Information processing apparatus and method

Abstract

In the present invention, Information about handwriting characteristics of each worker is registered in a worker database (108). When receiving working report data from a portable terminal (300), a control unit (104) delivers data on a client's handwritten signature to a handwriting determination unit (106), the signature data being included in the working report data. The handwriting determination unit (106) determines whether handwriting characteristics in the data on the handwritten signature match the handwriting characteristics of a specific worker (e.g., a worker who drafted a working report) registered in the worker database (108) or any one of all workers. If the handwriting determination unit (106) determines that there is a "match," the control unit (104) determines that the data on the handwritten signature is invalid as a client's signature, and performs error handling.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for determining the validity of a handwritten signature input as a customer's signature.

Background Art

[0002] When a worker visits a customer, for example, and performs work for that customer, the customer conventionally confirms the work and writes a handwritten signature indicating the confirmation in a document. In addition, in line with the recent trend of document digitization, systems are also increasing in which a confirmation document is displayed on a portable terminal such as a tablet terminal, and the customer handwrites a signature on the document displayed on the screen of the terminal. In such a system, a document containing data of the customer's handwritten signature is sent from the terminal to the server via a network such as the Internet and stored in the server.

[0003] The following are examples of conventional techniques related to checking the authenticity of a handwritten signature.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 describes an apparatus for determining whether a user for whom a document is to be written is writing the document when writing a document using an electronic pen. This apparatus authenticates the user using the electronic pen, obtains description information indicating the handwriting and the like of the entry being made by the user, and determines whether the description information matches the past description information of that user stored in memory. If they do not match, it is determined that the authenticated user is not making the entry (for example, paragraphs 0060-0065 of the same document).

[0005] Patent Document 2 describes an apparatus that authenticates a user by using description information such as handwriting when the user enters their name with an electronic pen. This apparatus stores, in association with user identification information, the description information when the user entered their name in the past. Then, when the user starts a new entry, for example, it receives the user identification information entered by the user and the description information of the name entered using the electronic pen at that time, and determines whether the received description information matches the past description information stored in association with the user identification information (see, for example, paragraphs 0077 - 0078 of the same document).

[0006] Patent Document 3 describes a system in which a customer registers a handwriting image such as the name written on an account opening application form, and then compares the handwriting image such as the name entered by the claimant on a refund request form at the time of a subsequent refund with the registered handwriting image (see, for example, paragraphs 0032 - 0038 of the same document).

[0007] Patent Document 4 describes a system in which a user makes a handwritten input using an electronic pen. In this system, a handwriting identification unit compares newly input handwritten characters from a user with an image stored in a user information storage unit, and identifies user information that matches the newly input handwritten characters (see, for example, paragraphs 0116 - 0121 of the same document).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0008]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0009] In a conventional system where a customer enters a handwritten signature on an operator's terminal, even if an operator fills in a handwritten signature on behalf of the customer, for example, by impersonating the customer, the system cannot detect it.

[0010] Of course, if the handwritten signature data of individual customers can be registered in the system in advance, it is possible to compare the handwritten signature of the customer entered on the terminal with the registered handwritten signature data. However, it is considered that there are quite a few cases where it is not possible to receive registration of a handwritten signature from the customer in advance.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that does not recognize a signature filled in by an operator on behalf of a customer as valid even when data of the customer's handwritten signature is not registered.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0012] The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a holding unit that holds feature information indicating the characteristics of the handwriting of each operator, a determination unit that determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature match the characteristics of the operator's handwriting using the feature information, and a control unit that executes control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid when the determination unit determines that they match.

[0013] In one aspect, when the determination unit determines that they do not match, the control unit executes control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is valid.

[0014] In another aspect, when the determination means determines non - matching, if the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is input for the first time as belonging to the customer, the control means stores the handwritten signature data in the storage means as the customer's provisional handwritten signature data. When the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is input for the second time as belonging to the customer, if the handwritten signature data matches the provisional handwritten signature data of the customer stored in the storage means, the control means changes the provisional handwritten signature data in the storage means to the customer's confirmed handwritten signature data.

[0015] In a further aspect, when the determination means determines non - matching, if the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature does not match the provisional handwritten signature of the customer stored in the storage means, the control means executes control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid.

[0016] In a further aspect, the control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is valid is a process of registering the document data input in association with the handwritten signature data in a database. When the determination means determines non - matching, if the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature does not match the provisional handwritten signature of the customer stored in the storage means, the control means executes a process for making the document data registered in the database when the handwritten signature data was first input as the customer's signature the subject of verification.

[0017] In a further aspect, when the customer's confirmed handwritten signature data is stored in the storage means, the control means omits the determination by the determination means and collates the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature with the customer's confirmed handwritten signature data.

[0018] In a further aspect, the information processing apparatus includes means for storing address information indicating the address of the customer, and means for acquiring information on the input position of the handwritten signature data input as the signature of the customer. Even when the determination means determines non - matching, when the input position does not match the address indicated by the address information, the control means executes control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the signature of the customer is invalid.

Advantages of the Invention

[0019] According to the present invention, even when data of a customer's handwritten signature is not registered, it is possible to prevent a worker from recognizing a signature filled in by the worker on behalf of the customer as valid.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020]

Figure 1

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Figure 8

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted in the following description that the configurations and processing procedures of the devices shown below are merely exemplary. For example, other configurations that perform equivalent functions to the illustrated examples can be considered for the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the device, and other procedures that realize equivalent functions can also be considered for the processing procedures.

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of the system of the embodiment. In the system shown in FIG. 1, a work report management system 100 and portable terminals 300 carried by each worker are communicably connected via a network 200 such as the Internet. The work report management system 100 is an example of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[0023] The system of FIG. 1 is used for a worker who is a staff member of a service provider to visit a customer to perform work and register document data (hereinafter referred to as "work report") indicating the report content of the work with the service provider. The work report is registered in the work report management system 100 managed by the service provider from the portable terminal 300 via the network 200.

[0024] Examples of work reports include those created by workers of service providers that provide maintenance services for buildings, facilities, or machines, etc. In this example, the worker goes to the location of the customer's building, facility, or machine to perform inspection or maintenance work, creates a work report indicating the results of the inspection and maintenance, etc., and displays the work report on the screen of the portable terminal 300 and presents it to the customer. When the customer agrees to the content of the work report, the customer fills in a handwritten signature indicating that the work report has been confirmed in a predetermined signature column in the work report. The work report is not limited to this example. For example, when a staff member of a delivery service delivers a package to a customer (i.e., the recipient of the package in this case) and asks the customer to fill in a handwritten signature for receipt confirmation on the receipt slip displayed on the terminal screen, the receipt slip is also an example of a work report. In addition to this, the system of this embodiment can be applied to work reports for various works.

[0025] The portable terminal 300 is, for example, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, or the like. The portable terminal 300 includes a mechanism for receiving an input of the content of a work report from a worker, a screen for displaying the work report and the like, and a mechanism for receiving an entry of a handwritten signature in a predetermined signature field in the displayed work report.

[0026] The mechanism for receiving an input of the content of a work report is not particularly limited. For example, the mechanism may be an application for creating a work report. This application may, for example, display a standard form of a work report and receive an input from a user, that is, a worker in this case, for each column in the form. Further, the work report management system 100 may provide such a form to the web browser of the portable terminal 300 in the form of, for example, a web page or a web application.

[0027] The mechanism for receiving an input of a handwritten signature may use, for example, the touch input function of the touch panel screen of the portable terminal 300. In this example, the customer handwrites his or her name or surname on the touch panel screen with the tip of a stylus pen or a fingertip (hereinafter collectively referred to as the pen tip).

[0028] In this case, for example, data indicating the time-series change of the position of the pen tip on the screen becomes handwritten signature data indicating the handwritten signature. When the touch panel screen can detect the pressure from the pen tip to the screen, information indicating the time-series change of the pressure may be included in the handwritten signature data. Further, an electronic pen having a function of detecting various characteristics of the entry operation such as pen pressure and pen inclination may be combined with the touch input function of the portable terminal 300, and information on the various characteristics detected by the electronic pen may be included in the handwritten signature data.

[0029] Further, the input of a handwritten signature is not limited to the method using the touch panel screen, and other methods may be used.

[0030] The generated work report includes the identification information of the customer targeted by the work report (hereinafter referred to as customer ID), the identification information of the worker who prepared the work report (hereinafter referred to as worker ID), the date on which the work was performed, and various items related to the work. Further, the work report may include handwritten signature data indicating the handwritten signature entered in the signature column described above.

[0031] The mobile terminal 300 associates (for example, incorporates as one element in the data of the work report) the handwritten signature data representing the handwritten signature entered in the signature column with the data of the work report and sends it to the work report management system 100. The handwritten signature data sent at this time may use any of various types of data used in conventional handwritten signature recognition technologies.

[0032] For example, as the handwritten signature data, data representing the time-series change of the writing position (that is, the position on the screen where the pen tip or the like touches) may be used. In this case, if the position of the pen tip or the like on the screen at time t is (x t , y t ), the handwritten signature data is represented by a series of (t, x t , y t ) for a series of times t. For the time t when the pen tip or the like is away from the screen, a predetermined value indicating that the pen tip or the like is not touching the screen is recorded in the handwritten signature data instead of the position (x t , y t ). Note that the format of the handwritten signature data is merely an example.

[0033] Further, when information on the pen pressure or the angle of the pen tip during writing can be obtained, the handwritten signature data may include data representing the time-series change of the pen pressure or the angle.

[0034] Alternatively, instead of such time-series data as the writing position, etc., features of the handwriting may be obtained from the time-series data, and a set of the image data of the handwritten signature and the data of the features of the handwriting may be used as the handwritten signature data. Note that the data of the features of the handwriting here may be of the same type as the handwriting features registered in the worker DB (database) 108 described later.

[0035] The handwritten signature data exemplified above are merely exemplary. The system of this embodiment can use various forms of handwritten signature data that already exist or will be developed in the future.

[0036] The work report management system 100 is a server composed of a single computer or a plurality of computers capable of communicating with each other, and stores and manages work reports sent from the mobile terminal 300 of each worker.

[0037] The work report management system 100 includes a data reception unit 102, a control unit 104, a handwriting determination unit 106, a worker DB (database) 108, a customer signature determination unit 110, a customer DB 112, a registration unit 114, and a work report DB 116.

[0038] The data reception unit 102 receives the data of the work report transmitted from the mobile terminal 300. For example, the data reception unit 102 may provide a web page or a web application for inputting a work report to the browser of the mobile terminal 300 and receive the work report of the input result from the browser. Further, the data reception unit 102 may perform user authentication of the worker operating the mobile terminal 300 and identify from which worker the work report is.

[0039] The control unit 104 performs overall control of processes such as storage and management of work reports performed by the work report management system 100. As a characteristic process, the control unit 104 causes the handwriting determination unit 106 to determine whether the handwriting of the handwritten signature data in the signature field in the work report received by the data reception unit 102 does not correspond to the handwriting of the worker. Further, the control unit 104 may cause the customer signature determination unit 110 to determine the handwritten signature data.

[0040] The handwriting determination unit 106 determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data in the signature column of the work report sent from the mobile terminal 300 match the characteristics of the handwriting of the worker registered in the worker DB 108. If the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data match the characteristics of the worker's handwriting, since the handwritten signature data is not the handwritten signature of the customer himself / herself that should be originally entered in the signature column, it is determined to be invalid. Note that the handwritten signature data entered in the signature column is an example of the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature.

[0041] The worker DB 108 stores information on each worker registered with the service provider. An example of the data content stored in the worker DB 108 is shown in FIG. 2. In this example, in the worker DB 108, items such as the "name" of the worker, the identification information of the branch to which the worker belongs ("affiliated branch" in the figure), authentication information, and handwriting characteristics are registered in association with the worker ID, which is the identification information of the worker. Note that the items shown in FIG. 2 are only examples.

[0042] The authentication information is used for user authentication when the worker logs in to the work report management system 100 from the mobile terminal 300. Examples thereof include passwords and biometric authentication information such as fingerprints.

[0043] The handwriting feature is information indicating the handwriting feature of the operator. Examples of the handwriting feature include the writing order, the feature of the stroke, the length of time taken to write each stroke (i.e., each individual stroke), the time interval from writing one stroke to writing the next stroke, etc. Note that a stroke is each individual stroke that makes up a handwritten character. For example, the strokes of Chinese characters and kana characters include "hane", "tome", "harai", etc. The feature of the stroke is, for example, a shape feature of the stroke. Also, when information on the pen pressure at the time of entry can be obtained from a touch panel, an electronic pen, etc., the distribution of the pen pressure within each stroke (this may be regarded as the temporal change of the pen pressure when writing that stroke) may be used as one of the features of the stroke. The above is merely illustrative, and as the handwriting feature, those used in conventional handwritten signature recognition technology can be used.

[0044] When registering an operator, etc., the service provider has the operator handwrite various characters (e.g., Chinese characters and kana), and measures the situation of the entry, thereby obtaining the handwriting features of each of these characters or of the individual strokes that make up each character. For obtaining the handwriting features, a mechanism similar to the mechanism for receiving the input of a handwritten signature by the mobile terminal 300 may be used. By using such a mechanism, the position of the pen tip (or fingertip) touching the writing surface and the temporal change of the pen pressure can be obtained, and the handwriting features can be determined from the information on this temporal change.

[0045] The operator DB 108 is an example of a holding means for holding feature information indicating the handwriting features of the operator.

[0046] The customer signature determination unit 110 determines whether the handwritten signature entered in the signature column in the work report sent from the mobile terminal 300 matches the handwritten signature data of the customer registered in the customer DB 112. In this embodiment, the customer is not required to register a handwritten signature in advance, and the handwritten signature entered in the customer's signature column in the work report is registered in the customer DB 112.

[0047] The customer DB 112 stores information of the customers of the service provider. Fig. 3 shows an example of the customer information stored in the customer DB 112. In this example, in the customer DB 112, items such as the name of the customer ( "Customer Name" in the figure), customer signature data, signature status, etc. are registered in association with the customer ID which is the identification information of the customer. Although not shown in the figure, the customer DB 112 may store the customer's address and the latitude and longitude of the address.

[0048] Among these, the customer signature data is data indicating the characteristics of the customer's handwritten signature generated from the handwritten signature data of the customer included in the work report sent from the mobile terminal 300 or one or more past handwritten signature data of the customer. The customer signature data held in the customer DB 112 may be a synthesis of the handwritten signature data in multiple work reports for the same customer. For example, in the case of a regular inspection service, the equipment of the same customer is regularly inspected to create a work report, and the customer is asked to provide a handwritten signature each time, so the number of samples of the handwritten signature of the same customer increases. From the multiple handwritten signatures of the same customer obtained in this way, data that better represents the characteristics of the customer's handwritten signature is obtained, and this may be used as the customer signature data registered in the customer DB 112.

[0049] The signature status is the status of the signature data registered in the item of the customer signature data in the customer DB 112. The signature status includes "provisional" and "confirmed". "Provisional" means that the customer signature data is only provisionally recognized as the signature written by the corresponding customer, and the possibility that it was written by a worker posing as the customer cannot be ignored. "Confirmed" indicates a status where the customer signature data is recognized with a sufficiently high degree of confidence as the signature written by the corresponding customer himself. As will be described in detail later, in this embodiment, the handwritten signature data of a certain customer sent for the first time is saved in the customer DB 112, and the signature status of the signature data is set to "provisional". Then, when it can be confirmed that the handwritten signature data of the same customer sent the next time has the same handwriting as the first customer signature data saved, the signature status of the customer signature data of that customer is set to "confirmed".

[0050] Based on the determination result of the handwriting determination unit 106 or the customer signature determination unit 110, the control unit 104 controls the operation of the registration unit 114. Further, the control unit 104 may transmit instructions and information (such as an error screen) according to the determination result to the mobile terminal 300 which is the transmission source of the work report. These controls will be described in detail later.

[0051] The registration unit 114 registers the data of the work report received from the mobile terminal 300 in the work report DB 116. The work report DB 116 is a database that stores the data of the work report. In addition to the work report transmitted from the mobile terminal 300, the work report DB 116 may store accompanying information. The accompanying information may include, for example, the reception date and time of the work report, the identification information of the worker who transmitted the work report (hereinafter referred to as the worker ID), and the identification information of the mobile terminal 300 that transmitted the work report (hereinafter referred to as the terminal ID). Further, the accompanying information may include the location information of the mobile terminal 300 at the time when the work report is registered.

[0052] FIG. 4 shows an example of the management data held in the work report DB 116. This management data includes, for each registered work report, items such as a report ID, a link to the work report, a reception date and time, a customer ID, an assigned worker ID, a transmission source terminal ID, and location information. The report ID is identification information that uniquely identifies the work report. The link to the work report is link data to the actual data of the work report stored in the work report DB 116. Although this link is just an example, it is described in the form of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The reception date and time is the date and time when the work report management system 100 received the work report from the mobile terminal 300. The customer ID is identification information of the customer to whom the worker provided the work related to the work report. This customer ID may be extracted from the work report or may be transmitted from the mobile terminal 300 along with the work information. The assigned worker ID is identification information of the worker who transmitted (in other words, created) the work report to the work report management system 100. The transmission source terminal ID is identification information of the mobile terminal 300 that transmitted the work report to the work report management system 100.

[0053] The location information is, for example, the location information of the mobile terminal 300 at the time when the work report is registered in the work report management system 100. This location information is obtained by the mobile terminal 300 from the built-in positioning system at the time when the work report is registered in the work report management system 100, and is transmitted to the work report management system 100 in association with the work report. As the positioning system, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System) may be used, but it is not limited to this.

[0054] As another example, when a handwritten signature is entered in the signature field in the work report, the mobile terminal 300 may obtain the location information at that time from the built-in positioning system and manage the location information in association with the work report. In this example, when the work report is registered from the mobile terminal 300 to the work report management system 100, the location information is registered in association with the work report.

[0055] Next, with reference to FIG. 5, an example of the processing procedure executed by the work report management system 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

[0056] This procedure is started, for example, triggered by an operation in which a worker who has visited a customer and performed work registers a work report about that work in the work report management system 100 using the mobile terminal 300. For example, the work report is created by an application operating on the mobile terminal 300 and uploaded to the work report management system 100. In another example, the worker creates a work report using the work report creation environment provided by the work report management system 100, for example, in the form of a web page or a web application. Of course, these are merely illustrative, and the modes of creating and registering work reports are not limited to this. The data reception unit 102 receives the registration of work report data from the worker via the mobile terminal 300 (S10). At this time, in addition to the registered work report data, the data reception unit 102 may acquire the worker ID of the worker and the terminal ID of the mobile terminal 300, and manage them in association with the work report. The worker ID may be specified, for example, by login authentication when the worker logs in to the work report management system 100. Also, the terminal ID may be sent together when the mobile terminal 300 sends the work report data to the work report management system 100. Further, the data reception unit 102 may manage the date and time when the work registration was received and the location information of the mobile terminal 300 at that time in association with the work report. Here, the location information of the mobile terminal 300 may be obtained by the positioning system built into the mobile terminal. Also, the data reception unit 102 may manage the location information of the mobile terminal 300 at the time when a handwritten signature is entered in the signature column of the work report, rather than at the time of registering the work report, in association with the work report. For this purpose, for example, when the application of the mobile terminal 300 detects that a handwritten signature has been written in the signature column, it acquires the location information of the mobile terminal 300 at the time of detection from the positioning system, stores it in association with the work report, and notifies the work report management system 100 of the location information together with the work report.

[0057] The control unit 104 extracts the handwritten signature data indicating the signature entered in the signature column from the work reports received by the data reception unit 102, and passes the handwritten signature data to the handwriting determination unit 106. In response to this, the handwriting determination unit 106 determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data match the handwriting characteristics of the workers registered in the worker DB 108 (S12).

[0058] In the determination of S12, the handwriting determination unit 106 obtains the characteristics of the handwriting of the handwritten signature indicated by the handwritten signature data using a known algorithm for obtaining the characteristics of the handwriting. As described above, the characteristics of the handwriting obtained here include the writing order, the characteristics of the strokes, the length of time to write each stroke, the time interval until the next stroke is written after writing one stroke, and the like. At this time, the handwriting determination unit 106 may, for example, recognize each character in the user's handwritten signature and obtain the characteristics of the handwriting for that character. Then, the handwriting determination unit 106 determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting obtained from the handwritten signature data of the work report match the handwriting characteristics of the workers registered in the worker DB 108.

[0059] In one example, in S12, the handwriting determination unit 106 determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data match the handwriting characteristics of the worker who registered the work report. This example determines whether the worker who registered the work report signed the handwritten signature on behalf of the customer. If the handwriting characteristics of both match, the determination result of S12 is Yes; if they do not match, the determination result is No.

[0060] In another example, in S12, the handwriting determination unit 106 checks whether there is a match between the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data among the handwriting characteristics of each worker registered in the worker DB 108. If a match is found, the determination result of S12 is Yes; if no match is found, the determination result of S12 is No. In this example, even if a worker other than the worker who registered the work report signs the handwritten signature pretending to be the customer, it can be detected.

[0061] If the determination result of S12 is Yes, i.e., the handwritten signature data in the customer signature column of the work report is not written by the customer but by the operator, the control unit 104 determines that the handwritten signature data is invalid as that of the customer and performs error handling (S14).

[0062] As error handling in S14, the control unit 104 controls the registration unit 114 not to register the work report obtained in S10 in the work report DB116, for example. At this time, the data of the work report not registered may be stored in a storage area for verification target data provided in the storage device of the work report management system 100 to store the work report to be verified.

[0063] As another example of error handling, the control unit 104 may perform the following control. That is, the control unit 104 may control the registration unit 114 to register the work report obtained in S10 in the work report DB116 in association with information indicating that it is a verification target. The work report marked as a verification target in these forms will be verified by the administrator later, and measures will be taken according to the verification result.

[0064] In addition, in the error handling of S14, the control unit 104 may further send a warning notification to a pre-set administrator. This warning notification includes, for example, a message indicating that there may be irregularities in the customer signature in the work report and information identifying the work report. This identifying information may be, for example, link information indicating the work report to be verified within the storage area for verification target data or within the work report DB116. In this case, when the administrator performs an operation to open the link destination for this link information in the notification, the work report in the storage area will be displayed on the screen of the administrator's terminal. The administrator checks the content of the work report and the handwritten signature in the signature column while looking at the screen and takes necessary actions.

[0065] In addition, this warning notice may include information on the worker ID of the worker who has sent the work report to the work report management system 100. Also, the worker ID of the worker determined by the handwriting determination unit 106 in S12 to have handwriting matching the handwriting of the handwritten signature data in the signature column of the work report may be included in the warning notice. The information on the worker ID included in the warning notice may be in the form of link information to the data of the worker corresponding to the worker ID registered in the personnel information management system. The administrator can use the link information to view the information of the worker in the personnel information management system and take corresponding actions for the worker.

[0066] The form of the warning notice is not particularly limited. In one example, the control unit 104 may send the warning notice to the administrator in the form of an email. In another example, the control unit 104 may save the warning notice in association with the administrator's account in the work report management system 100. In this case, when the administrator logs in, the work report management system 100 displays the warning notice on the screen. As yet another example, the control unit 104 may send the warning notice to the administrator's account in a system other than the work report management system 100, such as the personnel management system.

[0067] The process performed in S14 is an example of control for the case where the handwritten signature data in the work report is invalid.

[0068] When the process of S14 ends, the series of processes related to the work report obtained in S10 ends.

[0069] If the result of the determination in S12 is No, the control unit 104 determines whether this is the first time the work report has been received for the customer targeted by the work report obtained in S10 (S16). In this determination, the control unit 104 checks, for example, whether there is a past work report having the customer ID included in the work report obtained in S10 in the work report DB116. If such a work report existed in the past, the determination result of S16 is No; otherwise, it is Yes.

[0070] When the determination result of S16 is Yes, the control unit 104 tentatively registers the handwritten signature data in the work report in the customer DB 112 (see FIG. 3) (S18). More specifically, the control unit 104 identifies the customer ID included in the work report, and registers the handwritten signature data included in the work report in the column of the customer signature data of the record of the customer ID in the customer DB 112. Further, the control unit 104 sets the value in the signature status column of the record to "tentative".

[0071] Next, the control unit 104 instructs the registration unit 114 to register the work report in the work report DB 116 (S20). In response to this instruction, the registration unit 114 registers the work report in the work report DB 116. The process performed in S20 is an example of control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data in the work report is valid. Thus, a series of processes related to the work report acquired in S10 is completed.

[0072] When the determination result of S16 is No, that is, when the work report acquired in S10 is the second or subsequent work report for the customer targeted by the work report, the process proceeds to S22. In S22, the control unit 104 causes the customer signature determination unit 110 to collate the handwritten signature data of the customer in the signature column of the work report with the customer signature data of the said customer registered in the customer DB 112, and determines whether the former matches the latter (S22). For this collation, a known method for collating handwritten signatures may be used.

[0073] When the determination result of S22 is Yes, that is, when the handwritten signature data in the work report matches the customer signature data of the said customer registered in the customer DB 112, the control unit 104 changes the signature status of the said customer in the customer DB 112 from "tentative" to "confirmed" (S24). The control unit 104 instructs the registration unit 114 to register the work report in the work report DB 116 (S20). Incidentally, when the signature status of the said customer is already "confirmed" at the point when the determination result of S22 becomes Yes, S24 is skipped without being executed.

[0074] When the determination result of S22 is No, the control unit 104 determines that the handwritten signature data in the work report is invalid as the signature of the customer, and executes error processing (S26).

[0075] In the error processing of S26, the control unit 104 performs a first process on the work report acquired in S10 and a second process on the work report already registered in the work report DB 116 for the customer who is the subject of the work report. That is, at the time of executing S26, since the first work report for the customer has already been registered in the work report DB 116, the second process is executed on the first work report.

[0076] Among these, the first process may be the same process as the error processing of S14.

[0077] On the other hand, in the second process, the control unit 104, for example, deletes the already registered work report from the work report DB 116 and stores it in the storage area for the verification target data. As another example, the control unit 104 may register information indicating that it is a verification target in the work report DB 116 in association with the already registered work report. The work report marked as a verification target in these forms is later verified by the administrator, and measures are taken according to the verification result.

[0078] Furthermore, the control unit 104 may send a warning notification to the administrator in the error processing of S26, similar to the case of S14. This warning notification includes, in addition to the information included in the warning notification issued in the error processing of S14, information identifying the work report already registered in the work report DB 116 for the customer who is the subject of the work report acquired in S10. The administrator who receives the warning notification accesses the work report that has become a problem this time, the already registered work reports for the same customer, and the information of the worker using the information included in the warning notification, and takes necessary measures considering those information.

[0079] The process performed in S26 is an example of control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data in the work report is invalid.

[0080] Through the process of S26, a series of processes related to the work report obtained in S10 are completed.

[0081] In the processing procedure of this embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the processes of S22 to S26 are performed for the following reasons, for example.

[0082] That is, in this embodiment, when the characteristics of the handwritten signature entered in the signature column of the work report do not match the characteristics of the handwriting of the worker registered in the worker DB108, the customer is tentatively determined to have written the handwritten signature. For this reason, if a worker intentionally changes their handwriting so that they don't know it's their own handwriting and enters the customer's name, the entry will be tentatively determined to be the customer's signature. However, even if a worker successfully forges the customer's signature on the work report by changing their handwriting in this way, it is extremely difficult to forge the customer's signature with the same handwriting as the previous time for the next work report for the same customer. It can be said that it is almost impossible to remember how the handwriting was changed last time and reproduce it next time.

[0083] Therefore, in the procedure of FIG. 5, for the second and subsequent work reports for the same customer, it is determined whether the handwritten signature in the work report matches the handwritten signature included in the previous work report for the customer targeted by the work report (see S22 in FIG. 5). And if the determination result of "does not match" is obtained in this determination, it is determined that at least one of the handwritten signatures of the current work report or the previous work report is invalid as the signature of the customer (see S26). Conversely, if the determination result of S22 is "matches", it can be said that the probability that the handwritten signatures in the current and previous work reports are both those of the customer himself is high, so the status of the customer signature data of that customer in the customer DB112 is set to "confirmed" (see S24).

[0084] The processing procedure shown in FIG. 5 is merely exemplary, and various modifications are conceivable within the scope of the present invention. For example, for customers whose customer signature data has become "confirmed" in S24, the determination in S12 may be omitted, and the handwritten signature in the signature column of the work report may be directly collated with the customer signature data of the corresponding customer in the customer DB112. In this case, after acquiring the work report in S10, the control unit 104 first searches the customer DB112 for the signature status corresponding to the customer ID included in the work report. If the searched signature status is blank or "provisional", the procedure after S12 in FIG. 5 is executed. On the other hand, if the signature status is "confirmed", instead of the procedure after S12, it is determined whether the handwritten signature in the work report matches the customer signature data in the customer DB112. If it matches, the work report is registered in the work report DB116. If it does not match, it is determined that the handwritten signature in the work report is invalid as that of the customer, and error processing is executed.

[0085] Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a modification example of the above embodiment will be described.

[0086] The work report management system 100a illustrated in FIG. 6 is obtained by replacing the handwriting determination unit 106 in the work report management system 100 shown in FIG. 1 with a handwriting determination NN (neural network) 120.

[0087] The handwriting determination NN120 is a neural network that determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the input handwritten signature data match the characteristics of the handwriting of the worker.

[0088] In one example of the configuration of the handwriting determination NN120, a handwriting determination NN120 is prepared for each worker belonging to the service provider. In this example, when handwritten signature data is input, the handwriting determination NN120 corresponding to a certain worker outputs a determination result as to whether or not the characteristics of the handwriting of the handwritten signature data match the characteristics of the handwriting of that worker. This handwriting determination NN120 performs learning using the handwritten characters of a large number of people including that worker as input. In this learning, for example, teacher data having a value indicating "match" is associated with the input of the handwritten characters of that worker and given to the NN, and teacher data having a value indicating "non-match" is associated with the input of the handwritten characters of people other than that worker and given to the NN. Then, if the output of the NN for the input handwritten characters matches the teacher data, positive feedback is given, and if it does not match, negative feedback is given to train the NN. As a method for training the NN, a known method may be used. Note that, as the handwritten characters of people other than that worker, for example, the handwritten character data of other workers belonging to the service provider may be used.

[0089] In this configuration example, when the control unit 104 receives a work report from the data reception unit 102, for example, it performs the following control. That is, the control unit 104 inputs the handwritten signature data in the work report to the handwriting determination NN120 corresponding to the worker who created the work report. The handwriting determination NN120 outputs a value of "match" or "non-match" in response to the input. If the output value is "match", it means that the characteristics of the handwriting of the handwritten signature data match the characteristics of the handwriting of that worker, and if it is "non-match", it means that the characteristics of the handwriting of the handwritten signature data do not match the characteristics of the handwriting of that worker. Thereby, it is determined whether or not the characteristics of the handwriting of the handwritten signature data in the work report match the characteristics of the handwriting of the worker who created the work report.

[0090] In another example of the control by the control unit 104 in this configuration example, the handwritten signature data in the received work report is input to the handwriting determination NN120 corresponding to each worker. If the handwritten signature data was filled in by any of the workers, the handwriting determination NN120 corresponding to that worker outputs a value indicating "match". The control unit 104 determines that the worker corresponding to the handwriting determination NN120 that outputs a value indicating "match" filled in the handwritten signature indicated by the handwritten signature data. In this example, even if a worker other than the worker who created the work report filled in the handwritten signature, the fact can be detected.

[0091] In another configuration example, a single handwriting determination NN120 is made to learn the handwriting characteristics of each worker. In one example, the handwriting determination NN120 is configured to receive handwritten signature data as input and output information (for example, worker ID) identifying the worker having handwriting characteristics that match the handwritten data. For example, in the learning of the handwriting determination NN120 in this example, a large number of pairs of handwritten character data and information identifying the worker who filled in the handwritten character are prepared as learning data. Among the pairs, the handwritten character data is used as input data, and the information identifying the worker is used as teacher data and given to the handwriting determination NN120. The handwriting determination NN120 performs learning according to a known learning algorithm so as to reduce the error between its own output for the given input data and the teacher data.

[0092] Also, as another example, the handwriting determination NN120 may be configured to output, for the input handwritten signature data, the probability that each worker filled in the handwritten signature data. In the handwriting determination NN120 of this example, for instance, when there are three workers A, B, and C, for the input handwritten signature data, it outputs the probability that the handwritten signature data was written by worker A, the probability that it was written by worker B, and the probability that it was written by worker C. The control unit 104 extracts, from among the probabilities corresponding to each worker output by the handwriting determination NN120, those that are equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, and determines the worker corresponding to the highest probability among them as the person who wrote the signature corresponding to the handwritten signature data. The threshold used here is set to a value of a sufficiently high probability that allows for a determination that the handwritten signature was written by the worker. Similar to the above example, the handwriting determination NN120 of this example may use the handwritten character data as input data and perform learning using the information identifying the worker as teacher data.

[0093] The handwriting determination NN120 is an example of holding means for holding feature information indicating the characteristics of the handwriting of the worker, and is also an example of determination means for determining, using the feature information, whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the input handwritten signature data match the characteristics of the handwriting of the worker.

[0094] In the example of using the handwriting determination NN120, since the information on the characteristics of the handwriting of each worker is implicitly held in the handwriting determination NN120, there is no need to separately prepare a DB storing the characteristics of the handwriting of each worker.

[0095] The handwriting determination NN120 described above is used in place of the handwriting determination unit 106 in S12 of the processing procedure in FIG. 5.

[0096] As described above, the work report management system 100 of the present embodiment determines whether the handwriting of the handwritten signature in the signature column where the customer's signature should be entered is the handwriting of a pre-registered worker. When it is determined that the handwriting of the handwritten signature in the signature column matches the handwriting of the worker, the work report management system 100 determines that the handwritten signature is invalid and performs predetermined error processing such as notifying the administrator that there is a problem with the customer's signature. According to such a method, even if the customer's handwritten signature is not registered in advance, it is possible to detect if a worker forges the customer's handwritten signature.

[0097] Next, with reference to FIG. 7, an example of using the location information of the mobile terminal 300 associated with the work report for control will be described.

[0098] In the framework of obtaining a confirmation signature from the customer for a work report regarding work at the customer's facility, the creation of the work report and the signature in the signature column are usually performed at the customer's facility. Therefore, in the procedure of FIG. 7, it is determined whether the location of the mobile terminal 300 at the time when the registration operation of the work report or the entry of the signature on the work report is performed matches the customer's address. If it does not match, the signature is regarded as forged. For this determination, the procedure of FIG. 7 inserts S30 between S12 and S16 in the procedure of FIG. 5. To avoid complexity, the illustration of each step after S14 and S16 is omitted. For the omitted steps, refer to FIG. 5.

[0099] In the procedure of FIG. 7, when the control unit 104 determines in S12 that the handwritten signature in the work report does not match the handwriting of the worker who created the work report, the control unit 104 executes the process of S30. In S30, the control unit 104 determines whether the position indicated by the position information sent from the mobile terminal 300 along with the work report matches the address of the customer targeted by the work report. More specifically, the control unit 104 searches the customer DB112 for information on the position (for example, latitude and longitude) of the customer's address, and determines whether that position is within a predetermined error range with respect to the position indicated by the position information received from the mobile terminal 300. If it is within the error range, the determination result of S30 is Yes; otherwise, it is No. The position information attached to the work report indicates, in one example, the position of the mobile terminal 300 at the time when the work report is registered from the mobile terminal 300 to the work report management system 100, and in another example, the position of the mobile terminal 300 at the time when the customer signs the work report.

[0100] If the determination result of S30 is Yes, from the perspective of the location where the work report is registered or the handwritten signature is entered, there is no problem with the handwritten signature in the work report. In this case, the control unit 104 executes the processes after S16.

[0101] On the other hand, if the determination result of S30 is No, it means that the registration of the work report or the entry of the handwritten signature is not performed at the customer's facility. In this case, that handwritten signature is considered not to be the correct signature written by the customer. That is, the control unit 104 proceeds to S14 and executes the error processing exemplified above.

[0102] For example, consider a situation where a worker fabricates a work report without going to the customer's facility and asks an acquaintance of the worker to sign the work report on behalf of the customer. In such a case, it is unthinkable that the worker would go to the customer's facility with that acquaintance and have the acquaintance sign the work report, which would be too much trouble.

[0103] In this case, in the procedure of FIG. 5, the result of the determination in S12 becomes No, and the signature is regarded as that of the customer. On the other hand, in the procedure of FIG. 7, in such a case, even if the result of the determination in S12 becomes No, further forgery of such a signature is detected in the determination in S30, and the error processing in S14 is performed.

[0104] The procedures of FIGS. 5 and 7 illustrated above were executed when a work report was sent from the worker's mobile terminal 300, but this is just an example. For example, in another example, when a work report is sent from the mobile terminal 300, the work report management system 100 simply stores the work report in a provisional storage location, for example. Then, by batch processing at a predetermined timing thereafter, the steps after S12 of FIG. 5 or FIG. 7 are executed for each work report stored in the provisional storage location.

[0105] The work report management system 100 or the mobile terminal 300 of the above embodiment is configured using, for example, a general-purpose computer. This computer has, for example, a circuit configuration in which a processor 1002, a memory (main storage device) 1004 such as a random access memory (RAM), a controller that controls an auxiliary storage device 1006 which is a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, an SSD (solid state drive), or an HDD (hard disk drive), an interface with various input / output devices 1008, and a network interface 1010 that controls connection to a network such as a local area network are connected via a data transmission path such as a bus 1012. A program describing the content of the processing of the above embodiment is installed in the computer via a network or the like and stored in the auxiliary storage device 1006. The work report management system 100 or the mobile terminal 300 of the present embodiment is configured by the program stored in the auxiliary storage device 1006 being executed by the processor 1002 using the memory 1004.

[0106] Typically, the processor 1002 is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). However, this is merely an example. The processor 1002 may be a dedicated processor. Examples of dedicated processors include a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The operations performed by the processor 1002 are not limited to those performed in the order shown in FIGS. 5 and 7.

[0107] A single work report management system 100 may be configured by a plurality of computers that can communicate with each other working together. In this case, a collection of processors included in the plurality of computers may be considered as a processor in the broad sense that is responsible for information processing of the work report management system 100.

[0108] In the above example, the subject for which a customer's handwritten signature is to be written is a work report, but the method of the above embodiment can be applied to anything other than a work report as long as it requires a customer's handwritten signature. [Explanation of symbols]

[0109] 100 Work report management system, 102 Data reception unit, 104 Control unit, 106 Handwriting determination unit, 108 Worker DB, 110 Customer signature determination unit, 112 Customer DB, 114 Registration unit, 116 Work report DB, 200 Network, 300 Mobile terminal

Claims

1. Holding means for holding feature information indicating the characteristics of the handwriting of each operator; Determination means for determining, using the feature information, whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature match the characteristics of the operator's handwriting; Control means for executing control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid when the determination means determines that they match; An information processing apparatus comprising the above.

2. The control means executes control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is valid when the determination means determines that they do not match. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that.

3. The control means, when the determination means determines that they do not match, if the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is input for the first time as that of the customer, stores the handwritten signature data in the storage means as the customer's provisional handwritten signature data, when the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is input for the second time as that of the customer, if the handwritten signature data matches the customer's provisional handwritten signature data stored in the storage means, changes the provisional handwritten signature data in the storage means to the customer's confirmed handwritten signature data, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The control means, when the determination means determines that they do not match, if the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature does not match the customer's provisional handwritten signature data stored in the storage means, executes control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.

5. The control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is valid is a process of registering the document data input in association with the handwritten signature data in a database. The control means, When the determination means determines non - conformity, and when the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature does not conform to the provisional handwritten signature data of the customer stored in the storage means, execute a process for making the document data registered in the database when the handwritten signature data was first input as the customer's signature the object of verification. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4.

6. The control means When the verified handwritten signature data of the customer is stored in the storage means, omit the determination by the determination means, and collate the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature with the verified handwritten signature data of the customer. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that.

7. Means for storing address information indicating the customer's address, Means for acquiring information on the input position of the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature, and further includes The control means Even when the determination means determines non - conformity, if the input position does not conform to the address indicated by the address information, execute control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that.

8. A computer determines whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature match the characteristics of the handwriting of an operator, using the characteristic information indicating the characteristics of the handwriting of each operator held by the holding means. When it is determined that they match, execute control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid. A method characterized by that.

9. On a computer, Cause the computer to determine whether the characteristics of the handwriting indicated by the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature match the characteristics of the handwriting of an operator, using the characteristic information indicating the characteristics of the handwriting of each operator held by the holding means. When it is determined that they match, cause the computer to execute control corresponding to the case where the handwritten signature data input as the customer's signature is invalid. A program characterized by that.

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