Web conferencing system, email monitoring device and telephone control device

Abstract

To enable a person who is scheduled to participate in a web conference to be easily called by means other than the web conference when the person who is scheduled to participate in the web conference does not come to the web conference.SOLUTION: A telephone control device 6 stores contact information in which an electronic mail address of a prospective participant is associated with the telephone number of the other party in an employee contact desk DB 605 and a telephone directory DB 606. A conference information acquisition unit 621 acquires conference information from a UTM device 3, a conference phone book creation unit 622 creates a conference phone book from the acquired conference information and the contact information stored in its own device, and a conference phone providing unit 623 provides it to the extension phone of the prospective participant and makes it available.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a Web conference system that uses communication terminals such as PCs (Personal Computers) to hold conferences over the Internet, and to devices used in the system. [Background technology]

[0002] Web conferencing, in which participants in different locations hold a conference via the Internet using communication terminals such as PCs and tablet PCs, is widely used. Web conferencing is a system in which audio from a microphone built into or connected to a communication terminal and video from a camera are transmitted to a conference server via the Internet, and participants share this information using their own communication terminals, thereby holding a real-time conference. As disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 described below, various improvements have been made to web conferencing to make it easier for a variety of users to use.

[0003] When holding a web conference, the person convening the conference sends a meeting notification specifying the date and time to the participants by email in advance, and the conference body is formed on that date and time, and the conference can be held. During the web conference, a so-called conference app can be used to view a list of the members and participants who have been invited, and members who have not yet joined (prospective participants) can be individually called from within the web conference. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Application No. 2010-282596 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] As mentioned above, if a member (scheduled participant) is not yet participating in a web conference when the conference start time arrives, they can be individually called via the conference app. However, there are many cases where members who are not participating in the web conference do not respond when called via the same method, i.e., the web conference. For this reason, some callers use alternative methods such as phone or email, but finding a phone number or email address is cumbersome, and if the meeting organizer calls them, it disrupts the start and progress of the meeting.

[0006] For this reason, the convener may ask other participants to make calls on their behalf, but in many cases, no one other than the convener knows the non-attending members, and even if they try to find their phone number or email address, they often cannot find it because they do not know their affiliation or full name. In this case, the convener ends up giving their phone number or email address to the other participants they have asked to make calls on their behalf, which causes problems for the meeting.

[0007] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily call a participant who has been invited to a web conference but does not attend the web conference through a means other than the web conference, if the participant is also a participant of the web conference. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, the web conferencing system of the invention described in claim 1 is: A web conference system comprising: a mail monitoring device connected to one or more information processing devices and connected to an IP (Internet Protocol) network; a telephone control device connected to a wide area telephone network and connected to a plurality of extension telephone terminals to form an extension telephone system; The mail monitoring device a conference participation request extraction means for monitoring emails sent from the subordinate information processing devices connected to the own device and extracting emails requesting participation in a Web conference; a participant identification information extraction means for extracting participant identification information for identifying participants who are scheduled to attend the Web conference from the information included in the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information extraction means for extracting at least conference identification information and a conference date and time of the Web conference from the information included in the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information providing means for forming conference information including the extracted prospective participant specifying information, the conference identification information, and the date and time of the conference, and providing the information to the telephone control device; Equipped with The telephone control device a contact information storage means for storing contact information in which the contact person specifying information corresponding to the prospective participant specifying information is associated with the telephone number of the contact person; a conference information acquisition means for acquiring the conference information provided by the mail monitoring device; a conference phone book creation means for creating a conference phone book that associates the participants of the Web conference with their telephone numbers based on the conference information acquired by the conference information acquisition means and the contact information in the contact storage means; a conference phone book providing means for making the conference phone book created by the conference phone book creating means available through the extension telephone terminals of the prospective participants of the Web conference; The present invention is characterized by comprising:

[0009] According to the Web conference system of the invention described in claim 1, the email monitoring device uses the conference participation request extraction means to monitor sent emails and extract emails requesting participation in a Web conference. The planned participant extraction means extracts planned participant identification information from the emails extracted by the participation request extraction means, and the event information extraction means extracts information such as conference identification information and the date and time of the event from the emails extracted by the participation request extraction means. The conference information providing means forms conference information including the extracted planned participant identification information, conference identification information, date and time of the event, etc., and provides it to the telephone control device.

[0010] The telephone control device stores and holds, in a contact storage means, contact information that associates destination identification information corresponding to prospective participant identification information with the telephone numbers of the destinations. The conference information acquisition means acquires conference information provided from the mail monitoring device. The conference phone book creation means creates a conference phone book from the acquired conference information and the contact information stored and held in the device, and the conference phone providing means makes this available through the extension telephone terminals of prospective participants. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to this invention, a conference phone book containing the telephone numbers of the participants of a web conference is created and made available through the extension telephone terminals of the participants. As a result, if a participant who was invited to the web conference does not show up, the participant of the web conference can easily contact the non-participant by telephone, which is a means separate from the web conference, and encourage them to join the web conference. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a Web conference system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a UTM device according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a telephone control device according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in an employee contact DB (Data Base) of the telephone control device. FIG. [Figure 5] 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of data stored in a telephone directory DB (Data Base) of the telephone control device. FIG. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of conference information provided from a UTM device to a telephone control device and an example of conference phone book data stored in a conference phone book folder of the telephone control device. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an extension telephone according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of a display of a conference telephone directory displayed on a display of an extension telephone. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process from conference reservation to conference phone book creation performed in the Web conference system according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process for providing a created conference telephone directory. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of the process of providing the created conference telephone directory. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the configuration of the telephone control device according to the embodiment. [Figure 13] 13 is a sequence diagram for explaining the processing performed in the Web conference system including the telephone control device of FIG. 12. [Figure 14] 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of the processing performed in the Web conference system including the telephone control device of FIG. 12. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the system and device according to the present invention will be described. In the embodiments described below, a Web conferencing system according to the present invention will be described using an example in which the system is configured in a company office. The Web conferencing system is configured using a mail monitoring device and a telephone control device according to the present invention.

[0014] [Web conferencing system configuration example] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a Web conferencing system according to an embodiment. In Figure 1, a wide area network 7 shown in the center includes an external telephone network 71 and an IP (Internet Protocol) network 72. The external telephone network 71 includes a public switched telephone network, a mobile phone network, etc., and primarily provides voice communication services. The IP network 72 refers to a computer network interconnected using Internet Protocol Suite technology, and is equivalent to the so-called "Internet."

[0015] A LAN system is formed by connecting a plurality of PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... to a UTM (Unified Threat Management) device 3 connected to an IP network 72 via a LAN (Local Area Network) 2. The UTM device 3 efficiently and comprehensively protects the LAN system formed within a company from threats such as computer viruses and hacking, and is also called a unified threat management device. In this embodiment, the UTM device 3 functions as a mail monitoring device.

[0016] Each of PC1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... can access web pages stored on a web server provided on the IP network 72 via the UTM device 3, and can send / receive e-mails via the IP network 72. Also, each of PC1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... can access a conference server provided on the IP network 72 via the UTM device 3 to set up a web conference or participate in a set up web conference. In other words, each of PC1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... is an information processing device equipped with communication functions.

[0017] A telephone control device 6, which is connected to an external telephone network 71 and an IP network 72, is connected to multiple internal telephone terminals (hereinafter referred to as internal telephones) 4(1), 4(2), 4(3), ... via an internal telephone network 5, to form a business phone system. The telephone control device 6 controls connections between internal and external lines and connections within the internal lines. In other words, the telephone control device 6 is connected to multiple internal telephones 4(1), 4(2), 4(3), ..., and performs so-called call control, such as connecting, disconnecting, and transferring communications between internal and external lines and within the internal lines. The telephone control device 6 is also connected to the IP network 72 because it enables the use of IP telephone services using VoIP technology through the IP network 72.

[0018] In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, the UTM device 3 and telephone control device 6 are connected via a LAN 2, and can send and receive data between them. This makes it possible for the UTM device 3 to provide conference information related to a Web conference to the telephone control device 6, as will be described in detail later. In Fig. 1, the UTM device 3 and telephone control device 6 are connected via the LAN 2, but it is of course also possible to connect the UTM device 3 and telephone control device 6 directly.

[0019] Each of PC1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... and extension telephones 4(1), 4(2), 4(3), ... is installed on a desk in a company office. As shown in FIG. 1, for example, PC1(1) and extension telephone 4(1) are placed on the desk of Mr. A in the sales department on the first floor. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, PC1(2) and extension telephone 4(2) are placed on the desk of Mr. B in the planning department on the second floor, and PC1(3) and extension telephone 4(3) are placed on the desk of Mr. C in the development department on the third floor. That is, in this embodiment, PC1(1) and extension telephone 4(1), PC1(2) and extension telephone 4(2), and PC1(3) and extension telephone 4(3) are located in the same company but in different locations, such as on different floors, where they cannot have a face-to-face conversation.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, wide area network 7 is connected to PC 9(1) and fixed telephone terminal 10(1) via router 8(1), and to mobile phone terminal 11(1) via base station BS. Similarly, wide area network 7 is connected to PC 9(2) and fixed telephone terminal 10(2) via router 8(2), and to mobile phone terminal 11(2) via base station BS. In Figure 1, base station BS is shown as a representative of the many base stations of the mobile phone network installed in various locations to prevent the creation of areas where communication is unavailable.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1, PC9(1) and fixed telephone terminal 10(1) are installed and used, for example, at the company of a person in charge of a business partner, and mobile phone terminal 11(1) is owned by the person in charge of the business partner. PC9(2) and fixed telephone terminal 10(2) are installed in the home of Mr. C in the company's development department, and mobile phone terminal 11(2) is owned by Mr. C in the development department. Here, Mr. C in the development department is also a person who uses PC1(3) and extension telephone 4(3) in the company office where the Web conferencing system of this embodiment is installed.

[0022] In the network system shown in FIG. 1, a user can set up a web conference by accessing a predetermined conference server on IP network 72 using a predetermined conference app via PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), 9(1), and 9(2). Of course, a user can also participate in a web conference that they set up via PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), 9(1), and 9(2). Furthermore, if a user is invited (requested to participate) in a web conference set up on the conference server, they can participate in the web conference via PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), 9(1), and 9(2). Being invited to a web conference means, for example, that the user has been notified of the web conference's URL (Uniform Resource Locator), conference ID, and password via email and is now able to use these to participate in the web conference.

[0023] Therefore, when participating in a set up Web conference, PCs 1(1), 1(2), and 1(3) will access the conference server on IP network 72 via LAN 2 and UTM device 3. Also, PC 9(1) will access the conference server on IP network 72 via router 8(1), and PC 9(2) will access the conference server on IP network 72 via router 8(2).

[0024] In the web conferencing system configured as shown in Figure 1, for example, suppose that Person A from the Sales Department sets up and holds a web conference with Person B from the Planning Department and Person C from the Development Department as participants. In this case, suppose that Person C from the Development Department is the only person who has not joined the web conference, even when the scheduled date and time for the web conference has passed. Generally, Person A from the Sales Department, who set up the web conference, can use a specific conference app from PC1(1) to access the conference server on IP network 72 via LAN2 and UTM device 3, and call Person C from the Development Department through Person C's PC1(3). However, if Person C from the Development Department is not using PC1(3) or is not at his or her desk, calling Person C via the same route as the route for the web conference is meaningless.

[0025] Therefore, in the Web conference system of this embodiment, the UTM device 3 functions as a mail monitoring device. The UTM device 3 monitors emails sent from its subordinate PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... and extracts emails requesting participation in a Web conference. The UTM device 3 collects information identifying the people scheduled to attend the Web conference (participating members) and information such as the date and time of the conference from the extracted emails, forms conference information including these, and provides it to the telephone control device 6 via the LAN 2.

[0026] The telephone control device 6 uses the contact information it holds and the conference information from the UTM device 3 to create a conference phone book containing the telephone numbers of those scheduled to attend the web conference, and makes this available to the extension phones of participants currently attending the web conference. This allows participants in the web conference to easily call non-participants and encourage them to join the web conference, even if they do not know the telephone numbers of those who have not yet joined. In other words, it makes it easy to make phone calls via a telephone route different from the route used for the web conference.

[0027] Below, we will explain the configuration and operation of the UTM device 3, telephone control device 6, and internal telephones 4(1), 4(2), and 4(3) that make up the Web conferencing system of this embodiment. The internal telephones 4(1), 4(2), and 4(3) basically have the same configuration. Therefore, unless a distinction is required, when explaining the common configuration and operation, the internal telephones 4(1), 4(2), and 4(3) will be collectively referred to as internal telephone 4. PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), 9(1), and 9(2) can be commercially available, so we will omit explanations of their configuration examples and will collectively refer to them as PC1 and PC9, except when a distinction is required.

[0028] Furthermore, as fixed telephone terminals 10(1) and 10(2) can be commercially available, explanations of their configuration examples will be omitted, and unless otherwise required, they will be referred to collectively as fixed telephone 10. Similarly, as mobile telephone terminals 11(1) and 11(2) can be commercially available, explanations of their configuration examples will be omitted, and unless otherwise required, they will be referred to collectively as mobile telephone terminal 11.

[0029] [Configuration example of UTM device 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a UTM device 3 according to an embodiment. The UTM device 3 functions as a mail monitoring device in a Web conference system. The connection end 301T of the UTM device 3 constitutes the connection end to the IP network 72. The communication I / F 301 converts data sent to the UTM device via the IP network 72 into data in a format that can be processed by the device and imports the data. The communication I / F 301 also converts data to be sent from the device into data in a format for sending and transmits the data to the intended recipient via the IP network 72. Therefore, communication with a server device or the like connected to the IP network 72 is performed via the connection end 301T and the communication I / F 301.

[0030] The control unit 302, although not shown, is a microprocessor configured by connecting a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and non-volatile memory via a bus, and realizes the function of controlling each unit of the UTM device 3. The storage device 303 is a device unit consisting of a recording medium such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) and its driver, and records, reads, modifies, and deletes various data from the recording medium. In addition to storing and retaining necessary data and programs, the storage device 303 is also used as a working area for temporarily storing intermediate data generated in various processes. The clock circuit 304 can provide the current date, current day of the week, and current time, and can also realize a timer function for measuring a specified time range.

[0031] The LAN connection terminal 305T constitutes a connection terminal to LAN2. The LAN I / F (interface) 305 converts data sent from a subordinate terminal device to itself via LAN2 into data in a format that can be processed by itself and imports the data. The LAN I / F 305 also converts data to be sent from itself to a subordinate terminal device into data in a format for transmission, and transmits the data to the target terminal device via LAN2. Therefore, communication with subordinate terminal devices connected to LAN2 is performed via the LAN connection terminal 305T and LAN I / F 305.

[0032] 2, security function unit 310 is made up of P2P countermeasure unit 311, HP access control unit 312, antivirus unit 313, email countermeasure unit 314, IPS / IDS unit 315, and firewall unit 316. P2P countermeasure unit 311 implements the function of prohibiting P2P connections with parties that do not implement security measures or with malicious parties. Note that "P2P" stands for "Peer to Peer," meaning that equal parties communicate directly with each other over the Internet. The function of P2P countermeasure unit 311 implements functions such as preventing one-to-one file exchanges, such as image files, with problematic parties, and preventing virus infection from the other party.

[0033] The HP (Home Page) access control unit 312, for example, realizes a function of prohibiting access to homepages that fall into a desired category by selecting the desired homepage category in advance. For example, it is possible to filter URLs to inappropriate sites such as gambling sites, adult sites, and drug-related sites. The antivirus unit 313 verifies the response of web pages (virus checks). Specifically, the antivirus unit 313 realizes a function of monitoring communications when browsing web pages and verifying (checking) whether images to be viewed or files to be downloaded contain viruses.

[0034] The mail countermeasure unit 314 implements a function to block received e-mails containing unwanted advertisements or viruses. The IPS / IDS unit 315 implements a function to prevent inappropriate intrusions and notify users of such inappropriate intrusions. Here, IPS stands for Intrusion Prevention System, and IDS stands for Intrusion Detection System. The IPS / IDS unit 315 can defend against attacks by so-called malware such as worms and Trojan horses. The firewall unit 316 determines whether to supply data to LAN2 based on the data communication status, the software used, etc., and implements a function to protect the system from attacks and unauthorized access from external networks.

[0035] 2, the Web conference countermeasures unit 320 is made up of a conference participation request extraction unit 321, a prospective participant identification information extraction unit 322, a conference information extraction unit 323, and a conference information provision unit 324. The conference participation request extraction unit 321 monitors outgoing emails sent to the IP network 72 from subordinate PCs 1(1), 1(2), 1(3), ... connected via LAN 2, and extracts emails requesting participation in a Web conference. Note that emails requesting participation in a Web conference extracted by the conference participation request extraction unit 321 are not prevented from being sent to the recipient. The conference participation request extraction unit 321 simply extracts the desired emails; even the extracted emails are sent to the IP network 72 via the communication I / F 301 and connection terminal 301T as usual, and are then sent to the recipient (destination).

[0036] An email requesting participation in a web conference includes, in a predetermined location, predetermined information such as a URL, conference ID, and password for participating in the web conference. An email requesting participation in a web conference may also include a title such as "Request to Participate in Web Conference" or text data (email text) requesting participation in the web conference. Therefore, the conference participation request extraction unit 321 extracts emails requesting participation in a web conference based on the presence or absence of the predetermined information and by analyzing the content of the title and email body. Of course, this is not a limitation. If specific information specific to emails requesting participation in a web conference is present, emails requesting participation in a web conference may be extracted based on the presence or absence of the specific information, or by taking into consideration the presence or absence of the specific information.

[0037] The planned participant identification information extraction unit 322 extracts planned participant identification information that identifies planned participants in the Web conference to be held from the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction unit 321. The sender of an email requesting participation in a Web conference is the person who sets up the Web conference and requests participation in the Web conference, and the recipient is the person who is requested to participate in the Web conference. Therefore, in this embodiment, the planned participant identification information extraction unit 322 extracts the email address of the sender (from) of the extracted email and the email address of the recipient (to) of the email as planned participant identification information.

[0038] Note that Web conferences may be scheduled on different days or at different times with the same organizer, or one person may participate in multiple Web conferences. Therefore, the participant identification information extraction unit 322 is designed to extract just the right amount of participant identification information for each scheduled Web conference. The participant identification information extraction unit 322 can identify each Web conference, for example, based on the sender and the date and time of the conference, which are included in an email requesting participation in the Web conference, or based on the conference ID and participation URL, which are information unique to each Web conference.

[0039] The event information extraction unit 323 performs processing to extract event information, such as the date and time of a Web conference to be held, from the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction unit 321. In addition to the date and time of the Web conference, the event information extraction unit 323 extracts various information, such as the scheduled end date and time, the URL required to participate in the Web conference, the conference ID (conference identification information), and the password. Note that, as described above, the information required to participate in the Web conference, such as the URL, conference ID, and password, can also be used as information to identify the Web conference.

[0040] The conference information providing unit 324 forms conference information from information such as the email addresses of the prospective participants extracted by the prospective participant identification information extraction unit 322 and the date and time of the Web conference extracted by the conference information extraction unit 323, and provides this information to the telephone control device 6. The conference information formed by the conference information providing unit 324 is sent to the LAN 2 via the LAN I / F 305 and the LAN connection terminal 305T, and provided to the telephone control device 6.

[0041] In this way, the Web conference countermeasure unit 320 of the UTM device 3 has a function of forming conference information related to the Web conference and notifying the telephone control device 6 when a Web conference is set up via a subordinate PC1(1) or the like and an email requesting participation in the Web conference is sent. The conference information formed by the conference information providing unit 324 and provided to the telephone control device 6 includes information on the expected participants and the date and time of the conference, allowing the telephone control device 6 to know when the Web conference will be held and who will participate. Details of the conference information formed by the conference information providing unit 324 and provided to the telephone control device 6 will be described later.

[0042] [Configuration example of telephone control device 6] 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the telephone control device 6 according to an embodiment. The connection terminal 601T constitutes a connection terminal to the external telephone network 71. The communication I / F 601 is a part that performs communication processing via the external telephone network 71. That is, the communication I / F 601 converts a signal addressed to the device itself, which is transmitted via the external telephone network 71, into a signal in a format that can be processed by the device itself, and then receives the converted signal. The communication I / F 601 also converts a signal to be transmitted from the device itself to a destination in a format for transmission, and sends the converted signal to the external telephone network 71 to transmit it to the destination.

[0043] The control unit 602 is a microprocessor equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, non-volatile memory, etc. (not shown), and controls each unit of the telephone control device 6. The storage device 603 is a device unit consisting of a recording medium such as an SSD and its driver, and records, modifies, deletes, and reads various data. In addition to storing and holding necessary data and programs, the storage device 603 is also used as a work area for temporarily storing intermediate data generated in various processes. The clock circuit 604 can provide the current date, current day of the week, and current time, and can also realize a timer function for measuring a specified time range.

[0044] The employee contact DB 605 stores and holds information about the contact information of employees of the company in which the Web conferencing system of this embodiment is configured. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in the employee contact DB 605 of the telephone control device 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the employee contact DB 605 stores and holds the names, furigana readings of the names, departments, email addresses, company telephone numbers, extension numbers, mobile phone numbers, and home telephone numbers of people who belong to the company (employees of the company). The departments are information that indicates which department a person belongs to, such as the sales department, planning department, or development department, and in practice, it is possible to manage detailed departments, such as XX Headquarters XX Department △△ Section.

[0045] The email address, company phone number, extension number, mobile phone number, and home phone number indicate the email address and phone number that can be used to contact the employee. For example, employee "Aoyama Ichiro" belongs to the "Sales Department," and the employee's email address, company phone number, extension number, mobile phone number, and home phone number can be identified. As can be seen from Figure 4, by referencing the employee contact DB 605 based on the email address, it is possible to identify not only the name but also the company phone number, extension number, mobile phone number, and home phone number.

[0046] The company telephone number is usually the main telephone number of the company, but there may be telephone numbers assigned to each department, in which case the telephone numbers assigned to each department are recorded. Also, the example of data stored in employee contact DB 605 explained using Figure 4 is merely an example, and it is of course possible to manage various information such as addresses, actual companies to which employees belong, such as parent companies and subsidiaries.

[0047] The telephone directory DB 606 stores and holds information about contact information of people who are frequently called by users of the business phone system shown in FIG. 1 through the extension telephones 4(1), 4(2), 4(3), .... FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of data stored in the telephone directory DB of the telephone control device. As shown in FIG. 5, the telephone directory DB 606 contains the extension number of the extension telephone 4 used to register the telephone directory data, and the name of the registrant, who is the employee who registered the telephone directory data. This information is used to manage who is registering and using the data. In other words, the registered data in the telephone directory DB 606 is basically used by the registrant through the extension telephone 4 that registered it.

[0048] Furthermore, the telephone directory DB 606 stores and holds the name of the other party, the reading of the name of the other party, the company name, the department to which the other party belongs, the email address, the company telephone number, the extension number, the mobile phone number, and other information. The company name is the name of the company to which the other party belongs, and the department is the name of the department to which the other party belongs. The email address, the company telephone number, the extension number, and the mobile phone number are email addresses and telephone numbers that can be used when contacting the other party.

[0049] For example, "Taro Suzuki," a frequent caller, belongs to the "Sales Department" of "△△△ Corporation," and the caller's email address, company telephone number, extension number, and mobile phone number can be identified. As can be seen from FIG. 5, by referring to the telephone directory DB 606 based on the email address, not only the name but also the company telephone number, extension number, and mobile phone number can be identified. Note that the example of data stored in the telephone directory DB 606 described with reference to FIG. 5 is merely an example, and it is of course possible to manage various information, such as the address of the company to which the caller belongs. Furthermore, while the telephone directory DB 606 basically stores and holds information about callers who make external calls, it is also possible to register and use callers who make internal calls.

[0050] As described above, the conference phone book folder 607 stores and holds conference phone book data (conference phone book file) that is created based on information identifying a Web conference grasped from the conference information provided by the UTM device 3 and information identifying the expected participants of the Web conference. The conference phone book data is created by the conference call countermeasure unit 620, which will be described later, and registered in the conference phone book folder 607. Therefore, details of the data stored in the conference phone book DB 606 will be explained together with the explanation of the conference call countermeasure unit 620.

[0051] The connection terminal 608T constitutes a connection terminal to the internal telephone network 5. The connection I / F (Interface) 608 enables communication between the telephone control device 6 and each of the internal telephones 4 accommodated in the telephone control device 6 via the internal telephone network 5. Therefore, signals from the internal telephones 4 are converted into signals in a format that can be processed by the connection I / F 608 and then taken in. Furthermore, signals from the telephone control device 6 to the internal telephones 4 are converted into signals in a format for transmission by the connection I / F 608 and then sent to the internal telephones 4.

[0052] The LAN connection terminal 609T constitutes a connection terminal to the LAN 2. The LAN I / F (Interface) 609 enables communication between the telephone control device 6 and the UTM device 3 via the LAN 2. Therefore, signals from the telephone control device 6 to the UTM device 3 are converted by the LAN I / F 609 into signals in a format for transmission and transmitted to the UTM device 3. Furthermore, signals from the UTM device 3 are converted by the LAN I / F 609 into signals in a format that can be processed by the device itself and then taken in.

[0053] Under the control of the control unit 602, the call control unit 610 performs call control such as outgoing calls, incoming calls, answers, and disconnections for the subordinate extension telephones 4. As shown in Fig. 3, the call control unit 610 includes an outgoing call control unit 611 and an incoming call control unit 612. When the call control unit 610 receives an outgoing call (outgoing call request) from the subordinate extension telephone 4, the outgoing call control unit 611 functions to call the specified destination, and when the destination responds, the call line is connected to enable the call.

[0054] Furthermore, when the call control unit 610 receives an incoming call addressed to itself (an outgoing call notification from the other party), the incoming call control unit 612 functions to notify the subordinate extension telephone 4 of the incoming call. As a result, a ring tone is emitted at the extension telephone 4, notifying the occurrence of the incoming call. When an operation to answer the incoming call (off-hook operation) is performed at the extension telephone 4, the incoming call control unit 612 detects this, answers the call, and connects a call line to the subordinate extension telephone 4 that has been off-hook, enabling the call.

[0055] In the telephone control device 6 of this embodiment, processes such as putting a connected telephone line on hold, transferring a call, and releasing a call are performed under the control of the control unit 602 in response to requests from the subordinate extension telephones 4. In addition, the control unit 602 also controls the turning on / off of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) provided in the subordinate extension telephones 4 and the display of information on the display. Therefore, the control unit 602 receives notifications from the call control unit 610 and is aware of the connection, holding, and release states of the telephone line.

[0056] 3, a conference information acquisition unit 621, a conference phone book creation unit 622, and a conference phone book provision unit 623 constitute a conference call countermeasure unit 620. The conference information acquisition unit 621 realizes a function of acquiring conference information from the above-mentioned UTM device 3 via the connection terminal 609T and LAN I / F 609. The conference phone book creation unit 622 realizes a function of creating a conference phone book for each Web conference and for each expected participant, based on the conference information acquired through the conference information acquisition unit 621.

[0057] 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an example of conference information provided from the UTM device 3 to the telephone control device 6, and an example of conference phone book data stored in the conference phone book folder 607 of the telephone control device 6. The conference information provided from the UTM device 3 and acquired by the conference information acquisition unit 621 includes, as shown in Fig. 6A, a conference ID, a password (PW), a conference name, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), a date of the event, a start time, and a scheduled end time as header information.

[0058] The conference ID is identification information for the web conference that can uniquely identify the set web conference, and the password is the password set for that web conference. Therefore, the conference ID and password can also be used as authentication information for participating in that web conference. The conference name is the name set for that web conference and is used as a so-called index. The URL is information that makes it easier to participate in the conference. Anyone who is requested to participate in a web conference by email containing the URL can easily participate in the web conference by simply clicking (selecting) the URL. The date indicates the date on which the web conference is held, the start time indicates the time when the web conference starts, and the scheduled end time indicates the time when the web conference is scheduled to end.

[0059] In addition to these header information, the conference information also includes the names and email addresses of prospective participants. Prospective participants include both the organizer of the web conference and those invited to participate by the organizer. The email addresses of prospective participants are prospective participant identification information that can uniquely identify each prospective participant. The conference information shown in FIG. 6(A) is for a web conference set up (reserved) by Person A, an employee of the company in which the web conference system of this embodiment is implemented, and invites Persons B and C, also employees of the same company, to participate. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6(A), the conference information includes the names and email addresses of each of Persons A, B, and C as prospective participants.

[0060] The conference phone book creation unit 622 uses the conference information acquired by the conference information acquisition unit 621 and the above-mentioned employee contact DB 605 and phone book DB 606 to create a conference phone book dedicated to the set Web conference for each scheduled participant. The employee contact DB 605 is used to identify the contact information of an employee of the company when a scheduled participant is an employee of the company. The phone book DB 606 is used to identify the contact information of an outside person when a scheduled participant is a person other than an employee of the company (an outside person). In other words, the employee contact DB 605 and phone book DB 606 function as a contact storage unit that stores and retains contact information.

[0061] For example, when the conference information shown in Fig. 6(A) is provided, the conference phone book creation unit 622 creates a conference phone book (conference phone book data) for the Web conference with the conference ID "MA12345" for the prospective participants A, B, and C. Fig. 6(B) shows an example of the conference phone book data for A created by the conference phone book creation unit 622 when the conference information shown in Fig. 6(A) is provided. As shown in Fig. 6(B), the conference phone book data for A has header information consisting of information such as an extension number, name, conference ID, conference name, conference date, start time, and others.

[0062] The extension number is the extension number of the extension phone 4(1) used by Mr. A, and can be obtained by referencing the employee contact DB 605 based on Mr. A's email address in the conference information. The name is Mr. A's name, the conference ID is identification information for the web conference, and the conference name is the name given to the web conference. The extension number, name, conference ID, and conference name make it possible to identify which extension phone 4 the conference phone book data is provided to, for whom, and for which web conference. The date of holding indicates the date on which the web conference is held, and the time of holding indicates the time when the web conference is held.

[0063] Information other than the extension number in the header information can be obtained from the conference information provided by the UTM device 3. It is possible to add various other information, such as the scheduled end time of the Web conference, the total number of participants, and whether the person is the organizer or an invitee. When the UTM device 3 creates the conference information, it can distinguish between the organizer and the invitee based on the sender (from) and destination (to) of the original email, and add this information to the conference information.

[0064] 6(B), the conference phone book data includes, in addition to the header information, the names, company phone numbers, extension numbers, mobile phone numbers, and home phone numbers of the participants other than Person A, to whom the conference phone book data is to be provided. The company phone numbers, extension numbers, mobile phone numbers, and home phone numbers are information obtained by referencing the employee contact DB 605 based on the email addresses of Person B and Person C, who are participants.

[0065] It is possible to distinguish whether a prospective participant is an employee of the company or an outsider by the mail server name or provider name that follows the "@" in the participant's email address. Therefore, if the prospective participant is an employee of the company, the employee contact DB 605 is referenced based on the participant's email address to identify the contact telephone number, and if the participant is an outsider, the telephone directory DB 606 is referenced to identify the contact telephone number.

[0066] FIG. 6(B) is an example of conference phone book data for person A, but the conference phone book data for person B will have the extension number and name of person B, and the other expected participants will be people A and C other than person B. Similarly, the conference phone book data for person C will have the extension number and name of person C, and the other expected participants will be people A and B other than person C. The conference phone book data (conference phone book file) is stored in the conference phone book folder 607 described above.

[0067] The conference phone book providing unit 623 provides the conference phone book data (phone book file) stored in the conference phone book folder 607 to the prospective participants of the Web conference. As a result, suppose that a prospective participant of the Web conference joins the set Web conference and becomes an actual participant, but then other prospective participants do not join the Web conference. In this case, based on the personal conference phone book provided by the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6, the prospective participant can call the non-participating participant and encourage them to join.

[0068] For this reason, the conference phone book data is provided automatically after the start time of the web conference on the day of its start, or when requested by the recipient. Even if it is provided before the web conference starts, as mentioned above, it is essentially for calling participants who have not yet joined the web conference, and if it is provided too early, it will need to be kept and managed by extension phone 4.

[0069] [Configuration example of extension phone 4] Fig. 7 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of an extension telephone according to an embodiment. Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of the display of a conference directory displayed on the display of extension telephone 4. Although not shown, control unit 410 is a microprocessor equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, non-volatile memory, etc., and controls each part of extension telephone 4.

[0070] The connection terminal 401T constitutes a connection terminal to the internal telephone network 5. The connection I / F 401 realizes a connection with the telephone control device 6 through the internal telephone network 5. That is, the connection I / F 401 converts a signal sent to itself into a signal in a format that can be processed by itself and imports it into itself. The connection I / F 401 also converts a signal to be sent from itself into a signal for transmission and sends it out. The internal telephone 4 is wired connected to the telephone control device 6 via the connection terminal 401T and the connection I / F 401.

[0071] Handset 402 is equipped with a speaker (receiver) and a microphone (transmitter). In addition, extension telephone 4 is configured to be in an on-hook state when handset 402 is placed in a fixed position on the housing of extension telephone 4, and to be in an off-hook state when handset 402 is removed from the fixed position on the housing of extension telephone 4. For this reason, extension telephone 4 is configured so that control unit 410 can grasp these hook states.

[0072] Codec 403 receives digital audio data via connection terminal 401T and connection I / F 401, from which control data and the like have been separated by control unit 410, converts this into an analog audio signal, and supplies it to the speaker of handset 402 in the off-hook state. As a result, the audio from the other party is emitted from the speaker of handset 402. Codec 403 also converts an analog audio signal picked up by the microphone of handset 402 in the off-hook state into a digital audio signal, and supplies this to control unit 410. Control unit 410 adds necessary data to the digital audio data from codec 403, and transmits this to the other party via connection I / F 401 and connection terminal 401T.

[0073] The operation input unit 404 accepts operation inputs from the user and provides the accepted information to the control unit 410. The operation input unit 404 is provided with, for example, a numeric keypad and a plurality of function keys, as well as so-called line keys that can be set to an outside line key, an extension key, a park hold key, etc. The LED unit 405 is provided corresponding to the line keys and function keys of the extension telephone 4, and is controlled by the control unit 410 to light up, blink, or turn off.

[0074] Sound emitting unit 406 emits a ring tone when a call arrives under the control of control unit 410. Sound emitting unit 406 can also emit, for example, a warning sound in the event of an erroneous operation or a voice message under the control of control unit 410. Display 407 includes a display controller, and performs processing to display various information on the display screen under the control of control unit 410. In addition, touch sensor 408 is provided corresponding to the entire surface of the display screen of display 407, and display 407 and touch sensor 408 together constitute touch panel 409, which is an input / output interface.

[0075] The extension telephone 4 having such a configuration is accommodated in a telephone control device 6, and through the telephone control device 6, it is possible to receive and make outside calls, receive and make extension calls. Furthermore, when the conference phone book created in the telephone control device 6 is provided through the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6, the extension phone 4 receives it through the connection terminal 401T and the connection I / F 401, and the control unit 410 supplies it to the display 407. As a result, the conference phone book is displayed on the display 407 of the extension phone 4, as shown in Fig. 8. The conference phone book shown in Fig. 8 corresponds to the conference phone book data for person A described using Fig. 6(B).

[0076] As shown in Fig. 8, in the case of the conference phone book displayed on display 407, the conference name, date and time are displayed so that the Web conference being held can be identified, and button icons showing the names and contact information of the people planning to attend the Web conference are also displayed. The conference phone book shown in Fig. 8 is provided to Person A, so the people planning to attend are Persons B and C other than Person A. As shown in Fig. 8, an extension button B11, a mobile phone button B12, and a home button B13 are provided to the right of the name of Person B, who is planning to attend.

[0077] The extension button B11 is associated with person B's extension number, and is configured so that when a selection operation such as touching the extension button B11 with a finger is performed, a call is made from person A's extension phone 4 to person B's extension number. Similarly, the mobile phone button B12 is associated with person B's mobile phone number, and when a selection operation such as touching the mobile phone button B12 with a finger is performed, a call is made from person A's extension phone 4 to person B's mobile phone number. Similarly, the home button B13 is associated with person B's home phone number, and when a selection operation such as touching the home button B13 with a finger is performed, a call is made from person A's extension phone 4 to person B's home phone number.

[0078] 8, an extension button B21, a mobile phone button B22, and a home button B23 are provided to the right of the name of prospective participant C. The extension button B21 is associated with C's extension number, and is configured so that when a selection operation such as touching the extension button B21 with a finger is performed, a call is made from A's extension phone 4 to C's extension number. Similarly, the mobile phone button B22 is associated with C's mobile phone number, and when a selection operation such as touching the mobile phone button B22 with a finger is performed, a call is made from A's extension phone 4 to C's mobile phone number. Similarly, the home button B23 is associated with C's home phone number, and when a selection operation such as touching the home button B23 with a finger is performed, a call is made from A's extension phone 4 to C's home phone number.

[0079] Here, an example has been explained in which a conference phone book for person A is used, but in the same way, person B can use the conference phone book for person B to call a party selected from among the extensions, mobile phones, or home landlines of person A or C. Similarly, person C can use the conference phone book for person C to call a party selected from among the extensions, mobile phones, or home landlines of person A or B.

[0080] As a result, if there are people who are scheduled to attend the web conference but do not show up (non-participants), those who have joined the web conference (participants) can contact the non-participants by telephone rather than via the web conference to encourage them to join the web conference. In this way, since it is possible to easily contact non-participants by telephone rather than via the web conference, it is possible to reliably contact them and encourage them to join the web conference even if they are not using PC1.

[0081] [Explanation of Web conferencing system processing] The processing (operations) performed in the Web conferencing system configured using the above-mentioned UTM device 3 and telephone control device 6 will be explained using the sequence diagrams in Figures 9 to 11. In the following, we will explain an example in which employee A invites employees B and C to a Web conference set up by employee A in a company where the Web conferencing system is built.

[0082] <Processing from conference reservation (setting) to conference phone book creation> 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating the process from conference reservation to conference phone book creation performed in a Web conference system according to an embodiment. It is assumed that employee A of the company uses a predetermined conference application program (hereinafter abbreviated as conference app) on his / her PC1(1) to access a predetermined conference server and set up (reserve) a Web conference (step S1). After that, employee A uses his / her PC1(1) to send an email to employee B of the same company requesting participation in the Web conference (step S2). The participation request email contains necessary information such as the date and start time of the Web conference, and the URL or conference ID and password for participating in the Web conference.

[0083] In this case, the Web conference countermeasure unit 320 of the UTM device 3 functions to extract conference information (step S3). In the process of step S3, first, the conference participation request extraction unit 321 functions to extract the participation request email from the email sent from the subordinate PC 1. Next, the planned participant identification information extraction unit 322 functions to extract email addresses as planned participant identification information based on the sender (from) and destination (to) information of the extracted participation request email. In addition, the event information extraction unit 323 functions to extract necessary information such as the conference ID, password, URL for participation, conference name, date and start time from the information contained in the extracted participation request email.

[0084] Similarly, Person A uses his / her PC1(1) to send an email to Person C in the same company requesting participation in the Web conference (step S4). In this case, the Web conference countermeasures unit 320 of the UTM device 3 also functions to extract conference information (step S5). In the processing of step S5, similar to the processing of step S3, the conference participation request extraction unit 321 and the conference information extraction unit 323 also function to extract necessary information. As described above, the necessary information is information such as email addresses, conference ID, password, URL for participation, conference name, conference date, and start time as information identifying prospective participants.

[0085] After this, the conference information providing unit 324 of the UTM device 3 functions to form conference information of the form shown in FIG. 6(A) and provides this to the telephone control device 6 (step S6). In the telephone control device 6, the conference call countermeasure unit 620 functions to perform processing to create a conference phone book (step S7). In step S7, first, the conference information acquisition unit 621 functions to acquire the conference information of the form shown in FIG. 6(A) provided from the UTM device 3. Next, the conference phone book creation unit 622 functions to create conference phone book data for each Web conference and for each expected participant of the form shown in FIG. 6(B), and stores this in the conference phone book folder 607.

[0086] In this way, the UTM device 3 and the telephone control device work together to extract necessary information from the participation request emails for the Web conference, create conference phone book data for each Web conference and for each prospective participant, and store and use the data in the conference phone book folder 607. As described above, the UTM device 3 creates conference information in the format shown in FIG. 6(A) for each Web conference and provides it to the telephone control device 6, but this is not limited to this. Conference information may be created for each participation request email for the Web conference and provided to the telephone control device 6, and the telephone control device 6 may then compile the conference information for each participation request email for each Web conference based on the conference ID to create the conference information shown in FIG. 6(A).

[0087] <Conference phone book provision process 1> Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the process of providing the created conference phone book. The example of the process of providing the conference phone book shown in Fig. 10 is an example in which the telephone control device 6 automatically sends the conference phone book to the planned conference participants after the start time of the Web conference on the day of the event. As explained using Fig. 9 and also shown in Fig. 10, it is assumed that the conference phone book creation unit 622 functions in the telephone control device 6, and conference phone books for person A, person B, and person C are created and recorded in the conference phone book folder 607 (step S7).

[0088] Thereafter, the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 refers to the current time of the clock circuit 604 and the opening date and start time of the conference phone book data in the conference phone book folder 607, and identifies the conference phone book data whose start time has arrived on the opening date. Here, it is assumed that the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 detects that the start time has arrived on the opening date of a Web conference in which A, B, and C are scheduled to participate.

[0089] In this case, the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 sends (provides) the conference phone book data for Mr. A stored in the conference phone book folder 607 to the extension phone 4(1) used by Mr. A via the extension phone network 5 (step S8). As a result, the extension phone 4(1) used by Mr. A obtains the conference phone book data for Mr. A (step S9), displays it on the display 407 of the extension phone 4(1) in the manner shown in Fig. 6(B) (step S10), and makes it available for use.

[0090] Similarly, the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 sends (provides) the conference phone book data for Mr. B stored in the conference phone book folder 607 to the extension phone 4(2) used by Mr. B via the extension phone network 5 (step S11). As a result, the extension phone 4(2) used by Mr. B obtains the conference phone book data for Mr. B (step S12), displays it on the display 407 of the extension phone 4(2) in the manner shown in Fig. 6(B) (step S13), and makes it available for use.

[0091] Similarly, the conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 sends (provides) the conference phone book data for Mr. C stored in the conference phone book folder 607 to the extension phone 4(3) used by Mr. C via the extension phone network 5 (step S14). As a result, the extension phone 4(3) used by Mr. C obtains the conference phone book data for Mr. C (step S15), displays it on the display 407 of the extension phone 4(3) in the manner shown in Fig. 6(B) (step S16), and makes it available for use.

[0092] This allows each of the people A, B, and C who are scheduled to attend the web conference to use their own conference phone book to easily call any other people who are not participating in the web conference they are participating in. This means that they can encourage non-participants to join the web conference by telephone communication via a completely separate route from the web conference.

[0093] Here, the current time of the clock circuit 604 and the opening date and start time of the conference phone book data in the conference phone book folder 607 are referenced to provide the conference phone book data for which the start time has arrived on the opening date. However, this is not limited to this. The conference phone book providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 references the current time of the clock circuit 604 and the opening date and start time of the conference phone book data in the conference phone book folder 607 to identify conference phone book data for which the start time is a predetermined time before the opening date. This identified conference phone book data may be provided.

[0094] Here, a predetermined time before the start time on the day of the event means, for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc., and the conference phone book can be distributed and made available before the start time of the web conference on the day of the event. In this case, for example, it is possible to call in advance potential participants who may have forgotten about the web conference and encourage them to join the web conference.

[0095] <Conference phone book provision process 2> 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining another example of the process of providing the created conference phone book. The other example of the process of providing the conference phone book shown in FIG. 11 is an example of the case where, when the conference phone book is referenced through the extension telephone 4 of a prospective participant of a Web conference, a conference phone book corresponding to the requesting prospective participant is provided. As explained using FIG. 9 and also shown in FIG. 11, it is assumed that the conference phone book creation unit 622 functions in the telephone control device 6, and in this example, conference phone books for person A, person B, and person C are created and recorded in the conference phone book folder 607 (step S7).

[0096] Thereafter, the conference directory providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 waits for a conference directory reference request to arrive from the subordinate extension telephone 4 via the extension telephone network 5. For example, suppose that Person A presses an operation key for referencing the conference directory on the operation input unit 404 of his / her extension telephone 4(1). In this case, the control unit 410 of the extension telephone 4(1) forms a conference directory reference request and sends it to the telephone control device 6, requesting reference to the conference directory (step S21). The conference directory reference request includes information indicating that the request is a conference directory reference request and the extension number of the device itself.

[0097] In response to the conference directory reference request from extension telephone 4(1), conference directory provider 623 of telephone control device 6 reads out the conference directory for person A (a conference directory having the extension number of extension telephone 4(1)) from conference directory folder 607 and provides it to extension telephone 4(1). As a result, the conference directory for person A is displayed on display 407 of extension telephone 4(1) (step S22) and becomes available for use.

[0098] Similarly, suppose that person B presses an operation key on the operation input unit 404 of his or her extension telephone 4(2) to refer to the conference telephone directory. In this case, the control unit 410 of extension telephone 4(2) forms a conference telephone directory reference request and sends it to the telephone control device 6, requesting reference to the conference telephone directory (step S23). In response to the conference telephone directory reference request from extension telephone 4(2), the conference telephone directory providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 reads out the conference telephone directory for person B (a conference telephone directory having the extension number of extension telephone 4(2)) from the conference telephone directory folder 607 and provides it to extension telephone 4(2). As a result, the conference telephone directory for person B is displayed on the display 407 of extension telephone 4(2) (step S24) and becomes available for use.

[0099] Similarly, suppose that C presses an operation key on the operation input unit 404 of his / her extension telephone 4(3) to refer to the conference telephone directory. In this case, the control unit 410 of the extension telephone 4(3) forms a conference telephone directory reference request and sends it to the telephone control device 6, requesting reference to the conference telephone directory (step S25). In response to the conference telephone directory reference request from the extension telephone 4(3), the conference telephone directory providing unit 623 of the telephone control device 6 reads out the conference telephone directory for C (a conference telephone directory having the extension number of the extension telephone 4(3)) from the conference telephone directory folder 607 and provides it to the extension telephone 4(3). As a result, the conference telephone directory for C is displayed on the display 407 of the extension telephone 4(3) (step S26) and becomes available for use.

[0100] As a result, if there are any other participants who are not participating in the web conference that A, B, and C are participating in, each of them can refer to their own conference phone book and very easily call the non-participants. Therefore, it is possible to encourage non-participants to join the web conference by telephone communication via a route completely separate from the web conference. In this case, only the participant who calls the non-participant needs to refer to their own conference phone book, and other participants do not need to refer to their own conference phone book, so the conference phone book is not provided to unnecessary people.

[0101] In the process described using the sequence diagram of Figure 11, after the Web conference is set up, the prospective conference participants can basically refer to the conference phone book at any time. However, even in the process described using the sequence diagram of Figure 11, the conference phone book can be referenced only after the start time of the Web conference date, based on the opening date and start time of each conference phone book. In this case, when a conference phone book reference request arrives, if the opening date and start time of the conference phone book provided are later than the current time provided by the clock circuit 604, the conference phone book is not provided, and a message indicating that the Web conference opening date and time has not yet arrived can be provided.

[0102] [Another example of a telephone control device] In the above-described embodiment, the telephone control device 6 automatically provides the conference phone book to the prospective participants of the Web conference when the start time arrives on the day the Web conference is held, or the prospective participants refer to the conference phone book of the telephone control device 6 through their own extension telephones 4. However, in the former case, the conference phone book is also provided to the extension telephones of non-attendees. In the latter case, the conference phone book cannot be viewed unless a request to view it is made through the extension telephone 4.

[0103] A conference phone book becomes necessary when a non-participant who is scheduled to participate in a web conference does not participate in the web conference. In this case, the participants who need the conference phone book are those who have already participated in the web conference, and the information that should be listed in the conference phone book is the telephone number of the non-participant. Taking this situation into consideration, the telephone control device 6A described below automatically provides a conference phone book for the participant to the participant when a non-participant occurs after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start time on the scheduled date of the web conference. In this case, the conference phone book can identify the telephone number of the non-participant. Furthermore, the "predetermined time after the start time" can be set to the telephone control device 6A to, for example, 5 minutes or 10 minutes after the start time on the scheduled date.

[0104] Figure 12 is a block diagram for explaining another example of the configuration of a telephone control device according to an embodiment. As can be seen by comparing Figures 3 and 12, the telephone control device 6A of this example differs from the telephone control device 6 described above in the configuration of the conference call countermeasure unit 620A, but the other components are configured in the same way. Therefore, for the telephone control device 6A of this example, the configuration of the conference call countermeasure unit 620A will be explained, and explanations of the other components will be omitted as they overlap with the explanation of the telephone control device 6 described above.

[0105] 12, the conference information acquisition unit 621 of the conference call countermeasure unit 620A is configured in the same manner as the conference information acquisition unit 621 of the conference call countermeasure unit 620 of the telephone control device 6 described using FIG. 3. Therefore, in the telephone control device 6A of this example, the conference information acquisition unit 621 functions in the same way as in the case of the telephone control device 6 shown in FIG. 3, and performs processing to acquire conference information from the UTM device 3. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the acquired conference information is stored and held in a predetermined storage area of ​​the storage device 603. An example of the conference information from the UTM device 3 is as described using FIG. 6(A).

[0106] In the case of the telephone control device 6A, as shown in FIG. 12, the conference call countermeasure unit 620A is provided with a participation status understanding unit 624, a conference phone book creation unit 625, a destination identification unit 626, a conference phone book provision unit 627, and a telephone destination change unit 628. The participation status understanding unit 624 compares the opening date and start time of the conference information recorded in the storage device 603 with the current time provided by the clock circuit 604. If there is a Web conference where the current time is a predetermined time after the start time of the opening date, the participation status understanding unit 624 checks the participation status of those scheduled to participate in the Web conference. In this case, the participation status understanding unit 624 accesses a specified conference server using the URL of the conference information or the conference ID and password, and checks the participation status of the Web conference.

[0107] For a Web conference in which it is confirmed as a result of checking the participation status that there are non-participants, the participation status grasping unit 624 provides the conference ID and the email addresses of the non-participants to the conference phone book creation unit 625 and the provision destination specification unit 626. The conference phone book creation unit 625 references the conference information specified by the conference ID, creates a conference phone book that contains the phone numbers of non-participants, and is to be provided to the extension telephone numbers of prospective participants other than the non-participants, and records the conference phone book in the conference phone book folder 607.

[0108] In this case, the conference phone book is created in the same way as the conference phone book creation unit 622 of the telephone control device 6 shown in Fig. 3, but in this case, a conference phone book containing only the contact information (telephone numbers) of non-participants is created. That is, the conference phone book creation unit 625 references the employee contact DB 605 based on the email addresses of non-participants from the participation status understanding unit 624, obtains the telephone numbers of non-participants, and creates the conference phone book. The conference phone book created by the conference phone book creation unit 625 has the same header information as the conference phone book shown in Fig. 6(B), but the names, company phone numbers, extension numbers, mobile phone numbers, and home phone numbers are only those of non-participants.

[0109] Based on the notified conference ID, the destination specification unit 626 references the conference information stored in the storage device 603 and specifies the email addresses of prospective participants other than those who have not yet participated (in this case, participants who have already participated in the Web conference) as recipients of the conference phone book. Thereafter, the destination specification unit 626 notifies the conference phone book provider 627 of the conference ID of the referenced conference information and the specified email addresses, and issues an instruction to provide the conference phone book to the extension phone 4 of the specified party.

[0110] The conference phone book providing unit 627 refers to the employee contact DB 605 and identifies the extension number of the party to whom the conference phone book is to be provided, based on the email address from the destination specifying unit 626. The conference phone book providing unit 627 extracts the conference phone book to be provided from the conference phone book folder 607, based on the conference ID provided from the destination specifying unit 626 and the identified extension number. The conference phone book providing unit 627 performs processing to provide this extracted conference phone book to the extension telephone with the identified extension number (the same as the extension number of the extracted conference phone book) via the extension telephone network 5.

[0111] As a result, suppose there is a Web conference in which some participants who were requested to participate have not yet joined even after the start time on the day of the conference. In this case, a conference phone book can be provided to only participants who have already joined the Web conference, allowing them to identify the phone numbers of only the non-participants via extension phone 4. Therefore, participants who are already participating in the Web conference can quickly contact the non-participants by calling them using the provided conference phone book and encouraging them to join the Web conference.

[0112] In addition, the telephone destination change unit 628 of the conference call countermeasure unit 620A of the telephone control device 6A in this example realizes a function of calling back to another telephone number if a non-participant has multiple telephone numbers and there is no response to the call. That is, as explained using FIG. 4, an employee of a company in which the Web conferencing system of this embodiment is built has at least three contact telephone numbers: an extension number, a mobile phone number, and a home phone number. Therefore, the telephone destination change unit 628 realizes a function of first calling the extension number of a non-participant, and if there is no response after calling (calling) for example 10 times, automatically calling back to the mobile phone number.

[0113] In addition, if a call is made to a mobile phone number and there is no answer after, for example, 10 calls, the call can be automatically returned to the home phone number. In this way, the call destination change unit 628 takes into account situations in which a participant participating in a Web conference calls a non-participant and automatically returns the call to a different phone number assigned to the non-participant. For this reason, the display 407 of the phone number of the participant making a call to the non-participant indicates which phone terminal of the non-participant is being called, so that the participant can understand which phone terminal of the non-participant is being called.

[0114] [Processing performed in a web conference system including the telephone control device 6A] Fig. 13 is a sequence diagram for explaining the processing performed in a Web conference system including the telephone control device 6A of Fig. 12. As described above, this example also illustrates a case where person A, an employee of a company in which the Web conference system of this embodiment has been established, sets up (reserves) a Web conference and requests participation from people B and C, who are also employees of the same company. Therefore, the processing from setting up the Web conference to when the UTM device 3 functions and provides conference information to the telephone control device 6A is performed in the same manner as the processing from steps S1 to S6 described using Fig. 9. After the processing from steps S1 to S6 in Fig. 9 sets up the Web conference and provides conference information from the UTM device 3 to the telephone control device 6A, the processing of the sequence diagram shown in Fig. 13 is performed.

[0115] In this example, the start time of the Web conference arrives, and first, Person A accesses a predetermined conference server and joins the Web conference (step S31). Immediately after, Person B joins the Web conference in the same way (step S32). However, Person C, a prospective participant, does not join the Web conference, and Person C's non-participation status continues (step S33). After this, the participation status grasping unit 624 of the telephone control device 6A functions, and detects from the conference information of the Web conference that a predetermined time has passed since the start time of the Web conference (step S34).

[0116] In this case, the participation status understanding unit 624 accesses the Web conference set in a predetermined conference server, checks the participation status of the Web conference (step S35), and obtains a response (step S36). That is, the processes of steps S35 and S36 are processes for referring to the participation status of the Web conference, which can be referenced by participating in the Web conference, if participation in the Web conference is permitted. In this example, the participation status understanding unit 624 determines that Mr. C, a prospective participant, has not yet participated, and notifies the conference phonebook creation unit 625 and the destination specification unit 626 of the conference ID and Mr. C's email address.

[0117] The conference phone book creation unit 625 creates a conference phone book based on the information from the participation status understanding unit 624, and the recipient specification unit 626 specifies recipients of the conference phone book based on the information from the participation status understanding unit 624 and notifies the conference phone book provision unit 627 (step S37). In this example, the conference phone book creation unit 625 creates conference phone books for A and B, which are conference phone books that list the telephone number of non-participant C, and records them in the conference phone book folder 607. In addition, the recipient specification unit 626 specifies A and B as recipients of the conference phone book and notifies the conference phone book provision unit 627.

[0118] Thereafter, the conference phone book providing unit 627 of the telephone control device 6A provides the conference phone book for Person A created in step S37 to the extension phone 4(1) used by Person A, making it available for use (step S38). Furthermore, the conference phone book providing unit 627 of the telephone control device 6A provides the conference phone book for Person B created in step S37 to the extension phone 4(2) used by Person B, making it available for use (step S39). In this example, it is assumed that during the web conference, Person A requests Person B to call Person C and encourage him to participate in the web conference.

[0119] In this case, person B calls person C's extension 4(3) through the conference phone book displayed on the display 407 of the extension 4(2) that person uses (at his / her desk) in the manner explained using Fig. 8 (step S40). The call is sent to the telephone control device 6A through the extension telephone network 5, and then from the telephone control device 6A to person C's extension 4(3) (step S41). As a result, person C's extension 4(C) rings, and person C is notified of the incoming call. When person C goes off-hook on extension 4(3), a response to the call is sent from extension 4(3) to the telephone control device 6A through the extension telephone network 5 (step S42).

[0120] Upon receiving the response from C's extension 4(3), the telephone control device 6A connects a call line between the calling extension 4(2) and the called extension 4(3) to enable the call (step S43). Through the connected call line, B can urge C to participate in the web conference by voice call. In response, C can immediately participate in the web conference using his own PC1(3) (step S44).

[0121] [Other processes performed in the Web conference system including the telephone control device 6A] In the process described in the sequence diagram of Figure 13, an example was shown in which Person B called Person C's extension 4(3) and Person C answered, but there are cases in which Person C is not at his desk and is unable to answer the call to extension 4(3). Therefore, the telephone control device 6A has a telephone destination change unit 628 that functions to automatically change the telephone destination based on the conference telephone directory.

[0122] Fig. 14 is a sequence diagram for explaining another example of processing performed in a Web conference system including the telephone control device 6A of Fig. 12. In the sequence diagram of Fig. 14, parts that are performed in the same way as in the processing explained using the sequence diagram of Fig. 13 are given the same reference numerals. That is, in the telephone control device 6A, a conference phone book for person B and person C that enables use of person C's telephone number is created, and it is specified that the conference phone book will be provided to person A's extension phone 4(1) and person B's extension phone 4(2) (step S37). Thereafter, the conference phone book is provided to person B's extension phone 4(2), and this conference phone book is displayed on the display 407 of extension phone 4(2) and made available for use (step S39).

[0123] Person B uses the conference phone book displayed on the display 407 of extension phone 4(2) to call Person C's extension phone 4(3) (step S40). In response, a call is made to Person C's extension phone 4(3) via the telephone control device 6A, causing Person C's extension phone 4(3) to ring (step S41). Even though Person C's extension phone 4(3) is ringing, it is assumed that Person C is not at his desk and is unable to answer, and there is no answer even after a certain period of time has passed (step S51). In this case, the telephone destination change unit 628 of the telephone control device 6A functions to maintain the call from Person B's extension phone 4(2) as is, and cancel the call to Person C's extension phone 4(3) (step S52).

[0124] Thereafter, the telephone destination change unit 628 redials to C's mobile phone terminal 11(3) (step S53). As a result, C's mobile phone terminal 11(3) rings, notifying C that an incoming call has occurred. In response, C goes off-hook on his / her own mobile phone terminal 11(C), and a response is returned from the mobile phone terminal 11(3) to the telephone control device 6A (step S54). The telephone destination change unit 628 of the telephone control device 6A, which has received the response from C's mobile phone terminal 11(3), connects a call line between B's extension phone 4(2) and C's mobile phone terminal 11(3), enabling the call (step S55).

[0125] Through the connected telephone line, Person B can call Person C to invite him to participate in the web conference. In this case, Person C can, for example, return to his desk and immediately participate in the web conference using his own PC1(3) (step S56). If Person C is not at work but at home, he can participate in the web conference using his home PC, or he can participate in the web conference from his own mobile phone or tablet PC.

[0126] In this way, in the case of the process described using the sequence diagram in Fig. 14, even if Mr. C is not at his desk and cannot answer the internal call, a call can be automatically made to Mr. C's mobile phone terminal 11(3) or the like. Therefore, Mr. B can talk to Mr. C without having to bother himself by automatically calling back another phone number assigned to Mr. C. This makes it possible to more reliably talk to Mr. C and encourage him to participate in the web conference.

[0127] [Effects of the embodiment] As described above, in the case of the Web conference system of this embodiment, calls can be made to non-participants via a telephone route, which is a communication route separate from the Web conference, to encourage them to participate in the Web conference. This makes it possible to contact non-participants via telephone communication and encourage them to participate in the Web conference more reliably, even if the PC 1 used to participate in the Web conference is not turned on or they are not near the PC 1.

[0128] [Variations] In the case of the Web conference system according to the above-described embodiment, the telephone control devices 6, 6A provide a conference phone book to the extension telephone 4 connected to the extension telephone network 5. However, by entering the telephone numbers of external participants identified by the data in the phone book DB 606 in the conference phone book, it is also possible to call external participants by telephone communication.

[0129] Furthermore, if an external call is made when the conference phone book is provided, the conference phone book can also be provided to an external telephone connected to the wide area network 7, such as the fixed telephone terminal 10(1), and this can be used to call non-participants. However, since it is generally considered that there are few cases where an external participant is requested to call non-participants, it is of course also possible to limit the configuration to providing the conference phone book to the extension telephone 4.

[0130] In the above-described embodiment, the conference phone book is configured with the names of expected participants and non-participants, and icon buttons for specifying the telephone number to call, such as an extension, mobile phone number, or home phone number. In this case, each icon button is associated with an extension number, mobile phone number, or home phone number, and by selecting an icon button, the extension phone 4 can make a call to the phone number associated with the selected icon button. Therefore, in this case, the extension number, mobile phone number, or home phone number will not be known to the participants of the web conference.

[0131] However, it is of course possible to display numbers instead of icon buttons. This has the advantage of making it easier to contact people even after the web conference has ended. However, if you want to maintain confidentiality of phone numbers, you can use icon buttons associated with phone numbers instead of displaying the phone numbers, as shown in Figure 8. Of course, you can also display only the names of the people you want to call without displaying icon buttons. In this case, by selecting a displayed name, you can call the person identified by that name, while also maintaining confidentiality of the phone number.

[0132] The conference phone book is used to call non-participants in the Web conference and is not used after the Web conference ends. Therefore, it is desirable to delete the conference phone book data created in the conference phone book folder 607 of the telephone control device 6, 6A after the Web conference ends.

[0133] In the above-described embodiment, the participation status ascertaining unit 624 of the telephone control device 6A functions to check the participation status of the Web conference, but this is not limited to this. There are two types of Web conferences: a "cloud type" that accesses a conference server managed by the service provider, and an "on-premise type" that accesses a conference server installed within the company's own network. In the case of an on-premise Web conference, the Web conference is held by accessing the company's own conference server.

[0134] In this case, when a Web conference occurs in the company's conference server and there are participants who have not yet joined even after a predetermined time has passed since the scheduled start time on the scheduled date, the company can provide a function to notify the telephone control device 6A of the participation status of the Web conference. In this case, the participation status notification includes the conference ID, password, URL, date and start time, and email addresses of the participants. The participation status understanding unit 624 of the telephone control device 6A can be configured to receive the participation status notification from the company's conference server and obtain the conference ID of the conference where there are participants and the email addresses of the participants. Of course, the conference server managed by the service provider can also be provided with a participation status notification function.

[0135] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the UTM device 3 is provided with the Web conference countermeasures unit 320, but this is not limiting. A mail monitoring device that has only the functions of the Web conference countermeasures unit 320 can also be provided in place of the UTM device 3. In other words, a mail monitoring device can be provided as an additional device separate from the UTM device.

[0136] In the above-described embodiment, the prospective participant identification information is the email address assigned to the prospective participant, but this is not limited to this. For example, if there is an agreement that an employee number must always be included in an email request to participate in a Web conference, the employee number may be used instead of the email address as the prospective participant identification information. In this case, the employee number may be included in the information for each employee in the employee contact DB 605. In this case, for external participants, the email address may be used as is.

[0137] In recent years, requests to participate in web conferences are sometimes made using tools such as "chat," which are real-time communication tools that utilize data communication lines on computer networks, including the Internet. Even in this case, the web conference countermeasures unit 320 of the UTM device 3 described above monitors chat data sent from the subordinate PC 1 and extracts necessary information such as participant identification information, conference ID, password, host, and start time. Conference information including this extracted information can be created and provided to the telephone control device 6, 6A.

[0138] In this case, if the chat uses email addresses to identify the mutual communication partners, the email addresses can be used as the participant identification information, or if telephone numbers are used, the telephone numbers can be used. Alternatively, if a dedicated user ID is used in the chat, the user ID can be used as the participant identification information. In this case, the user ID can be entered in the information for each employee in the employee contact DB 605, and the user ID can be entered in the information for each recipient in the telephone directory DB 606.

[0139] In this way, the expected participant identification information can be various information that can identify the communication destination (source and destination) of an email or chat requesting participation in a Web conference. In this case, the expected participant identification information can be recorded in the employee contact DB 605 and the telephone directory DB 606 so that the telephone numbers of the expected participants can be identified using the expected participant identification information.

[0140] In the above-described embodiment, a PC (Personal Computer) is used as a communication terminal, i.e., an information processing device with a communication function, when participating in a web conference. However, this is not limited to this. For example, various information processing devices with a communication function that can connect to an IP network, such as a tablet PC or a smartphone, can be used. In this case, the connection to the IP network can of course be made via a wireless LAN using the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) system.

[0141] [others] As can be seen from the above description of the embodiment, the function of the conference participation request extraction means of the claimed email monitoring device is realized by the conference participation request extraction unit 321 of the UTM device 3 of the embodiment. Also, the functions of the planned attendee identification information extraction means, event information extraction means, and conference information providing means of the claimed email monitoring device are realized by the planned attendee identification information extraction unit 322, event information extraction unit 323, and conference information providing unit 324 of the UTM device 3 of the embodiment.

[0142] Furthermore, the function of the contact storage means of the claimed telephone control device is realized by the employee contact DB 605 and telephone directory DB 606 of the telephone control device of the embodiment. Furthermore, the functions of the conference information acquisition means, conference directory creation means, and conference directory provision means of the claimed telephone control device are realized by the conference information acquisition unit 621, conference directory creation units 622 and 625, and conference directory provision units 623 and 627 of the telephone control devices 6 and 6A of the embodiment. Furthermore, the function of the participation status understanding means of the claimed telephone control device is realized by the participation status understanding unit 624 of the telephone control device 6A of the embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0143] 1, 1(1), 1(2), 1(3)...PC, 2...LAN, 3...UTM device, 301T...Connection end to IP network, 301...Communication I / F, 302...Control unit, 303...Storage device, 304...Clock circuit, 305T...Connection end to LAN, 305...LAN I / F, 310...Security function unit, 320...Web conference countermeasure unit, 321...Conference participation request extraction unit, 322...Expected participant identification information extraction unit, 323...Event information extraction unit, 324...Conference information provision unit, 4, 4(1), 4(2), 4(3)...Extension telephone, 5...Extension telephone network, 6...Telephone control device, 601T...Connection end to external telephone network, 601...Communication I / F, 602...Control unit, 603...Storage device, 604...Clock circuit, 605...Employee contact information D B, 606...Phonebook DB, 607...Conference phonebook folder, 608T...Connection terminal to extension telephone network, 608...Connection I / F, 609T...Connection terminal to LAN, 609...LAN I / F, 610...Call control unit, 611...Outgoing call control unit, 612...Incoming call control unit, 620, 620A...Conference call counter, 621...Conference information acquisition unit, 622, 625...Conference phonebook creation unit, 623, 627...Conference phonebook provision unit, 624...Participation status understanding unit, 626...Destination specification unit, 628...Telephone destination change unit, 7...Wide area network, 71...External telephone network, 72...IP network, 8(1), 8(2)...Router, 9(1), (2)...PC, 10(1), 10(2)...Landline telephone, 11(1), 11(2)...Mobile phone terminal

Claims

1. A web conferencing system comprising: a mail monitoring device connected to one or more information processing devices and connected to an IP (Internet Protocol) network; a telephone control device connected to a wide area telephone network and constituting an extension telephone system by connecting a plurality of extension telephone terminals; The mail monitoring device a conference participation request extraction means for monitoring emails sent from the subordinate information processing devices connected to the own device and extracting emails requesting participation in a Web conference; a participant identification information extraction means for extracting participant identification information that identifies participants in the Web conference from information included in the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information extraction means for extracting at least conference identification information and a conference date and time of the Web conference from the information included in the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information providing means for forming conference information including the extracted prospective participant specifying information, the conference identification information, and the date and time of the conference, and providing the information to the telephone control device; Equipped with The telephone control device a contact information storage means for storing contact information in which the contact person specifying information corresponding to the prospective participant specifying information is associated with the telephone number of the contact person; a conference information acquisition means for acquiring the conference information provided by the mail monitoring device; a conference telephone directory creation means for creating a conference telephone directory in which the participants of the Web conference are associated with their telephone numbers based on the conference information acquired by the conference information acquisition means and the contact information stored in the contact information storage means; a conference phone book providing means for making the conference phone book created by the conference phone book creating means available through the extension telephone terminals of the prospective participants of the Web conference; A web conference system comprising:

2. 2. The web conference system according to claim 1, The conference telephone directory providing means of the telephone control device enables the telephone directory to be used a predetermined time before the date and time of the conference. A web conference system characterized by the above.

3. 2. The web conference system according to claim 1, The telephone directory providing means of the telephone control device enables the use of the telephone directory after the date and time of the conference information has passed. A web conference system characterized by the above.

4. 2. The web conference system according to claim 1, The telephone control device a participation status ascertaining means for ascertaining the participation status of the scheduled participants in the Web conference after the date and time of the Web conference; the conference phone book creation means of the telephone control device creates the conference phone book for the non-participating expected participants when the participation status understanding means identifies non-participating expected participants after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start time of the Web conference; The conference telephone directory providing means of the telephone control device makes the conference telephone directory available through the extension telephone terminals of the participants who have already participated in the Web conference. A web conference system characterized by the above.

5. A mail monitoring device for a web conference system is connected to one or more information processing devices and an IP (Internet Protocol) network, and a telephone control device is connected to a wide area telephone network, which is connected to a plurality of extension telephone terminals to form an extension telephone system, and the mail monitoring device is connected to one or more information processing devices and an IP (Internet Protocol) network, the telephone control device comprises: a contact storage means for storing contact information associating telephone numbers of the other parties with destination identification information corresponding to prospective participant identification information identified by the mail monitoring device; a conference information acquisition means for acquiring conference information provided from the mail monitoring device; a conference telephone book creation means for creating a conference telephone book associating prospective participants of the Web conference with their telephone numbers based on the conference information acquired by the conference information acquisition means and the contact information in the contact storage means; and a conference telephone book provision means for making the conference telephone book created by the conference telephone book creation means available through the extension telephone terminals of the prospective participants of the Web conference, a conference participation request extraction means for monitoring emails sent from the subordinate information processing devices connected to the own device and extracting emails requesting participation in a Web conference; a participant identification information extraction means for extracting participant identification information that identifies participants who are scheduled to attend the Web conference from information included in the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information extraction means for extracting at least conference identification information and a conference date and time of the Web conference from the information included in the email extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information providing means for forming the conference information including the extracted prospective participant specifying information, the conference identification information, and the date and time of the conference, and providing the conference information to the telephone control device; A mail monitoring device comprising:

6. A telephone control device in a Web conference system configured by connecting one or more information processing devices and a mail monitoring device connected to an IP (Internet Protocol) network, and a telephone control device that is connected to a wide area telephone network and that configures an extension telephone system by connecting a plurality of extension telephone terminals, The mail monitoring device comprises: a conference participation request extraction means for monitoring emails sent from the subordinate information processing devices connected to the mail monitoring device and extracting emails requesting participation in a Web conference; a planned participant identification information extraction means for extracting planned participant identification information for identifying planned participants of the Web conference from information included in the emails extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; a conference information extraction means for extracting at least conference identification information and a holding date and time of the Web conference from information included in the emails extracted by the conference participation request extraction means; and a conference information providing means for forming conference information including the extracted planned participant identification information, the conference identification information, and the holding date and time, and providing the conference information to the telephone control device, a contact information storage means for storing contact information in which the contact person specifying information corresponding to the prospective participant specifying information is associated with the telephone number of the contact person; a conference information acquisition means for acquiring the conference information provided by the mail monitoring device; a conference telephone directory creation means for creating a conference telephone directory in which the participants of the Web conference are associated with their telephone numbers based on the conference information acquired by the conference information acquisition means and the contact information stored in the contact information storage means; a conference phone book providing means for making the conference phone book created by the conference phone book creating means available through the extension telephone terminals of the prospective participants of the Web conference; A telephone control device comprising:

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