Monitoring status management system and monitoring status management method

Abstract

A monitoring status management system comprising a monitoring person terminal that receives a beacon transmitted from a beacon transmission terminal, and a server that communicates with the monitoring person terminal, wherein: the monitoring person terminal transmits a monitoring start notification and a monitoring end notification to the server; and upon receiving the monitoring start notification from the monitoring person terminal, the server records the cancellation of an alert status and transmits an alert cancellation notification to other prescribed monitoring person terminals, and upon receiving the monitoring end notification from the monitoring person terminal, the server sets the alert status and transmits an alert notification to other prescribed monitoring person terminals.

Description

Monitoring status management system and monitoring status management method Incorporation by Reference

[0001] This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-138432, filed on August 28, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to a monitoring status management system that can reliably monitor those who need to be monitored.

[0003] There have been accidents where children have been left behind on shuttle buses or in private cars due to human error when being picked up or dropped off at childcare facilities. When a person being watched over (for example, a child) becomes separated from their watcher, it is necessary to prompt the watcher to take action.

[0004] Patent Literature 1 (JP 2017-135584 A) is a background technology in this field. Patent Literature 1 describes a communication system including a plurality of first communication terminals and a second communication terminal, wherein the plurality of first communication terminals and the second communication terminal have a first communication unit that performs wireless communication to identify a distance between themselves and other terminals, and a second communication unit that performs wireless communication using a method different from that of the first communication unit, and the second communication terminal further has a storage unit that stores terminal identification information that identifies each of the plurality of first communication terminals designated as targets for monitoring a communication status of wireless communication by the first communication unit, and a communication control unit that, when the communication status of wireless communication by the first communication unit changes to a communication status indicating that the second communication terminal is separated from each of the plurality of first communication terminals by a predetermined distance or more, performs wireless communication with at least one of the plurality of first communication terminals using the second communication unit based on the terminal identification information.

[0005] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, when there are multiple watchers for one person being watched over, if one watcher moves away from the person being watched over, an alert notification may be sent to the person being watched over, even if there are other watchers present. For this reason, it is desirable to prevent unnecessary alert notifications from being sent to the person being watched over.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to reduce human error and create an environment in which the person being watched can be safely watched by reducing the number of operations by the watcher and sending an alert notification to the necessary watcher only when the watcher is no longer present.

[0007] A representative example of the invention disclosed in the present application is as follows: That is, a watching status management system including a watching terminal that receives a beacon transmitted from a beacon transmitting terminal and a server that communicates with the watching terminal, wherein the watching terminal transmits a watching start notification and a watching end notification to the server, and the server, upon receiving the watching start notification from the watching terminal, records the cancellation of an alert state and transmits an alert cancellation notification to another predetermined watching terminal, and upon receiving the watching end notification from the watching terminal, sets the alert state and transmits an alert notification to the other predetermined watching terminal.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably monitor a person being watched while suppressing unnecessary alert notifications to the person being watched. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become clear from the description of the following examples.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a watching status management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a watching target database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a watching database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a watching list database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a group database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a group member database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an alert database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a safety area database according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of watching start processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of watching mode determination processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of alert cancellation processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of watching end processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of alert issuance processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of watching mode OFF processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a flowchart of watching mode ON processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of watching mode setting screen display processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a watching terminal of a parent group in normal mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a watching terminal other than the parent group in normal mode according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a watching terminal of the parent group when an alert is notified according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a watching terminal of 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating examples of displays when an alert is cancelled on a watcher terminal of a parent group according to an embodiment of the present invention, and diagrams illustrating examples of displays when an alert is cancelled on a watcher terminal other than a parent group according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a monitoring status management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] The monitoring status management system of this embodiment includes a monitoring status management server 100, a monitoring terminal 210 that is communicatively connected to the monitoring status management server 100, and a beacon transmitting terminal 300 that transmits a beacon that is received by the monitoring terminal 210.

[0013] The watching state management server 100 is configured by a computer having a calculation unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a communication unit 130.

[0014] The calculation unit 110 is a calculation device such as a processor that executes programs stored in the storage unit 120. The calculation unit 110 executes various programs to realize functions of each functional unit (notification processing unit 111, terminal notification processing unit 112, alert processing unit 113, and information management unit 114) of the watching state management server 100. Note that some of the processing performed by the calculation unit 110 executing the programs may be executed by another calculation device (e.g., hardware such as an ASIC or FPGA). The notification processing unit 111 executes processing to receive notifications from the watcher terminal 210. The terminal notification processing unit 112 executes processing to send notifications to the watcher terminal 210. The alert processing unit 113 executes alert cancellation processing ( FIG. 10 ) and alert issuance processing ( FIG. 12 ). The information management unit 114 controls reading and writing of data to a database stored in the storage unit 120.

[0015] The storage unit 120 includes memory including a ROM, which is a nonvolatile storage element, and a RAM, which is a volatile storage element, as well as large-capacity, nonvolatile auxiliary storage devices such as a magnetic storage device (HDD) and a flash memory (SSD). The RAM is a high-speed, volatile storage device such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and temporarily stores programs executed by the calculation unit 110 and data used during program execution. The auxiliary storage device stores data used by the calculation unit 110 during program execution (such as the watching target database 121, the watcher database 122, the group database 124, the group member database 125, the watcher list database 123, the alert database 126, and the safe area database 127), as well as the programs executed by the calculation unit 110. That is, the programs are read from the auxiliary storage device, loaded into memory, and executed by the calculation unit 110 to realize the various functions of the watching status management server 100.

[0016] The watched-over person database 121 is a database in which beacon transmitting terminals and watching-over terminals are associated and recorded. The watching-over person database 122 is a database in which watching persons are recorded. The watching-over person list database 123 is a database in which the current relationship between the watched-over person and watching persons is recorded. The group database 124 is a database in which information about groups to which the watching-over person terminal 210 and the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belong is recorded. The group member database 125 is a database in which information about the watching-over person terminal 210 and the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belonging to a group is recorded. The alert database 126 is a database in which information about issued alerts is recorded. The safety area database 127 is a database in which information about set safety areas is recorded.

[0017] The communication unit 130 is a network interface device that controls communication with other devices in accordance with a predetermined protocol. The watching state management server 100 is connected to the watcher terminal 210 and the watcher management terminal 220 via the network by the communication unit 130.

[0018] The monitoring state management server 100 may have an input interface and an output interface. The input interface is an interface to which input devices (not shown) such as a keyboard or a mouse are connected and which receives input from an operator. The output interface is an interface to which output devices (not shown) such as a display device or a printer are connected and which outputs the results of program execution in a format that can be viewed by the user. Note that a user terminal (watcher management terminal 220) connected to the monitoring state management server 100 via a network may provide the input device and the output device. In this case, the monitoring state management server 100 may have the functionality of a web server, and the user terminal may access the monitoring state management server 100 using a predetermined protocol (e.g., http).

[0019] The program executed by the calculation unit 110 is provided to the watching state management server 100 from removable media (CD-ROM, flash memory, etc.) or via a network, and is stored in the storage area of ​​the non-volatile storage unit 120, which is a non-transitory storage medium. For this reason, the watching state management server 100 should preferably have an interface for reading data from removable media.

[0020] The monitoring state management server 100 is a computer system configured on one physical computer or on multiple logically or physically configured computers, and may operate on a virtual computer constructed on multiple physical computer resources. For example, multiple programs that realize the functions of the monitoring state management server 100 may each operate on separate physical or logical computers, or multiple programs may be combined to operate on a single physical or logical computer.

[0021] The watcher terminal 210 is a terminal device used by a watcher who watches over the person being watched over, and has a processor that executes programs, a memory unit, a display unit, and a communication unit. The communication unit of the watcher terminal 210 has a short-range wireless communication function (e.g., Bluetooth; Bluetooth is a registered trademark, the same applies below) and communicates with the beacon transmitting terminal 300 via the short-range wireless communication function. The watcher terminal 210 can detect that the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is located near the beacon transmitting terminal 300 by communicating with the beacon transmitting terminal 300 via the short-range wireless communication function.

[0022] The beacon transmitting terminal 300 is a terminal device used by the person being watched over, and includes a processor that executes a program, a storage unit, and a communication unit. The communication unit of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 has a short-range wireless communication function (e.g., Bluetooth), and repeatedly transmits beacons at predetermined intervals using the short-range wireless communication function.

[0023] The watcher management terminal 220 is a computer used by a watcher who watches over the person being watched, and has a processor that executes programs, a memory unit, a display unit, and a communication unit. Using the watcher management terminal 220, the watcher can register, update, and refer to information about the person being watched, watcher information, group information, group member information, and safety area information, and can also know the status of the person being watched over.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the watching-over target database 121. As shown in FIG.

[0025] The watching target database 121 is a database in which beacon transmitting terminals and watching modes are associated and recorded, and information on the watching mode and the watcher (watcher terminal) who most recently changed the information on the watching mode is recorded. The watching target database 121 stores records including a beacon transmitting terminal ID, a display name, a watching mode, a watching target terminal ID, and an area ID. The beacon transmitting terminal ID is identification information for uniquely identifying the beacon transmitting terminal 300 connected to the watching target terminal 210. The display name is a name to be displayed on the watching target terminal 210 and the watching target management terminal 220 for the person using the beacon transmitting terminal 300. The watching mode is information indicating whether to issue an alert notification when the watcher watching the person using the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is no longer present. The terminal ID is identification information of the watcher terminal 210, and is the watcher terminal ID of the watcher who most recently changed the information of the watching mode associated with the beacon transmitting terminal 300. The area ID is identification information of the safety area derived from the position of the watcher terminal 210. In other words, since the beacon transmitting terminal 300 recorded in the watching target database 121 is in communication with the watcher terminal 210 (because it is within communication distance), the area ID is the safety area ID of the safety area including the position of the beacon transmitting terminal 300. Note that when the watching mode is ON, the position of the watcher terminal 210 may be outside the safety area, and therefore if the position of the watcher terminal 210 is not included in the safety area, a code indicating that it is outside the safety area is recorded in the area ID.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the watcher database 122. As shown in FIG.

[0027] The watcher database 122 is a database in which watchers are recorded, and stores records including a watcher terminal ID, a group ID, and a display name. The terminal ID is identification information for uniquely identifying the watcher terminal 210. The group ID is identification information for the group to which the watcher terminal 210 belongs. The display name is a name for displaying the watcher using the watcher terminal 210 on the watcher terminal 210 and the watcher management terminal 220.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the watcher list database 123. As shown in FIG.

[0029] The watcher list database 123 is a database in which the current relationship between the person being watched and the watcher is recorded upon a watching start notification, and stores records including a beacon transmitting terminal ID, a watcher terminal ID, a watching notification time, and location information. The beacon transmitting terminal ID is identification information of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 connected to the watcher terminal 210. The watcher terminal ID is identification information of the watcher terminal 210 currently communicating with the beacon transmitting terminal 300. The watching notification time is the time when the watcher terminal 210 transmitted the watching start notification. The location information is the location of the watcher terminal 210.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the group database 124. As shown in FIG.

[0031] The group database 124 is a database that records information about the groups to which the watcher terminal 210 and the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belong, and stores records including a group ID, a parent group flag, and a display name. The group ID is identification information for uniquely identifying the group to which the watcher terminal 210 belongs. The parent group flag is a flag that indicates whether the group is a parent group. A parent group is a group made up of the parents of the person being watched over. The display name is a name that is used to display the group on the watcher terminal 210 and the watcher management terminal 220.

[0032] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the group member database 125. As shown in FIG.

[0033] The group member database 125 is a database in which information on the watcher terminals 210 and beacon transmitting terminals 300 belonging to a group is recorded, and stores records including a group ID, an ID type, and a terminal ID. The group ID is identification information of the group to which the watcher terminal 210 belongs. The terminal ID is identification information of the watcher terminal 210 or the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belonging to the group. The ID type is the type of terminal recorded in the terminal ID.

[0034] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the alert database 126. As shown in FIG.

[0035] The alert database 126 is a database in which information about issued alerts is recorded, and stores records including the beacon transmitting terminal ID, the alert issuance time, the ID type, and the alert target ID. The beacon transmitting terminal ID is identification information of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 related to the issued alert. The alert issuance time is the date and time when the alert was issued. The ID type is the type of terminal or group recorded in the alert target ID, and indicates the range to which the alert was issued. The alert target ID is identification information of the watcher terminal ID or group to which the alert was issued.

[0036] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the safe area database 127. As shown in FIG.

[0037] The safety area database 127 is a database in which information about the safety area to be set is recorded, and stores records including a safety area ID, a center point, a radius, and a group ID. The safety area ID is identification information for uniquely identifying the safety area to be set. The center point is the center point of the safety area. The radius is the radius of the safety area. The safety area is set within the distance of the radius from the center point, and if the position of the watcher terminal 210 communicating with the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is within the safety area, the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is determined to be in the safety area. The group ID is identification information for the group that uses the safety area. Since the safety area differs depending on the person being watched over, different safety areas are used depending on the group ID.

[0038] FIG. 9A is a flowchart of the watching start process executed by the notification processing unit 111.

[0039] The watcher terminal 210 repeatedly waits for a beacon transmitted from the beacon transmitting terminal 300 at predetermined intervals. When the watcher terminal 210 receives a beacon transmitted from the beacon transmitting terminal 300 (S1011), the watcher terminal 210 executes a watch start process. The watcher terminal 210 then references the beacon reception record (the received beacon transmitting terminal ID and the beacon reception date and time) stored in memory and determines whether the beacon transmitting terminal ID included in the received beacon has not yet been received (S1012). If the received beacon transmitting terminal ID was transmitted from a beacon transmitting terminal 300 that has not yet received a beacon, the watcher terminal 210 transmits a watch start notification to the watching state management server 100 (S1013). The watcher terminal 210 includes the notification type, the beacon transmitting terminal ID, the watcher terminal ID, the location of the watcher terminal 210, and the time of notification. On the other hand, if the received beacon transmitting terminal ID has already been received, the watcher terminal 210 records a beacon reception record including the received beacon transmitting terminal ID and the beacon reception date and time in memory (S1014).

[0040] When the watching state management server 100 receives a watching start notification from the watcher terminal 210 (S1021), it executes a watching mode determination process (S1022), adds the record of the received watching start notification to the watcher list database 123 (S1023), and searches the alert database 126 for the beacon transmitting terminal ID included in the received watching start notification (S1024). If the received beacon transmitting terminal ID is recorded in the alert database 126 (Y in S1025), the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is currently alerting, so the alert is canceled upon the start of watching (S1026). Details of the alert cancellation process (S1026) will be described with reference to FIG. 10. The alert cancellation process notifies the target watcher terminal 210 of the alert cancellation (S1035), and the alert cancellation is displayed on the watcher terminal 210 (S1015), as illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20.

[0041] On the other hand, if the received beacon transmitting terminal ID is not recorded in the alert database 126 (N in S1025), the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is not currently alerted, so the alert cancellation process is not executed and the monitoring start process is terminated.

[0042] FIG. 9B is a flowchart of the monitoring mode determination process (S1022).

[0043] The watching status management server 100 searches the watching target database 121 using the beacon transmitting terminal ID included in the watching start notification as a key, and acquires data related to the beacon transmitting terminal ID (S2001). The data acquired from the watching target database 121 includes at least (1) the watching mode, (2) the ID of the watcher terminal that last updated the watching mode, and (3) the ID of the area where the watching mode was last updated.

[0044] Then, the watching state management server 100 determines the acquired watching mode of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 (S2002). If the acquired watching mode is ON, the watching mode determination process ends.

[0045] On the other hand, if the acquired watching mode is OFF, it is determined whether the acquired watcher terminal ID (the person who notified the start of watching) is the same as the person who set the watching mode to OFF, and whether the safety area in which the watcher who set the watching mode to OFF is located is the same as the safety area when the watching mode was turned OFF (S2003). If both the watcher and the safety area are the same, there is no change in the watching state, so the watching mode determination process is terminated.

[0046] On the other hand, if either the watcher or the safety area is different, it is determined whether the watcher who has set the watching mode to OFF is in any safety area (S2004). For example, the group ID of the group to which the watcher terminal ID belongs is obtained from the group member database 125, and a record that is the same as the group ID and has the safety area ID of the safety area in which the watcher terminal is located is searched for in the safety area database 127, thereby determining whether the watcher is in a safety area.

[0047] If a corresponding record is found in the safety area database 127, it is determined that the watcher is in one of the safety areas (Y in S2004), and the area ID of the safety area in which the watcher is located is notified to the watcher terminal corresponding to the acquired watcher terminal ID (S2005), and the watching mode determination process is terminated. The watcher terminal 210 registers the notified safety area in the Geofence function (S2006).

[0048] On the other hand, if there is no corresponding record in the safe area database 127, it is determined that the watcher is not in any safe area (N in S2004), the watch mode of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 is set to ON, and the watchee database 121 is updated (S2007).

[0049] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the alert cancellation process (S1026) executed by the alert processing unit 113.

[0050] The monitoring state management server 100 searches the alert database 126 for the beacon transmitting terminal ID included in the received monitoring start notification, and acquires a record of the corresponding beacon transmitting terminal ID from the alert database 126 (S1031). Then, if a record of the received beacon transmitting terminal ID can be acquired from the alert database 126 (S1032), the server 100 executes an alert cancellation notification process for each record acquired from the alert database 126 (S1033).

[0051] In the alert cancellation notification process, the process is assigned based on the ID type of the record obtained from the alert database 126 (S1034). If the ID type is a watching terminal, the terminal notification processing unit 112 notifies the watching terminal 210 described in the alert target ID of alert cancellation (S1035). On the other hand, if the ID type is Group, the group member database 125 is referenced and the watching terminal ID of the group is obtained from the group ID described in the alert target ID. Then, an alert cancellation is notified to the watching terminal 210 of the obtained terminal ID (S1036). After notifying the alert cancellation, the record in the alert database 126 where the beacon transmitting terminal ID and the alert target ID are the same is deleted (S1037).

[0052] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the monitoring end process executed by the notification processing unit 111.

[0053] The watcher terminal 210 repeatedly references the beacon reception record at predetermined time intervals and determines whether there is a beacon transmitting terminal 300 that has not been able to receive a beacon for a predetermined time or longer (S1111). If there is a beacon transmitting terminal 300 that has not been able to receive a beacon for a predetermined time or longer, the watcher terminal 210 transmits a watching end notification to the watching state management server 100 (S1112). The watching end notification includes a notification type, a beacon transmitting terminal ID, and a watcher terminal ID, and may also include the location of the watcher terminal 210 and the time of notification. Thereafter, the watcher terminal 210 deletes the beacon reception record for the beacon transmitting terminal ID of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 (S1113).

[0054] When the watching status management server 100 receives a watching end notification (S1121), it deletes from the watcher list database 123 records that have the same combination of beacon transmitting device ID and watcher device ID included in the received watching end notification (S1122). The watching status management server 100 then searches the alert database 126 for a record of the beacon transmitting device ID included in the received watching end notification (S1123). The watching status management server 100 then determines whether the watching mode of the record of the beacon transmitting device ID in the watching target database 121 is ON and whether a record of the beacon transmitting device ID exists in the watcher list database 123 (S1124). If the watching mode of the beacon transmitting device ID is ON and the record of the beacon transmitting device ID exists in the watcher list database 123 (Y in S1124), monitoring is required but there is no other watcher, so an alert is issued (S1125). Details of the alert issuance process (S1125) will be described with reference to FIG. 12 . An alert is sent to the target watcher terminal 210 through the alert issuing process (S1139), and an alert notification is displayed on the watcher terminal 210 as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 (S1015).

[0055] On the other hand, if the monitoring mode for the beacon transmitting terminal ID is OFF or there is no record for the beacon transmitting terminal ID in the watcher list database 123, then monitoring is not required or there is another person watching, so the alert issuance process is not executed and the monitoring termination process is terminated.

[0056] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the alert issuing process executed by the alert processing unit 113.

[0057] When issuing an alert, the monitoring state management server 100 adds the following three records to the alert database 126 (S1135): (1) Last watcher to be alerted Alert issue time: 0 (immediately) (2) Group to which the last watcher belongs Alert issue time: current time + α1 seconds later (3) Parent group to be alerted if the last watcher is not the parent group Current time + α1 + α2 seconds later

[0058] The monitoring state management server 100 acquires records whose alert notification issuance time is older than the current time from the alert database 126 (S1132). If the alert issuance time is older than the current time and there are records in the alert database 126 for which an alert has not been issued (Y in S1133), the server executes alert notification processing for each acquired record (S1134). When a predetermined time has elapsed since the execution of the alert notification processing (S1135), the server returns to step S1132 and acquires records from the alert database 126. If the alert issuance time is older than the current time and there are no records in the alert database 126 for which an alert has not been issued (N in S1133), the server terminates the alert issuance processing.

[0059] In the alert notification process, the process is assigned according to the ID type of the record obtained from the alert database 126 (S1136). If the ID type is a watching user terminal, a terminal ID list including the watching user terminal 210 that is the target of the alert is created (S1137). On the other hand, if the ID type is a group, the group member database 125 is referenced to obtain the watching user terminal IDs of the group that corresponds to the group ID that is the target of the alert, and a terminal ID list is created (S1138). The terminal notification processing unit 112 then notifies the watching user terminal 210 in the created terminal ID list of the alert (S1139). Examples of the display displayed on the watching user terminal 210 when an alert is notified will be described later with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

[0060] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the monitoring mode OFF process executed by the notification processing unit 111.

[0061] The watching user terminal 210 displays a watching mode setting screen in response to a user operation (S1141). Details of the watching mode setting screen display process will be described with reference to FIG. 14B. A watching mode confirmation notification is sent to the watching state management server 100. The watching mode setting screen displays a list of beacon transmitting terminals 300 that are currently being watched (i.e., currently receiving beacons), and includes a button for switching the watching mode ON or OFF for each beacon transmitting terminal 300. The watching mode confirmation notification includes the watching user terminal ID and location information of the watching user terminal 210 that sent the watching mode confirmation notification, and the beacon transmitting terminal ID of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that is currently receiving a beacon.

[0062] The watcher terminal 210 determines whether the watching mode is ON and whether the watching mode can be changed (S1142). If the watching mode is OFF or cannot be changed, the watching mode OFF process is terminated. On the other hand, if the watching mode is ON and can be changed, the process waits for the user to switch the watching mode. After that, when the user performs a watching mode OFF operation, the watcher terminal 210 notifies the watching state management server 100 that the watching mode is OFF (S1145) and registers the safety area (center point position, radius) in the watcher terminal 210 (S1146). Information about the safety area is registered in the Geofence function of the watcher terminal 210, and entry and exit into the safety area is monitored. The watching mode OFF notification includes the notification type, the beacon transmitting terminal ID, the watcher terminal ID, the location of the watcher terminal 210, and the notification time.

[0063] When the watching mode OFF notification is received (S1149), the watching state management server 100 updates the record of the watching target database 121 for the beacon transmitting terminal ID included in the received watching mode OFF notification (S1150). Specifically, the watching mode is changed from ON to OFF, the watching mode is recorded, the watching terminal ID of the watching terminal 210 that sent the received watching mode OFF notification is recorded, and the safety area database 127 is referenced, and the safety area ID including the position of the watching terminal 210 is recorded in the area ID. If there is no safety area including the position of the watching terminal 210, a code indicating that the terminal is outside the safety area is recorded in the area ID.

[0064] FIG. 14A is a flowchart of the monitoring mode ON process executed by the notification processing unit 111.

[0065] The watcher terminal 210 executes the watching mode ON process (S1161) when any of the following events occurs: (1) The Geofence function notifies the user that the user has left a registered safe area. (2) The watching mode setting screen display process is executed, and the watching mode setting screen is displayed.

[0066] When the monitoring mode setting screen display process is executed, it is determined whether the monitoring mode is OFF and whether the monitoring mode can be changed (S1162). If the monitoring mode is ON or cannot be changed, the monitoring mode ON process is terminated. On the other hand, if the monitoring mode is OFF and can be changed, the process waits for the user to switch the monitoring mode.

[0067] Thereafter, when the user performs a monitoring mode ON operation (S1163), the watcher terminal 210 sends a monitoring mode ON notification to the monitoring status management server 100 (S1164), and deletes the safe area information from the Geofence function of the watcher terminal 210 (S1165).

[0068] Furthermore, if the Geofence function notifies the user that the user has left the registered safe area, the process from step S1164 onwards is executed.

[0069] When the watching mode ON notification is received (S1166), the watching state management server 100 updates the record of the watching target database 121 for the beacon transmitting terminal ID included in the received watching mode ON notification (S1167). Specifically, the watching mode is changed from OFF to ON, the watching mode is recorded, the watching terminal ID of the watching terminal 210 that sent the received watching mode ON notification is recorded, and the safety area database 127 is referenced, and the safety area ID of the safety area that includes the position of the watching terminal 210 is recorded in the area ID. If there is no safety area that includes the position of the watching terminal 210, a code indicating that the terminal is outside the safety area is recorded in the area ID.

[0070] FIG. 14B is a flowchart of the monitoring mode setting screen display process.

[0071] When the user operates the watcher terminal 210 to display a watching mode setting screen, the watcher terminal 210 transmits a watching mode confirmation notification to the watching state management server 100 (S1181). The watching mode confirmation notification includes the identification information of the watcher terminal 210, the location information of the watcher terminal 210, and the identification information of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that is receiving the beacon.

[0072] When the watching state management server 100 receives the watching mode confirmation notification (S1188), it determines whether the watching user terminal that sent the watching mode confirmation notification is in a safety area (S1189). For example, it obtains the group ID of the group to which the watching user terminal ID belongs from the group member database 125, and searches the safety area database 127 for a record that has the same group ID as the group ID and the safety area ID of the safety area in which the watching user terminal is located. If a corresponding record is found in the safety area database 127, it can be determined that the watching user is in one of the safety areas. It then transmits the watching mode and the area ID of the safety area as a reply to the watching mode confirmation notification (S1190). The reply to the watching mode confirmation notification includes the ON / OFF status of the watching mode, safety area information (whether the user is in a safety area or not, and if the user is in a safety area, the safety area ID, and the coordinates and radius of the center point of the safety area).

[0073] When the watcher terminal 210 receives the watching mode and the area ID of the safe area, it displays the watching mode (S1182). Then, the watcher terminal 210 determines whether a beacon is being received (S1183). If a beacon is not being received, the watcher terminal 210 disables the watching mode operation (S1184).

[0074] On the other hand, if a beacon is being received, the watcher terminal 210 determines whether the watcher mode is ON (S1185), and if the watcher mode is ON, determines whether the watcher terminal 210 is within a safe area (S1186).

[0075] As a result of the above determination, if a beacon is being received (Y in S1183) and the watching mode is OFF (OFF in S1185), the watching mode can be turned ON (S1187). Also, if a beacon is being received (Y in S1183), the watching mode is ON, and the watcher terminal 210 is within the safety area (Y in S1186), the watching mode can be turned OFF (S1187).

[0076] On the other hand, in other cases, that is, when a beacon is not being received or when the monitoring mode is ON but outside the safety area, the operation to change the monitoring mode is disabled (S1184).

[0077] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the watcher terminal 210 of the parent group in normal times, and is displayed when an app is launched on the watcher terminal 210, for example.

[0078] The watcher terminal 210 displays information about the beacon transmitting terminals 300 that belong to the same group. In Fig. 15, Mr. / Ms. XX is a beacon transmitting terminal 300 that belongs to the same group, and is being watched by a watcher that belongs to a different group from the watcher terminal 210, so the display name of the group to which the watcher's watcher terminal 210 belongs is used, and "Watching over YYYY Nursery School" is displayed. As Mr. / Ms. □□'s watcher terminal 210 is receiving a beacon, "Watching over Mr. / Ms. □□" is the display name of the watcher terminal 210 or a watcher terminal 210 that belongs to the same group as the watcher terminal 210.

[0079] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display in normal mode on a watcher terminal 210 other than the parent group.

[0080] The watcher terminals 210 other than those in the parent group display information about the beacon transmitting terminals 300 that belong to the same group. In Fig. 16, the watcher terminal 210 of YY, who belongs to the same group as Mr. / Ms. XX, has received a beacon, so "Watching over YY" is displayed. None of the watcher terminals 210 that belong to the same group as the watcher terminal 210 has received a beacon from Mr. / Ms. △△, so "Not yet arrived at kindergarten" is displayed.

[0081] The watcher terminal 210 acquires information to be displayed on various display screens from the watching state management server 100. For example, the watching state of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belonging to the same group is acquired, and the display screen shown in Fig. 15 is displayed. When the current watcher belongs to the same group as the watcher terminal 210, the watching state of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 may display the display name of the current watcher, and when the current watcher belongs to a different group, the display name of the group to which the current watcher belongs may be displayed. Note that when the group to which the current watcher belongs is not the parent group, it may display "Before Arriving at School" as shown in Fig. 16.

[0082] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the watcher terminal 210 of the parent group when an alert is sent.

[0083] When an alert is notified, the parent group's watcher terminal 210 displays information about the beacon transmitting terminals 300 belonging to the same group, similar to the display example shown in Figure 15, and also displays the alert notified by the watching status management server 100.

[0084] The alert includes the display name of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that has ceased to be in a watching state and location information of the watching person terminal 210 that last watched over the person being watched. This location information may be displayed within the alert display, or a link to map information may be provided within the alert display, and the location information may be obtained from the watching state management server 100 or another map information server by selecting this link. For example, the watching state management server 100 transmits an alert notification including the display name of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that is the target of the alert, and location information recorded in the watcher list database 123 at the time of the last watching notification for that beacon transmitting terminal 300. The watching person terminal 210 may map the location information obtained in the alert notification to the obtained map information.

[0085] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a display when an alert is issued on a watcher terminal 210 other than the parent group.

[0086] When an alert is notified, the watcher terminal 210 other than the parent group displays information about the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belonging to the same group, similar to the display example shown in Figure 16, and also displays the alert notified by the watching status management server 100.

[0087] The alert includes the display name of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that has ceased to be in the watching state and the location information of the watching over terminal 210 that last watched over the person being watched over, similar to the display example shown in Fig. 17. This location information may be displayed within the alert display, but it may also be possible to provide a link to map information within the alert display, and obtain the information from the watching state management server 100 or another map information server by selecting this link.

[0088] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the watcher terminal 210 of the parent group when an alert is canceled.

[0089] When the alert is canceled, the parent group's watcher terminal 210 displays information about the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belonging to the same group, similar to the display example shown in Figure 15, and also displays information about the alert cancellation notified by the watching status management server 100.

[0090] When the alert is canceled, the display name of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that is in the monitoring state and an "OK" button that the user can operate are displayed. When the user operates the "OK" button, the alert cancellation display disappears and the display returns to the normal state (FIG. 15).

[0091] FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a display when an alert is cancelled on a watcher terminal 210 other than the parent group.

[0092] When an alert is canceled, the watcher terminal 210 other than the parent group displays information about the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belonging to the same group, similar to the display example shown in Figure 16, and also displays information about the alert cancellation notified by the watching status management server 100.

[0093] When the alert is canceled, the display name of the beacon transmitting terminal 300 that is in the monitoring state and an "OK" button that the user can operate are displayed. When the user operates the "OK" button, the alert cancellation display disappears and the display returns to the normal state (FIG. 17).

[0094] As described above, the monitoring status management system of the present invention includes a watcher terminal 210 that receives beacons transmitted from a beacon transmitting terminal 300 and a monitoring status management server 100 that communicates with the watcher terminal 210. The watcher terminal 210 transmits a monitoring start notification and a monitoring end notification to the monitoring status management server 100. When the monitoring status management server 100 receives a monitoring start notification from the watcher terminal 210, it records the cancellation of the alert state and sends an alert cancellation notification to a specified other watcher terminal 210. When the monitoring end notification is received from the watcher terminal 210, it sets the alert state and sends an alert notification to a specified other watcher terminal 210. This ensures that the watcher's data is always recorded, allowing the parent group watcher to understand the status of the person being watched (e.g., who is currently watching). Furthermore, an alert is sent when no one is watching, preventing mistakes due to oversight without increasing the watcher's burden. This provides overall responsibility and peace of mind.

[0095] As described above, in conventional technology, the monitoring function must be manually turned on to resume monitoring, which can lead to human error due to forgetting to turn it on, and when there are multiple people being watched over, turning it on for each person being watched over is cumbersome.However, with the monitoring status management system of an embodiment of the present invention, monitoring can be started and ended without operating the watcher terminal.This reduces the amount of operation by the watcher, and by sending an alert to the necessary watcher only when the watcher is no longer present, it is possible to reduce human error and create an environment in which the people being watched over can be safely watched over.

[0096] Furthermore, according to the monitoring status management system of this embodiment, by aggregating the monitoring status on the server, even a watcher who is away from the person being monitored can know whether the person being monitored is being monitored by another watcher.

[0097] In addition, the monitoring status management server 100 stores a group member database 125 that records the definitions of the groups to which the monitoring terminal 210 and the beacon transmitting terminal 300 belong, and alert notifications are managed by group, so that the information displayed for the monitoring person can be controlled so that only the group name is displayed to members of other groups, and information about specific individuals is concealed.

[0098] Furthermore, the watching state management server 100 sends an alert notification to the watcher terminal of the final watcher recorded in the watcher list database 123, and then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, sends an alert notification to the watcher terminal of the group to which the final watcher belongs, so that multiple types of watchers can be notified in stages. In other words, an alert can be issued quickly to the final watcher, and unnecessary alerts can be suppressed for people other than the final watcher in situations where the final watcher can immediately handle the issue.

[0099] In addition, after the monitoring status management server 100 sends an alert notification to the monitoring terminal of the group to which the last monitoring person belongs, it then sends an alert notification to the monitoring terminal of a specified group (parent group) of the beacon emitting terminal to be alerted after a specified time has elapsed, thereby preventing delays in notification from the childcare facility to the parents when the person being monitored leaves the monitoring person.

[0100] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications and equivalent configurations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to configurations including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, part of the configuration of one embodiment may be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment. Furthermore, the configuration of another embodiment may be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, part of the configuration of each embodiment may be added, deleted, or replaced with other configurations.

[0101] Furthermore, the aforementioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in part or in whole in hardware, for example by designing them as integrated circuits, or may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

[0102] Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, hard disk, or SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a recording medium such as an IC card, SD card, or DVD.

[0103] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines that are necessary for implementation. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are interconnected.

Claims

1. A monitoring status management system comprising: a watching terminal that receives beacons transmitted from a beacon transmitting terminal; and a server that communicates with the watching terminal, wherein the watching terminal transmits a watching start notification and a watching end notification to the server, and the server, upon receiving the watching start notification from the watching terminal, records the cancellation of the alert state and sends an alert cancellation notification to the watching terminal related to the cancelled alert state, and upon receiving the watching end notification from the watching terminal and the number of watching terminals watching the watching target becomes zero, sets an alert state and sends an alert notification to the watching terminal related to the set alert state.

2. A monitoring status management system as described in claim 1, wherein the beacon transmitting terminal transmits beacons at a predetermined time interval, and the watcher terminal, when receiving a new beacon from a beacon transmitting terminal that does not have a beacon reception record, records the beacon reception record and sends a monitoring start notification to the server, and if a beacon with the beacon reception record recorded is not received for a predetermined period of time, sends a monitoring end notification to the server and deletes the beacon reception record.

3. A monitoring status management system as described in claim 2, wherein the server: stores watcher list information in which the current relationship between the person being watched and the watcher is recorded, and alert information in which information about the watcher terminal that is the target of the alert; upon receiving a monitoring start notification from the watcher terminal, adds data relating to the start of monitoring to the watcher list information, sends an alert cancellation notification to the watcher terminal recorded in the alert information related to the monitoring start notification, and deletes the monitoring data related to the monitoring start notification from the alert information; upon receiving a monitoring end notification from the watcher terminal, deletes data relating to the monitoring end from the watcher list information, and if there is no other watcher, adds the monitoring data related to the monitoring end notification to the alert information, and further sends an alert notification to the watcher terminal related to the added alert information.

4. A monitoring status management system as described in claim 1, characterized in that the server stores group information in which a definition of a group to which the watcher terminal and the beacon transmitting terminal belong is recorded, and transmits the monitoring start notification and alert notification to the watcher terminals belonging to the group.

5. A monitoring status management system as described in claim 4, characterized in that the server stores watcher list information in which the beacon transmitting terminal and the watcher terminal are recorded in correspondence with each other, and after sending an alert notification to the watcher terminal of the last watcher recorded in the watcher list information, after a predetermined time has elapsed, sends an alert notification to the watcher terminal of the group to which the last watcher belongs.

6. A monitoring status management system as described in claim 5, characterized in that the server sends an alert notification to the monitoring terminal of the group to which the final monitoring person belongs, and then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, sends an alert notification to the monitoring terminal of a predetermined group of the beacon transmitting terminal that is the target of the alert.

7. A monitoring status management method executed by a monitoring status management system, the monitoring status management system having a watching person terminal that receives a beacon transmitted from a beacon transmitting terminal and a server that communicates with the watching person terminal, the monitoring status management method comprising the steps of: the watching person terminal sending a monitoring start notification to the server; when the server receives the monitoring start notification from the watching person terminal, recording the cancellation of the alert state and sending an alert cancellation notification to other specified watching person terminals; the watching person terminal sending a monitoring end notification to the server; and when the server receives the monitoring end notification from the watching person terminal and the number of watching person terminals watching the person becomes zero, setting an alert state and sending an alert notification to other specified watching person terminals.

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