Patent Publication Number: US-2006010208-A1

Title: Informing system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates to an informing system used within a group of persons.  
     BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY  
      There has been employed a pyramid type of or a loop type of informing network using a telephone as an informing and publicizing system in each of various human groups represented by, for instance, sports clubs or other circles in universities or PTA organizations. In the pyramid type or loop type of informing network, however, when a relaying person does not deliver necessary information to the next person in the communication chain because of forgetting or for any other reason, the necessary information is not informed to a plurality of members at downstream layers in the group, and this type of non-delivery phenomenon in which necessary information is not delivered to some members in a group often occurs in our daily life, which is disadvantageous. Further, in the informing and publicizing method described above, information delivery is dependent of persons&#39; memory, so that the contents to be delivered may change by and by.  
      Recently there are groups using an electronic mail system which has been increasingly popularized and spreading as an informing network based on a mailing list system in which broadcasting is possible. In this type of information network based on a mailing list system, because of the characteristics of the electronic mail system not insuring delivery of a sent mail to the targets, it is always uncertain whether a sent mail has been delivered to all of the targets or not, and especially in a case of electronic mails sent and received through mobile phones, because of restrictions relating to the display and a number of characters, the system is extremely insufficient as a secure information system.  
      Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-344377 discloses an attendance management system comprising a host terminal device and a guest terminal device for managing attendance to a meeting which a number of persons is to participate by making use of an electronic mail system through a communication network, and the host terminal device comprises an ascertaining mail transmitting means for transmitting an ascertaining mail to check whether each of the receivers of the mail will attend the meeting or not; an answer mail receiving means for receiving an answer mail with an answer to a question asking whether the receiver will attend the meeting or not described therein; a determining and classifying means for determining contents of the answers and accumulating the answers as data therein; an attendance list preparing means for preparing an attendance list indicating a situation of attendance in the meeting based on the answers classified by the determining and classifying means; an answer mail reception detecting means for detecting whether the answer mails have been received or not; a time detecting system for detecting a period of time elapsed after transmitting of the ascertaining mail; and an ascertaining mail retransmitting means for retransmitting the ascertaining mail to the guest terminal device when reception of the answer mail is not detected even after a prespecified period of time elapses, while the guest terminal device comprises an ascertaining mail receiving means for receiving the ascertaining mail transmitted from the host terminal device; and an answer mail transmitting means for transmitting the answer mail with an answer concerning attendance in the meeting described therein.  
      Although format information indicating a format of an answer mail is included in the ascertaining mail according to the invention disclosed in the publication, with only the format information, generation of a rule mistake can be expected, and it is difficult to determine contents of an answer in a terminal device in the host side. Further when an ascertaining mail is automatically sent to all persons not having an answer yet, circumstances of the persons are completely ignored, and when the persons can hardly receive an electronic mail for some reasons or other, repeated transmission of an ascertaining mail is meaningless, and therefore it is impossible to accurately confirm whether they will attend the meeting or not. Principally, when only an ascertaining mail and an answer mail are transacted between a terminal device in the host side and that in the guest side, the problem of no guarantee for arrival of mails specific to the electronic mail system is not solved, so that there is the strong need for creation of a new informing network.  
      Further Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-91872 discloses an invention relating to a support system for informing an event, ascertaining attendance in the event, and collecting responses from receivers making use of the multimedia communication, but the means for automatically detecting response mails is utilized like in the conventional inventions as described above, it can not be said that the method satisfies the needs as described above.  
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention was made in the light of the circumstances as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide, in the current circumstances where no guarantee is provided for arrival of an electronic mail and there is a limit for a number of characters available in an E-mail prepared by and transmitted from a mobile telephone, an informing system capable of delivering an information without fail and ascertaining responses from receivers of the information such as those indicating whether the receivers will attend a meeting or not by making use of the electronic mail system capable of broadcasting mails to a number of receivers in batch with lower cost.  
      The informing system according to the present invention comprises a service server for relaying communications from an informing person to informed persons, and terminals owned by the informing person and the informed persons connected to each other via a computer network, and this informing system is characterized in that the service server transmits an informing E-mail including a URL linking to a matter informed by the informing person to the informed persons.  
      The URL preferably prepares a document described with www-compatible language and including a response column corresponding to the informed matter. The document is preferably subjected to processing allowing for divided screen display to accommodate various and different display capabilities of the terminal devices owned by the informed persons.  
      The service server preferably detects data concerning the response column transmitted from the terminal devices of the informed persons, and transmits a result of detection as a reporting E-mail to the terminal device of the informing person. The reporting E-mail preferably includes a plurality of choices for a method of re-informing.  
      The reporting E-mail preferably includes a URL for linking to the detection result, and the URL preferably has a document described with www-compatible language including the report on a result of detection. The document described with the www-compatible language preferably includes a plurality of choices for a method of re-informing. The document is preferably subjected processing allowing for divided screen display to accommodate various and different display capabilities of the terminal devices owned by the informing persons. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a general block diagram showing an informing system according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a view showing an example of a top screen for this informing system service on a mobile telephone;  
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing the processing performed by an informing person  110  to transmit E-mails to informed persons  120  in batch via a service server  130 ;  
       FIG. 4  is a view showing an example of a screen display of an informing guidance mail on a mobile telephone owned by one of the informed persons  120 ;  
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the procedure for ascertaining whether the receivers has responded to the informing E-mail or not;  
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart showing the processing for checking persons not having responded to the sent informing E-mail performed in a service server  130 ;  
       FIG. 7  is a view showing a screen display for a guidance mail for reporting persons not responded to the informing mail yet on a mobile telephone owned by the informing person  110 ; and  
       FIG. 8  is a flow chart showing the procedure for additionally treating the persons not having responded to the initial informing guidance mail. 
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      A preferable embodiment of the informing system according to the present invention is described below.  
       FIG. 1  is a general block diagram showing this informing system, and  FIG. 1  shows the state in which a personal computer  111  or a mobile telephone  112  owned by an informing person  110  transmitting a matter to be informed, and a personal computer  121  or a mobile telephone  122  owned by one of informed persons (group)  120  receiving the informed matter, and a service server  130  providing and managing the informing and relaying service, are connected to each other via a computer network  140  such as the Internet. The devices used for this service are not limited to the personal computers  111 ,  121  and mobile telephones  112 ,  122 , and any type of device may be employed so long as the device can be connected to a computer network such as the Internet.  
      An owner of the terminal device is required to previously make a registration for membership through a prespecified procedure for receiving the service provided by this informing service, and each member is also required to make a registration for membership of a group to which the member belongs. When the informing person  110  informs a matter to be informed to other members of the group or ascertains whether the other group members will attend a meeting or the like or not, the informing person  110  transmits E-mails (step  131 ) concerning a matter to be informed or a question whether the receivers will attend a meeting or the like or not from the terminal device ( 111  or  121 ) via the service server  130  (step  113 ) to all of the group members or a plurality of specified members in batch.  
      Each of the informed persons  120  having received the E-mails respectively reads a message concerning an informed matter or ascertaining whether the receiver will attend the meeting or the like or not and inputs and transmits a response to the informed matter requiring an answer or indicating whether the receiver will attend the meeting or the like or not (step  123 ) from the receiver&#39;s terminal ( 121 ,  122 ) to the service server  130 .  
      The data concerning the response inputted by the receiver to the informed matter or indicating whether the receiver will attend the meeting or the like or not is repeatedly checked by the service server  130  at a prespecified time interval to detect persons not having sent a response to the informed matter to indicate whether the receivers will attend the meeting or the like or not respectively, and report guidance mails having a format of a list for showing names of the persons are automatically transmitted to the informing person  110  (step  132 ).  
      Further as described with reference to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  hereinafter, the informing person  110  having received the report guidance mail can accurately inform a necessary matter to be informed to and ascertain intention for attendance of the all group members by selecting a communication means presumably suitable to each group member shown in the list screen and utilizing the communication means without fail.  
      The informing system according to the present invention is described in further detail below.  FIG. 2  is a display screen  20  on the mobile telephone  112  owned by the informing person  110 , and this display screen  20  shows an example of a top screen for the information system is service. Although two menus of “Information system” and “Attendance checking system” are shown on the screen  20 , as the two systems have the substantially identical configuration, only the “Informing system” is described below.  
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing the processing performed by the informing person  110  having selected the “Informing system” menu to transmit E-mails from the terminal device ( 111 ,  112 ) to the informed persons  120  in batch via the service server  130 , and this diagram comprises three connection flows for the informing person  110 , service server  130 , and informed persons  120  respectively.  
      At first, the informing person  110  connects the terminal device ( 111 ,  112 ) owned to the specified URL (step  311 ). This operation is performed through the general access procedure such as input of a password and the like, and the person and a group to which the person belongs are identified by the service server  130 . The service server  130  transmits (step  322 ) an initial screen upon recognition of a signal from the connected person (step  321 ), and the initial screen is displayed on the terminal owned by the informing person  110  (step  312 ). This screen is the example shown in  FIG. 2 . When the informing person  110  identifies this screen and selects the “Informing system” (step  313 ), the service server  130  identifying the instruction (step  323 ) transmits the specified screen to addresses of members registered in the corresponding group (step  324 ). It is preferable not only that each group member or a plurality of specified group members can be specified, but also that specification of group members having a specific role in the group or one or more subgroups in the group can easily be specified.  
      The informing person  110  having confirmed the display of the screen (step  314 ) specifies addresses of receivers according to the procedure described above (step  315 ) and transmits the specification to the service server  130 . When the service server  130  receives this specification, the service server  130  temporally stores the addresses (step  325 ) and generates the address record in a file for confirmation (step  326 ), and then transmits a message input screen to the informing person  110  (step  327 ).  
      The informing person  110  inputs a message on the input screen received by and displayed on the terminal device ( 111 ,  112 ) (step  316 ), and transmits the message to the service server  130 . The service server  130  having received the specification for delivery of E-mails (step  328 ) generates informing guidance mails corresponding to the message (step  329 ) for every address stored as described above (step  325 ) and transmits the E-mails in batch (step  330 ).  
      The informed persons  120  receives this informing guidance mail respectively (step  331 ).  FIG. 4  shows an example of a display screen  40  on the mobile telephone  122  owned by one of the informed persons  120 , and this informing guidance mail  41  comprises sentences each having a prespecified format such as “The following title . . . ”  42 , “The following URL . . . ”  43 , receivers&#39; names  44 , a title  45 , time  46  when the message is inputted by the informing person, a screen URL corresponding to records for respective addresses generated in the service server  130  and corresponding to the receivers&#39; names  44 , and the like.  
      A message  48  corresponding to a record for each address shown in a balloon in  FIG. 4  is displayed on a terminal screen  40  when the screen URL  47  corresponding to the address records clicked. The message  48  comprises a document described with a www-compatible language such as HTML, HDML, MML, SGML, XML, and the like. A capacity of the file (a number of characters) is preferably limited to about 5K bytes, and it is also preferable that the service server  130  has the capability of dividing a screen display, when a message surpassing the limit capacity (a limit number of characters) is inputted and transmitting the divided screen display to the linked addressed.  
      In this embodiment, the informing guidance mail  41  includes a URL  47  and is divided to the sentences each having a prespecified format and the message  48  informing a matter to be informed to respond to a restriction over a number of characters in one E-mail transmitted on a mobile telephone such as, for instance, 64 full size characters. Also a method of limiting a number of characters inputted by the informing person  110  for transmission is conceivable, but in that case some troubles may occur in delivery of a necessary informing message.  
      The message  48  includes a “Confirmation !” button  49  which each of the informed persons  120  clicks for confirmation of receipt of the message  48 , and when the receiver selects and clicks on this button  49 , the service server  130  inputs a specific value in a conformation field for each address record in the confirmation file described above.  
      The procedure for confirmation of checking is described below with reference to a flow chart showing the procedure for informing between the service server  130  and the informed persons  120  shown in  FIG. 5 .  
      In succession to step A in the flow chart in  FIG. 3 , when one of the informed persons  120  (described as informed person  120  hereinafter) receives an informing guidance mail (step  521 ) and performs an operation for displaying the mail (step  522 ), the informing guidance mail  41  is displayed on the terminal screen  40  of the mobile telephone  122  owned by the informed person  120  (step  523 ). After the informed person  120  confirms the contents and clicks on the screen URL  47  corresponding to the address record shown in a lower section of the screen (step  524 ), the terminal device is connected to the service server  130  (step  511 ), and the service server  130  transmits the message  48  described with, for instance, the HTML format specified in the URL to the connected mobile telephone  122  (step  512 ). The informed person  120  receives the message  48 , checks the displayed informed matter (step  525 ), selects and clicks on the “Confirmation !” button (step  526 ).  
      The service server  130  having received the signal (step  513 ) inputs a specific value in the confirmation field for an address record of each receiver within the file for confirmation (step  514 ). The file for confirmation with the specific value inputted therein is checked by a checking means within the service server  130  described below with a list of persons not having checked the message  48  prepared by a means for preparing a list of persons not having checked a transmitted message, and the list is periodically reported to the informing person  110 .  
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart showing the procedure for detecting persons not having checked the transmitted message following the step B shown in  FIG. 5 .  
      The confirmation checking means in the service server  130  checks all records in the file for confirmation (step  622 ) in a predetermined period of time or at each specified time after the information message is inputted (step  621 ) to determine whether any person not having checked the message is present or not (step  623 ), and when it is determined that all persons have checked the message, the service server  130  terminates the operation for checking (step  624 ). When it is determined that any object person is present, the means for preparing a list of persons not having checked a transmitted message within the service server  130  prepares a not-checked person list (step  625 ), generates a not-checked person reporting guidance mail for the informing person  110  (step  626 ), transmits the mail (step  627 ), and terminates the operation sequence.  
      As another means provided in the service server  130  for terminating the reporting work described above, it is preferable to provide a “Terminate (or stop) the reporting processing” button within the display screen for the not-checked person list (a not-checked person reporting text  73  described hereinafter) so that the informing person  110  can terminate the subsequent reporting work by selecting (clicking on) the button. In this aspect of the present invention, it is possible to evade the state in which the reporting processing is continuously executed even though any informing person  110  communicates with the informed person  120  with other means for communications such as a telephone in the not-checked person reporting text  73  described hereinafter.  
      The informing person  110  receives this not-checked person reporting guidance mail (step  611 ).  FIG. 7  is an example of the display screen  70  on the mobile telephone  112  owned by the informing person  110 , and the entire not-checked person reporting guidance mail  71  is shown as a balloon, and a URL  72  for linking to the not-checked person reporting text  73  is included in the reporting guidance mail  71 . The not-checked person reporting text  73  drawn as a balloon is described with a www-compatible language such as HTML.  
      The reporting guidance mail for not-checked persons is prepared taking into consideration various restrictions such as a number of characters specific to the terminal device like in the informing mail described in relation to  FIG. 4 .  
      Next a sequence of the following operations performed for the persons not having checked the informing guidance mail with reference to the flow chart shown in  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  comprises sequences of operations performed by the informing person  110 , informed person  120 , and service server  130  respectively.  
      In succession to step C in the flow chart shown in  FIG. 6 , the informing person  110  having received the not-checked person reporting guidance mail and checked the contents (step  811 ) clicks on the URL  72  in the reporting guidance mail  71  shown in  FIG. 7  (step  812 ), so that the person&#39;s terminal device is connected to the service server  130  (step  831 ). The service server  130  having received the signal transmits the not-checked person reporting text  73  prepared with HTML or the like previously prepared (step  832 ).  
      The informing person  110  having received the not-checked person reporting text  73  and made the text  73  displayed on a screen of the mobile telephone  112  (step  813 ) can contact the not-checked person(s), after the person(s) shown in the informing guidance mail are recognized, by selecting an appropriate one from a plurality of re-informing methods described in the not-checked person reporting text  73  (step  814 ). Any of the following five methods can be selected as the re-informing method: (1)  74 : placing a call to a first telephone number  74 , (2)  75 : placing a call to a second telephone number  75 , (3)  76 : sending an E-mail to a mail address  76 , (4)  77 : sending a re-informing mail via the service server  130  to the not-checked person(s), and (5)  78 : sending a new message mail via the service server  130  to the not-checked person(s).  
      Principally the not-checked person reporting guidance mail is transmitted in a certain period of time after the first message is transmitted or at every prespecified time to the informing person  110  until there is not any person not having checked the first message, but the informing person  110  can freely select the timing for carrying out the re-informing processing. The choice (3) of  76 : sending an E-mail to a mail address  76  is preferably differentiated from the choice (5)  78 : sending a new message mail via the service server  130  to the not-checked person(s) on the criteria whether an E-mail is transmitted to a single person or to a plurality of selected persons.  
      Of the five choices described above, in the choice (1) of placing a call to the first telephone number  74  and in the choice (2) of placing a call to the second telephone number  75 , when the telephone number is clicked to invert the display on the mobile telephone  112  or the like, the call is automatically placed to the corresponding telephone number, so that additional work load such as storing the telephone number in an address notebook or the like is not required, and therefore the system is very convenient, and miss calling never occurs. Further also in the choice ( 3 ) of sending an E-mail to the mail address  76 , also when clicking on the choice display is performed to invert the display, the mailer is automatically invoked, so that the same effect as that by selecting the telephone number  74  or  75  described above is provided.  
      The sequence of operations performed via the service server  130  for providing necessary information to the not-checked person(s) is described below.  
      In the choice (4) of sending a re-informing mail via the service server  130  to the not-checked person(s) and in the choice (5) of sending a new message mail via the service server  130  to the not-checked person(s), in the case shown in  FIG. 8 , the processing including screen partitioning (steps  815 ,  833 ,  834 ,  816 ) is performed to respond to a restriction over a number of characters which can be treated on a mobile telephone.  
      On the other hand,  FIG. 7  shows the not-checked person reporting text  73  not partitioned.  
      In the not-checked person reporting text  73  shown in  FIG. 7 , the operation for selecting a “Retransmission to not-checked person(s)” button corresponds to the operation for selecting the “Automatic operation screen” in  FIG. 8  (step  817 ). The service server  130  having received the selection signal determines which of retransmission of the first mail and transmission of a new mail is selected (step  835 ), and when it is determined that retransmission has been selected, the service server  130  generates a retransmission screen including the message originally inputted as an informing mail together with the selection screen for the group member(s) as destination(s) (step  837 ), and transmits the retransmission screen. Similarly, when a “Mail to not-checked person(s)” button  78  is selected, the service server  130  generates and transmits a “Message inputted as an informing mail” portion as an input item (step  836 ) of the retransmission screen.  
      These screens are displayed on the terminal device owned by the informing person  110  (steps  818 ,  819 ). The informing person  110  specifies an address or addresses (step  821 ), and when a new mail is transmitted, the informing person  110  inputs to the address(es) and a message (step  820 ), and then transmits the message to the service server  130  (step  822 ). The service server  130  having received this signal generates a mail or mails for the address(es) (step  838 ), and transmits the mail(s) to the informed person(s)  120  (step  839 ). The informed person(s)  120  receive(s) the mail(s) respectively (step  840 ).  
      In the operations for “specifying an address or addresses (step  821 )” and for “inputting address(es) and message(s) step  820 )”, typically the persons listed in the not-checked person list  73  are automatically displayed each with a checking mark (such as a radio button or a check box) as persons to be addressed, and the checking mark is eliminated from each of the informed person(s) displayed in the list who is not to be treated as an object person for some reasons or other.  
      As described above, with the informing system according to the present invention, delivery of a matter to be informed or checking for intention concerning attendance at various types of meetings conventionally performed over a telephone network or using a facsimile machine or an electronic mail can be performed more quickly, more accurately, and more easily with a lower cost with a personal computer, a mobile telephone, a PDA, and other terminal devices connected to a computer network.