Management server, terminal, method, program, and information recording medium for managing attendee and attendance verfifier in meeting by using machine-recognizable code

Abstract

The present invention manages an attendee and a verifier in a meeting to which a code has been assigned, thereby facilitating attendance verification. A management server (111) receives a request from a terminal (121) that has machine-recognized the code. If the terminal (121) is a verifier terminal, the management server (111) sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid when a prescribed period has elapsed. If the terminal (121) is not the verifier terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, the management server (111) registers the user of the terminal (121) as a meeting attendee. The management server (111) reports the registered attendee to the verifier or the manager of the meeting. If the terminal (121) is the verifier terminal, the management server (111) may record, as a hosting region, a region in a prescribed range including the position of the terminal (121). If the terminal (121) is not the verifier terminal, the meeting is set to be valid, and the position of the terminal (121) is outside the range of the meeting hosting region, then the management server (111) may not register the user of the terminal (121) as a meeting attendee.

Description

Management server, terminal, method, program, and information recording medium for managing meeting attendance confirmations and attendees using machine-recognizable codes

[0001] The present invention relates to a management server, a terminal, a method, a program, and an information recording medium for managing meeting attendance checkers and attendees using machine-recognizable codes.

[0002] Conventionally, a technology has been proposed that uses machine-recognizable codes such as QR Codes (registered trademark) when a person who confirms attendance at various types of meetings, such as attendance at classes, participation in various events, and attendance at work, manages the attendance of those meetings.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an attendance confirmation system that is composed of a computer that confirms attendance, which is equipped with an encryption key creation function, a QR code (registered trademark) creation function and output function to an information transmission medium, a function to receive emails from participants and read the text data and hash values ​​contained therein, an encryption key creation function to create a verification hash value, a function to compare the verification hash value with the hash value contained in the received email to verify its accuracy, and a function to automatically create and send an email notifying the acceptance or rejection of the application based on the comparison result, in order to reduce the workload and time of those making the confirmation and those being confirmed and to prevent impersonation. The system is composed of a digital camera, a mobile phone of a participant, etc., which has the function of reading a photographed QR code (registered trademark), and the function of sending and receiving emails.

[0004] On the other hand, Patent Document 2 proposes a technology for a stamp rally that visits railway stations, in which a participant's terminal reads a QR code (registered trademark) or the like instead of stamping a stamp at each station, thereby confirming that the participant has participated in the stamp rally at that station. Note that in a stamp rally, when a participant reaches a stamp acquisition point at each station, it can be interpreted that the participant has participated in a meeting being held at that station.

[0005] Additionally, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for identifying a terminal by assigning a key pair of a public key and a private key to the terminal.

[0006] JP 2010-170494 A JP 2022-057561 A Patent No. 6635495 A

[0007] However, when it comes to managing meetings, there is a strong demand for technology that reduces the workload required for participants to register their attendance and for the reviewer to manage the attendance of the participants for the meeting, and enables processing in a short amount of time.

[0008] The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a management server, terminal, method, program, and information recording medium that manage meeting attendance checkers and attendees using machine-recognizable codes.

[0009] The management server of the present invention is a management server that manages the attendance checkers and attendees of a meeting to which a machine-recognizable code has been assigned, receives a request sent by a terminal that machine-recognized the code, and if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has passed, and if the terminal that sent the request is not the checker terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, registers the user using the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting, and reports the registered attendees to the checker or the administrator of the meeting.

[0010] In the management server of the present invention, the administrator can be configured to have the management server manage ID conditions related to the meeting in advance, and to respond with the ID conditions related to the meeting in response to an inquiry sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code prior to the request, and if the request does not specify an ID that satisfies the answered ID conditions among one or more IDs recorded in the terminal, the receiving unit ignores the request, and the management server can be configured to determine whether the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal based on the ID specified in the request.

[0011] The terminal of the present invention records one or more IDs assigned to a user who uses the terminal, machine-recognizes a code assigned to a meeting, sends an inquiry to a management server that manages the meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code, receives a response to the inquiry from the management server, extracts an ID from the one or more recorded IDs that satisfies the ID conditions specified in the received inquiry, and sends a request specifying the extracted ID to the management server.

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a management server, a terminal, a method, a program, and an information recording medium for managing meeting attendance checkers and attendees using machine-recognizable codes.

[0013] 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a management server in the management system of the present embodiment.

[0015] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of a terminal in the management system of the present embodiment.

[0016] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating information exchange in the management system of the present embodiment.

[0017] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow of terminal processing executed by the terminal of the present embodiment.

[0018] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow of a management process executed by a management server according to the present embodiment.

[0019] The following describes embodiments of the present invention. Note that these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art may employ embodiments in which each or all of the elements are replaced with equivalents, and these embodiments are also within the scope of the present invention.

[0020] (Basic Configuration) Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The following description will be made with reference to this diagram.

[0021] The management system 101 according to this embodiment includes a management server 111 and a terminal 121. An authentication server 161 can also be included as an optional element. These devices are connected to each other via a computer communication network 151 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0022] The management server 111, terminal 121, and authentication server 161 according to this embodiment can be realized by executing programs corresponding to their functions on the hardware of various computers.

[0023] The management server 111 and the authentication server 161 may be a web server computer that provides various services via a web API (Application Programming Interface).

[0024] In the following, among the terminals 121, the terminal used by the participants who can attend the meeting will be referred to as the "participant terminal" (with the symbol 121a as appropriate), the terminal used by the confirmer who confirms the participants who attended the meeting will be referred to as the "confirmer terminal" (with the symbol 121c as appropriate), and the terminal used by the administrator who manages the meeting will be referred to as the "administrator terminal" (with the symbol 121m as appropriate).

[0025] At small-scale events, parties, and other gatherings, the same person may act as both the checker and the administrator. In this case, the administrator terminal 121m and the checker terminal 121c are realized by the same terminal 121.

[0026] For example, in managing attendance for a university class, one possible configuration is one in which the university's academic affairs department is the administrator, students who have registered to earn credits for the class are the possible participants, and the instructor in charge of the class, such as a university professor, is the verifyer. In this configuration in which the roles of administrator and verifyer are divided, the administrator can use the web interface of the management server 111 and a web browser on an administrator terminal 121m such as a personal computer to manage the meeting on the management server 111. Furthermore, the verifyer and the possible participants can use their own smartphones or the like as the verifyer terminal 121c and the participant terminal.

[0027] Typically, a terminal 121 that functions as a verifying terminal 121c and a participant terminal can be realized by installing a specific program called an "app" on a smartphone that a user uses for daily work.

[0028] (Computer) The configuration of these computers will be described below. Generally, a computer reads various programs recorded on a non-transitory information recording medium into a temporary storage device, Random Access Memory (RAM), and then a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or processor executes the instructions contained in the read programs. However, in an architecture that allows for mapping and execution of Read Only Memory (ROM) and RAM into a single memory space, the CPU directly reads and executes the instructions contained in the programs stored in ROM. The CPU or processor, etc., cooperates with the RAM, etc., to control externally connected devices provided in the hardware, such as a Network Interface Card (NIC), Wi-Fi communication module, mobile communication module, display, touch screen, microphone, speaker, headphones, keyboard, mouse, trackpad, touch panel, Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, geomagnetic sensor, and attitude sensor.

[0029] The programs executed by the computer can be recorded on computer-readable non-transitory information recording media such as compact discs, flexible disks, hard disks, magneto-optical disks, digital video disks, magnetic tapes, ROMs, EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROMs), flash memories, semiconductor memories, etc. These information recording media can be distributed and sold independently of the respective hardware.

[0030] The programs for realizing each device can be divided into functions, each of which can be recorded separately on multiple information recording media as appropriate, and the multiple information recording media can be combined into a media set, which can then be distributed and sold independently of each piece of hardware.

[0031] Furthermore, the above program can be distributed to each computer from a program distribution server or the like via a temporary transmission medium such as a computer communication network 151, independently of the computer on which the program is executed. For example, if a smartphone is used as the computer, the program can be distributed and sold through an app store for smartphones.

[0032] The program can also be written in a programming language for describing the behavior of electronic circuits. In this case, various design diagrams, such as wiring diagrams and timing charts, of the electronic circuit can be generated from the program, and the electronic circuit constituting the image processing device can be created based on the design diagrams. For example, the image processing device can be configured on reprogrammable hardware using FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) technology, or a dedicated electronic circuit for a specific application can be configured using ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) technology.

[0033] (Configuration and Cooperation of Each Element) Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of a management server in the management system of this embodiment. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of a terminal in the management system of this embodiment. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating how information is exchanged in the management system of this embodiment. Below, with reference to these figures, we will explain the cooperation of each element of this embodiment when counting attendees for a meeting.

[0034] 2, the management server 111 includes a receiving unit 301, a setting unit 302, a registration unit 303, and a reporting unit 304. In addition, a notification unit 305 may be included as an optional element. In addition, FIG. 4 shows the state of communication between the management server 111 and each terminal 121.

[0035] The management server 111 manages the attendees and attendees of meetings to which machine-recognizable codes have been assigned. Information about each meeting itself can be managed as meeting information, information about whether each meeting is valid as validity information, and information about attendance at each meeting as attendance information.

[0036] First, the meeting manager registers a record of meeting information related to a desired meeting in the database 311 of the management server 111 via the manager terminal 121m (201). The meeting information record includes the following information: (a) a meeting ID for identifying the meeting. The meeting ID is used to identify the meeting. (b) the name of the meeting. The name is used by the manager managing the meeting, the potential participants who intend to attend the meeting, and the person verifying the attendees of the meeting to understand, recognize, and grasp the meeting. (c) a verifying person ID for identifying the verifying person related to the meeting. The verifying person ID can be any information that can identify the user, such as the email address used by the verifying person, the phone number of the smartphone that constitutes the verifying person terminal 121c used by the verifying person, or a user ID in a chat system that allows text chat or voice chat. For ease of understanding, the following description will use email addresses as the user ID for identifying each user. (d) an administrator ID for identifying the administrator managing the meeting information related to the meeting. As mentioned above, the email address used by the administrator can be used as the administrator ID.

[0037] Once the meeting information is set as described above, it becomes possible to register in database 311 validity information indicating whether attendance confirmation for the meeting is valid or not, and attendance information associated with the meeting information.

[0038] Each record of valid information includes the following information: (m) the meeting ID of the meeting (n) whether the meeting is valid, i.e., whether attendance confirmation for the meeting is currently being made. This information is set to invalid in the initial state.

[0039] On the other hand, each record of attendance information includes the following information: (p) Meeting ID for the meeting, (q) User ID of the attendee who attended the meeting, and (r) Date and time when it was confirmed that the attendee attended the meeting (attendance date and time).

[0040] Based on this record, the management server 111 can generate a code image representing a machine-recognizable code based on the meeting ID. Alternatively, rather than generating a code image, the management server 111 may manage a two-dimensional code that is installed and posted in advance in a room where an event is to be held, and use the two-dimensional code based on the meeting ID. Alternatively, instead of a two-dimensional code, a device that emits a beacon, such as an NFC (Near Field Communication) tag or a Bluetooth tag, may transmit information related to the code by including it in the beacon. The following description will be given using an example in which a code image is posted. However, it is possible to change the embodiment so that, instead of the code image in the following description, information related to the code described above is exchanged without using a two-dimensional code.

[0041] The administrator receives the code image from the management server 111 via the administrator terminal 121m (202). This code is posted at the venue where the meeting is being held. The code may be posted by the administrator or a worker commissioned by the administrator, or the administrator or a person who has received the code from the management server 111 may post the code at the venue where the meeting is being held.

[0042] The code appropriately embeds information for identifying the management server 111 and information for identifying the meeting ID for the meeting managed by the management server 111. For example, a conceivable method is to generate a URL that directly includes the domain name of the management server 111, the name of the meeting management service, and the meeting ID.

[0043] Furthermore, a URL may be generated by appropriately shortening and encoding these.

[0044] Prior to the holding of the meeting, the administrator or the verifier posts a paper on which the code is printed at the place where the meeting is to be held, or displays the code on a display or the like installed at the place where the meeting is to be held (203).

[0045] 3, the terminal 121 constituting the participant terminal 121a or the verifying terminal 121c includes a recording unit 401, a recognition unit 402, and a request unit 406. In addition, the terminal 121 may include a sending unit 403, a receiving unit 404, an extracting unit 405, and an acquiring unit 407 as optional elements.

[0046] First, in the terminal 121, one or more IDs assigned to the user of the terminal are recorded in the recording unit 401. This ID is used to distinguish whether the terminal 121 is a verifying terminal 121c, a participant terminal 121a, or something else.

[0047] Meanwhile, in the terminal 121, the recognition unit 402 machine-recognizes the code assigned to the meeting, and the request unit 406 sends a request to the management server 111, based on the machine-recognized code, specifying the ID assigned to the user using the terminal 121.

[0048] For example, the verifying person activates the recognition unit 402 using an application running on the verifying person terminal 121c, photographs the posted or displayed code at the location where the meeting is being held to obtain an image, and mechanically recognizes the code in the image (204).

[0049] The verifying terminal 121c then activates the request unit 406 and sends a request to the management server 111 specifying the user ID of the user using the verifying terminal 121c (which should match the verifying ID in the meeting information) and the machine-recognized result (205).

[0050] Some smartphones can obtain a URL by photographing a code and performing machine recognition, and then open the URL in a browser, or launch an app that is pre-mapped to that URL if the app is installed on the smartphone. It is desirable for the URL obtained from the code to provide web content that launches the app if it is already installed, or prompts the user to install the app from the app store if the app cannot be launched.

[0051] On the other hand, if the code is machine-recognized within the app to obtain a URL, the URL is broken down or a query is made via a web API via the URL to obtain information to identify the management server 111 and the meeting ID.

[0052] This function enables the request unit 406 of the terminal 121 to send a request specifying at least the user ID of the user using the terminal 121 and a meeting ID for identifying meeting information related to the code photographed by the user to the management server 111 that manages the meeting related to the code. Other information that can be specified in the request will be described later.

[0053] In the management server 111, the receiving unit 301 receives the request sent by the terminal 121 that has machine-recognized the code.

[0054] For example, in the management server 111, the receiving unit 301 receives a request transmitted from the verifying terminal 121c and identifies the terminal 121 that transmitted the request as the verifying terminal 121c. Specifically, first, based on the result of machine recognition specified in the received request, the meeting information registered in the management server 111 is identified, and then it is checked whether the user ID specified in the request matches the verifying terminal ID in the identified meeting information.

[0055] If the sending terminal 121 is the confirmer terminal 121c used by the confirmer, the setting unit 302 in the management server 111 updates the validity information for the meeting and sets the meeting as valid (208). Then, the management server 111 notifies the confirmer terminal 121c that attendance confirmation for the meeting has started by sending a meeting validity response (209).

[0056] After this, a potential participant who wishes to attend the meeting activates the recognition unit 402 using an application running on the participant terminal 121a, and photographs the posted or displayed code at the location where the meeting is being held, for mechanical recognition (210). This operation is the same as the operation on the verifying terminal 121c.

[0057] The participant terminal 121a then activates the request unit 406 and sends a request to the management server 111 specifying the user ID of the user using the confirmer terminal 121a (which should be different from the confirmer ID in the meeting information) and the machine-recognized result (211).

[0058] In the management server 111, the receiving unit 301 receives the request and determines that the terminal 121 that sent the request is not the verifyer terminal 121c and that the meeting is valid.

[0059] The management server 111 then identifies the meeting information registered in the management server 111 based on the results of the machine recognition specified in the received request, and performs participation registration by registering a record in the attendance information database 311 that includes the meeting ID related to the identified meeting information, the user ID specified in the request, and the date and time when the request was sent or received or the current date and time (214).

[0060] In this way, if the terminal 121 that sent the request is not the confirmer terminal 121c and the meeting is set to valid, the registration unit 303 of the management server 111 interprets the terminal 121 that sent the request as a participant terminal 121a, interprets the user using this as a possible participant, and registers the possible participant as an attendee of the meeting.

[0061] Thereafter, the management server 111 sends to the participant terminal 121a an attendance success response indicating that participation in the meeting has been registered (215).

[0062] By each potential participant executing these processes on their own participant terminal 121a, the fact that each potential participant has attended the meeting is registered in the management server 111.

[0063] After this, when the attendance confirmation is closed, the confirmer activates the recognition unit 402 using an app running on the confirmer terminal 121c, photographs the posted or displayed code at the venue where the meeting is to be held, and performs machine recognition (216). Note that "photograph, etc." is indicated in Figure 3. That is, the recognition unit 402 may perform machine recognition from a photographic image of the code as described above, or may perform machine recognition of the code by detecting a beacon emitted by an NFC tag, Bluetooth tag, or the like.

[0064] The verifier terminal 121c then activates the recognition unit 402 and sends a request to the management server 111 specifying the user ID of the user using the verifier terminal 121c (which should match the verifier ID in the meeting information) and the machine-recognized result (217).

[0065] In the management server 111, the receiving unit 301 receives the request and identifies that the terminal 121 that sent the request is the verifyer terminal 121c.

[0066] Then, in the management server 111, the setting unit 302 updates the validity information for the meeting and sets the meeting as invalid (220). Furthermore, the management server 111 transmits a meeting invalid response indicating that attendance confirmation has been completed to the confirmer terminal 121c (221).

[0067] As shown in FIG. 4, if the meeting is invalid and the participant terminal 121a machine-recognizes the code (222) and sends a request to the management server 111 (223), it is determined that the terminal 121 that sent the request is not the verifying terminal 121c and that the meeting is invalid, so participation registration is not performed (224).

[0068] In this case, the management server 111 sends an attendance failure response to the participant terminal 121a indicating that registration for participation in the meeting has failed (225).

[0069] If attendance is not registered in response to the request, the notification unit 305 of the management server 111 can send an attendance failure notification (226) to the confirmer terminal 121c, indicating that attendance registration for the user ID specified in the request has not been made, as shown in Fig. 4. This allows the confirmer to know of the possibility of fraudulent attendance registration.

[0070] Although not directly shown in Figure 4, if the person making the attendance check forgets to photograph the code to start attendance check, that is, if the participant terminal 121a mechanically recognizes the code and sends a request (processing similar to 222-224) before the person making the attendance check (204) performs mechanical recognition, the attendance registration will fail (processing similar to 222-226), and the person making the attendance check will be notified of this.

[0071] Alternatively, an attendance flag indicating whether attendance was approved or not may be prepared for each record of attendance information, and information such as "approved" may be recorded if attendance was approved, or "denied" if attendance was not approved. Then, the management server 111 registers the attendance information with the flag set to "denied" in the database 311.

[0072] In the management server 111, the reporting unit 304 reports the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting manager (not shown).

[0073] For example, when a confirmer sends an attendance inquiry to the management server 111 via the confirmer terminal 121c, the management server 111 provides attendance information to the confirmer terminal 121c, thereby reporting the attendance of possible participants.

[0074] Similarly, the management server 111 can report this information relating to meeting attendance to the manager in response to an attendance inquiry from the manager terminal 121m.

[0075] In the above embodiment, the meeting is switched between valid and invalid each time the verifyer terminal 121c recognizes the machine-recognizable code. Therefore, the verifyer can start or end attendance confirmation simply by photographing the code.

[0076] Also, potential participants can register their attendance at the meeting simply by machine-recognizing the code on the participant terminal 121a.

[0077] In addition, if the meeting information includes the scheduled end date and time of the meeting, if the meeting is valid when the scheduled end date and time arrives, the setting unit 302 in the management server 111 may automatically set the meeting to invalid.

[0078] In addition, if the meeting information includes an attendance confirmation time length or if a default attendance confirmation time length is set, the setting unit 302 in the management server 111 may automatically invalidate the meeting once this time length has elapsed since the start of attendance confirmation.

[0079] As described above, each record of validity information contains information on whether a meeting is valid or not. However, when information that makes a meeting valid is specified, if the record also contains the deadline for which the meeting is valid, it is possible to manage when a meeting is invalidated.

[0080] In these embodiments, even if the person checking attendance forgets to complete the process to complete the attendance check, the process to complete the check is automatically performed.

[0081] (Geolocation Information) In the above aspect, it is possible to use geolocation information that identifies the location of the terminal 121 based on GPS (Global Positioning System) information, Wi-Fi access point information, etc. detected by the terminal 121. This aspect will be described below.

[0082] When the user of the terminal 121 causes the terminal 121 to perform machine recognition of the code, the terminal 121 activates the acquisition unit 407 to acquire geolocation information indicating the position of the terminal 121 .

[0083] When the terminal 121 sends a request to the management server 111, the acquired geolocation information is also included in the request.

[0084] The geolocation information specified in the request sent from the confirmer terminal 121c is considered to represent the location where the meeting is being held. Therefore, the geolocation information sent from the confirmer terminal 121c is entered in the meeting information record as the location where the meeting is being held.

[0085] The geolocation information specified in the request sent from the participant terminal 121a is considered to represent the location where the potential participant is attempting to join the meeting.

[0086] Therefore, in the case of a meeting that requires a participant to be physically present at the location where the meeting is being held, such as a face-to-face class or a stamp rally, attendance may be confirmed only if the location indicated by the geolocation information specified in the request sent from participant terminal 121a is sufficiently close to the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the valid information record.

[0087] Whether or not the two locations are sufficiently close can be determined, in the simplest terms, by whether or not the distance between the locations represented by the two geolocation information is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. In this case, the area where the meeting is being held is the area where the distance from the venue included in the valid information is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold.

[0088] Alternatively, the location represented by both pieces of geolocation information may be narrowed down to a desired level of detail, such as prefecture, city, town, village, block, or house number, and the determination may be made based on whether the narrowed down address matches. In this case, the area of ​​the address narrowed down to the desired level of detail from the location included in the valid information is the area where the meeting is being held.

[0089] According to this aspect, for meetings where attendance is determined by the presence of a possible participant at the location where the meeting is being held, the person checking attendance can begin by simply going to the location and having the code recognized mechanically, and attendance can be easily confirmed based on whether or not the possible participants actually came to the location.

[0090] (Restrictions on Confirmation Location and Participation Location) In the above embodiment, the location and region of the meeting are identified based on the geolocation information of the confirmer terminal 121c, but locations where the confirmer and the planned participants can participate in the meeting may be set for each confirmer and the planned participants. For example, if the meeting is held using an online conference system, restrictions may be set on the locations from which the confirmer and the planned participants can participate in which meetings.

[0091] In this embodiment, the administrator causes the management server 111 to manage in advance the areas in which the confirmer and the prospective participants who plan to attend the meeting can participate in the meeting.

[0092] As described above, the request sent from terminal 121 includes geolocation information indicating the location where the terminal machine-recognized the code.

[0093] Furthermore, even if the terminal that sent the request is the verifying terminal 121c, if the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area managed by the management server 111 in which the verifying terminal can participate, the setting unit 302 will refrain from validly setting the meeting.

[0094] If the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request from the confirmer terminal 121c is within an area in which the confirmer can participate, the setting unit 302 sets the meeting as valid, as in the above embodiment.

[0095] On the other hand, if the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal 121c, the meeting is set to valid, and the user using the terminal that sent the request is a prospective participant whose area of ​​participation is managed by the management server 111, but the location represented by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area of ​​participation for the prospective participant managed by the management server 111, the registration unit 303 will refrain from registering the user using the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting.

[0096] If the meeting is valid and the location indicated in the geolocation information included in the request from the participant terminal 121a is within an area in which the (potential) participant can participate, the setting unit 302 registers that the (potential) participant has attended the meeting, as in the above-described embodiment.

[0097] According to this embodiment, when a student attends an online class at a university online, the condition for attendance can be set to access the class from within the university or from home.

[0098] Furthermore, the system can be used as part of the labor management of university instructors by configuring it so that they can access the system from within the university or from their own homes to teach.

[0099] (Management of Multiple User IDs) The following describes a mode in which the user of the terminal 121 can have multiple user IDs.

[0100] The terminal 121 according to this embodiment manages the user ID of the user who uses the terminal 121 and the private key of the key pair generated in association with the user ID, by an application running on the terminal 121.

[0101] As described above, an email address is typically used as a user ID. When a common email address is used for multiple services, the same private key is used for those multiple services. In publicly known public key cryptosystems, multiple public keys can be created from a single private key, so a different public key can be generated for each service, and a key pair can be used in which the private key is the same but the public keys are different from each other. It is also possible to use a different user ID for each service, and to use a key pair in which neither the public key nor the private key overlaps with other services. For example, a user ID can be created by adding information to identify the service, such as the domain name related to the service, to an email address.

[0102] A user of terminal 121 can have multiple email addresses depending on the purpose. In this case, a different key pair is generated for each email address and associated with each email address. Therefore, different private keys are stored in terminal 121 for different email addresses.

[0103] The public key can be managed together with the private key in the terminal 121. Furthermore, when a key pair is generated in the terminal 121, the email address and the public key may be associated with each other and registered in a key server such as the authentication server 161, so that the public key can be widely used.

[0104] A key server such as authentication server 161 can cooperate with an application running on terminal 121 to prove that the user of the application owns and uses the registered email address. For example, the following procedure can be considered for generating a key pair for a desired email address using terminal 121: (1) The user inputs the desired email address into an application running on terminal 121. (2) The key pair for the email address is generated on terminal 121. (3) The email address and the public key of the key pair are transmitted from terminal 121 to a key server such as authentication server 161. (4) The key server such as authentication server 161 sends an email to the email address. (5) The recipient of the email notifies the key server such as authentication server 161 that the email address is valid by accessing the URL (Universal Resource Locator) described in the email via a browser or by entering the verification information described in the email into the key server such as authentication server 161 within a predetermined period of time. (6) The key server such as authentication server 161 registers the valid email address and its public key in a database and makes them public. (7) Furthermore, the key server such as authentication server 161 may issue a digital certificate for the email address and send it to terminal 121.

[0105] In this way, by having terminal 121 cooperate with a key server such as authentication server 161, a third party can encrypt information addressed to the email address using a public key and send it, or can verify that the signer of information digitally signed using a private key is the owner of the email address. Also, by using certification information such as an electronic certificate sent to terminal 121, a user of terminal 121 can have a key server such as authentication server 161 certify the email address they use.

[0106] These functions based on the public key system can be used when the management server 111 authenticates a user who uses the terminal 121 and accesses the management server 111 from the terminal 121 .

[0107] It is also possible to omit the application of the public key system as described above, and have the management server 111 directly authenticate the user of the terminal 121 when the terminal 121 accesses the management server 111 .

[0108] In this way, when multiple user IDs are managed by terminal 121, it is necessary to select which user ID to specify when sending a request to management server 111. The easiest way to make this selection is for the user of terminal 121 to make it themselves when the code is machine-recognized, but below we will explain a way to eliminate the hassle of this selection.

[0109] In the embodiment described below, the administrator specifies ID conditions for each record of the meeting information to determine who will confirm attendance at the meeting and who can participate in the meeting. Therefore, the management server 111 manages the ID conditions related to the meeting in advance.

[0110] For example, in a case where email addresses including the university's domain name are assigned to university students and class attendance is managed using those email addresses, the domain name can be used as an ID condition.

[0111] If no restrictions are placed on participants, the ID condition may be set to "always satisfied" in the meeting information, and any request ID may be configured to satisfy the ID condition.

[0112] The terminal 121 that has machine-recognized the code activates the transmitting unit 403 to send an inquiry to the management server 111 that manages the meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code before sending a request to the management server 111.

[0113] In response to the inquiry, the management server 111 identifies the meeting information based on the code specified in the inquiry, and returns the ID conditions related to the meeting information to the terminal 121.

[0114] The terminal 121 receives the response from the management server 111 via the reception unit 404. Then, the terminal 121 extracts, via the extraction unit 405, email addresses that satisfy the returned ID conditions from among the email addresses managed by the terminal 121, and the request unit 406 specifies the extracted email addresses when sending a request.

[0115] As a result, when the user of terminal 121 starts or ends attendance confirmation or registers attendance at a meeting, even if the user of terminal 121 manages a plurality of email addresses on terminal 121, one of the email addresses is automatically selected, thereby saving the user of terminal 121 time and effort.

[0116] Furthermore, if the email address managed by terminal 121 does not satisfy the ID conditions, the user of terminal 121 is neither a confirmer of the meeting nor a person who can participate in the meeting, and therefore terminal 121 refrains from sending a request to management server 111.

[0117] This makes it possible to prevent the management server 111 from generating unnecessary communication traffic.

[0118] Furthermore, if a plurality of email addresses are extracted, terminal 121 may allow the user to select which email address to use.

[0119] In addition, if the policy for managing email address domains is such that multiple email addresses with the same domain are not assigned to the same person, then by restricting and checking to ensure compliance with that policy in the application on terminal 121, multiple email addresses will not be extracted for the ID conditions related to the domain name. In this manner, it is possible to prevent "proxy reply" (a fraudulent act in which a proxy replies to the confirmer to make it appear as if an absent person is present) from being used.

[0120] Conditions other than domain names can also be used as ID conditions. For example, in a small-scale event where participants are required to register their email addresses in advance, a list of pre-registered email addresses can be used as an ID condition.

[0121] The list may be used as an ID condition in response to an inquiry from the terminal 121. However, from the viewpoint of privacy, instead of the pre-registered email address itself, information instead of this may be used as the ID condition in response.

[0122] For example, a list of hash values ​​of pre-registered email addresses can be returned as an ID condition. In this mode, the terminal 121 calculates hash values ​​for email addresses it manages and extracts email addresses hashed to the hash values ​​that appear in the list related to the ID condition.

[0123] In this manner, it is possible for hash values ​​to collide accidentally, but the management server 111 can register attendance only for possible participants associated with pre-registered email addresses by comparing the list of email addresses recorded as ID conditions in the meeting information record with the email address specified in the request.

[0124] Alternatively, a public key associated with a pre-registered email address may be obtained from a key server such as the authentication server 161, and a code consisting of a default value, the email address, the public key, or an appropriate combination of these may be encrypted using the public key. In this case, a list of the encryption results is returned as the ID condition.

[0125] The terminal 121 attempts to decrypt each cipher contained in the list returned as the ID condition using the private key of each email address managed by the terminal 121 .

[0126] If the decryption is successful, the terminal 121 checks whether the decryption result matches a code that can be obtained by the terminal 121, and if it matches, it extracts the email address.

[0127] In this embodiment, a user of terminal 121 who manages multiple user IDs on terminal 121 can inform management server 111 of only those user IDs that can participate in the meeting, while keeping other user IDs hidden from management server 111.

[0128] Furthermore, the management server 111 can notify each terminal 121 of the user IDs of users who can participate in the meeting in a way that prevents other users' user IDs from being known, rather than simply notifying each terminal 121 of the user IDs.

[0129] Therefore, in this embodiment, attendance at meetings can be managed with consideration given to privacy and security.

[0130] In addition, the ID conditions may be replies by distinguishing between the user ID of the person confirming the meeting and the user ID of the user who can participate in the meeting. For example, it is possible to use a mode in which the user ID of the person confirming the meeting is not encrypted in any special way, but the user ID of the user who can participate in the meeting is encrypted as described above.

[0131] In this embodiment, the terminal 121 can also perform different processing depending on whether the ID extracted as satisfying the ID condition is a confirmer ID or a user ID that can participate in the meeting.

[0132] In this embodiment, the management server 111 determines whether the terminal 121 that sent the request is the confirmer terminal 121c based on the ID specified in the request. If the terminal 121 is not the confirmer terminal 121c, that is, if the ID specified in the request does not match the confirmer ID, the management server 111 determines whether the ID specified in the request satisfies the ID conditions of the meeting, and if it does not, the receiving unit 301 of the management server 111 ignores the request. As a result, only the attendance of users who can participate in the meeting is managed by the management server 111.

[0133] In addition, when combining this embodiment with the above-mentioned form using geolocation information, it is sufficient to configure the acquisition unit 407 to acquire geolocation information indicating the location of the terminal when an ID that satisfies the ID condition is extracted by the terminal 121.

[0134] (Cooperation with Authentication Server) Hereinafter, a mode in which the management server 111 and the authentication server 161 cooperate with each other to identify the user who uses the terminal 121 will be described.

[0135] In this embodiment, the terminal 121 attempts to sign in to the authentication server 161 linked to the management server 111 before machine-recognizing the code.

[0136] Signing in to the authentication server 161 is typically performed when an application is started on the terminal 121.

[0137] Once the sign-in is successful, the code can be machine-recognized on the terminal 121.

[0138] Furthermore, after successful sign-in, the signed-in state in terminal 121 may continue for a certain period of time, and even if the app is launched again within that period, there may be no need to sign in again. Furthermore, when the app is launched again within that period, the period may be extended so that the signed-in state continues for that certain period from the time the app is launched again.

[0139] If the sign-in is successful, the authentication server 161 may provide the terminal 121 with authentication information for authenticating each of the one or more IDs stored in the terminal 121.

[0140] The validity period of this authentication information can be set to a certain period after successful sign-in to the authentication server 161. If the duration of sign-in needs to be extended, authentication server 161 can simply provide terminal 121 with authentication information with a new extended validity period.

[0141] This mode is suitable when the authentication server 161 has already confirmed the ownership of the email address for each of the IDs managed by the terminal 121.

[0142] Then, terminal 121 can certify that the user of terminal 121 owns the extracted ID by specifying the certification information for the extracted ID in the request.

[0143] In this manner, the management server 111 can authenticate the identity specified in the request using the credentials specified in the request.

[0144] (Terminal Control Flow) Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the control flow of terminal processing executed by the terminal of this embodiment. The following description will be made with reference to this figure. Note that the processing described below can be omitted, modified, or its order changed as appropriate depending on the embodiment.

[0145] This process is started by launching an app on the terminal 121. Note that many smartphones allow an app running in the foreground to be executed in the background or to be put into a suspended state, and then returned to the foreground state to resume processing. In such cases, it is also possible to resume processing from an intermediate point.

[0146] First, the application executed on the terminal 121 attempts to sign in to the authentication server 161 in order to authenticate the user of the terminal 121 (step S501).

[0147] Typically, in this attempt, the user of terminal 121 is prompted to input a user name and password, and this information is sent to external authentication server 161. Once the user has successfully signed in to external authentication server 161, as described above, authentication by authentication server 161 may be omitted for a certain period of time.

[0148] The password can take various forms, such as a fixed password, a one-time password displayed on a hardware or software token and time-synchronized with the authentication server 161, or a password in which elements are extracted from a table provided by the authentication server 161 and arranged in an order based on rules assigned to the user, displayed on the terminal 121.

[0149] Furthermore, by running an application on the terminal 121, it is possible to adopt a mode that enables password-less authentication such as FIDO (Fast Identity Online) authentication.

[0150] Furthermore, instead of or in addition to authentication by authentication server 161, it is also possible to apply technologies such as biometric authentication using the user's face or fingerprint at terminal 121, or using a PIN code such as a personal identification number to verify the user within terminal 121. These simplified authentication methods may also be applied when an app transitions from the background to the foreground.

[0151] If the sign-in fails (step S501; failed), the terminal 121 displays a message to that effect (step S502), returns the control to step S501, and repeats the process until the sign-in succeeds.

[0152] If the sign-in is successful (step S501; successful), the terminal 121 receives the certification information sent from the authentication server 161 (step S503) and stores it (step S504). As described above, this certification information is used by the authentication server 161 to certify that the user of the terminal 121 can use each of the IDs managed by the terminal 121. A certain validity period can be assigned to the certificate after successful authentication.

[0153] Thereafter, the terminal 121 receives an instruction from the user or an event related to a notification from another device (step S505).

[0154] When a code recognition instruction is received from the user (step S505; code recognition), the terminal 121 activates the camera photographing function, photographs an image of the code under the user's operation (step S506), and mechanically recognizes the photographed code (step S507).

[0155] Then, the terminal 121 identifies the management server 111 and the meeting ID based on the machine-recognized code (step S508).

[0156] Then, the terminal 121 transmits an inquiry about the ID conditions related to the meeting ID to the management server 111 (step S509).

[0157] When the terminal 121 receives a response specifying an ID condition from the management server 111 (step S510), it extracts IDs that satisfy the ID condition from the IDs stored in the terminal 121 (step S511).

[0158] If no ID satisfying the ID condition is extracted (step S511; NO), the terminal 121 displays a message to the effect that the user cannot participate in the meeting (step S513), and returns the control to step S505.

[0159] On the other hand, if only one ID that satisfies the ID condition is extracted (step S511; 1), that ID is adopted as the request ID to be specified in the request (step S512).

[0160] On the other hand, if multiple IDs that satisfy the ID conditions are extracted (step S511; multiple), terminal 121 prompts the user to select one of the IDs (step S514), and adopts the selected ID as the request ID to be specified in the request (step S515).

[0161] If the request ID is adopted (steps S512, S515), the terminal 121 acquires geolocation information indicating the position of the terminal 121 (step S516).

[0162] Then, the terminal 121 generates a request specifying the request ID, which is one of the IDs extracted as satisfying the ID conditions, the meeting ID identified from the machine-recognized code, and the geolocation information obtained as representing the location of the terminal 121 (step S517), and sends the request to the management server 111 identified from the machine-recognized code (step S518).

[0163] Then, the terminal 121 receives a response to the request from the management server 111 (step S519). The responses may be of the following types: A valid meeting response indicating that the terminal 121 is the confirmer terminal 121c of the meeting related to the meeting ID and has set the meeting valid, An invalid meeting response indicating that the terminal 121 is the confirmer terminal 121c of the meeting related to the meeting ID and has set the meeting invalid, An attendance success response indicating that the terminal 121 is the participant terminal 121a of the meeting related to the meeting ID and the user of the participant terminal 121a has registered attendance to the meeting, An attendance failure response indicating that the terminal 121 is the participant terminal 121a of the meeting related to the meeting ID but the user of the participant terminal 121a has failed to register attendance to the meeting, An error response indicating that there is some kind of problem with the terminal 121's relationship with the meeting related to the meeting ID, etc.

[0164] Then, the terminal 121 displays a message corresponding to the received response on the screen (step S520), updates the internal state of the terminal 121 according to the response (step S521), and returns the control to step S505.

[0165] The internal state of the terminal 121 may be, for example, that the terminal 121 receives a valid meeting response or an invalid meeting response, and records the meeting ID when the terminal 121 is recognized by the management server 111 as the confirmer terminal 121c.

[0166] When a meeting selection instruction is received from a user of terminal 121, in which terminal 121 selects a meeting ID that has been recognized by management server 111 as an administrator terminal 121m (step S505; meeting selection), terminal 121 sends an inquiry about attendance status for the meeting related to the meeting ID to management server 111 (step S522).

[0167] Then, the terminal 121 receives the reply sent from the management server 111 in response to the inquiry (step S523).

[0168] The response includes information on which users who can attend the meeting related to the meeting ID have successfully registered their attendance (attended), which users have not attempted to register their attendance using terminal 121 (absent), and which users have attempted to register their attendance using terminal 121 but failed (lateness, attendance conditions, etc.), so terminal 121 displays a list of attendance statuses based on the response on the screen (step S524) and returns control to step S505. This process allows the person checking the attendance statuses of the meeting for which they are checking attendance at any time they wish.

[0169] In a situation where a terminal 121 is pre-registered in the management server 111 as a verifying terminal 121c for a certain meeting, and the meeting is not valid, if a terminal 121 pre-registered in the management server 111 as being used by a user who can participate in the meeting sends a request to the management server 111, it may be that the user of terminal 121 who sent the request is late for the meeting, or has entered the wrong date and time of the meeting, or that the verifying person has forgotten to validate the meeting. Furthermore, if a request is made from a terminal other than the verifying terminal 121c while the meeting is invalid, there is a possibility of unauthorized access.

[0170] In such a case, a notification is sent from the management server 111 to the verifying terminal 121c. When the terminal 121 receives the notification (step S505; notification), the terminal 121 displays a message related to the notification on the screen (step S525), and returns the control to step S505.

[0171] In addition, if the terminal 121 receives other instructions or the like (step S505; Other), the terminal 121 executes the corresponding process (step S526) and returns the control to step S505.

[0172] By implementing the above controls, the person confirming attendance at a meeting can simply photograph the code to enable or disable the meeting. The person confirming attendance at the meeting can also check the attendance status of the meeting. Furthermore, the person confirming attendance can be notified of any unauthorized attempts to join the meeting or if they have forgotten to enable the meeting.

[0173] It is also possible to configure the system so that each time the attendance of any possible participant is registered, a notification to that effect is sent from the management server 111 to the confirmer terminal 121c. In this mode, the confirmer can easily confirm on the confirmer terminal 121c that a new possible participant has attended the meeting.

[0174] Furthermore, in steps S509-S515, by making an inquiry from terminal 121 to management server 111, even if multiple IDs are managed by terminal 121, the ID related to the meeting can be (semi-)automatically extracted, and other IDs managed by terminal 121 can be kept secret from management server 111.

[0175] (Control flow of management server) Figure 6 is a flowchart explaining the control flow of management processing executed by the management server of this embodiment. The following explanation will be made with reference to this figure. Note that the processing described below can be omitted, modified, or the order changed as appropriate depending on the embodiment.

[0176] This process is executed by the management server 111. When this process is started, the management server 111 performs necessary initialization (step S601) and receives messages from each device (step S602).

[0177] If the message received here is a management request from the administrator terminal 121m (step S602; management request), in accordance with the instructions specified in the management request, the management server 111 performs management processes such as initializing, adding, editing, modifying, and deleting meeting information, valid information, attendance information, etc. (step S603), and also outputs and prints an image of a machine-recognizable code (step S604), and returns control to step S602.

[0178] If the received message is an inquiry (step S602; Inquiry), the management server 111 obtains the ID conditions from the meeting information for the meeting ID specified in the inquiry (step S661), sends a response specifying the ID conditions to the terminal 121 that sent the message (step S662), and then returns control to step S602.

[0179] On the other hand, if the accepted message is a request sent from an application of the terminal 121 (step S602; request), the management server 111 acquires the meeting information and valid information for the meeting ID specified in the request (step S605).

[0180] Then, the management server 111 compares the request ID specified in the request with (each of) the verifying person IDs specified in the acquired meeting information (step S606).

[0181] If the request ID matches (one of) the confirmer IDs (step S606; match), the terminal 121 that sent the request is the confirmer terminal 121c. Next, the management server 111 checks whether the status of the meeting for the meeting ID is valid or invalid based on the acquired validity information (step S608).

[0182] If the meeting is invalid (step S608; invalid), the management server 111 updates the validity information and sets the meeting to valid (step S609). Then, the management server 111 transmits a meeting validity response to the verifyer terminal 121c that sent the request (step S610), and returns control to step S602.

[0183] On the other hand, if the meeting is valid (step S608; valid), the management server 111 updates the validity information and sets the meeting to invalid (step S611). Then, the management server 111 transmits a meeting invalid response to the verifyer terminal 121c that sent the request (step S612), and returns control to step S602.

[0184] If the request ID does not match any of the verifyer IDs acquired from the meeting information (step S606: no match), it is checked whether the request ID satisfies the ID condition related to the meeting information (step S613).

[0185] If the ID condition is met (step S613: met), the terminal 121 that sent the request is a participant terminal 121a used by a participant who can attend the meeting. Based on the acquired validity information, the management server 111 then checks whether the status of the meeting for the meeting ID is valid or invalid (step S614).

[0186] If the meeting is valid (step S614; valid), the management server 111 updates the attendance information related to the meeting ID of the request ID and registers that the possible participants related to the request ID have "approved" to attend the meeting (step S615).Then, the management server 111 transmits an attendance success response to the participant terminal 121a that sent the request (step S616), and returns control to step S602.

[0187] On the other hand, if the meeting is invalid (step S614; invalid), the management server 111 updates the attendance information related to the meeting ID of the request ID and registers that attendance to the meeting has been "denied" (step S617).Then, the management server 111 transmits an attendance failure response to the participant terminal 121a that sent the request (step S618).

[0188] Furthermore, the management server 111 identifies the confirmer terminal 121c that had set the meeting valid before the meeting was set invalid. Then, the management server 111 notifies the identified confirmer terminal 121c that attendance was denied despite a request from the participant terminal 121a (step S619), and returns control to step S602. To enable this notification, the management server 111 may record in the management server 111 a communication identifier that serves as a destination for sending a notification to the confirmer terminal 121c when the meeting is validated by the confirmer terminal 121c.

[0189] If the request ID does not satisfy the ID conditions related to the meeting information (step S613; not satisfied), the management server 111 transmits an error response to the terminal 121 that sent the request (step S620), and then returns control to step S602. At this time, the request record including the request ID may be recorded so that it can be traced to determine whether it is simply an error or unauthorized access.

[0190] If the received message is an attendance inquiry (step S602; attendance inquiry), management server 111 checks whether the user of terminal 121 that sent the inquiry is the manager or confirmer of the meeting related to the meeting ID specified in the inquiry. If so (step S631; manager / confirmer), management server 111 sends attendance information for the meeting related to the meeting ID specified in the inquiry to terminal 121 that sent the inquiry (step S632), and returns control to step S602.

[0191] Furthermore, if the user of the terminal 121 that sent the inquiry is neither the manager nor the person who confirmed the meeting (step S631; Other), a message refusing the inquiry about attendance status is sent to the terminal 121 that sent the inquiry (step S633), and control is returned to step S602.

[0192] If the received message has other contents (step S602; other), the management server 111 executes the process corresponding to the message (step S640) and returns the control to step S602.

[0193] By having the management server 111 execute such processing in cooperation with the terminal 121, the person making the confirmation can easily confirm whether or not the possible participants will attend the meeting.

[0194] The above explanation does not include a description of the restriction of the confirmation location and the participation location based on the geolocation information. However, by adding processing based on the geolocation information specified in the request sent by the terminal 121 to the above control, it is possible to determine the suitability of the confirmer, restrict the locations where valid meetings can be held, and restrict the areas where potential participants can attend the meeting, as described above.

[0195] (Summary) As described above, the management server of this embodiment is a management server that manages the attendance checkers and attendees of a meeting to which a machine-recognizable code has been assigned, and includes: a receiving unit that receives a request sent by a terminal that machine-recognized the code; a setting unit that sets the meeting to be valid if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has passed; a registration unit that registers the user of the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting if the terminal that sent the request is not the checker terminal and the meeting is set to be valid; and a reporting unit that reports the registered attendees to the checker or an administrator of the meeting.

[0196] Furthermore, in this management server, the request includes geolocation information indicating the location where the terminal mechanically recognized the code, and the setting unit, if the terminal that sent the request is the verifying terminal, records a predetermined area including the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request as the area where the valid meeting is being held, and if the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal, the meeting is set as valid, and the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the range of the area where the valid meeting is being held, the registration unit can be configured to inhibit the user of the terminal that sent the request from being registered as an attendee of the meeting.

[0197] Furthermore, in this management server, the administrator can have the management server manage in advance the areas in which the verifyer and prospective participants who plan to attend the meeting can participate in the meeting; the request includes geolocation information indicating the location where the terminal machine-recognized the code; if the terminal that sent the request is the verifyer terminal and the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request is within the area managed by the management server in which the verifyer can participate, the setting unit refrains from setting the meeting as valid; and if the terminal that sent the request is not the verifyer terminal, the meeting is set as valid, and the user using the terminal that sent the request is a prospective participant whose area in which they can participate is managed by the management server, and the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area managed by the management server in which the prospective participants can participate, the registration unit can refrain from registering the user using the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting.

[0198] Furthermore, in this management server, the confirmer may be the administrator, and may be configured to manage the prospective participants who plan to attend the meeting via the confirmer terminal.

[0199] Furthermore, in this management server, the administrator can have the management server manage ID conditions related to the meeting in advance, and respond with the ID conditions related to the meeting in response to an inquiry sent by a terminal that machine-recognized the code prior to the request, and if the request does not specify an ID that satisfies the answered ID conditions among one or more IDs recorded in the terminal, the receiving unit can ignore the request, and the management server can determine whether the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal based on the ID specified in the request.

[0200] Furthermore, in this management server, the terminal can be configured to attempt to sign in to an authentication server linked to the management server before mechanically recognizing the code, and if the sign-in is successful, enable mechanical recognition of the code, and refrain from sending the request if no ID that meets the returned ID conditions is recorded.

[0201] Furthermore, in this management server, when the sign-in is successful, the authentication server provides the terminal with certification information for certifying each of one or more IDs stored in the terminal, the terminal specifies the certification information provided to the terminal in the request to certify the extracted ID, and the management server can be configured to authenticate the ID specified in the request using the certification information specified in the request.

[0202] Furthermore, in this management server, the authentication information can be configured to remain valid for a predetermined time after the successful sign-in.

[0203] Furthermore, in this management server, if the terminal that sent the request is the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to valid, the setting unit can be configured to set the meeting to invalid.

[0204] In addition, the management server can be configured to further include a notification unit that, if the terminal that sent the request is not the verifier terminal and the meeting is set to be invalid, notifies the verifier terminal that the meeting has been set to be invalid.

[0205] The terminal of this embodiment comprises a recording unit that records one or more IDs assigned to a user of the terminal; a recognition unit that machine-recognizes a code assigned to a meeting; a transmission unit that sends an inquiry to a management server that manages a meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code; a reception unit that receives a response to the inquiry from the management server; an extraction unit that extracts an ID from the one or more recorded IDs that satisfies the ID conditions specified in the received inquiry; and a request unit that sends a request specifying the extracted ID to the management server.

[0206] In addition, the terminal may further include an acquisition unit that acquires geolocation information indicating the location of the terminal when an ID that satisfies the ID condition is extracted, and the request may be configured to further specify the acquired geolocation information.

[0207] In the management method of this embodiment, a management server that manages the attendance checkers and attendees of a meeting to which a machine-recognizable code has been assigned receives a request sent by a terminal that machine-recognized the code, and if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a specified period of time has passed, and if the terminal that sent the request is not the checker terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, registers the user using the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting, and reports the registered attendees to the checker or the administrator of the meeting.

[0208] The terminal method of this embodiment is a terminal that records one or more IDs assigned to users of the terminal, machine-recognizes a code assigned to a meeting, sends an inquiry to a management server that manages the meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code, receives a response to the inquiry from the management server, extracts an ID from the one or more recorded IDs that satisfies the ID conditions specified in the received inquiry, and sends a request to the management server specifying the extracted ID.

[0209] The management program of this embodiment causes a computer that manages the attendance checkers and attendees of a meeting to which a machine-recognizable code has been assigned to perform the following processes: receive a request sent by a terminal that machine-recognized the code; if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, set the meeting to be valid, and set the meeting to be invalid after a specified period of time has passed; if the terminal that sent the request is not the checker terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user using the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; and report the registered attendees to the checker or the manager of the meeting.

[0210] The terminal program of this embodiment causes a computer that records one or more IDs assigned to users of the computer to perform the following processes: machine-recognize a code assigned to a meeting; send an inquiry to a management server that manages the meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code; receive a response to the inquiry from the management server; extract an ID from the one or more recorded IDs that satisfies the ID conditions specified in the received inquiry; and send a request specifying the extracted ID to the management server.

[0211] The non-transitory computer-readable information recording medium according to this embodiment can be configured to record at least one of the above-mentioned management program and terminal program.

[0212] The present invention allows various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are intended to explain the present invention and do not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not the embodiments. Various modifications made within the scope of the claims and the meaning of the invention equivalent thereto are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

[0213] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a management server, a terminal, a method, a program, and an information recording medium for managing meeting attendance checkers and attendees using machine-recognizable codes.

[0214] 101 Management system 111 Management server 121 Terminal 121a Participant terminal 121c Checker terminal 121m Administrator terminal 151 Computer communication network 161 Authentication server 301 Receiving unit 302 Setting unit 303 Registration unit 304 Reporting unit 305 Notification unit 311 Database 401 Recording unit 402 Recognition unit 403 Transmission unit 404 Reception unit 405 Extraction unit 406 Request unit 407 Acquisition unit

Claims

1. A management server that manages meeting attendance checkers and attendees who are assigned machine-recognizable codes, a receiving unit that receives a request transmitted from a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; a setting unit that sets the meeting to be valid if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; a registration unit that, if the terminal that sent the request is not the confirmer terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, registers the user of the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; a reporting section for reporting the registered attendees to the confirming person or the meeting administrator; Equipped with The administrator causes the management server to manage in advance regions in which the confirmer and the prospective participants who plan to attend the meeting can attend the meeting; the request includes geolocation information indicating the location where the terminal machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is the confirmer terminal and the location represented by the geolocation information included in the request is outside a region that is managed by the management server and in which the confirmer can participate, the setting unit refrains from validly setting the meeting; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal, the meeting is set to be valid, the user using the terminal that sent the request is a prospective participant whose area of ​​participation is managed by the management server, and the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area of ​​participation of the prospective participant managed by the management server, the registration unit inhibits the user using the terminal that sent the request from being registered as an attendee of the meeting. A management server comprising:

2. The confirmer is the manager and manages the participants who plan to attend the meeting via the confirmer terminal.

2. The management server according to claim 1, wherein:

3. A management server for managing meeting attendance checkers and attendees who are assigned machine-recognizable codes, a receiving unit that receives a request transmitted from a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; a setting unit that sets the meeting to be valid if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; a registration unit that, if the terminal that sent the request is not the confirmer terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, registers the user of the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; a reporting section for reporting the registered attendees to the confirming person or the meeting administrator; Equipped with If the terminal that sent the request is the confirmer terminal and the meeting is set to valid, the setting unit sets the meeting to invalid. A management server comprising:

4. a notification unit that notifies the confirmer terminal that the meeting has been set to be invalid, if the terminal that has sent the request is not the confirmer terminal and the meeting has been set to be invalid; 4. The management server according to claim 3, further comprising:

5. A management server for managing meeting attendance checkers and attendees who are assigned machine-recognizable codes, a receiving unit that receives a request transmitted from a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; a setting unit that sets the meeting to be valid if the terminal that sent the request is a checker terminal used by the checker, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; a registration unit that, if the terminal that sent the request is not the confirmer terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, registers the user of the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; a reporting section for reporting the registered attendees to the confirming person or the meeting administrator; Equipped with The manager causes the management server to manage ID conditions related to the meeting in advance, The terminal that machine-recognized the code responds to an inquiry sent prior to the request by providing ID conditions related to the meeting; If the request does not specify an ID that satisfies the returned ID condition among one or more IDs recorded in the terminal, the receiving unit ignores the request, The management server determines whether the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal based on the ID specified in the request. A management server comprising:

6. The terminal attempting to sign in to an authentication server linked to the management server prior to machine-recognizing the code; Upon successful sign-in, the code is made machine-recognizable; If an ID that satisfies the returned ID condition is not recorded, the request is suppressed from being sent.

6. The management server according to claim 5, wherein:

7. When the sign-in is successful, the authentication server provides the terminal with certification information for certifying each of the one or more IDs stored in the terminal; The terminal extracts an ID that satisfies the returned ID condition from IDs recorded in the terminal, and specifies, in the request, certification information assigned to the terminal in order to certify the extracted ID; The management server authenticates the ID specified in the request using the authentication information specified in the request.

7. The management server according to claim 6.

8. The credentials are valid for a predetermined time after the successful sign-in.

8. The management server according to claim 7, wherein:

9. A terminal, a recording unit for recording one or more IDs assigned to users of the terminal; a recognition unit for machine-recognizing a code assigned to the meeting; a sending unit for sending a query to a management server managing a meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code; a reception unit that receives a response to the inquiry from the management server; an extraction unit that extracts an ID that satisfies an ID condition specified in the received response from the one or more recorded IDs; a request section for transmitting a request specifying the extracted ID to the management server; A terminal comprising:

10. an acquisition unit that acquires geolocation information indicating the location of the terminal when an ID that satisfies the ID condition is extracted; Furthermore, The request further specifies the obtained geolocation information.

10. The terminal according to claim 9, characterized in that

11. An administrative server that manages meeting attendance checkers and attendees who are assigned machine-recognizable codes, receiving a request sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal used by the verifying person, the terminal sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user who uses the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; Reporting the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting administrator 1. A method comprising: The administrator causes the management server to manage in advance regions in which the confirmer and the prospective participants who plan to attend the meeting can attend the meeting; the request includes geolocation information indicating the location where the terminal machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is the verifying terminal and the location represented by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area managed by the management server in which the verifying terminal can participate, the meeting is prevented from being set as valid; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal, the meeting is set to be valid, the user using the terminal that sent the request is a prospective participant whose area of ​​participation is managed by the management server, and the location indicated by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area of ​​participation of the prospective participant managed by the management server, the user using the terminal that sent the request is inhibited from being registered as an attendee of the meeting. A method characterized by:

12. An administrative server that manages meeting attendance checkers and attendees who are assigned machine-recognizable codes, receiving a request sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal used by the verifying person, the terminal sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user who uses the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; Reporting the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting administrator 1. A method comprising: If the terminal that sent the request is the confirmer terminal and the meeting is set to valid, the meeting is set to invalid. A method characterized by:

13. An administrative server that manages meeting attendance checkers and attendees who are assigned machine-recognizable codes, receiving a request sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal used by the verifying person, the terminal sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user who uses the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; Reporting the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting administrator 1. A method comprising: The manager causes the management server to manage ID conditions related to the meeting in advance, The terminal that machine-recognized the code responds to an inquiry sent prior to the request by providing ID conditions related to the meeting; If the request does not specify an ID that satisfies the returned ID condition among one or more IDs recorded in the terminal, the request is ignored; The management server determines whether the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal based on the ID specified in the request. A method characterized by:

14. A terminal that records one or more IDs assigned to users of the terminal, Machine-recognize the code assigned to the meeting; sending a query to a management server managing the meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code; receiving a response to the inquiry from the management server; extracting an ID that satisfies an ID condition specified in the received response from the one or more recorded IDs; A request specifying the extracted ID is sent to the management server. A method characterized by:

15. A computer that manages meeting attendance and attendance records assigned machine-recognizable codes, receiving a request sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal used by the verifying person, the terminal sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user who uses the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; Reporting the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting administrator A management program for executing a process, The administrator causes the computer to manage in advance regions in which the confirmer and the prospective participants who plan to attend the meeting can attend the meeting, the request includes geolocation information indicating the location where the terminal machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is the confirmer terminal and the location represented by the geolocation information included in the request is outside a region that is managed by the computer and in which the confirmer can participate, the meeting is prevented from being set as valid; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal, the meeting is set to be valid, the user using the terminal that sent the request is a prospective participant whose area of ​​participation is managed by the computer, and the location represented by the geolocation information included in the request is outside the area of ​​participation managed by the computer for the prospective participant, the user using the terminal that sent the request is inhibited from being registered as an attendee of the meeting. A management program characterized by:

16. A computer that manages meeting attendance and attendance records assigned machine-recognizable codes, receiving a request sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal used by the verifying person, the terminal sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user who uses the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; Reporting the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting administrator A management program for executing a process, If the terminal that sent the request is the confirmer terminal and the meeting is set to valid, the meeting is set to invalid. A management program characterized by:

17. A computer that manages meeting attendance and attendance records assigned machine-recognizable codes, receiving a request sent by a terminal that has machine-recognized the code; If the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal used by the verifying person, the terminal sets the meeting to be valid, and sets the meeting to be invalid after a predetermined period of time has elapsed; If the terminal that sent the request is not the verifying terminal and the meeting is set to be valid, register the user who uses the terminal that sent the request as an attendee of the meeting; Reporting the registered attendees to the reviewer or the meeting administrator A management program for executing a process, The administrator causes the computer to manage ID conditions related to the meeting in advance, The terminal that machine-recognized the code responds to an inquiry sent prior to the request by providing ID conditions related to the meeting; If the request does not specify an ID that satisfies the returned ID condition among one or more IDs recorded in the terminal, the request is ignored; The computer determines whether the terminal that sent the request is a verifying terminal based on the ID specified in the request. A management program characterized by:

18. A computer that records one or more IDs assigned to users of the computer, Machine-recognize the code assigned to the meeting; sending a query to a management server managing the meeting assigned to the machine-recognized code; receiving a response to the inquiry from the management server; extracting an ID that satisfies an ID condition specified in the received response from the one or more recorded IDs; A request specifying the extracted ID is sent to the management server. A terminal program characterized by executing processing.

19. A computer-readable non-transitory information recording medium on which the program according to any one of claims 15 to 18 is recorded.