 of the space information management terminal 161 (S0103) to the communication control unit 1917 of the control server 1901 (S0107).

[0069] Also, in step S0104, the employee basic information management terminal 171 acquires the employee basic information from the data storage area 173 (S0105) and uploads it to the control server 1901. The uploaded data is sent from the server communication control unit 172 of the employee basic information management terminal 171 (S0106) to the communication control unit 1917 of the control server 1901 (S0107).

[0070] In step S0108, the basic information control unit 1916 of the control server 1901 stores the received data and the preset data in the data storage area. The space information and map data are stored in the office data storage area 1913 (S0109). The employee basic information is stored in the employee basic information data storage area 1914 (S0110). Also, the preset team information is stored in the team information data storage area 1908 (S0111).

[0071] When each data is stored in the data storage area, the basic information control unit 1916 transmits, via the communication control unit 1917 (S0112), a processing result indicating that the upload has been completed normally to the space information management terminal 161 and the employee basic information management terminal 171.

[0072] In the space information management terminal 161, the office information control unit 164 receives the processing result via the server communication control unit 162 (S0113) and displays it on the screen (S0114).

[0073] In the employee basic information management terminal 171, the employee basic information control unit 174 receives the processing result via the server communication control unit 172 (S0115) and displays it on the screen (S0116).

[0074] FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are flowcharts of the user terminal initial processing. The user terminal initial processing is executed when an employee starts using the user terminal 151.

[0075] Referring to FIG. 11, when an application is launched on the user terminal 151 to use the business support system in step S0201, in step S0202, the screen display control unit 156 transmits an initial screen display request to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 154 (S0203).

[0076] In the control server 1901, when the initial screen display request is received via the communication control unit 1907 (S0204), in step S0205, the status control unit 1905 transmits a request for schedule management data and a request for PC operation status management data to the schedule management terminal 131 and the PC operation status management server 111 respectively via the communication control unit 1902 (S0206).

[0077] In the schedule management terminal 131, when a request for schedule management data is received via the server communication control unit 134 (S0207), in step S0208, the schedule information control unit 132 acquires the schedule management data from the data storage area 133 (S0209) and transmits the schedule management data to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 134 (step S0210).

[0078] Also, in the PC operation status management server 111, when a request for PC operation status management data is received via the server communication control unit 114 (S0211), in step S0212, the PC operation status control unit 112 acquires the PC operation status management data from the data storage area 113 (S0213) and transmits the PC operation status management data to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 134 (step S0214).

[0079] In the control server 1901, when receiving schedule management data from the schedule management terminal 131 via the communication control unit 1902 (S0215) and receiving PC operation status management data from the PC operation status management server 111, in step S0216, the status control unit 1905 determines the status of the employee. Details of the process for determining and displaying the status of the employee (hereinafter also referred to as "status display process") will be described later.

[0080] At this time, if the status of the PC operation status management data is away from the seat, the status of the employee is set to "away from the seat state". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is not started, the status of the employee is set to "PC shutdown". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is in operation and the time when no meeting is set in the schedule management data, the status of the employee is set to "contactable". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is in operation and the time when a meeting is set in the schedule management data, the status of the employee is set to "uncontactable". Whether a meeting is set in the schedule management data can be determined by whether a word representing a meeting such as "meeting" or "regular meeting" is recorded as the event name. If it does not fall under any of the above statuses, the status of the employee is set to "unknown whether contactable or not". For each status of the employee, a color used for the status image displayed in association with the employee's icon on the screen is associated. Thus, employees can judge the status of other employees by the color on the screen.

[0081] Also, in the control server 1901, when an initial screen display request is received via the communication control unit 1907 (S0204), in step S0217, the basic information control unit 1916 transmits a request for requesting employee labor information to the labor information management terminal 181 via the communication control unit 1902 (S0218).

[0082] When the labor information management terminal 181 receives a request for employee labor information via the server communication control unit 134 (S0219), at step S0220, the labor information control unit 184 acquires employee labor management from the data storage area 183 (S0221), and transmits the employee labor information to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 134 (step S0222).

[0083] When the control server 1901 receives employee labor information from the labor information management terminal 181 via the communication control unit 1917 (S0223), at step S0224, the basic information control unit 1916 records the employee labor information in the employee labor information data storage area 1915.

[0084] Also, when the control server 1901 receives an initial screen display request via the communication control unit 1907 (S0204), at step S0226, the office seat management control unit 1910 acquires space information and map data from the office data storage area 1913 (S0227), and acquires seat information from the seat information data storage area 1912 (S0228).

[0085] Referring to FIG. 12, after the processes of step S0216 and step S0224, at the control server 1901, at step S0301, the icon control unit 1909 refers to the team information data storage area 1908, the employee basic information data storage area 1914, and the employee labor information data storage area 1915 (S0302, S0303, S0304), determines the color corresponding to the employee's status, acquires the face photo, and acquires the overtime hours.

[0086] After the processes of step S0301 and step S0226, in the control server 1901, in step S0305, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates data of a panorama screen and a map screen. At this time, for the panorama screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 unfolds an office image of a 360-degree panorama at the location of the employee (hereinafter also referred to as the "target employee") for whom the screen is to be displayed, arranges icons of face images of other employees sitting at seats in the office image, arranges status images in association with the icons, and further arranges an image indicating that the employees are members of the same team (hereinafter also referred to as the "team member identifier") in association with the icons of the employees belonging to the same team as the target employee. Also, for the map screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 unfolds a map image overlooking the office, arranges icons of face images of employees sitting at seats in the map image, arranges status images in association with the icons, and further arranges a team member identifier indicating that the employees are members of the same team in association with the icons of the employees belonging to the same team as the target employee. The screen editing control unit 1911 further creates data for mouse hovering. At this time, it may be a display that can distinguish between virtual seating and actual seating, or a display without distinction.

[0087] Also, at this time, further, an image indicating the overtime hours of each employee in text may be arranged in association with the icons of other employees. The process for displaying the overtime hours will be described later. Also, if there is an employee in a meeting, an icon that can determine that the employee is in a meeting may be used for that employee. The process for displaying the in-meeting icon will be described later.

[0088] The data for mouse hovering is data of an image to be displayed when the cursor of the mouse is placed on the icon. The data for mouse hovering is, for example, data for displaying the department to which the employee corresponding to the icon belongs, the name, the current event name, and the like.

[0089] In step S0306, the control server 1901 transmits the generated panorama screen and map image data to the user terminal 151 of the target employee via the communication control unit 1907 (S0306) and further via the server communication control unit 154 of the user terminal 151 (S0307).

[0090] In step S0308, on the user terminal 151, the screen display control unit 156 displays an image based on the panorama screen and / or map image data. At this time, an image in the line-of-sight direction of the target employee is displayed based on a 360-degree panorama office image in which icons, status images, and team member identifiers of other employees are arranged.

[0091] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the status display process. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the status display process. The status display process is a process of updating the status of an employee and updating the status image to be displayed on the screen.

[0092] Referring to FIG. 13, an icon A03 of an employee sitting on the seat A02 on the office image A01 is arranged, and a status image A04 is arranged in association with the icon A03. The status images are displayed in colors corresponding to the statuses of the respective employees.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 14, in the control server 1901, in step S0401, the status control unit 1905 transmits a request for requesting schedule management data and a request for requesting PC operation status management data to the schedule management terminal 131 and the PC operation status management server 111 respectively via the communication control unit 1902 (S0402).

[0094] When the schedule management terminal 131 receives a request to request schedule management data via the server communication control unit 134 (S0403), in step S0404, the schedule information control unit 132 acquires the schedule management data from the data storage area 133 (S0405), and via the server communication control unit 134 (step S0406), transmits the schedule management data to the control server 1901.

[0095] Also, when the PC operation status management server 111 receives a request to request PC operation status management data via the server communication control unit 114 (S0407), in step S0408, the PC operation status control unit 112 acquires the PC operation status management data from the data storage area 113 (S0409), and via the server communication control unit 134 (step S0410), transmits the PC operation status management data to the control server 1901.

[0096] When the control server 1901 receives the schedule management data from the schedule management terminal 131 and the PC operation status management data from the PC operation status management server 111 via the communication control unit 1902 (S0411), in step S0412, the status control unit 1905 determines the status of the employee. The details of the process for determining and displaying the status of the employee (hereinafter also referred to as "status display process") will be described later.

[0097] At this time, if the status of the PC operation status management data is "away from the desk", the status of the employee is set to "away from the desk". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is "not started", the status of the employee is set to "PC shutdown". Further, if the status of the PC operation status management data is "operating" and it is a time when no meeting is set in the schedule management data, the status of the employee is set to "contactable". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is "operating" and it is a time when a meeting is set in the schedule management data, the status of the employee is set to "uncontactable". Whether a meeting is set in the schedule management data can be determined by whether a word indicating a meeting such as "meeting" or "regular meeting" is recorded as the event name. If it does not fall under any of the above statuses, the status of the employee is set to "contactability unknown". For each status of the employee, a color used for the status image displayed in association with the employee's icon on the screen is associated. Thus, an employee can determine the status of other employees by the colors on the screen.

[0098] The series of processes from step S0401 to step S0412 is a timer process that is repeatedly executed at a fixed cycle.

[0099] In step S0413, in the control server 1901, the icon control unit 1909 refers to the team information data storage area 1908 and the employee basic information data storage area 1914 (S0414, S0415), determines the color corresponding to the status of the employee, and acquires the face photo.

[0100] Furthermore, in the control server 1901, in step S0416, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates data for the panorama screen and the map screen. At this time, for the panorama screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 unfolds the office image of the 360-degree panorama at the location of the target employee, arranges the icons of the face images of other employees sitting in the seats in the office image, arranges the status images in association with the icons, and further arranges the team member identifiers indicating that they are members of the same team in association with the icons of the employees belonging to the same team as the target employee. Also, for the map screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 unfolds the map image overlooking the office, arranges the icons of the face images of the employees sitting in the seats in the map image, arranges the status images in association with the icons, and further arranges the team member identifiers indicating that they are members of the same team in association with the icons of the employees belonging to the same team as the target employee. The screen editing control unit 1911 further creates data for mouse hovering.

[0101] At this time, furthermore, images indicating the overtime hours of each employee in text may be arranged in association with the icons of other employees. The process for displaying the overtime hours will be described later. Also, if there are employees in a meeting, icons that can determine that the employees are in a meeting may be used for those employees. The process for displaying the icons during a meeting will be described later.

[0102] The control server 1901 transmits the generated data of the panorama screen and the map image to the user terminal 151 of the target employee via the communication control unit 1907 (S0417) and further via the server communication control unit 154 of the user terminal 151 (S0418).

[0103] In step S0419, in the user terminal 151, the screen display control unit 156 displays an image based on the data of the panorama screen and / or the map screen. At this time, an image in the line-of-sight direction of the target employee is displayed based on the 360-degree panorama office image in which the icons of other employees, the status images, and the team member identifiers are arranged.

[0104] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the in - meeting icon display process. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the in - meeting icon display process. The in - meeting icon display process is a process of displaying an icon that can determine that an employee is in a meeting during the meeting.

[0105] A map screen B01 is shown in the upper part of FIG. 15, and a panorama screen B05 is shown in the lower part. In the map screen B01, an icon B02 of an employee in the meeting is arranged in the meeting room area B03, and the icon B04 at the seat where the employee was before the meeting is shown in a gray - out display. In the panorama screen B05, a text B07 indicating that the employee is in the meeting is arranged in association with the icon B06 of the employee in the meeting.

[0106] Referring to FIG. 16, in the control server 1901, at step S0501, the screen editing control unit 1911 uses the office data storage area 1913 and the seat information data storage area 1912 (S0502, S0503) to generate data for the panorama screen and the map screen. At this time, for the map screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 arranges the icon of the employee in the meeting in the meeting room area and changes the icon on the seat where the employee was before the meeting to gray. Also, for the panorama screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 arranges text saying "in meeting" around the icon of the employee in the meeting.

[0107] The control server 1901 transmits the generated data of the panorama screen and the map screen to the user terminal 151 of the target employee via the communication control unit 1907 (S0504) and further via the server communication control unit 154 of the user terminal 151 (S0505).

[0108] In step S0506, on the user terminal 151, the screen display control unit 156 displays an image based on the data of the panorama screen and / or the map screen. Regarding the map screen, the icons of the employees in the meeting are displayed in the conference room area, and the icons on the seats where those employees were before the meeting are displayed in gray. Regarding the panorama screen, text saying "In Meeting" is displayed around the icons of the employees in the meeting.

[0109] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the overtime hour display process. FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the overtime hour display process. The overtime hour display process is a process of displaying information on the overtime hours of each employee in association with the icon of that employee.

[0110] In the upper part of FIG. 17, a panorama screen C01 is shown, and in the lower part, a workboard screen C04 is shown. In the panorama screen C01, text C03 indicating the overtime hours of each employee is arranged in association with the icon C02 of that employee. Here, the overtime hours for today and the cumulative overtime hours for this month are shown. On the workboard screen C04, text C06 indicating the overtime hours is arranged near the schedule C05 of the employee. If the overtime hours exceed a predetermined threshold, the colors and sizes of the text C03 and C06 may be changed for highlighting.

[0111] Referring to FIG. 18, in the control server 1901, in step S0601, the screen editing control unit 1911 uses the employee labor information data storage area 1915 and the employee basic information data storage area 1914 (S0602, S063) to generate data for the panorama screen and the work board screen. The information on overtime hours is obtained from the employee labor information. For the panorama screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 arranges a balloon with text of the overtime hours described around the icon of each employee. Also, for the work board screen, the screen editing control unit 1911 arranges a balloon with text indicating the overtime hours near the schedule of the employee. At this time, if the overtime hours exceed a predetermined threshold, the screen editing control unit 1911 highlights the text of the overtime hours. Specifically, it changes the font color and / or font size of the text of the overtime hours, and also changes the color of the balloon.

[0112] The control server 1901 transmits the generated data of the panorama screen and the work board screen to the user terminal 151 of the target employee via the communication control unit 1907 (S0604) and further via the server communication control unit 154 of the user terminal 151 (S0605).

[0113] In step S0606, in the user terminal 151, the screen display control unit 156 displays an image based on the data of the panorama screen and / or the work board screen. For the panorama screen, the text of the overtime hours is displayed around the icon of each employee. For the work board screen, the text of the overtime hours is displayed near the schedule of each employee.

[0114] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed by the team member identifier display process. FIG. 20 is a flowchart of the team member identifier display process. The team member identifier display process is a process for displaying a predetermined image in association with an icon for employees belonging to the same team as the target employee.

[0115] Figure 19 shows a panoramic screen D01. On the panoramic screen D01, a team selection menu D02 is displayed. The team selection menu D02 is a pull-down menu for the target employee to select one of the multiple teams to which the target employee belongs when the target employee belongs to multiple teams. A mark D04 indicating that the target employee belongs to the same team as the target employee is arranged in association with the icon D03 of the employees belonging to the team selected in the team selection menu D02.

[0116] Referring to Figure 20, in the user terminal 151, after the initial processing of the user terminal is completed (step S0701), in step S0702, the team switching control unit 152 transmits a team request to the control server 1901 to request team information about the team selected by the operation on the team selection menu by the target employee. The team request is sent to the team information management control unit 1906 via the server communication control unit 154 (S0703) and further via the communication control unit 1907 of the control server 1901 (S0704). The team information management control unit 1906 refers to the team information data storage area 1908 in step S0705 and acquires information on the employees belonging to the same team as the target employee.

[0117] In step S0706, the icon control unit 1909 arranges team member identifiers in association with the icons of the employees belonging to the same team as the target employee. Then, the icon control unit 1909 is sent to the user terminal 151 via the communication control unit 1907 (S0707) and further via the server communication control unit 154 (S0708).

[0118] In the user terminal 151, in step S079, the screen display control unit 156 generates a panoramic screen based on the received data and displays the panoramic screen. On the panoramic screen, a predetermined mark is arranged near the icon of the target employee.

[0119] Figure 21 is an image diagram of the functions realized by the physical condition detection notification process. Figure 22 is a flowchart of the physical condition detection notification process.

[0120] As shown in FIG. 21, when a physical discomfort is detected from an employee's vital information, the icon displayed on the user terminal 151 of that employee and other employees will be highlighted, such as blinking, to notify of the poor physical condition.

[0121] Referring to FIG. 22, in the user terminal 151, after the user terminal initial processing is completed (step S0801), the vital management control unit 158 starts monitoring the physical condition of the employee. Specifically, in step S0802, various vital information is acquired, and in step S0803, it is determined whether the vital information exceeds a threshold value. The vital information is not particularly limited and may be acquired by a contact-type device or a non-contact device. Here, it is assumed that the vital values are those such as body temperature and heart rate calculated from the image captured by the camera of the user terminal 151.

[0122] When the vital value exceeds the threshold, the vital management control unit 158 transmits that fact to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 154 (S0804) and further via the communication control unit 1907 (S0805).

[0123] In the control server 1901, in step S0806, the icon control unit 1909 sets the status of the employee to abnormal. The fact that the status of the employee is abnormal is recorded in the employee labor information data storage area 1915 (step S0806''). Also, in step S0806', the team information management control unit 1906 acquires the information of the employees belonging to the same team as the employee whose status has become abnormal (hereinafter also referred to as "employee with abnormal status").

[0124] After the screen is edited by the screen editing control unit 1911, in step S0807, the communication control unit 1907 notifies the user terminal 151 of an employee belonging to the same team as the employee with the abnormal status of the data of the screen indicating the poor physical condition of the employee with the abnormal status. The notification is received by the screen display control unit 156 via the server communication control unit 154 (S0808). In step S0809, the screen display control unit 156 highlights the icon of the abnormal employee on the panorama screen and the map screen by blinking or the like. Further, the screen display control unit 156 also displays a warning on the work board screen notifying the poor physical condition of the abnormal employee. Along with the warning, detailed information on the poor physical condition may be displayed. The detailed information is, for example, information such as the body temperature exceeding the threshold value or the heart rate exceeding the threshold value.

[0125] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a panorama screen displayed by mouse hover display processing. FIG. 24 is a flowchart of the mouse hover display processing.

[0126] In FIG. 23, a panorama screen F01 is shown. On the panorama screen F01, there is a mouse cursor F03 on the employee icon F02. In this state, a pop-up screen F04 displaying information about the employee corresponding to the icon F02 is displayed.

[0127] Referring to FIG. 24, in the user terminal 151, after the user terminal initial processing is completed (step S0901), in step S0902, when the mouse cursor comes onto the employee icon on the panorama screen, the screen display control unit 156 displays a pop-up screen on which information about the employee is described based on the mouse hover data obtained in advance in step S0308. Specifically, for example, information such as the department, section, name, and current schedule of the employee may be displayed.

[0128] FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed in the specified dialogue process. FIG. 26 is a flowchart of the specified dialogue process. The specified dialogue process is a process for realizing a dialogue that starts by specifying a partner. The dialogue includes chat, voice call, and video voice call.

[0129] In the upper part of FIG. 25, a panorama screen G01 during chat is shown, and in the lower part, a panorama screen G04 during video voice call is shown. During chat, a communication screen G03 for chatting with an employee G02 who is the dialogue partner is arranged on the panorama screen G01. During video voice call, a communication screen G06 is displayed at the coordinates of or near the icon G05 of the employee who is the dialogue partner. The communication screen G06 displays the camera video of the dialogue partner. The dialogue partner may be one person or multiple people.

[0130] Referring to FIG. 26, in the user terminal 151, after the user terminal initial process is completed (step S1001), in step S1002, the screen display control unit 156 receives a communication request from the target employee to request the start of a dialogue by specifying a dialogue partner. In the communication request here, the partner to have a dialogue with and the method of dialogue are specified. The partner to have a dialogue with may be an employee of the same company using this business support system, or may be an external person not using this business support system.

[0131] The communication request is sent to the communication control unit 1904 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1003) and further via the communication control unit 1907 of the control server 1901 (S1004).

[0132] This business support system realizes communication such as chat, voice call, and video and voice call by collaborating with an external communication tool. Therefore, in step S1005, the communication control unit 1904 sends a communication request to the communication tool 121. This communication request passes through the communication control unit 1902 (S1006), and then, at the communication tool 121, it is sent to the communication control unit 122 via the server communication control unit 124 (S1007).

[0133] In step S1008, the communication control unit 122 activates the external communication tool, establishes a connection between the user terminal 151 of the target employee and the terminal of the interlocutor, and generates a communication screen.

[0134] The information of the communication screen passes through the server communication control unit 124 (S1009), and then, at the control server 1901, it is sent to the screen editing control unit 1911 via the communication control unit 1902 (S1010).

[0135] In step S1011, the screen editing control unit 1911 acquires the information of the communication screen and sends it to the user terminal 151 of the target employee and the user terminal 151 of the interlocutor. The information of the communication screen passes through the communication control unit 1907 (S1012), and then, at the user terminal 151, it is sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1013).

[0136] In step S1014, the screen display control unit 156 displays the communication screen together with the panorama screen, realizing the conversation between the target employee and the interlocutor. When the conversation is a chat, the communication screen is a chat screen like the communication screen G03 shown in the upper part of FIG. 25. When the conversation is a video and voice call, the communication screen is a screen including a camera image like the communication screen G06 shown in the lower part of FIG. 25.

[0137] Figure 27 is a flowchart of the neighboring interaction process. The neighboring interaction process is a process for realizing interaction with other employees who are virtually or actually seated near the user's location in the office. The interaction includes chat, voice call, and video voice call.

[0138] Referring to Figure 27, in the user terminal 151, after the initial processing of the user terminal is completed (step S1101), in step S1102, the screen display control unit 156 receives a request for starting an interaction with a person nearby by the target employee. The request can be input, for example, from a panorama screen or a workboard screen. In this request, the interaction partner is not specified.

[0139] The request is sent to the communication control unit 1904 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1103), and further via the communication control unit 1907 of the control server 1901 (S1104).

[0140] The communication control unit 1904 refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1105’), and in step S1105, extracts the employees seated at the seats within a predetermined range from the location where the target employee is virtually located, and sends a communication request with the extracted employees as interaction partners to the communication tool 121. This communication request is sent to the communication control unit 122 via the communication control unit 1902 (S1106), and further via the communication tool 121 and the server communication control unit 124 (S1107).

[0141] In step S1108, the communication control unit 122 starts an external communication tool, establishes a connection between the user terminal 151 of the target employee and the terminal of the interaction partner, and generates a communication screen.

[0142] The information of the communication screen is sent to the screen editing control unit 1911 via the server communication control unit 124 (S1109), and further via the communication control unit 1902 at the control server 1901 (S1110).

[0143] In step S1111, the screen editing control unit 1911 acquires the information of the communication screen and transmits it to the user terminal 151 of the target employee and the user terminal 151 of the conversation partner. The information of the communication screen is sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1112), and further via the server communication control unit 154 at the user terminal 151 (S1113).

[0144] In step S1114, the screen display control unit 156 displays the communication screen together with the panorama screen to realize the conversation between the target employee and the conversation partner. When the conversation is a chat, the communication screen is a chat screen such as the communication screen G03 shown in the upper part of FIG. 27. When the conversation is a video and voice call, the communication screen is a screen including a camera video such as the communication screen G06 shown in the lower part of FIG. 25.

[0145] FIG. 28 is a flowchart of the team member conversation process. The team member conversation process is a process for realizing a conversation between a target employee and other employees belonging to the same team as himself / herself. The conversation includes chat, voice call, and video and voice call.

[0146] Referring to FIG. 28, in the user terminal 151, after the user terminal initial process is completed (step S1201), in step S1202, the screen display control unit 156 receives a request for starting a conversation with a member of the team by the target employee. The request can be input, for example, from the panorama screen or the work board screen. In the request here, the conversation partner is not specified individually.

[0147] The request is sent to the communication control unit 1904 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1203) and further via the communication control unit 1907 of the control server 1901 (S1204).

[0148] The communication control unit 1904 refers to the team information data storage area 1908 (S1205’). In step S1205, employees belonging to the same team as the target employee are extracted, and a communication request with the extracted employees as the interlocutors is sent to the communication tool 121. This communication request is sent to the communication control unit 122 via the communication control unit 1902 (S1206) and further via the server communication control unit 124 in the communication tool 121 (S1207).

[0149] In step S1208, the communication control unit 122 activates the external communication tool, establishes a connection between the user terminal 151 of the target employee and the terminal of the interlocutor, and generates a communication screen.

[0150] The information of the communication screen is sent to the screen editing control unit 1911 via the server communication control unit 124 (S1209) and further via the communication control unit 1902 in the control server 1901 (S1210).

[0151] In step S1211, the screen editing control unit 1911 acquires the information of the communication screen and sends it to the user terminal 151 of the target employee and the user terminal 151 of the interlocutor. The information of the communication screen is sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1212) and further via the server communication control unit 154 in the user terminal 151 (S1213).

[0152] In step S1214, the screen display control unit 156 displays a communication screen together with the panoramic screen, and realizes the interaction between the target employee and the interlocutor. When the interaction is a chat, the communication screen is a chat screen such as the communication screen G03 shown in the upper part of FIG. 25. When the interaction is a video and voice call, the communication screen is a screen including a camera image such as the communication screen G06 shown in the lower part of FIG. 25.

[0153] FIG. 29 is a diagram showing the seating state by the seating process. FIG. 30 is a flowchart of the seating process. The seating process is a process of making employees belonging to the same department sit in seats close to each other.

[0154] In FIG. 29, a map screen H01 is shown. On the map screen H01, employees H02 and H03 belonging to the same department are shown sitting in seats included in one island.

[0155] Referring to FIG. 30, after the user terminal 151 performs the user terminal initial processing shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in step S1301, the seat reservation designation control unit 155 determines whether the self-device is the user terminal 151 of the employee who first logs in among the employees belonging to the department to which the target employee of the self-device belongs. At this time, the user terminal 151 may request the control server 1901 to make the determination and obtain the determination result from the control server 1901.

[0156] If the self-device is the first user terminal 151 within the department, in the user terminal 151, in step S1302, the seat reservation designation control unit 155 instructs the control server 1901 to control the display of the map screen.

[0157] That instruction is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1303), and further via the communication control unit 1907 in the control server 1901 (S1304).

[0158] In step S1305, the office seat management control unit 1910 refers to the office data storage area 1913 (S1305), refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1306), acquires the map data and seat information, and transmits them to the user terminal 151.

[0159] These data are sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1306) and further via the server communication control unit 154 at the user terminal 151 (S1307).

[0160] In step S1308, the screen display control unit 156 displays an office map screen that can determine whether each seat is vacant or occupied by another employee. A vacant seat is a seat where the target employee can be seated. The position of the vacant seat in the map image can be clicked with a mouse to select the seat to be seated. In step S1309, when the seat to be seated is selected, the seat reservation designation control unit 155 transmits a notification of the selected seat to the control server 1901.

[0161] The notification is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1310) and further via the communication control unit 1907 at the control server 1901 (S1311). In step S1312, the office seat management control unit 1910 updates the seat information so that the target employee is seated in the selected seat, and records it in the seat information data storage area 1912 in step S1312'. Also, the office seat management control unit 1910 transmits the updated seat information to the user terminal 151 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1313).

[0162] The updated seat information is further sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1314).

[0163] In step S1321, the screen display control unit 156 displays an office map screen that can determine whether each seat is vacant or occupied by any employee including itself.

[0164] In step S1301, if the device itself is not the first user terminal 151 within the department, then at the user terminal 151, in step S1315, it is determined whether the target employee wishes for automatic seating. The determination may prompt the target operator to make a selection and obtain the selection result. If the target employee does not wish for automatic seating, the process proceeds to step S1303.

[0165] If the target employee wishes for automatic seating, the user terminal 151 sends a notification to that effect to the control server 1901. That notification is sent via the server communication control unit 154 (S1316), and further, at the control server 1901, it is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1317).

[0166] In step S1318, the office seat management control unit 1910 refers to the office data storage area 1913 (S1318’), refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1318’’), refers to the employee basic information data storage area 1914 (S1318’’’), obtains the map data, seat information, and employee basic information, and determines the seat to be assigned to the target employee.

[0167] At this time, the office seat management control unit 1910 extracts the employees belonging to the same department as the target employee from the employee basic information, identifies the seat where the first seated employee among the extracted employees is seated from the map data, extracts the vacant seats within a predetermined range of the identified seat, and assigns any one of the extracted vacant seats to the target employee.

[0168] Furthermore, the office seat management control unit 1910 records the seat information updated by the assignment of the seat to the target employee in the seat information data storage area 1912, and transmits the updated seat information to the user terminal 151 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1319).

[0169] The updated seat information is further sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1320).

[0170] In step S1321, the screen display control unit 156 displays a map screen of the office that can determine whether each seat is vacant or whether any employee including itself is seated.

[0171] FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a state in which a workboard screen is displayed by workboard display processing. FIGS. 32 and 33 are flowcharts of workboard display processing. The workboard display processing is processing for displaying a workboard screen by an operation on a panorama screen.

[0172] In the upper part of FIG. 31, a panorama screen I01 of the user terminal 151 of employee I02 is shown. When the vacant seat I03 on the panorama screen I01 is clicked while the employee I02 is already seated, a workboard screen I04 is displayed.

[0173] Referring to FIG. 32, in the control server 1901, after the seating process shown in FIG. 22, in step S1401, the team information management control unit 1906 acquires schedule information of other employees belonging to the same team as the target employee.

[0174] Subsequently, in step S1402, the status control unit 1905 transmits a request for requesting schedule management data and a request for requesting PC operation status management data to the schedule management terminal 131 and the PC operation status management server 111 via the communication control unit 1902 (S1403), respectively.

[0175] When the schedule management terminal 131 receives a request for requesting schedule management data via the server communication control unit 134 (S1404), in step S1405, the schedule information control unit 132 acquires schedule management data from the data storage area 133 (S1405'), and via the server communication control unit 134 (step S1406), transmits the schedule management data to the control server 1901.

[0176] Also, in the PC operation status management server 111, when receiving a request to request PC operation status management data via the server communication control unit 114 (S1407), in step S1408, the PC operation status control unit 112 acquires the PC operation status management data from the data storage area 113 (S1408’), and transmits the PC operation status management data to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 134 (step S1409).

[0177] In the control server 1901, when receiving schedule management data from the schedule management terminal 131 and PC operation status management data from the PC operation status management server 111 via the communication control unit 1902 (S1411), in step S1412, the status control unit 1905 determines the status of the employee.

[0178] At this time, if the status of the PC operation status management data is absent, the status of the employee is set to "absent state". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is not started, the status of the employee is set to "PC shutdown". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is operating and the time when no meeting is set in the schedule management data, the status of the employee is set to "contactable". Also, if the status of the PC operation status management data is operating and the time when a meeting is set in the schedule management data, the status of the employee is set to "uncontactable". Whether a meeting is set in the schedule management data can be determined by whether a word representing a meeting such as "meeting" or "regular meeting" is recorded as the event name. If none of the above statuses apply, the status of the employee is set to "contactability unknown". For each status of the employee, a color used for the status image displayed in association with the employee's icon on the screen is associated. Thereby, an employee can judge the status of other employees by the color on the screen.

[0179] Also, in the control server 1901, in parallel with step S1402, in step S1413, the basic information control unit 1916 transmits a request for requesting employee labor information to the labor information management terminal 181 via the communication control unit 1902 (S1414).

[0180] When the labor information management terminal 181 receives a request for requesting employee labor information via the server communication control unit 134 (S1415), in step S1416, the labor information control unit 184 acquires employee labor management from the data storage area 183 (S1416'), and transmits the employee labor information to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 134 (step S1417).

[0181] When the control server 1901 receives the employee labor information from the labor information management terminal 181 via the communication control unit 1917 (S1418), in steps S1419 to S1419', the basic information control unit 1916 records the employee labor information in the employee labor information data storage area 1915.

[0182] Referring to FIG. 33, after the processes of step S1412 and step S1419, in the control server 1901, in step S1501, the icon control unit 1909 refers to the team information data storage area 1908, the employee basic information data storage area 1914, and the employee labor information data storage area 1915 (S1502, S1503, S1504), determines a color corresponding to the employee's status, acquires a face photo, and acquires the overtime hours.

[0183] In step S1505, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates the data of the workboard screen.

[0184] As shown in FIG. 31, the workboard screen I04 includes an icon area I05 and a schedule area I06.

[0185] In the icon area I05, an icon I07 of the target employee himself / herself and icons I08 of other employees belonging to the same team as himself / herself are arranged. In the schedule area I06, a schedule I09 of the target employee himself / herself and schedules I10 of other employees belonging to the same team as himself / herself are arranged.

[0186] The screen editing control unit 1911 further creates data for mouse hovering. The data for mouse hovering is data of an image to be displayed when the cursor of the mouse is placed on the icon. The data for mouse hovering is, for example, data for displaying the department to which the employee corresponding to the icon belongs, the name, the current event name, etc.

[0187] In step S1505, the control server 1901 transmits the data of the generated workboard image to the user terminal 151 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1506) and further via the server communication control unit 154 of the user terminal 151 of the target employee (S1507).

[0188] In step S1508, on the user terminal 151, the screen display control unit 156 displays an image based on the data of the workboard screen.

[0189] FIG. 34 is a diagram showing a state in which the team to be processed as the team to which the target employee belongs is switched by the team switching process. FIG. 35 is a flowchart of the team switching process.

[0190] This business support system has functions in units of teams to which employees belong. For example, on the panorama screen and the workboard screen, team member identifiers are arranged on the icons of employees belonging to the same team as the target employee. Also, in the team member interaction process, the target employee can interact with other employees belonging to the same team as himself / herself. In this business support system, an employee can belong to multiple teams, and the team to be processed as the team to which the target employee belongs can be appropriately switched.

[0191] Referring to FIG. 34, on the work board screen J01, there is a team selection menu J02. When the target employee belongs to multiple teams, the team selection menu J02 displays those multiple teams in a pull-down menu for selection. When any one of those teams is selected, it becomes the team to be processed as the team to which the target employee belongs.

[0192] Referring to FIG. 35, on the user terminal 151, after the user terminal initial processing shown in FIGS. 11 to 12 (S1601), when an operation of selecting a team is performed in the team selection menu on the work board screen, at step S1602, the team switching control unit 152 sends a team request to the control server 1901 to request team switching.

[0193] The team request is sent to the team information management control unit 1906 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1603), and further via the communication control unit 1907 in the control server 1901.

[0194] After updating the team information according to the team request, the team information management control unit 1906 activates the work board display processing shown in FIGS. 32 to 33.

[0195] FIG. 36 is a diagram showing the state of seat reservation by the real attendance seat reservation process. FIG. 37 is a flowchart of the real attendance seat reservation process.

[0196] Referring to FIG. 36, when the target employee accesses the business support system, for example, using a company mobile terminal, an office map screen K04 that can determine whether each seat is vacant or occupied by another employee based on the seat information of the control server 1901 is displayed (K01). When the target employee selects a vacant seat on the map screen and requests a reservation (K02), the reservation is reflected in the control server 151 (K03).

[0197] Referring to FIG. 37, in the user terminal 151, after the user terminal initial processing shown in FIGS. 11 to 12 (S1601), in the user terminal 151, at step S1702, the seat reservation designation control unit 155 transmits an instruction to the control server 1901 to request the display of a map screen of the office that can determine whether each seat is vacant or occupied by another employee, based on, for example, the operation of the target employee.

[0198] That instruction passes through the server communication control unit 154 (S1703), and further, at the control server 1901, passes through the communication control unit 1907 (S1704) and is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910.

[0199] At step S1705, the office seat management control unit 1910 refers to the office data storage area 1913 (S1705') and also refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1705''), acquires the map data and seat information, and transmits them to the user terminal 151. Those data pass through the communication control unit 1907 (S1706), and further, at the user terminal 151, pass through the server communication control unit 154 (S1707) and are sent to the screen display control unit 156.

[0200] At step S1708, the screen display control unit 156 displays a map screen of the office that can determine whether each seat is vacant or occupied by another employee. A vacant seat is a seat that can be reserved by the target employee. The position of the vacant seat in the map image can be clicked with a mouse to select the seat to be reserved. At step S1709, when the seat to be reserved is selected, the seat reservation designation control unit 155 transmits a notification of the selected seat to the control server 1901.

[0201] The notification passes through the server communication control unit 154 (S1710), and further, at the control server 1901, passes through the communication control unit 1907 (S1711) and is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910. At step S1712, the office seat management control unit 1910 updates the seat information so that the target employee reserves the selected seat, and records it in the seat information data storage area 1912 at step S1712'.

[0202] Also, in step S1713, the icon control unit 1909 arranges the icon of the target employee at the seat reserved by the target employee on the map screen. At this time, it may be a display that can distinguish between seating and reservation, or a display without distinction. Then, the icon control unit 1909 transmits the updated seat information and the data of the map screen to the user terminal 151 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1714).

[0203] The updated seat information and the data of the map screen are further sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the server communication control unit 154 in the user terminal 151 (S1715). The screen display control unit 156 displays, in step S1716, a map screen of the office that can determine whether each seat is vacant or any employee including itself is seated.

[0204] FIG. 38 is a flowchart of the real office seat priority process. The real office seat priority process is a process of determining a seat by giving priority to an employee who is actually seated over an employee who is virtually seated.

[0205] Referring to FIG. 38, in the user terminal 151, in step S1801, the seat reservation designation control unit 155 instructs the control server 1901 to control the display of the map screen.

[0206] That instruction is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1802) and further via the communication control unit 1907 in the control server 1901 (S1803).

[0207] In step S1804, the office seat management control unit 1910 refers to the office data storage area 1913 (S1804’), refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1804’’), acquires the map data and the seat information, and transmits them to the user terminal 151.

[0208] The data is sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1805), and further via the server communication control unit 154 at the user terminal 151 (S1806).

[0209] In step S1807, the screen display control unit 156 displays a map screen of the office that can determine whether each seat is vacant or occupied by another employee. A vacant seat is a seat where the target employee can be seated. The position of the vacant seat in the map image can be clicked with a mouse to select the seat to be seated. In the case of an actual seat, it is also possible to select as the seat to be seated a seat where another employee is virtually seated.

[0210] In step S1808, when the seat reservation specifying control unit 155 selects the seat to be seated, it transmits a notification of the selected seat to the control server 1901. The notification is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1809), and further via the communication control unit 1907 at the control server 1901 (S1810).

[0211] Also, in the real seat detection system 141, in step S1808’, the real seat detection control unit 142 monitors the seats in the office, detects when an employee actually sits on a seat in the office, and transmits a notification informing of the actual seat to the control server 1901. The notification is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the server communication control unit 144 (S1809’), and further via the communication control unit 1902 at the control server 1901.

[0212] In step S1811, the office seat management control unit 1910 determines whether the actual seat and the virtual seat overlap on one seat. If the actual seat and the virtual seat overlap on one seat, in step S1811’, the office seat management control unit 1910 moves the seat of the employee sitting virtually to a vacant seat.

[0213] If in step S1811, the actual seat and the virtual seat do not overlap on a single seat, or if in step S1811', the seat of the employee who was virtually seated is moved, the office seat management control unit 1910 updates the seat information according to the seating status in step S1812 and records it in the seat information data storage area 1912 in step S1812'.

[0214] Also, in step S1813, the icon control unit 1909 arranges the icon of the employee who newly seated on the seat on the map screen. Then, the icon control unit 1909 transmits the updated seat information and the data of the map screen to the user terminal 151 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1814).

[0215] The updated seat information is further sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the server communication control unit 154 in the user terminal 151 (S1815).

[0216] The screen display control unit 156 displays the map screen of the office that can determine whether each seat is vacant or any employee including itself is seated in step S1816.

[0217] Here, a process of avoiding the overlap between the actual seat and the virtual seat is exemplified for the seat occupancy, but it is also possible to avoid the overlap between the actual use and the virtual use in the conference room in the same way. When the actual use and the virtual use overlap in a single conference room, the actual use can be prioritized and the virtual use can be moved to another vacant conference room in the same way as the real attendance seat priority process shown here.

[0218] Figure 39 is a diagram showing the state of performing seat search. Figure 40 is a flowchart of the seat search process. The seat search process is a process of searching where an employee is seated on the map screen. The seat search can be performed by specifying a team or by specifying a specific employee.

[0219] In the upper part of FIG. 39, a map screen L01 for performing seat search by specifying a team is shown. On the map screen L01, a team selection menu L02 is arranged. The team selection menu L02 is a pull-down menu for selecting a team for which to search for seats. A plurality of teams are displayed in the pull-down menu L02 so that they can be selected. When any team is selected in the team selection menu L02, on the map screen L02, the seats of the employees belonging to the selected team become visible by means of an icon or the display around it.

[0220] In the lower part of FIG. 39, a map screen L03 for performing seat search by specifying an employee is shown. On the map screen L03, a search input box L04 and a search execution button L05 are arranged. The search input box L04 is an input box for inputting text for specifying the employee to be searched, and any text can be input. When the name of the employee for whom to search for a seat is input into the search input box L04 and the search execution button L05 is pressed, on the map screen L03, the seat of the employee with that name becomes visible by means of an icon or the display around it.

[0221] Referring to FIG. 40, when an operation for instructing seat search is performed from the search map screen after the user terminal initial processing shown in FIGS. 11 to 12, the user terminal 151 determines whether the search target is a specific individual employee or all employees belonging to a designated team.

[0222] When the search target is a specific individual employee, in step S1902, the search request control unit 159 transmits a search request for specifying the employee to be searched and requesting a search to the control server 1901. That search request passes through the server communication control unit 154 (S1903), and further, through the communication control unit 1907 of the control server 1901 (S1904), and is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910.

[0223] In step S1905, the office seat management control unit 1910 refers to the office data storage area 1913 (S1905’), refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1905’’), generates a map screen that can distinguish the seat where the employee to be searched for specified in the search request is seated from other seats, and transmits it to the user terminal 151.

[0224] The data of the map screen is sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1906) and further via the server communication control unit 154 at the user terminal 151 (S1912). In step S1913, the screen display control unit 156 displays a map screen that can distinguish the seat where the employee to be searched for is seated from other seats.

[0225] On the other hand, in step S1901, when the search target is a team, in step S1907, the search request control unit 159 transmits a search request that specifies the team to be searched for and requests a search to the control server 1901. The search request is sent to the office seat management control unit 1910 via the server communication control unit 154 (S1908) and further via the communication control unit 1907 of the control server 1901 (S1909).

[0226] In step S1910, the office seat management control unit 1910 refers to the office data storage area 1913 (S1910’), refers to the seat information data storage area 1912 (S1910’’), refers to the team information data storage area 1908 (S1910’’’), generates a map screen that can distinguish the seats where the employees belonging to the team to be searched for specified in the search request are seated from other seats, and transmits it to the user terminal 151.

[0227] The data of the map screen is sent to the screen display control unit 156 via the communication control unit 1907 (S1911) and further via the server communication control unit 154 at the user terminal 151 (S1912). In step S1913, the screen display control unit 156 displays a map screen that discriminably shows the seats where the employees belonging to the team to be searched are seated from other seats. When the employees belonging to the team to be searched are dispersed on multiple floors, map screens of multiple floors are displayed.

[0228] Figure 41 is a flowchart of the panorama screen display process.

[0229] Referring to Figure 41, in step S2001, the screen display control unit 156 transmits a screen display request to the control server 1901 via the server communication control unit 154 (S2003). In the control server 1901, when the screen display request is received via the communication control unit 1907 (S2004), in step S2005, the weather information acquisition unit 1903 acquires weather information indicating the current weather at the location where the office is located from an external weather information provider.

[0230] Furthermore, in step S2006, the office seat management control unit 1910 acquires space information and map data from the office data storage area 1913 (S2006’) and acquires seat information from the seat information data storage area 1912 (S2006’’).

[0231] Furthermore, in step S2007, the screen editing control unit 1911 generates the data of the panorama screen. At this time, the screen editing control unit 1911 corrects the 360-degree panorama office image at the location of the target employee to approximate the current state of the office based on the current weather, current season, and current time at the location where the office is located, and uses it for the panorama screen.

[0232] For example, the brightness of the office may be adjusted according to the current weather, season, and time. Also, a plurality of 360-degree panoramic office images taken under different conditions such as weather, season, and time may be registered in advance, and any office image may be selected and used according to the current weather, season, and time. Further, if the office image includes a window, a scenery image visible from the window may be registered in advance, and the scenery image selected according to the current weather, season, and time may be inserted into the window portion in the office image.

[0233] Then, the control server 1901 transmits the data of the generated panoramic screen to the user terminal 151 of the target employee via the communication control unit 1907 (S2008) and further via the server communication control unit 154 of the user terminal 151 (S2009). In step S2010, on the user terminal 151, the screen display control unit 156 displays an image based on the data of the panoramic screen.

[0234] Note that in the above-described embodiment, an example using a 360-degree panoramic image of an actual office is shown, but it is not limited thereto. As another example, a 360-degree panoramic image or a 3D model image of a virtual office may be used.

[0235] Also, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are examples for explaining the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art can implement the present invention in various other ways without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0236] Also, the above-described embodiment includes the following matters. However, the matters included in the present embodiment are not limited to those shown below.

[0237] (Item 1) A business support system for supporting an employee's work online, a storage unit that stores panoramic image data, which is data of 360-degree panoramic images of a plurality of positions in an office, Based on the operation of the employee, set the presence position and line-of-sight direction of the employee, and based on the panoramic image data, on the image seen from the presence position of the first employee in the line-of-sight direction of the first employee, synthesize the employee image indicating the second employee at the presence position of the second employee to obtain a panoramic screen, and a screen editing control unit that displays the panoramic screen to the first employee; In cooperation with a predetermined online communication tool, based on the operation of the second employee's employee image by the first employee, a communication control unit that activates the conversation between the first employee and the second employee by the online communication tool. According to this, it is possible to provide a feeling and communication as if actually going to the company for employees working remotely.

[0238] (Item 2) In the business support system described in Item 1, The screen editing control unit processes and displays the panoramic image data based on the current state of the actual position of the office as the panoramic screen. According to this, since it is processed and displayed based on the current state of the actual position of the office, a feeling as if actually going to the company can be obtained for employees working remotely.

[0239] (Item 3) In the business support system described in Item 1, The communication control unit extracts a third employee whose presence position is within a predetermined range from the presence position of the first employee based on the operation by the first employee, and activates the conversation between the first employee and the third employee by the online communication tool. According to this, it is possible to realize communication with the feeling of talking to a person within earshot when an employee working remotely is actually at the company.

[0240] (Item 4) In the business support system described in Item 1, A terminal operation status control unit that manages the operation status of an employee's employee terminal, A schedule information control unit that manages the schedules of employees, A status control unit that identifies the status of the employee based on the employee's schedule and the operation status of the employee's employee terminal, and further has, The screen editing control unit displays a status image indicating the status of the employee in association with the employee image, The communication control unit determines whether to permit the dialogue between the first employee and the second employee by the online communication tool according to the status of the second employee. According to this, an employee working remotely can also know the status of the other party, and can communicate taking the status into consideration.

[0241] (Item 5) In the business support system described in Item 4, The terminal operation status control unit acquires, as the operation status, whether the employee terminal is started and whether an operation has been performed within a certain period of time, The schedule information control unit manages, as the schedule, meetings that the employee participates in and the time thereof, The status control unit determines that the status of the employee is communicable when the employee terminal used by the employee is started and an operation has been performed within the certain period of time, and there is no meeting that the employee participates in, If the status of the second employee is communicable, the communication control unit permits the dialogue between the first employee and the second employee by the online communication tool. According to this, it becomes possible to start a dialogue when remote employees are in a communicable state.

[0242] (Item 6) In the business support system described in Item 1, The storage unit further stores map image data that is data of an image overlooking an office including a conference room area, For employees participating in the meeting, the screen editing control unit changes the employee image displayed before the meeting to gray, and based on the map image data, displays a map screen that overlooks the office where the employee image of the employee is placed in the conference room area. According to this, it becomes easy to visually recognize that other employees are in a meeting.

[0243] (Item 7) In the business support system described in Item 1, it further has a labor information management unit that manages labor information including information on the overtime hours of the employees, and the screen editing control unit displays a overtime hour character image that makes the overtime hours of the employee visible in association with the employee image. According to this, the overtime hours of other employees become visible.

[0244] (Item 8) In the business support system described in Item 1, the storage unit further stores employee basic information including information on the departments to which the employees belong, and the screen editing control unit, on the panorama screen, based on the operation by the first employee, displays an image that makes the group visible in association with the employee image for employees in the same group as the first employee. According to this, it becomes easy to distinguish employees in the same group on the panorama screen.

[0245] (Item 9) In the business support system described in Item 1, it further has a vital management control unit that acquires the vital values of each employee and compares the vital values with a predetermined threshold value, and the screen editing control unit displays an image indicating an abnormal state in association with the employee image of the employee whose vital value exceeds the threshold value. According to this, for example, it becomes possible for a supervisor to visually recognize that an employee's physical condition has deteriorated.

[0246] (Item 10) In the business support system described in Item 1, the storage unit further stores employee basic information including information on the group to which the employee belongs, and map image data which is data of an image overlooking an office including a seat area where the employee can virtually take a seat at the time of login, and further has an office seat management control unit that determines the seat area where the employee virtually takes a seat at the time of login based on the employee basic information. According to this, since the seat area is determined in consideration of the group, for example, in an office layout where a plurality of seat areas are adjacent to form a block (hereinafter referred to as "island"), for example, members of the same team can be easily seated on the same island or an adjacent island.

[0247] (Item 11) In the business support system described in Item 10, the map image data corresponds to the office layout of the actual office where employees can come to work, the seat area corresponds to the seats where employees can actually take a seat in the actual office, the business support system further has a real seat detection unit that detects that an employee has actually taken a seat in the actual office, when the office seat management control unit determines the seat area where the employee virtually takes a seat at the time of login, it does not allocate the seat area corresponding to the seat where another employee is actually seated, and when an employee actually takes a seat in the seat corresponding to the seat area where the employee is virtually seated, it moves the seat area of the employee who was virtually seated in the seat area to another seat area. According to this, it is possible to prevent employees who actually come to work from being given priority to sit in the same seat.

[0248] (Item 12) In the business support system described in Item 1, the storage unit further stores employee basic information including information on the group to which the employee belongs, the business support system, a terminal operation status control unit that manages the operation status of the employee terminals of employees; a schedule information control unit that manages the schedules of employees; and a status control unit that identifies the status of the employee based on the schedule of the employee and the operation status of the employee terminal of the employee. Based on the operation by the first employee, the screen editing control unit displays, to the first employee, a workboard image listing the schedules and / or statuses of the employees belonging to the same group as the first employee. According to this, the statuses and schedules of the members of the same team can be confirmed in a list.

Description of Signs

[0249] 111…PC operation status management server, 112…PC operation status control unit, 113…data storage area, 114…server communication control unit, 121…communication tool, 122…communication control unit, 123…data storage area, 124…server communication control unit, 131…schedule management terminal, 132…schedule information control unit, 133…data storage area, 134…server communication control unit, 141…real seat detection system, 142…real seat detection control unit, 143…data storage area, 144…server communication control unit, 151…user terminal, 152…team switching control unit, 153…communication request control unit, 154…server communication control unit, 155…seat reservation designation control unit, 156…screen display control unit, 157…vital management control unit, 158…vital management control unit, 159…search request control unit, 161…space information management terminal, 162…server communication control unit, 163…data storage area, 164…office information control unit, 171…employee basic information management terminal, 172…server communication control unit, 173…data storage area, 174…employee basic information control unit, 181…labor information management terminal, 182…server communication control unit, 183…data storage area, 184…labor information control unit, 1901…control server, 1902…communication control unit, 1903…weather information acquisition unit, 1904…communication control unit, 1905…status control unit, 1906…team information management control unit, 1907…communication control unit, 1908…team information data storage area, 1909…icon control unit, 1910…office seat management control unit, 1911…screen editing control unit, 1912…seat information data storage area, 1913…office data storage area, 1914…employee basic information data storage area, 1915…employee labor information data storage area, 1916…basic information control unit, 1917…communication control unit

Claims

1. A business support system for online support of employees' work, a storage unit that stores panoramic image data, which is data of 360-degree panoramic images of a plurality of positions within an office, a screen editing control unit that sets the presence position and line-of-sight direction of an employee based on the operation of the employee, synthesizes an employee image indicating the second employee at the presence position of the second employee on an image seen from the presence position of the first employee in the line-of-sight direction of the first employee based on the panoramic image data, and corrects the panoramic image data to approximate the current state of the office based on one or more of the current weather, season, and time at the actual position of the office, and displays the corrected panoramic screen to the first employee, a communication control unit that cooperates with a predetermined online communication tool and activates a conversation between the first employee and the second employee by the online communication tool based on an operation on the employee image of the second employee by the first employee, further comprising a labor information management unit that manages labor information including information regarding the overtime hours of the employee, wherein the screen editing control unit displays a overtime hour character image that makes the overtime hours of the employee visible in association with the employee image, A business support system.

2. The communication control unit extracts a third employee whose presence position is within a predetermined range from the presence position of the first employee based on an operation by the first employee, and activates a conversation between the first employee and the third employee by the online communication tool, The business support system according to claim 1.

3. a terminal operation status control unit that manages the operation status of an employee's employee terminal, a schedule information control unit that manages an employee's schedule, further comprising a status control unit that identifies the status of the employee based on the employee's schedule and the operation status of the employee's employee terminal, The screen editing control unit displays a status image indicating the status of the employee in association with the employee image. The communication control unit determines whether to permit the interaction between the first employee and the second employee through the online communication tool according to the status of the second employee. The business support system according to claim 1.

4. The terminal operation status control unit acquires, as the operation status, whether the employee terminal is activated and whether an operation has been performed within a certain period of time. The schedule information control unit manages, as the schedule, meetings that the employee participates in and the time thereof. The status control unit determines that the status of the employee is available for communication when the employee terminal used by the employee is activated, an operation has been performed within the certain period of time, and there is no meeting that the employee participates in. If the status of the second employee is available for communication, the communication control unit permits the interaction between the first employee and the second employee through the online communication tool. The business support system according to claim 3.

5. The storage unit further stores map image data which is data of an image overlooking an office including a conference room area. For an employee participating in a meeting, the screen editing control unit changes the employee image displayed before the meeting to gray, and displays a map screen overlooking the office in which the employee image of the employee is arranged in the conference room area based on the map image data. The business support system according to claim 1.

6. The storage unit further stores employee basic information including information on the department to which the employee belongs. The screen editing control unit displays, in the panorama screen, an image that enables visual recognition of the group for the employees in the same group as the first employee in association with the employee image based on the operation by the first employee. The business support system according to claim 1.

7. It further has a vital management control unit that acquires the vital values of each employee and compares the vital values with a predetermined threshold value. The screen editing control unit displays an image indicating an abnormal state in association with the employee image of the employee whose vital value exceeds the threshold value. The business support system according to claim 1.

8. The storage unit further stores employee basic information including information on the group to which the employee belongs, and map image data that is data of an image overlooking an office including a seat area where the employee can virtually take a seat when logging in. It further has an office seat management control unit that determines the seat area where the employee virtually takes a seat when logging in based on the employee basic information. The business support system according to claim 1.

9. The map image data corresponds to the office layout of an actual office where employees can come to work. The seat area corresponds to a seat where an employee can actually take a seat in the actual office. The business support system further has a real seat detection unit that detects that an employee has actually taken a seat in the actual office. When the office seat management control unit determines the seat area where an employee virtually takes a seat when logging in, it does not allocate the seat area corresponding to the seat where another employee is actually sitting. When an employee actually takes a seat in the seat corresponding to the seat area where an employee is virtually sitting, the seat area of the employee who was virtually sitting in the seat area is moved to another seat area. The business support system according to claim 8.

10. The memory unit further stores employee basic information including information on the group to which the employee belongs. The business support system further includes a terminal operation status control unit that manages the operation status of the employee terminals of employees, a schedule information control unit that manages the schedules of employees, and a status control unit that identifies the status of an employee based on the schedule of the employee and the operation status of the employee terminal of the employee. Based on the operation by the first employee, the screen editing control unit displays a workboard image listing the schedules and / or statuses of employees belonging to the same group as the first employee to the first employee. The business support system according to claim 1.

11. A business support method for supporting an employee's work online, comprising: a computer stores panoramic image data which is data of 360-degree panoramic images of a plurality of positions within an office, sets the presence position and the line-of-sight direction of the employee based on the operation of the employee, and synthesizes an employee image indicating the second employee at the presence position of the second employee onto an image seen from the presence position of the first employee in the line-of-sight direction of the first employee based on the panoramic image data, and corrects the panoramic image data based on one or more of the current weather, season, and time at the actual position of the office so as to approximate the current state of the office, and displays the corrected panoramic screen to the first employee, cooperates with a predetermined online communication tool, and based on an operation by the first employee on the employee image of the second employee, activates a conversation between the first employee and the second employee by the online communication tool. In the business support method, manages labor information including information on the overtime hours of the employee, and displays an overtime hour character image that enables visual recognition of the overtime hours of the employee in association with the employee image. Business support method.

Images