Information processing device and information notification system

Abstract

In an information notification system (Sy), an information processing device (10) on a transmission side that transmits email comprises a controller (19). The controller (19) calculates a preparation time, including a movement time from the position of an information processing device (10) on a reception side that receives email to a current conference room, and if the preparation time is longer than a reminder time, selects another conference room closer to the position of the information processing device (10) on the reception side than the current conference room on the basis of the position of each conference room and the position of the information processing device (10) on the reception side, and transmits an email indicating the change to the selected other conference room to the information processing device (10) on the reception side.

Description

Information processing device and information notification system

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information notification system, and more particularly to a technique for notifying an event location, a start date and time, etc. of the event by using notification information.

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an information notification system is known that includes a plurality of information processing devices that send and receive emails, via a server on a network, to notify participants of meeting rooms, the start date and time of a meeting, and the like.

[0003] For example, the resource reservation system described in Patent Document 1 acquires reservation information related to the reservation of a resource such as a conference room, determines a transmission method or destination for a notification related to the resource reservation based on the acquired reservation information, and transmits the notification related to the resource reservation to a terminal device using the determined transmission method or to the determined destination. As a result, the notification related to the resource reservation is transmitted to anyone, not just the person who made the reservation.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-52699

[0005] When notifying the conference room and the start date and time of the conference by email, a date and time before the start date and time of the conference may be specified in advance, and a reminder notification may be sent to send and receive the email from the sending information processing device to the receiving information processing device at the specified date and time. This allows the user of the receiving information processing device to see the email received on a date and time before the start date and time of the conference, and to arrive at the conference room on time for the conference.

[0006] However, if a user travels far away from the conference room on the day of the meeting, the user may be late for the meeting due to the long travel time required to get to the conference room. In this case, if the user can use the reminder notification to change the conference room to another conference room closer to the user, the convenience of the reminder notification will be improved.

[0007] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 determines the method or destination of sending a notification regarding a resource reservation based on reservation information, but does not notify a change in conference room.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to change a scheduled conference room to another conference room closer to the user and notify the user of the other conference room when the user moves far away from the conference room.

[0009] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention is a sending information processing device that transmits notification information for notifying other receiving information processing devices of an event at each of a plurality of event locations via a server on a network, and includes: a communication unit that communicates with the receiving information processing device via the server; an input unit that inputs a reminder time indicating the time from the start date and time of the event to a reminder transmission date and time that is earlier than the start date and time of the event; and a control unit that calculates a preparation time at the reminder transmission date and time or a predetermined time before the reminder transmission date and time, which is either the travel time from the location of the receiving information processing device to the event location, or the time obtained by adding a certain amount of time to the travel time; if the preparation time is less than the reminder time, causes the communication unit to send the notification information to the receiving information processing device when the reminder transmission date and time arrives; and if the preparation time is longer than the reminder time, causes the communication unit to select another event location whose preparation time is less than the reminder time based on the location of each event location and the location of the receiving information processing device, and causes the communication unit to send notification information indicating a change to the other event location to the receiving information processing device.

[0010] An information notification system according to another aspect of the present invention is an information notification system that includes a plurality of information processing devices that communicate notification information for notifying events at a plurality of event locations via a server on a network, and at least one of the plurality of information processing devices includes an information processing device according to the above-described aspect of the present invention as a sending information processing device that sends the notification information.

[0011] According to the present invention, when a user moves far away from a conference room, the scheduled conference room can be changed to another conference room closer to the user, and the user can be notified of the other conference room.

[0012] 10A is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10B is a block diagram showing the main configuration of an information processing device. FIG. 10C is a diagram showing an example of a conference schedule. FIG. 10D is a flowchart showing the control procedure for notification setting processing. FIG. 10E is a diagram showing an example of a pop-up window for logging in. FIG. 10F is a diagram showing an example of a reminder notification setting window. FIG. 10G is a diagram conceptually showing conference management data. FIG. 10H is a diagram showing an example of a pop-up window for selecting whether or not to extend the reminder time. FIG. 10I is a diagram showing another example of a pop-up window for selecting whether or not to extend the reminder time. FIG. 10I is a flowchart showing the control procedure for conference room setting processing. FIG. 10I is a flowchart showing the control procedure following FIG.

[0013] An information processing apparatus and an information notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information notification system Sy according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] The information notification system Sy includes a plurality of information processing devices 10. In the information notification system Sy, the plurality of information processing devices 10 are connected to a network (such as an intranet) N, and notification information is communicated between the information processing devices 10 via a server 30 (e.g., a mail server; hereinafter, the server 30 will be described as a mail server) on the network N. Each information processing device 10 accesses the server 30 via the network N. The notification information is information including a message to be notified, such as e-mail. In the following, the notification information will be described as e-mail. The number of information processing devices 10 is not particularly limited.

[0015] 2 is a block diagram showing the main components of the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 is, for example, a personal computer, a portable smartphone, or a mobile device. The information processing device 10 includes a display unit 11, an operation unit 12, a touch panel 13, a communication unit 14, a storage unit 17, and a control unit 18.

[0016] The display unit 11 is configured by a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, or the like.

[0017] A touch panel 13 is provided on top of the screen of the display unit 11. The touch panel 13 detects contact (touch) with a user's finger or the like on the touch panel 13 together with the contact position, and outputs a detection signal indicating the coordinates of the contact position to the control unit 19 of the control unit 18 as a signal indicating an instruction. This makes it possible to input instructions based on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like displayed on the screen of the display unit 11 via the touch panel 13. The touch panel 13 functions as part of the operation unit 12.

[0018] The operation unit 12 is a keyboard, a pointing device, physical keys, or the like that is operated by a user. The operation unit 12 accepts input of instructions in response to user operations on the keyboard, etc., and outputs the accepted instructions to the control unit 19. The operation unit 12 is an example of an input unit in the claims.

[0019] The communication unit 14 is a communication interface that includes a communication module such as a LAN (Local Area Network) chip, etc. The communication unit 14 is connected to the server 30 via the network N, and performs data communication with the server 30.

[0020] The storage unit 17 is a large-capacity storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD) or a hard disk drive (HDD), etc. The storage unit 17 stores various application programs and various data.

[0021] The control unit 18 is composed of a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), etc. The control unit 18 functions as a control unit 19 when an information notification program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 17 is executed by the processor.

[0022] The control unit 18 is connected to the display unit 11, the operation unit 12, the touch panel 13, the communication unit 14, the storage unit 17, etc. The control unit 19 is responsible for overall control of the information processing device 10. The control unit 19 controls each of the above-mentioned components and transmits and receives signals or data between each of the components.

[0023] The control unit 19 functions as a processing unit that executes various processes, and also has the function of controlling the display unit 11 and the communication unit 14.

[0024] In the information notification system Sy configured as above, for example, one of the multiple information processing devices 10 is a PC installed in a conference room (an example of an event venue) or a PC managed by a user as an administrator, and is operated by the administrator of the conference (an example of an event) (hereinafter referred to as the conference room information processing device 10). Further, each of the other information processing devices 10 is a PC installed at the seat of each participant attending the conference, or a portable terminal or mobile device carried by each participant, and is operated by each participant (hereinafter referred to as the participant's information processing device 10).

[0025] The administrators and participants are multiple users who use the information notification system Sy and the respective information processing devices 10. Furthermore, a participant may also serve as the administrator.

[0026] When an information notification program for creating and sending / receiving e-mail is started in any of the information processing devices 10, e-mails are created and sent, and e-mails are received, in accordance with operations by the administrator or participants. The e-mails are received by a server 30 on the network N and then transmitted from the server 30 to each of the information processing devices 10.

[0027] The server 30 is connected to a network N (for example, an internal company network), and any of the information processing devices 10 can access the server 30 .

[0028] For example, in the information processing device 10 in a conference room, when an administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to designate a predetermined icon displayed on the display unit 11, the operation unit 12 receives an instruction to launch an information notification program for creating and sending and receiving e-mail. The control unit 19 executes the information notification program stored in the storage unit 17 and displays a window for creating and sending and receiving e-mail (hereinafter referred to as a mail window) on the screen of the display unit 11 in accordance with the information notification program. The information notification program is an application program for creating and sending and receiving e-mail (for example, a program based on Microsoft Office 365 Outlook from Microsoft Corporation; however, the information notification program is not intended to be limited to programs based on Microsoft Office 365 Outlook).

[0029] When the operation unit 12 receives input of various information necessary for creating an email based on the administrator's operation of buttons included in an email window displayed on the screen of the display unit 11 using the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12, the control unit 19 creates an email notifying participants of the conference room, the start date and time of the conference, etc., according to the information. The control unit 19 also sets the email addresses of each participant as the email destination and causes the communication unit 14 to send the email. The email is received by the server 30 via the network N and then transmitted by the server 30 to each participant's information processing device 10. Each participant executes an information notification program for creating and sending / receiving email on their own information processing device 10 (receiving information processing device 10). When the email is received from the server 30 via the communication unit 14, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 (receiving side) displays an email window on the screen of the display unit 11 and displays the contents of the email, such as the conference room and start date and time of the conference, in the email window. The user can check the contents of the email by visually checking the email window.

[0030] Furthermore, users (the conference manager and each participant) operate the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 of their own information processing devices 10 to input a display instruction to display the conference schedule stored in the storage unit 17. When the display instruction is input to the operation unit 12, the control unit 19 displays the schedule stored in the storage unit 17 on the screen of the display unit 11 in accordance with the display instruction. The control unit 19 also rewrites and updates the conference schedule in accordance with instructions input to the operation unit 12 by user operation. As will be described later, the conference schedule is shared between the information processing devices 10 of each user.

[0031] In this way, users (administrators of each conference room and each participant) can use the mail window function to display the meeting schedule on the screen of the display unit 11, update the meeting schedule, and share the meeting schedule among each information processing device 10.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows an example of a conference schedule displayed on the screen of the display unit 11. The conference schedule 41 shown in FIG. 3 lists, for each of multiple conference rooms, the conference room name (conference room name I, II, III, ...), the conference room usage status (information such as reserved, in use, or available), reservation details (information on whether the conference room is reserved, the reservation time, the person who made the reservation, and the participants of the conference held in the conference room), the conference room's capacity, the conference room's location, and the location of the conference room (building name (1), (2), (3), ...). In the schedule 41, the conference room usage status indicates whether the conference room is in use, waiting to enter, or available. The reservation details are entered when a conference room is reserved, and include the start time, end time, name of the person who made the reservation, and participants. The conference room's capacity is the number of people preset for each conference room. The conference room name and conference room location information are input by the user via the operation unit 12 of the information processing device 10 and are stored in the schedule 41 by the control unit 19.

[0033] In the information notification system Sy of this embodiment, when the information processing device 10 notifies the participants of the conference room and the start date and time of the conference by email, the information processing device 10 sends a reminder notification by sending the email from the information processing device 10 in the conference room to the information processing device 10 of the participants at a predetermined reminder sending date and time before the start date and time of the conference (for example, 10 minutes before the start date and time of the conference), thereby notifying the participants of the start of the conference in advance.

[0034] Furthermore, if a participant moves far away from the conference room around the time when the reminder is sent on the day of the conference, the time required for the participant to travel to the conference room will be long, which may cause the participant to be late for the conference. Therefore, if a participant moves far away from the conference room around the time when the reminder is sent on the day of the conference, the information processing device 10 in the conference room will reselect another conference room that is closer to the participant and send a reminder notification indicating the new conference room from the information processing device 10 in the conference room to the information processing device 10 of the participant before the start date and time of the conference, thereby notifying the participant of the change to another conference room.

[0035] Next, a control procedure for a notification setting process for setting a reminder notification to be sent before the start date and time of a conference will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0036] In the information processing device 10 in the conference room, when an administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to designate a predetermined icon displayed on the display unit 11, an instruction to start an information notification program for creating and sending and receiving e-mail is received by the operation unit 12. In response to the instruction, the control unit 19 displays a login pop-up window PU1 on the display unit 11, as shown in Fig. 5 (step S101). The login pop-up window PU1 displays a text box B11 in which the administrator's login password is entered, and an execute key K11.

[0037] The administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to input the administrator's login password. The control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room displays the input login password in the text box B11 of the pop-up window PU1. When the administrator further operates the execution key K11, the control unit 19 determines whether the login password displayed in the text box B11 matches the administrator's login password pre-stored in the storage unit 17 (step S102). If the control unit 19 determines that they match ("Yes" in step S102), it permits the login (step S103) and executes the information notification program stored in the storage unit 17. The control unit 19 displays a mail window on the display unit 11 in accordance with the information notification program (step S104).

[0038] Furthermore, if the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that the login password displayed in the text box B11 does not match the administrator's login password pre-stored in the memory unit 17 ("No" in step S102), it will not execute the information notification program instructed via the operation unit 12, nor will it display the email window on the display unit 11.

[0039] After step S104, the administrator issues an instruction to send a reminder notification by email using the mail window function by operating the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12. In response to the instruction to send a reminder notification, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room displays a reminder notification setting window G1 as shown in FIG. 6 on the screen of the display unit 11 (step S105).

[0040] The reminder notification setting window G1 shown in Figure 6 displays a text box B21 displaying the meeting name, a text box B22 displaying the meeting room name, a text box B23 displaying the start date and time of the meeting, a text box B24 displaying the end date and time, a text box B25 displaying the reminder time T from the reminder sending date and time to the start date and time of the meeting, a text box B26 displaying the names of each participant, a check box C21 for accepting an instruction on whether the meeting is important, a check box C22 for accepting an instruction on whether to link the locations of each participant, a cancel key K21, and a registration key K22.

[0041] The administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to input the meeting name, meeting room name, meeting start date / time, meeting end date / time, and reminder time T from the reminder transmission date / time to the meeting start date / time in the corresponding text boxes B21 to B25 in the reminder notification setting window G1 (step S106). The reminder time T is the time from the meeting start date / time to the reminder transmission date / time, which is assumed to be earlier than the meeting start date / time. Furthermore, the administrator operates the operation unit 12 to input instructions to take into account the locations of participants and instructions indicating high meeting importance as necessary (step S106). Each input content is accepted by the operation unit 12 and output from the operation unit 12 to the control unit 19. 6 shows an example in which the meeting name "Department Meeting" is displayed in text box B21, the meeting room name "Meeting Room II" is displayed in text box B22, the start date and time "22 / 4 / 1 10:00" is displayed in text box B23, the end date and time "22 / 4 / 1 12:00" is displayed in text box B24, and the reminder time T "10 minutes" is displayed in text box B25. Also shown in FIG. 6 is an example in which both an instruction to consider the locations of participants and an instruction indicating that the meeting importance is high are input, and the control unit 19 displays check marks in each of check boxes C21 and C22.

[0042] Furthermore, the administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to input a display instruction to display a list of the names of multiple users through the reminder notification setting window G1 to the operation unit 12. The conference management data CD shown in FIG. 7 is stored in the storage unit 17. The control unit 19 of each information processing device 10 executes an information sharing function by operating in accordance with the information notification program. The information sharing function allows each information processing device 10, including the information processing device 10 in the conference room, to share a conference schedule (described below) and conference management data CD via the network N and the server 30. Specifically, the conference schedule and conference management data CD stored in each other information processing device 10 are received via the communication unit 14 of each information processing device 10, updated as needed, and stored in the storage unit 17. In other words, the information sharing function synchronizes the conference schedule and conference management data CD between the information processing devices 10, and after synchronization, the same conference schedule and conference management data CD are stored in each information processing device 10. The control unit 19 writes or rewrites information in the conference schedule and conference management data CD using information input by operating the operation unit 12 of each information processing device 10. The information sharing function is a file sharing function when a program based on Microsoft Office 365 Outlook from Microsoft Corporation is used as the information notification program.

[0043] The conference management data CD stores, for example, the names of multiple users (including the administrator and each participant), each user's email address (an example of destination information indicating the destination of notification information), and the location of each user's information processing device 10. The control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room reads out the names of all users (including the administrator and each participant) from the conference management data CD and displays a list of each user's name on the screen of the display unit 11, for example, in a window separate from the setting window G1.

[0044] When the separate window is displayed, the administrator uses the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to select the names of each participant who will participate in the conference from the list of user names. In response to this operation, the control unit 19 accepts a selection instruction for each selected participant via the operation unit 12. Upon accepting the selection instruction, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room hides the separate window and displays the names of each participant indicated by the selection instruction in the text box B26 in the reminder notification setting window G1 (step S107).

[0045] The email addresses of each user in the conference management data CD are set in advance in the information processing devices 10 of each user and stored in the storage units 17 of the information processing devices 10 of each user. By the synchronization between the information processing devices 10 described above, the same conference management data CD is stored in the storage units 17 of the information processing devices 10 of each user.

[0046] Furthermore, the location of each user's information processing device 10 in the conference management data CD is detected by the information processing device 10 of each user and stored in the conference management data CD. For example, if the information processing device 10 is a portable terminal device or a mobile device, the location of the information processing device 10 is detected using a GPS (Global Positioning System) function provided in the information processing device 10. If the information processing device 10 is a desktop personal computer (PC), the location of the information processing device 10 is detected based on the reception level of a beacon signal transmitted from a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) master device and received by the communication unit 14 of the information processing device 10. The control unit 19 rewrites the corresponding location information in the data CD1 to the detected location of the information processing device 10. Note that location information input by a user operating the operation unit 12 of the information processing device 10 may also be used as the location of the information processing device 10.

[0047] Next, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines whether an instruction indicating that the conference importance is high has been received (step S108). If the control unit 19 determines that an instruction indicating that the conference importance is high has been received ("Yes" in step S108), it causes the display unit 11 to display a pop-up window PU2, as shown in Fig. 8, for selecting whether or not to extend the remind time T (the time from the reminder transmission date and time to the conference start date and time) of each participant's information processing device 10 (step S109). The pop-up window PU2 displays a message M1 indicating that the remind time T will be changed, an NG key K31, and an OK key K32.

[0048] When the administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to operate the OK key K32 of the pop-up window PU2, the operation unit 12 receives an instruction to extend the reminder time T ("Yes" in step S110). The control unit 19, for example, sets the standard reminder time T to a predetermined time, 10 minutes in this example. In accordance with the extension instruction, the control unit 19 sets a predetermined extension time td (e.g., 5 minutes) to be added to the reminder time T. That is, the control unit 19 extends the reminder time T for each participant's information processing device 10 from "10 minutes" to "15 minutes" (step S111). After extending the reminder time T, the control unit 19 hides the pop-up window PU2. The control unit 19 then proceeds to the processing of step S117. In this way, when the importance of the meeting is high, the reminder time T for each participant's information processing device 10 is extended from "10 minutes" to "15 minutes."

[0049] On the other hand, if the administrator operates the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12 to operate the NG key K31 on the pop-up window PU2, the operation unit 12 receives an instruction not to extend the remind time T ("No" in step S110). In this case, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room does not perform the process of step S111, and maintains the remind time T as is. The control unit 19 hides the pop-up window PU2. After this, the control unit 19 proceeds to the process of step S112.

[0050] Furthermore, even if the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that it has not received an instruction indicating that the conference importance is high ("No" in step S108), the importance of the conference is not high, so the remind time T of each participant's information processing device 10 is maintained as is. After this, the control unit 19 proceeds to the process of step S112.

[0051] Next, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room refers to the conference schedule 41 to obtain the location of the conference room, and also refers to the conference management data CD to obtain the location of the information processing device 10 of each participant (i.e., each selected participant) displayed in text box B26.

[0052] A conference schedule 41 such as that shown on the reservation display screen D1 in FIG. 3 is stored in the storage unit 17. The control unit 19 of each information processing device 10 executes an information sharing function by operating in accordance with an information notification program. The information sharing function allows the conference schedule to be shared among the information processing devices 10, including the information processing device 10 in the conference room, via the network N and the server 30. Specifically, the conference schedule stored in the other information processing devices 10 is received via its own communication unit 14, updated as needed, and stored in the storage unit 17. That is, the information sharing function synchronizes the conference schedules among the information processing devices 10, and after synchronization, the same conference schedule is stored in each information processing device 10. The control unit 19 writes or rewrites information to the conference schedule using information input by operating the operation unit 12 of each information processing device 10.

[0053] After acquiring the location of the conference room and the location of each participant's information processing device 10 as described above, the control unit 19 calculates the distance from the location of each participant's information processing device 10 to the location of the conference room, and based on these distances and using a predetermined standard walking speed, calculates the travel time ta required for each participant to move to the conference room, and further adds a predetermined fixed time tb to each travel time ta to calculate the preparation time tc of each participant's information processing device 10 (step S112). Note that the control unit 19 may calculate the travel time ta itself as the preparation time tc without adding the fixed time tb.

[0054] The preparation time tc of each participant's information processing device 10 is calculated for each participant as the time required from when the participant's information processing device 10 receives the reminder notification until the participant prepares for the meeting and moves to the meeting room.

[0055] The control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room compares the preparation time tc with the reminder time T for each participant's information processing device 10 and determines whether the preparation time tc is longer than the reminder time T (step S113). If the preparation time tc is longer than the reminder time T, the user will not be able to make it to the conference room even if they start from the time of the reminder notification, i.e., the reminder time T is insufficient. Therefore, if the preparation time tc is longer than the reminder time T ("Yes" in step S113), the control unit 19 displays a pop-up window PU3 on the display unit 11, as shown in FIG. 9, for selecting whether to extend the reminder time T of each participant's information processing device 10 (step S114). The pop-up window PU3 displays a message M2 indicating that the reminder time T will be changed, an NG key K41, and an OK key K42.

[0056] When the administrator operates the OK key K42 on the pop-up window PU3 by operating the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12, the operation unit 12 receives a notification time change instruction (step S115). In accordance with the notification time change instruction, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room extends the reminder time T for the information processing device 10 of a participant whose preparation time tc is determined to be longer than the reminder time T so that the preparation time tc is equal to or shorter than the reminder time T (step S116). For example, the control unit 19 extends the reminder time T and changes the reminder transmission date and time to a date and time when the preparation time tc becomes the reminder time T. After extending the reminder time T, the control unit 19 hides the pop-up window PU3. The control unit 19 then proceeds to the processing of step S117. In addition, in step S116, the control unit 19 may add the above-mentioned extension of the reminder time T to the reminder time T for the information processing devices 10 of all participants, thereby extending the reminder time T for all participants' information processing devices 10.

[0057] Therefore, if a participant is far away from the conference room and will not arrive in time even if he or she heads to the conference room, the remind time T is extended to more than the preparation time tc required for the participant to prepare for the conference and move to the conference room after receiving the remind notice at the participant's information processing device 10.

[0058] On the other hand, in step S113, if the preparation time tc is equal to or shorter than the remind time T (step S113 "No"), the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that the preparation time tc is sufficiently long and maintains the remind time T. The control unit 19 proceeds to the process of step S117.

[0059] As a result, if the reminding time T is insufficient for each information processing device 10 of each participant, the reminding time T is extended to the preparation time tc, and if the reminding time T is not insufficient, the reminding time T is maintained without being extended.

[0060] When the administrator has finished setting the various items in the reminder notification setting window G1, he or she operates the registration key K22 by operating the pointing device or keyboard of the operation unit 12. In response to this operation, the control unit 19 receives an update instruction through the operation unit 12 (step S117).

[0061] When the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room receives the update instruction, the control unit 19 updates the reminder time T set for each participant's information processing device 10 and the settings of each item in the reminder notification setting window G1 as described above, and stores them in the storage unit 17 (step S118). After this, the control unit 19 terminates the notification setting process.

[0062] Furthermore, if the administrator operates the cancel key K21 in the reminder notification setting window G1, the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room will invalidate the settings of various items in the reminder notification setting window G1 and terminate the notification setting process shown in Figure 4.

[0063] Next, with reference to the flowcharts shown in Figures 10A and 10B, we will explain the control procedure for the conference room setting process to provide participants with a more appropriate alternative conference room and notify them of the alternative conference room by a reminder notification when participants are far away from the conference room where the conference is scheduled (hereinafter referred to as the main conference room) on the day of the conference.

[0064] The control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room calculates a reminder transmission date and time for each reserved conference room listed on the conference schedule 41, by going back by the reminder time T from the conference start date and time to the reminder time T for each participant's information processing device 10. The control unit 19 determines, for example, according to the timing of a timer built into the control unit 18, whether the earliest reminder transmission date and time for each participant has arrived a predetermined time earlier (for example, 5 minutes earlier than the reminder date and time) (step S201).

[0065] When the control unit 19 determines that the predetermined time before the reminder transmission date and time has arrived ("Yes" in step S201), it references the schedule 41 stored in the storage unit 17 at this time to acquire the location of the conference room (hereinafter referred to as the "main conference room"), and references the conference management data CD to acquire the locations of each participant's information processing device 10. The control unit 19 calculates the distance from the location of each participant's information processing device 10 to the location of the main conference room at this time, calculates the travel time ta required for each participant to travel to the main conference room based on these distances, and calculates the preparation time tc of each participant's information processing device 10 based on the travel time ta (step S206).

[0066] The control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room compares the reminder time T of each participant's information processing device 10 read from the schedule 41 stored in the memory unit 17 at this time with the preparation time tc of each participant's information processing device 10 calculated in step S206, and determines whether each preparation time tc is longer than the respective reminder time T (step S207). If each preparation time tc is equal to or shorter than the respective reminder time T ("No" in step S207), the control unit 19 determines that each preparation time tc is long enough for each participant to attend the conference in the main conference room without being late, and does not change the main conference room. In this case, when the current time reaches the reminder transmission date and time, the control unit 19 creates a reminder notification email for each participant's information processing device 10, addressed to the email address of the participant for whom the reminder transmission date and time is set, and causes the communication unit 14 to send the email (step S208).

[0067] When the reminder notification email is received by the communication unit 14, the control unit 19 of each participant's information processing device 10 notifies the reception of the email using an alert function and displays the email on the screen of the display unit 11. Each participant can check the reminder notification email received by their own information processing device 10 at the reminder transmission date and time that is the remind time T before the start date and time of the conference, and attend the conference on time.

[0068] On the other hand, if the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that at least one of the preparation times tc of each participant's information processing device 10 is longer than the reminder time T ('Yes' in step S207), it proceeds to processing from step S209 onwards to change the conference room.

[0069] For example, if at least one of the participants moves to a location far away from the main conference room, the distance from the location of the information processing device 10 of the far-away participant to the main conference room becomes longer, and the preparation time tc of the participant's information processing device 10 becomes longer than the remind time T, there is a possibility that the participant will be late to the conference in the main conference room even if the reminder notification email is sent at a reminder sending date and time that is earlier than the conference start date and time by the remind time T. Therefore, the control unit 19 proceeds to the processing from step S209 onwards to change the conference location from the main conference room to a conference room in a position where the far-away participant can make it to the conference start time.

[0070] The control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room compares the preparation period tc for each participant for each conference room, calculated based on the locations of the information processing devices 10 of all participants, including those far away, and the location of each conference room read from the schedule 41, with the reminder time T, and determines whether there is a new conference room in which the preparation time tc of all participants is less than the reminder time T and whose capacity is greater than or equal to the number of participants (step S209).

[0071] If the control unit 19 determines that the preparation time tc of all participants is less than or equal to the reminder time T and that there is a new conference room with a capacity greater than or equal to the number of participants ("Yes" in step S209), it changes the main conference room to the new conference room and updates the schedule 41 to reflect the changes (step S210).

[0072] On the other hand, if the control unit 19 determines that the preparation times tc of all participants are less than the reminder time T and that there are no new conference rooms with a capacity greater than the number of participants ('No' in step S209), it compares the preparation periods tc for each conference room of the far-away participants, calculated based on the locations of the information processing devices 10 of the far-away participants and the locations of each conference room read from the schedule 41, with the reminder time T, and determines whether there are any conference rooms that satisfy the condition that the preparation times tc of the far-away participants are less than the reminder time T (step S211).

[0073] If there is no conference room that satisfies the above conditions in step S211 ("No" in step S211), the control unit 19 does not change the main conference room, and proceeds to the processing of step S208, where it creates a reminder email addressed to the email addresses of the participants, with the original settings for the main conference room listed in the schedule 41 remaining unchanged, and causes the communication unit 14 to send the email (step S208). Alternatively, in step S208, the control unit 19 may create a reminder email addressed to the email addresses of the participants, indicating that there is no conference room that everyone can arrive at in time for the conference start time, and causes the communication unit 14 to send the email.

[0074] In step S211, if there is a conference room that meets the above conditions ("Yes" in step S211), the control unit 19 determines whether the conference room that meets the above conditions is vacant and whether the conference room's capacity is equal to or greater than the number of distant participants (step S213).

[0075] If the control unit 19 determines that a conference room that meets the above conditions is available and that the conference room's capacity is equal to or greater than the number of distant participants ("Yes" in step S213), it sets the conference room that meets the above conditions as a new conference room for each distant participant (step S214). In this way, if there are multiple distant participants, the control unit 19 may determine a conference room that meets the above conditions for each participant individually and set a new conference room for each distant participant separately. Note that the control unit 19 leaves the conference rooms for participants other than the distant participants as the main conference room.

[0076] After step S214, i.e., when a new conference room has been set for each distant participant, the control unit 19 sets up an online meeting for the information processing devices 10 of all participants, including the distant participants, and creates information for participating in the online meeting (such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) where the online meeting will be held) (step S215). The control unit 19 then returns to the processing of step S208. In step S208, the control unit 19 creates a reminder email including information for participating in the online meeting, and causes the communication unit 14 to send the email to each of the information processing devices 10 of all participants. When creating the email, the control unit 19 creates the email with the conference room for each distant participant as a new conference room, and creates the email with the conference room for participants other than the distant participants remaining as the main conference room.

[0077] If the control unit 19 determines that a conference room that satisfies the above conditions is available and that the conference room's capacity is not greater than the number of distant participants ("No" in step S213), it returns to the process of step S209. In this case, the control unit 19 repeats the following processes until it determines that a new conference room exists in which the preparation time tc of all participants has become less than the remind time T and the capacity is greater than or equal to the number of distant participants ("Yes" in step S209), or until it determines that a conference room that satisfies the above conditions is available and the capacity is greater than or equal to the number of distant participants ("Yes" in step S213), or until it determines in step S211 that there is no conference room that satisfies the above conditions ("No" in step S211).

[0078] Next, a first modified example of the conference room setting process will be described.

[0079] 10B , when the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that at least one of the preparation times tc of the information processing devices 10 of the participants is longer than the remind time T ("Yes" in step S207), and determines that the preparation times tc of all participants are less than or equal to the remind time T and that there is a new conference room whose capacity is equal to or greater than the number of participants ("Yes" in step S209), it sets a new conference room for the far-away participants (step S210), and leaves the conference rooms for participants other than the far-away participants as the original main conference room. However, at this time, the control unit 19 may change the conference rooms for participants other than the far-away participants.

[0080] For example, in the case of conference room II in schedule 41 shown in Figure 3, if there are two distant participants, the number of participants other than the distant participants will be two. In this case, if the conference room for the participants other than the distant participants is left as the original main conference room (capacity: four people), a conference room with an excessive capacity will be occupied by a small number of people. Therefore, as a first modification, in such a case, the control unit 19 determines, based on schedule 41, whether there is a conference room for each participant other than the distant participants that meets the following conditions: each participant's preparation time tc is less than or equal to the reminder time T, and the capacity is less than the capacity of the original main conference room but greater than or equal to the number of participants. If there is a conference room that meets these conditions, it sets that conference room as the new main conference room for each participant.

[0081] This makes it possible to avoid a situation where a small number of people occupy the original main conference room, even if the number of participants using the original main conference room decreases.

[0082] Next, a second modified example of the conference room setting process will be described.

[0083] In the first variant, when setting up new conference rooms for distant participants and other participants, the control unit 19 may select conference rooms that are within a predetermined short distance range from the location of the original main conference room (for example, a conference room whose location indicates that it is in the same building as the original main conference room) as new conference room candidates based on the schedule 41, and from the selected conference room candidates, select a conference room that meets the conditions for a new conference room for distant participants, and select a conference room that meets the conditions for a new conference room for participants other than distant participants, and set them as new conference rooms, respectively.

[0084] Furthermore, a third modified example of the conference room setting process will be described.

[0085] In the control procedure shown in FIG. 10B, if the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that at least one of the preparation times tc of the information processing devices 10 of each participant is longer than the reminder time T ("Yes" in step S207), it creates multiple participant groups based on the location of each participant at that time, each group consisting of participants who are located close to each other, and, based on the schedule 41, sets as a new conference room for each participant group the conference room that is closest to all participants belonging to the group, has a preparation time tc that is less than or equal to the reminder time T, and has a capacity that is greater than and closest to the number A of all participants belonging to the group.

[0086] Furthermore, a fourth modified example of the conference room setting process will be described.

[0087] 10B , if the control unit 19 of the information processing device 10 in the conference room determines that at least one of the preparation times tc of the information processing device 10 of each participant is longer than the remind time T ("Yes" in step S207), it may cause the display unit 11 to display a message requesting approval for changing the conference room, and may set a new conference room for the distant participant on the condition that an instruction indicating approval for changing the conference room is input to the operation unit 12. In this case, if an instruction indicating approval for changing the conference room is not input to the operation unit 12, the control unit 19 does not perform the process of setting a new conference room for the distant participant, and leaves the original main conference room set for all participants.

[0088] The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. Note that the configuration and processing of the above embodiment described using Figures 1 to 10B are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to these configurations and processing.

Claims

1. A transmitting information processing device that transmits notification information for notifying an event at each of a plurality of event locations to another receiving information processing device via a server on a network, a communication unit that communicates with the receiving information processing device via the server; an input section for inputting a reminder time indicating a time from a start date and time of the event to a reminder transmission date and time that is earlier than the start date and time of the event; a preparation time is calculated, which is either a travel time from the location of the information processing device of the receiving side to the event location or a time obtained by adding a certain time to the travel time, at the reminder transmission date and time or a predetermined time before the reminder transmission date and time, and if the preparation time is equal to or less than the reminder time, the communication unit is caused to transmit the notification information to the information processing device of the receiving side at the reminder transmission date and time; an information processing device comprising: a control unit that, if the preparation time is longer than the remind time, selects another event location where the preparation time is less than or equal to the remind time based on the location of each event location and the location of the receiving information processing device, and causes the communication unit to send notification information indicating a change to the other event location to the receiving information processing device.

2. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein when there are multiple receiving side information processing devices, the control unit calculates the preparation time for each receiving side information processing device, and when the preparation time for any of the multiple receiving side information processing devices is longer than the remind time, selects another event location where the preparation time for all of the multiple receiving side information processing devices is less than or equal to the remind time, and causes the communication unit to transmit notification information indicating a change to the other event location to the receiving side information processing device.

3. Further comprising a display unit, The control unit is When the preparation time for any one of the plurality of receiving side information processing devices is longer than the remind time, a message is displayed on the display unit requesting approval for changing the location of the other event; The information processing device according to claim 2 , further comprising: a step of selecting, when the approval is input to the input unit, another event location for which the preparation time is equal to or shorter than the remind time, from among the plurality of receiving information processing devices.

4. The information processing device according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit selects the other event location that can accommodate all of the users of the receiving information processing device based on a capacity of the event location.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein, when there is no other event location that can accommodate all of the users of the receiving information processing device, the control unit individually selects the other event location for each of the receiving information processing devices, and causes the communication unit to transmit notification information indicating a change to the other event location to each of the receiving information processing devices.

6. The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit, when the location of the different event is individually selected for each of the receiving information processing devices, sets up an online meeting for the multiple receiving information processing devices, and causes the communication unit to transmit the notification information including information for participating in the online meeting to each of the receiving information processing devices.

7. The information processing device according to claim 6, wherein the control unit, when selecting the different event location individually for each of the receiving information processing devices, further selects the same different event location for any of the multiple receiving information processing devices if the same different event location can be selected for any of the receiving information processing devices based on the capacity of the different event location.

8. The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein when the control unit individually selects the different event location for each of the receiving information processing devices, the control unit selects the different event location from among the event locations within a predetermined short distance range from the position of the original event location.

9. An information notification system including a plurality of information processing devices that communicate notification information for notifying an event at each of a plurality of event locations through a server on a network, An information notification system comprising the information processing device according to claim 1 as at least a transmitting information processing device that transmits the notification information, among the plurality of information processing devices.