Information processing device and information processing program
The information processing device addresses the issue of forgotten roles in video conferences by linking user and conference IDs to register roles with business card information, facilitating accurate role association.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP
- Filing Date
- 2022-02-16
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-29
AI Technical Summary
Users often forget the roles of business card exchange partners during video conferences, making it difficult to register these roles accurately with their business card information.
An information processing device that identifies and registers the roles of business card exchange partners during video conferences by accessing databases that link user IDs with conference IDs and roles, allowing users to specify and modify these roles through a display interface.
Enables accurate registration of roles during and after video conferences, ensuring users can associate the correct roles with business card information, even for multiple participants.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing program.
Background Art
[0002] Conventionally, a business card management system has been proposed for managing business card information described on the business cards of business card exchange partners with whom a user has exchanged business cards.
[0003] For example, in Patent Document 1, at the time of registering business card information, intention information regarding the business card exchange partner user related to the business card information (for example, the first impression of the business card exchange partner user, the possibility of collaboration, the appointment date, a memo, whether to register the business card exchange partner user as a VIP, etc.) can be stored in association with the business card information. A business card management system is disclosed.
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0004]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0005] By the way, consider a case where a video conference such as business negotiations is held between a user and a business card exchange partner user. In such a video conference, it would be preferable for the user to register the "role" of the business card exchange partner user in the video conference in association with the business card information of the business card exchange partner user. The roles include, but are not limited to, for example, observer, contact person (window), promoter, approver, decision maker, user, evaluator, etc. By registering the role, after the end of the video conference, the user can grasp what role the business card exchange partner user had in the video conference.
[0006] Here, it's possible that after a video conference with a user with whom a business card was exchanged, the user might forget the role that user played in that conference. This is especially true if multiple participants were involved in the video conference. Naturally, if the user forgets the role of the user they exchanged business cards with in that video conference, they will not be able to register that role in association with the business card information of that user.
[0007] The objective of the present invention is to identify the role of a user with whom a business card has been exchanged during a video conference, and to register this role in association with the business card information of that user. [Means for solving the problem]
[0008] The invention according to claim 1 comprises a processor, the processor is capable of accessing a business card management database in which a first user ID that identifies a user, business card information written on the user's business card, and the first user IDs of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards are registered in association with each other, and a conference database in which a conference ID that identifies a video conference, a second user ID that identifies a user participating in the video conference and whose correspondence with the first user ID is known, and the role of the user indicated by the second user ID in the video conference are registered in association with each other, and the processor is capable of accessing a conference database in which a user of interest and a user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards participate, the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards in the video conference as entered by the user of interest. , and the importance of the role entered by the user of interest. Identify the user(s) and register the identified role information in the meeting database, associating it with the second user ID of the user(s) with whom the business card was exchanged. death , The role of the user with whom business cards were exchanged during the video conference is associated with the importance of the identified role and registered in the role database. This is an information processing device characterized by the following features. The invention according to claim 2 is that the processor causes the display unit to display a display screen including the video conference window, and the role of the business card exchange recipient user entered by the attention user through operation on the display screen. , and the importance of the role entered by the user in question through operations on the display screen.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it identifies 。 request request 3 The invention relates to the information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a plurality of business card exchange recipients participate in the video conference, the processor identifies the role of each business card exchange recipient in the video conference during the video conference, and registers the second user ID and role of other business card exchange recipients who participated in the video conference in the conference database, associated with the conference ID of the video conference. Claim 4 The invention relating to this is Equipped with a processor, The aforementioned processor, Accessible to a business card management database in which a first user ID identifying a user, business card information written on the user's business card, and the first user IDs of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards are registered in association with each other, and a meeting database in which a meeting ID identifying a video conference, a second user ID identifying a user participating in the video conference whose correspondence with the first user ID is known, and the role of the user indicated by the second user ID in the video conference are registered in association with each other, and during a video conference in which a user of interest and a user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards participate, the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards in the video conference, as entered by the user of interest, is identified, and the information indicating the identified role is registered in association with the second user ID of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards, in the meeting database. The system is characterized by identifying the role of the first business card exchange user based on a role database indicating higher or lower roles for each role that can be identified for the aforementioned business card exchange user, the job title indicated by the business card information of the first business card exchange user, the job title indicated by the business card information of a second business card exchange user different from the first business card exchange user, and the identified role of the second business card exchange user. The feeling It is an information processing device. Claim 5 The invention relating to this invention is characterized in that the processor presents the role of the first business card exchange recipient identified by the processor to the user of interest, and modifies the role of the first business card exchange recipient in accordance with the instructions of the user of interest. 4 This is the information processing device described above. The invention according to claim 6 allows a computer to access a business card management database in which a first user ID that identifies a user, business card information written on the user's business card, and the first user IDs of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards are registered in association with each other, and a conference database in which a conference ID that identifies a video conference, a second user ID that identifies a user participating in the video conference and whose correspondence with the first user ID is known, and the role of the user indicated by the second user ID in the video conference are registered in association with each other, and during a video conference in which a user of interest and a user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards participate, the computer can access the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards in the video conference as entered by the user. , and the importance of the role entered by the user of interest. The system identifies the user and associates the identified role information with the second user ID of the user with whom the business card was exchanged, and registers this information in the meeting database. The role of the user with whom the business card was exchanged in the video conference is associated with the importance of the identified role and registered in the role database. This is an information processing program characterized by the following: [Effects of the Invention]
[0009] Claim 1 or 6 According to the invention, during a video conference with a user with whom a business card has been exchanged, the role of that user in the video conference can be identified and registered in association with the business card information of that user. According to the invention of claim 2, the user can specify the role of the user with whom they are exchanging business cards by operating on the display screen where the video conference window is displayed. 。 request request 3 According to the invention, a user can grasp the roles of multiple users who have exchanged business cards and are participants in a video conference. Claim 4 According to the invention, the role of the user with whom the business card exchange is made can be identified without the user specifying the role of the user. Claim 5 According to the invention, the user can modify the role of the business card exchange recipient identified by the processor.
Brief Explanation of Drawings
[0010] [Figure 1] It is a schematic configuration diagram of the information processing system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a schematic configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the business card management DB. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the role DB. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of the content of the meeting DB. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of the video conference window and the business card window. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an example of the role registration dialog. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of the display of the set role. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the meeting information editing dialog. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of the business card information display screen. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an example of the meeting information display screen. [Figure 12] It is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.
Modes for Carrying Out the Invention
[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system 10 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 10 according to this embodiment includes a plurality of user terminals 12 used by a plurality of users, and an information processing apparatus 14 that provides a business card management service (details will be described later) to the users. Each user terminal 12 and the information processing apparatus 14 are communicably connected to each other via a communication line such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network).
[0012] The user terminal 12 is a terminal used by users of the business card management service. The user terminal 12 consists of a computer such as a personal computer, tablet terminal, or smartphone, but is not limited to these devices. The user terminal 12 includes a communication interface for communicating with the information processing device 14 via a communication line 16, an input interface for receiving user commands, a display for displaying screens provided by the information processing device 14, memory for storing data, and a processor for executing various processes.
[0013] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the information processing device 14 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the information processing device 14 is a server computer, but the information processing device 14 may be any device as long as it can perform the functions described below (in other words, as long as it can provide the business card management service described below). Furthermore, the functions of the information processing device 14 described below may be realized through the cooperation of multiple computers.
[0014] The information processing device 14 is a device that provides a business card management service to users. The business card management service is a service that receives and manages information indicating the contents written on a user's business card (in this specification, information indicating the contents written on a business card is referred to as "business card information") from registered users, and also manages the business card information of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards.
[0015] Specifically, when a user registers with the business card management service, they send business card image data obtained by taking a picture or scanning their business card to the information processing device 14. As a result, the business card management service registers the user's business card information along with the user's identification information (e.g., user ID or unique username). The business card information may include not only the business card image data itself, but also character (including numbers) data extracted by analyzing the business card image data.
[0016] Furthermore, the business card management service enables business card exchange processing. Business card exchange processing is the process that allows a user to view the business card information of the user with whom they are exchanging business cards. For example, consider users A and B, who have already registered their own business card information in the business card management service. If users A and B have not performed business card exchange processing on the business card management service, user A cannot view user B's business card information, and user B cannot view user A's business card information. However, if the business card management service performs business card exchange processing between user A and user B, user A will be able to view user B's business card information, and user B will also be able to view user A's business card information. In this embodiment, the business card exchange processing in the business card management service is performed only when both user A and user B agree to it.
[0017] Furthermore, the business card management service provided by the information processing device 14 can operate in conjunction with a video conferencing service provided by the information processing device 14 or other devices. The process of coordinating with the video conferencing service will be described later.
[0018] The communication interface 20 consists of components such as a NIC (Network Interface Card). The communication interface 20 performs the function of communicating with the user terminal 12 via the communication line 16.
[0019] Memory 22 is composed of components such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card), ROM (Read Only Memory), or RAM (Random Access Memory). Information processing programs for operating each part of the information processing device 14 are stored in memory 22. These information processing programs can also be stored on a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or CD-ROM. The information processing device 14 can read and execute these information processing programs from such storage media. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, memory 22 also stores a business card management database 24, a role database 26, and a meeting database 28.
[0020] The Business Card Management DB24 is a database that stores business card management data for each of the multiple users registered with the business card management service. Figure 3 shows an example of the contents of the Business Card Management DB24. In Figure 3, the contents of the Business Card Management DB24 are shown in table format, with each record representing one piece of business card management data (for one user). As shown in Figure 3, the business card management data consists of user ID, business card information, facial image data, and data relating the users with whom the business card was exchanged. Details of the contents of the Business Card Management DB24 will be described later, along with the processing of the processor 30 (specifically the business card information processing unit 32).
[0021] Role DB26 is a database that stores definitions of roles for other participants in a video conference provided by the video conferencing service, in which multiple users of the business card management service participate, and which can be set by the user. Figure 4 shows an example of the contents of Role DB26. The contents of Role DB26 may be set in advance by the administrator of the business card management service, etc. Alternatively, as will be described later, the user can create a new role and register it in Role DB26. Role DB26 should be provided for each user. A Role DB26 for a given user will include the initial registered roles that have been registered in advance by the administrator of the business card management service, etc., and the roles that the user has registered. Details of the contents of Role DB26 will be described later along with the processing of the processor 30 (specifically the display control unit 34 and the role registration unit 36).
[0022] The meeting database 28 is a database that stores meeting information for video conferences provided by the video conferencing service and involving multiple users of the business card management service. Figure 5 shows an example of the contents of the meeting database 28. The meeting information includes a meeting ID that uniquely identifies the meeting, meeting attributes that represent the content of the meeting, the participants of the meeting, and the role of each participant in the video conference. It is preferable to have a meeting database 28 for each user. For a given user, the meeting database 28 registers meeting attributes that indicate the content of the meeting from the user's perspective, other participants in the meeting besides the user, and the role of each participant in the video conference from the user's perspective. Details of the contents of the meeting database 28 will be described later, along with the processing of the processor 30 (specifically the role registration unit 36 and the meeting information processing unit 38).
[0023] Returning to Figure 2, the processor 30 refers to a processor in a broad sense and consists of at least one of a general-purpose processor (e.g., a CPU (Central Processing Unit)) and a dedicated processing unit (e.g., a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a programmable logic device). The processor 30 may not consist of a single processing unit, but rather of multiple processing units located in physically separate locations working together. As shown in Figure 2, the processor 30 performs its functions as a business card information processing unit 32, a display control unit 34, a role registration unit 36, and a meeting information processing unit 38 according to the information processing program stored in the memory 22.
[0024] The business card information processing unit 32 performs processes such as registering business card management data in the business card management DB 24 and processing business cards on the business card management service.
[0025] First, when a user accesses the information processing device 14 from the user terminal 12 and registers as a user in the business card management service, the business card information processing unit 32 obtains a user ID that uniquely identifies the user, creates business card management data including the user ID, and registers it in the business card management DB 24 (see Figure 3). In addition to or instead of the user ID, the business card information processing unit 32 may also register the username determined by the user during user registration in the business card management DB 24 as information that uniquely identifies the user. In that case, if the user specifies a username that is already in use by another user during user registration, the business card information processing unit 32 should not register that username and should notify the user that the username is unavailable. Furthermore, one or a combination of items included in the business card information, as described later, may be used as information that uniquely identifies the user.
[0026] When a registered user sends their business card image data to the business card management service, the business card information processing unit 32 registers the business card image data as business card information in the business card management DB 24, associating it with the user's user ID. The business card information processing unit 32 also analyzes the business card image data to extract textual business card information and registers the extracted textual business card information in the business card management DB 24. The textual business card information may have multiple fields. In the example in Figure 3, the fields of business card information are shown to be company name, department name, job title, and name. Of course, the fields included in business card information are not limited to these.
[0027] The business card information processing unit 32 registers the user's face image data in the business card management DB 24, associating it with the user's user ID. The business card information processing unit 32 may also obtain the user's face image data when the user sends their face image data to the business card management service, or it may extract the face image data from the business card image data if the user's business card includes a photograph.
[0028] Furthermore, the business card information processing unit 32 executes a business card exchange process on the business card management service to exchange business cards between users. As described above, in this embodiment, the business card information processing unit 32 executes the business card exchange process when both users of the business card management service agree. When the business card information processing unit 32 executes the business card exchange process between user A and user B, it registers in the business card management DB 24 that user B's user ID is associated with user A's user ID as the user to whom user A will exchange business cards, and user A's user ID is associated with user B's user ID as the user to whom user B will exchange business cards. As described above, once the business card exchange process is completed, user A can view user B's business card information, and user B can view user A's business card information.
[0029] The display control unit 34 executes the process of displaying various screens provided by the business card management service on the display of the user terminal 12, which acts as a display unit.
[0030] The role registration unit 36 identifies the role of each user in a video conference in which multiple users of the business card management service participate, and registers the identified role in the conference DB 28 in association with the user's business card information.
[0031] The meeting information processing unit 38 identifies meeting attributes, which are information about video conferences in which multiple users of the business card management service participate, and executes a process to register the identified meeting attributes in the meeting DB 28.
[0032] The details of the processing performed by the display control unit 34, the role registration unit 36, and the conference information processing unit 38 will be explained below with reference to Figures 6 to 11 as appropriate.
[0033] As described above, the business card management service can operate in conjunction with the video conferencing service. For example, the business card management service stores the user IDs of its users in association with the user IDs of the video conferencing service. When multiple users of the business card management service log in to the video conferencing service and start a video conference, the user IDs of each of those users are provided from the video conferencing service to the business card management service. Based on the provided user IDs from the video conferencing service, the business card management service can identify the user IDs of the users participating in the video conference.
[0034] When multiple users of the business card management service start a video conference, the conference information processing unit 38 obtains the conference ID of the video conference and registers conference information, including the conference ID and the user IDs of the participants, in the conference DB 28 (see Figure 5). Here, focusing on one of the multiple users, the conference information processing unit 38 registers conference information in the conference DB 28 for the featured user, including the conference ID and the user IDs of the other participants who joined the video conference. At this point, the conference attributes and the roles of each participant in the video conference do not need to be registered.
[0035] When the featured user and participants start a video conference, the video conferencing service displays the video conferencing window 50 on the display of each user terminal 12 used by the featured user and participants. The following description of this embodiment will be based on the screen displayed on the featured user's user terminal 12.
[0036] Figure 6 shows how the video conferencing window 50 and the business card window 52 are displayed on the screen of the user terminal 12 used by the user of interest (in this case, "Hanako Fuji").
[0037] The video conferencing window 50 includes a view display area 54. The view display area 54 displays images captured by a camera connected to a user terminal 12 used by a participant in the video conference, as well as materials shared by the featured user or participant. When an image is displayed in the view display area 54, it is preferable that the image displayed is one captured by a camera connected to a user terminal 12 used by the participant currently speaking in the video conference.
[0038] The business card window 52 is a window provided by the business card management service (in other words, displayed by the display control unit 34). The business card window 52 displays the business card information 56 of the users with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards among the participants in the video conference. The display control unit 34 refers to the business card management data of the user of interest registered in the business card management DB 24 to identify the users with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards from among the participants in the video conference, and displays the business card information 56 of the identified users in the business card window 52. By displaying the business card window 52, the user can easily grasp the business card information of the participants in the video conference while participating in the video conference.
[0039] In this embodiment, the video conference includes the user of interest as well as multiple other participants (multiple users with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards). Therefore, the business card window 52 shown in Figure 6 displays multiple business card information 56 corresponding to each of these participants. The business card window 52 includes a close button 58, and when the user of interest operates the close button 58, the display control unit 34 clears the business card window 52.
[0040] The display control unit 34 can highlight the business card information 56 of participants. For example, as a highlight, the display control unit 34 can display a highlighted image 60 around the business card information 56, as shown in Figure 6. Specifically, the display control unit 34 analyzes the image displayed in the view display area 54 and extracts a person's face from the image. Next, the display control unit 34 identifies the person included in the image displayed in the view display area 54 by comparing the extracted face with the face image data stored in the business card management DB 24. Then, the display control unit 34 displays a highlighted image 60 around the business card information 56 of the identified person. Note that the process of extracting a person's face from the image displayed in the view display area 54 may be performed in the video conferencing service.
[0041] Furthermore, the display control unit 34 displays role icons 62 in the business card window 52 that indicate the role of each participant in the video conference (hereinafter simply referred to as "participant's role," etc.). In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, the display control unit 34 displays role icons 62 in which the participant's role is represented in text, in the vicinity of the participant's business card information 56.
[0042] The role of each participant can be set by the user of interest during the video conference. In other words, the role registration unit 36 can set the roles of video conference participants in response to input from the user of interest during the video conference. Specifically, the user of interest can input information indicating the role of each participant to the business card management service by operating on the display screen including the video conference window 50 (in this embodiment, the business card window 52) during the video conference.
[0043] In this embodiment, when the user of interest manipulates the business card information 56 or the role icon 62, the display control unit 34 displays the business card information 56 or the role setting dialog 64 on the display of the user terminal 12 used by the user of interest, for setting the role of the participant indicated by the business card information 56 corresponding to the role icon 62.
[0044] The role setting dialog 64 includes a role selection button 66. When the user of interest operates the role selection button 66, the display control unit 34 refers to the role database 26 and displays a role list 68 showing the roles registered in the role database 26 within the role setting dialog 64. The user of interest can select a role for the participant from the role list 68.
[0045] The role setting dialog 64 also includes a role creation button 70. If the desired role is not available in the role list 68, the user in attention operates the role creation button 70. When the user in attention operates the role creation button 70, the display control unit 34 displays the role registration dialog 72 shown in Figure 7 on the display of the user terminal 12 used by the user in attention.
[0046] In the role registration dialog 72, the user can enter the name of the new role to be registered (role name), the parent and subordinate roles of that role, and the importance level of that role.
[0047] A higher-level role is a role that is more important than the role in question in the video conference, and a lower-level role is a role that is less important than the role in question in the video conference. For example, if the new role to be created is "Approver," its higher-level role can be "Evaluator" and its lower-level role can be "Promoter." Higher-level and lower-level roles can be selected from roles already registered in the role database 26, or new roles can be registered. Note that the user of interest does not need to enter a higher-level or lower-level role.
[0048] Importance refers to information that objectively represents the importance of a particular role in a video conference. Importance can be expressed as a number (e.g., 1-5) or a letter (e.g., A-E). Note that users of interest do not need to input an importance level.
[0049] The role registration dialog 72 also includes a role sharing checkbox 74. By checking the role sharing checkbox 74, the featured user can use the newly created role in other video conferences as well. If the role sharing checkbox 74 is not selected, the new role registered in the role registration dialog 72 will only be valid for that video conference.
[0050] In the role registration dialog 72, when the user in question enters a role name (preferably including the higher role, lower role, and importance level) and operates the create button 76, information about the created role and information indicating whether the role sharing checkbox 74 is selected is sent from the user terminal 12 to the information processing device 14. Based on the information received from the user terminal 12, the processor 30 registers the new role in the role DB 26 (see Figure 4) if the role sharing checkbox 74 is selected. Specifically, the processor 30 registers the role name, importance level, higher role, and lower role of the new role created by the user in the role DB 26. If the role sharing checkbox 74 is not selected, the processor 30 does not register the new role in the role DB 26, but keeps the information in memory 22 as a role valid only for that video conference until the video conference ends.
[0051] The role registration dialog 72 includes a cancel button 78. If the user in question operates the cancel button 78, the display control unit 34 will display the role setting dialog 64 again (see Figure 6).
[0052] In the role setting dialog 64, when the user of interest selects a role and operates the setting button 80, the user ID of the participant (the user with whom the business card was exchanged) and information indicating the selected role are sent from the user terminal 12 to the information processing device 14. Based on the information received from the user terminal 12, the role registration unit 36 registers the role of the participant in the meeting information (see Figure 5) of the meeting of the user of interest, which was previously registered in the meeting DB 28. For example, if the user of interest, "Fuji Hanako," sets the role of participant "Fuji Taro" to "Promoter," the role registration unit 36 registers the role "Promoter" for "Fuji Taro"'s user ID "U2064" (see Figure 3) in the meeting information of the user of interest.
[0053] The role setting dialog 64 includes a cancel button 82, and when the user in question operates the cancel button 82, the display control unit 34 clears the role setting dialog 64.
[0054] In the business card management DB24 shown in Figure 3, each user's user ID is associated with their business card information. On the other hand, in the meeting DB28 shown in Figure 5, participants' user IDs are associated with their roles. Therefore, when the role registration unit 36 registers a role in the meeting DB28 in association with a participant's user ID, it is equivalent to registering information indicating the participant's role in the video conference in association with that participant's business card information. For example, registering the role "Promoter" for participant user ID "U2064" in the meeting DB28 means registering the role "Promoter" in the video conference in association with the business card information of user ID "U2064" (Fuji Taro's business card information, see Figure 3). As a result, as will be described later, when a user of interest displays the participant's business card information, it becomes possible to display the participant's role in the video conference as well.
[0055] Furthermore, in the role database 26 shown in Figure 4, an importance level can be associated with each role. Therefore, when the role registration unit 36 registers a role in the meeting database 28 in association with a participant's user ID, if an importance level is associated with that role, it is equivalent to registering information indicating the importance level of that role in association with the participant's business card information.
[0056] Furthermore, as in this embodiment, when multiple participants other than the user of interest are participating in a video conference, as shown in Figure 5, the meeting information of the video conference for the user of interest associates the meeting ID of the video conference with combinations of user IDs and roles for the multiple participants. This means that the business card information of each participant in the video conference is associated with the business card information and roles of the other participants in the video conference. For example, the role "Promoter" for participant user ID "U2064" and the role "Contact Person" for participant user ID "U3166" registered in the meeting DB28 are associated with the business card information of user ID "U1056". As a result, as will be described later, when the user of interest displays the business card information of a participant, it becomes possible to display the other participants in the video conference and their roles as well.
[0057] Furthermore, as mentioned above, the conference DB28 stores video conference information for each user. Therefore, the role of a participant as seen by the user of interest may differ from the role of that participant as seen by other users participating in the video conference. For example, even if the role of participant "Fuji Taro" as seen by the user of interest "Fuji Hanako" is "Promoter," the role of participant "Fuji Taro" as seen by another participant in the video conference, "Suzuki Jiro," does not necessarily have to be "Promoter" and could be, for example, "Evaluator." In this case, in "Suzuki Jiro's" conference information, the role "Evaluator" will be associated with "Fuji Taro's" user ID "U2064."
[0058] Furthermore, as mentioned above, the conference DB28 associates the role of each participant with each video conference. Therefore, the role of a participant in the first video conference from the perspective of the user of interest may differ from the role of that participant in a second video conference, which is different from the first video conference, from the perspective of the user of interest. For example, even if the role of participant "Fuji Taro" in the first video conference from the perspective of the user of interest, "Fuji Hanako," is "Promoter," the role of participant "Fuji Taro" in the second video conference from the perspective of the user of interest, "Fuji Hanako," does not need to be "Promoter" and could be, for example, "Evaluator." In this case, in the conference information for the first video conference from "Fuji Hanako's" perspective, the role "Promoter" will be associated with "Fuji Taro's" user ID "U2064," and in the conference information for the second video conference from "Fuji Hanako's" perspective, the role "Evaluator" will be associated with "Fuji Taro's" user ID "U2064."
[0059] When the role registration unit 36 registers a participant's role in response to the user's actions on the role setting dialog 64, the display control unit 34 changes the content of the role icon 62 in the business card window 52 that corresponds to the participant's business card information 56. Figure 8 shows the state where the role icon 62 for participant "Fuji Taro" has been changed to "Promoter". The display control unit 34 may also refer to the role DB 26 to identify the importance of the role and indicate the importance of the role in the role icon 62. For example, the text displayed by the role icon 62 may be set to "Promoter Importance: 2".
[0060] The role registration unit 36 may also identify and register the roles of participants in a manner other than that specified by the user of interest. In this case, the role registration unit 36 identifies the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards (i.e., the participant) based on the business card information of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards who is participating in the video conference.
[0061] As described above, when the user of interest sets the role of participant "Fuji Taro" to "Promoter," an example is given in which the role registration unit 36 identifies the role of another participant, "Suzuki Jiro," without being specified by the user of interest. First, the role registration unit 36 refers to the business card management DB 24 and identifies the job title of participant "Fuji Taro," whose role has been set by the user of interest. Referring to Figure 3, it is identified that "Fuji Taro's" job title is "Section Chief." Next, the role registration unit 36 refers to the business card management DB 24 and identifies the job title of another participant whose role is to be identified, "Suzuki Jiro." Referring to Figure 3, it is identified that "Suzuki Jiro's" job title is "Department Manager." Here, the role registration unit 36 compares the job titles of "Fuji Taro" and "Suzuki Jiro" and can determine that Suzuki Jiro's job title is higher. Note that information indicating the hierarchy of each job title is stored separately in memory 22, and the role registration unit 36 can identify the hierarchy of each job title based on this information.
[0062] Furthermore, the role registration unit 36 refers to the role DB 26 and identifies a higher or lower role of the role "Promoter" set by the user of interest, "Fuji Taro". As mentioned above, the position "Department Manager" of participant "Suzuki Jiro", who identifies the role, is higher than the position "Section Chief" of "Fuji Taro". Therefore, the role registration unit 36 identifies a higher role of the role "Promoter". Referring to Figure 4, the role "Approver" is identified as a higher role of the role "Promoter". The role registration unit 36 associates the identified role "Approver" with the user ID of "Suzuki Jiro" in the meeting information of the user of interest and registers it in the meeting DB 28.
[0063] As described above, if the role registration unit 36 automatically registers the roles of participants without the designation of a user of interest, the registered roles may be incorrect. Therefore, the display control unit 34 should present the roles of participants automatically registered by the role registration unit 36 to the user of interest and then accept corrections to those roles from the user of interest. As an example of how to present the roles, a role icon 62 indicating the role automatically registered by the role registration unit 36 may be displayed in the business card window 52. In this case, the role icon 62 should be highlighted to indicate that it was automatically registered by the role registration unit 36.
[0064] The user of interest can review the roles of the participants that have been automatically registered by the role registration unit 36 and, if necessary, modify those roles. In other words, the role registration unit 36 modifies the roles of the participants that it has automatically registered in response to the instructions of the user of interest. Modifying roles can be done using the same operations as setting roles. For example, in response to the user of interest interacting with the business card information 56 or the role icon 62, the display control unit 34 displays the role setting dialog 64. As described above, the user of interest can set the modified role of the participant in the role setting dialog 64.
[0065] As described above, in this embodiment, the user of interest can set the roles of participants during a video conference, and the set roles are registered in association with the business card information of those participants. This prevents situations where the user tries to register a participant's role after the video conference has ended but forgets the role and is unable to register it.
[0066] Returning to Figure 6, the business card window 52 includes a meeting information editing button 84. When the user of interest operates the meeting information editing button 84, the display control unit 34 displays the meeting information editing dialog 86 shown in Figure 9 on the display of the user terminal 12 used by the user of interest.
[0067] In the meeting information editing dialog 86, the user of interest can set the meeting attributes of the video conference, such as the meeting name, scale, impression, and timing. When the user of interest sets this meeting information and operates the setting button 88, the processor 30 registers it in the meeting DB 28 as the meeting information for the user of interest's video conference (see Figure 5). As described above, since meeting information is registered for each user, the meeting attributes (especially the impression) may be subjective to the user of interest.
[0068] As shown in Figure 5, meeting attributes are associated with the business card information of multiple participants in the video conference. Therefore, when a user sets meeting attributes in the meeting information editing dialog 86, they are simultaneously associating those meeting attributes with the business card information of multiple participants in the video conference.
[0069] The meeting information editing dialog 86 includes a cancel button 90, and when the user presses the cancel button 90, the display control unit 34 clears the meeting information editing dialog 86.
[0070] After the video conference ends (or during the video conference), the user of interest can access the business card management service and send a request to the service to display the business card information of the business card exchange partner registered in the service. This display request includes the user ID of the business card exchange partner specified by the user of interest. In response to this display request, the display control unit 34 displays the business card information display screen 92, as shown in Figure 10, on the display of the user terminal 12.
[0071] The business card information display screen 92 shown in Figure 10 is a screen for "Fuji Taro," a participant in the aforementioned video conference. The display control unit 34 refers to the business card management DB 24 and identifies the business card information associated with the user ID (in this case, "U2064") included in the display request received from the user terminal 12. The identified business card information is then displayed on the business card information display screen 92. The display control unit 34 also refers to the meeting DB 28 and identifies the meeting information of the user of interest that includes the user ID included in the display request received from the user terminal 12 as a participant. The meeting attributes of the identified meeting information and "Fuji Taro's" role in the video conference are then displayed on the business card information display screen 92. Here as well, the display control unit 34 may also refer to the role DB 26 and display the importance of "Fuji Taro's" role.
[0072] On the business card information display screen 92, a link 94 is attached to the meeting name, and the interested user can select the link 94. When the interested user selects the link 94, the display control unit 34 displays the meeting information display screen 96, as shown in Figure 11, on the user terminal 12's display instead of the business card information display screen 92.
[0073] The meeting information display screen 96 shown in Figure 11 is the screen for the video conference described above. Based on the meeting information of the user of interest, the display control unit 34 displays the multiple participants of the video conference and the role of each participant on the meeting information display screen 96. As described above, the business card information of a participant in a video conference (in this example, "Fuji Taro") is associated with the other participants of the video conference and their roles. Therefore, the business card information of "Fuji Taro" and the other participants and their roles in the video conference in which "Fuji Taro" participated can be displayed in conjunction. This allows the user of interest to easily understand the other participants and their roles in the video conference in which a certain participant participated, starting from the business card information of that participant.
[0074] On the meeting information display screen 96, each participant's name has a link 98 attached to it, and the user of interest can select a link 98. When the user of interest selects a link 98, the display control unit 34 displays the business card information display screen 92, which shows the business card information of the selected participant, on the user terminal 12's display instead of the business card information display screen 92.
[0075] The meeting information display screen 96 includes an edit button 100. When the user of interest operates the edit button 100, the display control unit 34 displays a screen for changing the meeting attributes, allowing the user of interest to change the meeting attributes of the video conference on that screen. The meeting information display screen 96 also includes a change button 102 for changing the role of each participant, and a delete button 104 for changing the role of each participant. The user of interest can change the role of a participant by operating the change button 102. The user of interest can also delete the role of a participant by operating the delete button 104. Furthermore, the meeting information display screen 96 includes an add participant button 106. The user of interest can select and add participants to the video conference from the users with whom they have exchanged business cards by operating the add participant button 106.
[0076] The configuration of the information processing device 14 according to this embodiment is as described above. The processing flow of the information processing device 14 according to this embodiment will now be explained according to the flowchart shown in Figure 12.
[0077] In step S10, when the user of interest and participants log in to the video conferencing service and start a video conference, the display control unit 34 displays the video conferencing window 50 and the business card window 52 (see Figure 6) on the display of the user terminal 12 of the user of interest.
[0078] In step S12, the display control unit 34 determines whether the participant's business card information 56 or role icon 62 displayed in the business card window 52 has been selected by the user of interest. If it is determined that it has been selected, the process proceeds to step S14.
[0079] In step S14, the display control unit 34 displays the role setting dialog 64 (see Figure 6).
[0080] In the role setting dialog 64, when the user of interest sets a participant's role and operates the setting button 80, in step S16, the user ID of that participant and information indicating the selected role are sent from the user terminal 12 to the information processing device 14, and the information processing device 14 receives this information.
[0081] In step S18, the role registration unit 36 registers the participant's role in association with the participant's business card information, based on the information received in step S16.
[0082] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. [Explanation of Symbols]
[0083] 10 Information processing system, 12 User terminal, 12a Predecessor terminal, 12b Successor terminal, 12c Business card exchange partner terminal, 14 Information processing device, 20 Communication interface, 22 Memory, 24 Business card management DB, 26 Role DB, 28 Meeting DB, 30 Processor, 32 Business card information processing unit, 34 Display control unit, 36 Role registration unit, 38 Meeting information processing unit, 50 Video conferencing window, 52 Business card window, 54 View display area, 56 Business card information, 58 Close button, 60 Highlight image, 62 Role icon, 64 Role setting dialog, 66 Role selection button, 68 Role list, 70 Role creation button, 72 Role registration dialog, 74 Role sharing checkbox, 76 Create button, 78, 82, 90 Cancel button, 80, 88 Settings button, 84 Meeting information editing button, 86 Meeting information editing dialog, 92 Business card information display screen, 94 Meeting information display button, 96 Meeting information display screen, 98 Business card information display button, 100 Edit button, 102 Change button, 104 Delete button, 106 Add participant button.
Claims
1. Equipped with a processor, The aforementioned processor, Accessible to a business card management database in which a first user ID that identifies a user, business card information written on the user's business card, and the first user IDs of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards are registered in association with each other, and a meeting database in which a meeting ID that identifies a video conference, a second user ID that identifies a user participating in the video conference and whose correspondence with the first user ID is known, and the role of the user indicated by the second user ID in the video conference are registered in association with each other. During a video conference in which a user of interest and a user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards participate, the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards in the video conference, as entered by the user of interest, and the importance of the role entered by the user of interest are identified. The information indicating the identified role is associated with the second user ID of the user with whom the business card was exchanged and registered in the meeting database. The role of the user with whom business cards were exchanged during the video conference is associated with the importance of the identified role and registered in the role database. An information processing device characterized by the following:
2. The aforementioned processor, The display screen, including the video conference window, is displayed on the display unit. The role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards, as entered by the user of interest through an operation on the display screen, and the importance of the role entered by the user of interest through an operation on the display screen are identified. The information processing apparatus according to feature 1.
3. Multiple users who had exchanged business cards participated in the aforementioned video conference. The aforementioned processor, During the aforementioned video conference, the role of each user with whom a business card was exchanged in the video conference is identified. The second user ID and role of other users who participated in the video conference and exchanged business cards are associated with the conference ID of the video conference and registered in the conference database. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
4. comprising a processor, The aforementioned processor, Accessible to a business card management database in which a first user ID that identifies a user, business card information written on the user's business card, and the first user IDs of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards are registered in association with each other, and a meeting database in which a meeting ID that identifies a video conference, a second user ID that identifies a user participating in the video conference and whose correspondence with the first user ID is known, and the role of the user indicated by the second user ID in the video conference are registered in association with each other. During a video conference in which a user of interest and a user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards participate, the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards in the video conference, as entered by the user of interest, The information indicating the identified role is associated with the second user ID of the user with whom the business card was exchanged and registered in the meeting database. A role database indicating higher or lower roles for each role that can be identified for the aforementioned business card exchange recipient user, the job title indicated by the business card information of the first business card exchange recipient user, the job title indicated by the business card information of a second business card exchange recipient user different from the first business card exchange recipient user, and the identification of the role of the first business card exchange recipient user based on the identified role of the second business card exchange recipient user. An information processing device characterized by the following:
5. The aforementioned processor, The processor presents the role of the first business card exchange recipient identified to the user of interest, In response to the instructions of the aforementioned user of interest, the role of the first user with whom business cards were exchanged is modified. The information processing apparatus according to feature 4.
6. On the computer, Access to a business card management database in which a first user ID that identifies a user, business card information written on the user's business card, and the first user IDs of users with whom the user has exchanged business cards are registered in association with each other, and to a conference database in which a conference ID that identifies a video conference, a second user ID that identifies a user participating in the video conference and whose correspondence with the first user ID is known, and the role of the user indicated by the second user ID in the video conference are registered in association with each other. During a video conference in which a user of interest and a user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards participate, the system identifies the role of the user with whom the user of interest has exchanged business cards in the video conference as entered by the user of interest, and the importance of that role as entered by the user of interest. The information indicating the identified role is associated with the second user ID of the user with whom the business card was exchanged and registered in the meeting database. The role of the user with whom business cards were exchanged during the video conference is associated with the importance of the identified role and registered in the role database. An information processing program characterized by the following features.