Patent Publication Number: US-2023153763-A1

Title: Meeting support system, meeting support method, and recording medium recording meeting support program

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-184571 filed on Nov. 12, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates to a meeting support system, a meeting support method, and a recording medium recording a meeting support program. 
     Conventionally, such a system is known that supports meetings on the basis of meeting schedule information (schedule information) and the like. For example, there are known systems that calculate expected travel time to a destination and notify users of reminders based on the calculated expected travel time and notification time set in a calendar. According to this system, meeting participants can be notified in time of start of the meeting, for example. 
     Here, if a previous meeting is being held in a meeting room to be used for the meeting and the meeting does not end at the scheduled time, such a situation may arise that the meeting participants of the next meeting cannot start the meeting at the scheduled time, for example. Although the conventional art can notify meeting participants of a meeting schedule (reminder), a problem arises when the start of the meeting is delayed if the previous meeting does not end at the scheduled time. 
     SUMMARY 
     An object of the present disclosure is to provide a meeting support system, a meeting support method, and a recording medium recording a meeting support program that can start a meeting at a scheduled time. 
     A meeting support system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a meeting support system which supports a meeting in which a plurality of users participate, including a first acquisition processor which acquires location information of a first user, a second acquisition processor which acquires meeting schedule information of the first user, a first determination processor which determines whether a first meeting to be held in a first meeting room corresponding to the location information is registered in the meeting schedule information or not, a second determination processor which determines whether the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting or not, and a notification processor which notifies participants of a second meeting currently being held in the first meeting room of predetermined information when the first meeting is registered in the meeting schedule information and the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting. 
     A meeting support method according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a meeting support method for supporting a meeting in which a plurality of users participate, which causes one or more processors to execute first acquiring of acquiring location information of a first user, second acquiring of acquiring meeting schedule information of the first user, first determining of determining whether a first meeting to be held in a first meeting room corresponding to the location information is registered in the meeting schedule information or not, second determining of determining whether the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting, and notifying of notifying the participants of a second meeting currently being held in the first meeting room of predetermined information when the first meeting is registered in the meeting schedule information and the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting. 
     A recording medium according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a recording medium recording a meeting support program for supporting a meeting in which a plurality of users participate, which causes one or more processors to execute first acquiring of acquiring location information of a first user, second acquiring of acquiring meeting schedule information of the first user, first determining of determining whether a first meeting to be held in a first meeting room corresponding to the location information is registered in the meeting schedule information or not, second determining of determining whether the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting or not, and notifying of notifying the participants of a second meeting currently being held in the first meeting room of predetermined information when the first meeting is registered in the meeting schedule information and the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting. 
     According to the present disclosure, a meeting support system, a meeting support method, and a recording medium recording a meeting support program that are capable of starting a meeting at a scheduled time can be provided. 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a meeting support system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the meeting support system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram illustrating an example of a meeting-schedule information management table according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram illustrating an example of a meeting-room information management table according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a diagram illustrating an example of a user information management table according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification displayed on a user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7    is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification displayed on a display according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  8    is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  9    is a flowchart for explaining an example of a procedure of meeting support processing executed in the meeting support system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  10    is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the meeting support system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  11    is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  12    is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification displayed on the display according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  13    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  14    is a flowchart for explaining an example of a procedure of the meeting support processing executed in the meeting support system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  15    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the display according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  16    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  17    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  18    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  19    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the user terminal according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  20    is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification displayed on the display according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiment is merely an example that embodies the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure. 
     A meeting support system according to the present disclosure is applicable to, for example, a meeting in which a plurality of users participate at one or a plurality of locations (meeting rooms and the like). The meeting support system according to this embodiment is an example of the meeting support system of the present disclosure. For example, in the meeting support system according to this embodiment, user terminals (smartphones, for example) used by users participating in the meeting, displays showing meeting screens such as materials used in the meeting and the like are disposed in the meeting room. In addition, communication tags (NFC or the like) capable of communicating with the user terminals are installed near the entrance/exit of the meeting room. In addition, the meeting support system includes a management server that manages information on meetings, meeting rooms, devices used for the meetings and the like. 
     Meeting Support System  100   
       FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a meeting support system  100  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The meeting support system  100  includes a management server  1 , a user terminal  2 , and a display  3 . The meeting support system  100  is a system that supports meetings in which a plurality of users participate. 
       FIG.  1    shows a meeting room R 1  and a meeting room R 2 . Here, a state in which users A and B are having a meeting in the meeting room R 1  is shown. In the meeting room R 1 , two user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  held by the users A, B, respectively, and a display  3   a  (an example of a first display of the present disclosure) capable of displaying meeting materials and the like are disposed. Also, a communication tag Tg 1  is installed near the entrance/exit of the meeting room R 1 . 
     Moreover, outside the meeting room R 1  (in front of the meeting room R 1 ), a user C, who is a participant of a next meeting, is waiting, holding a user terminal  2   c . Also, outside the meeting room R 2  (in front of the meeting room R 2 ), users D, E, who will have a meeting with the user C, holding the user terminals  2   d ,  2   e , respectively, are waiting. A display  3   b  (an example of a second display of the present disclosure) capable of displaying meeting materials and the like is disposed in the meeting room R 2 . Also, a communication tag Tg 2  is installed near the entrance/exit of the meeting room R 2 . 
     Each user using the meeting room enters the meeting room by holding his/her user terminal  2  over the communication tag Tg. The user terminal  2  transmits predetermined information corresponding to its own location information (identification information (tag ID) of the communication tag Tg or the like, for example) to the management server  1  by communicating with the communication tag Tg. In the example in  FIG.  1   , if the meeting room R 2  is vacant, the users D, E can also enter the meeting room R 2  by holding their user terminals  2   d ,  2   e  over the communication tag Tg 2  (see  FIG.  10   ). The communication tag Tg is an example of a target to be read in the present disclosure. 
     A meeting M 2 , in which users C, D, E participate, is an online meeting held by connecting the meeting rooms R 1  and R 2 . The meeting support system  100  enables online meetings in the meeting room R 1  and the meeting room R 2  by executing a meeting support application installed in each of the user terminals  2   c ,  2   d ,  2   e . The meeting support system  100  has a microphone-speaker device, a camera and the like connected to the meeting rooms R 1 , R 2  and is configured to enable bidirectional communication of voice and camera images. The microphone-speaker device and the camera may be built into the user terminal  2 . 
     A meeting held by the users A, B in the one meeting room R 1  can also be held online in the meeting room R 1  by connecting the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b , the display  3   a  and the like and executing the meeting support application installed in each of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b.    
     The management server  1  is configured by, for example, one or a plurality of server devices (cloud servers, for example). The user terminal  2  is a user&#39;s terminal device that a user participating in the meeting brings into the meeting room, such as a smartphone, a personal computer (PC) or the like. 
     The management server  1  and the user terminal  2  are connected to each other via a network N 1 . The network N 1  is a communication network such as the Internet, a LAN, a WAN, and a public telephone line. The user terminal  2  and meeting room equipment (the display  3 , the microphone-speaker device, the camera and the like) may be connected by a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. 
     Management Server  1   
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , the management server  1  includes a controller  11 , a storage  12 , an operation display  13 , a communicator  14  and the like. The management server  1  may be one or a plurality of virtual servers (cloud servers) or may be one or a plurality of physical servers. 
     The communicator  14  is a communicator which connects the management server  1  to the network N 1  in a wired or wireless manner and executes data communication according to a predetermined communication protocol with other devices (the user terminal  2 , for example) via the network N 1 . 
     The operation display  13  is a user interface including a display such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, which displays various types of information and an operation acceptor such as a mouse, a keyboard, or a touch panel, which receives an operation. The operation display  13  receives, for example, an operation of an administrator of the management server  1 . 
     The storage  12  is a non-volatile storage such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a flash memory, which stores various types of information. The storage  12  stores control programs such as a meeting support program to cause the controller  11  to execute the meeting support processing (see  FIG.  9    and the like) described below. For example, the meeting support program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD or a DVD in a non-transitory manner, is read by a reader (not shown) such as a CD drive or a DVD drive included in the management server  1 , and is stored in the storage  12 . The meeting support program may be distributed from a cloud server and stored in the storage  12 . 
     In addition, the storage  12  stores management tables including various types of information for supporting meetings. Specifically, the storage  12  stores data such as a meeting-schedule information management table T 1  that manages meeting information related to meeting schedule (booking), a meeting-room information management table T 2  that manages meeting room information related to equipment installed in meeting rooms, a user-information management table T 3  that manages user information related to users and the like. 
       FIG.  3    is a diagram illustrating an example of the meeting-schedule information management table T 1 . In the meeting-schedule information management table T 1 , meeting information in which a meeting date, a meeting time, a meeting room, a meeting name, participants, a meeting URL, meeting materials and the like are associated with each other for each meeting is registered. The meeting room is information (meeting room name, meeting room ID) indicating a meeting room where a meeting is held. The participants are information (user name, user ID and the like) indicating the users participating in the meeting. The meeting URL is access information (connection information) for connecting when an online meeting is started. For example, the meeting support application accesses the meeting URL so as to start an online meeting application (a general-purpose meeting application and the like) corresponding to the meeting URL and to connect to a destination ID (meeting ID). The meeting materials are the materials used for the meeting. For example, when the user (person who makes the reservation) who registers the meeting information registers the meeting information including each of the information described above in his/her own user terminal  2  when it is determined that the meeting will be held. The controller  11  registers the aforementioned meeting information in the meeting-schedule information management table T 1  in accordance with the registration operation of a person who made the reservation. A function for managing the meeting schedule information including the aforementioned meeting information does not have to be included in the management server  1 . For example, when an external server different from the management server  1  provides a service (a calendar service, for example) to manage the meeting schedule information, the management server  1  may access the external server, refer to the meeting schedule information, and acquire the meeting information corresponding to the user ID. 
       FIG.  4    is a diagram illustrating an example of the meeting-room information management table T 2 . In the meeting-room information management table T 2 , meeting room information in which information such as communication tags, displays and the like is associated with each other is registered for each meeting room. The communication tag is information (tag name, tag ID and the like) that indicates the communication tag Tg installed near the entrance/exit of the meeting room. The display is identification information of the display  3  installed in the meeting room. “DP 1 ” represents a display  3   a  in the meeting room R 1 , and “DP 2 ” represents a display  3   b  in the meeting room R 2 . In the meeting-room information management table T 2 , the meeting room information for each meeting room is registered in advance by the administrator or the like through a registration operation. 
       FIG.  5    is a diagram illustrating an example of the user-information management table T 3 . In the user-information management table T 3 , information such as user information such as a user ID, a user name, authentication information, location information and the like is associated with each other and registered for each user. The user ID and the authentication information (password or the like) are used as login information at login to the meeting support application. The location information is information indicating the location of the user (user terminal  2 ). The location information is location information identified on the basis of information transmitted from the user terminal  2 , and is updated in accordance with the location of the user terminal  2 . In the user-information management table T 3 , the user information (user ID, user name, and authentication information) for each user is registered in advance by the user&#39;s registration operation, and the location information according to the location of the user terminal  2  is registered and updated. The information of the user terminal  2  (terminal ID) used by the user may be registered in the user-information management table T 3 . 
     Some or all of the meeting-schedule information management table T 1 , the meeting-room information management table T 2 , and the user-information management table T 3  may be stored in a server accessible from the management server  1 . 
     The controller  11  has control devices, such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various types of arithmetic processing. The ROM stores in advance control programs such as a BIOS and an OS that cause the CPU to execute various types of processing. The RAM stores various types of information and is used as a temporary storage memory (work area) for the various types of processing executed by the CPU. And the controller  11  controls the management server  1  by causing the CPU to execute various types of control programs stored in advance in the ROM or the storage  12 . 
     Specifically, the controller  11  includes various types of processors such as a location acquisition processor  111 , a meeting acquisition processor  112 , a determination processor  113 , a notification processor  114  and the like. The controller  11  executes various types of processing in accordance with the meeting support program and functions as the various types of processors described above. Moreover, some or all of the processors included in the controller  11  may be configured by an electronic circuit. The meeting support program may be a program that causes a plurality of processors to function as various types of processors described above. 
     In the following, the meeting schedule information registered in the meeting-schedule information management table T 1  shown in  FIG.  3    will be explained by citing specific examples.  FIG.  1    shows a state in which users A, B are having a meeting (“meeting M 1 ”) in a meeting room R 1  at the current time (“10:55”), and a user C, who will participate in the next meeting M 2  (meeting start time “11:00”) is waiting in front of the meeting room R 1 . 
     The location acquisition processor  111  acquires location information of the users. Specifically, the location acquisition processor  111  acquires location information of the user when the user terminal  2  held by the user communicates with the communication tag Tg installed near the entrance/exit of the meeting room. For example, in the example shown in  FIG.  1   , when the user C (an example of the first user of the present disclosure) comes to the meeting room R 1  to participate in the meeting M 2  and holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg 1 , the user terminal  2   c  sends identification information of the user terminal  2   c  (terminal ID) and identification information of the communication tag Tg 1  (tag ID) to the management server  1 . The location acquisition processor  111  acquires the identification information of the user terminal  2   c  and the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1  from the user terminal  2   c  and then, acquires the location information corresponding to the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1 . For example, the location acquisition processor  111  refers to the meeting-room information management table T 2  and acquires information of a spot where the communication tag Tg 1  is installed (meeting room ID of meeting room R 1 ). The location acquisition processor  111  registers the acquired location information in the user-information management table T 3  (see  FIG.  5   ). Here, as the location information of user C (“P 3 ” in  FIG.  5   ), the installation spot of the communication tag Tg 1  (meeting room R 1 , for example) is registered. The location acquisition processor  111  is an example of a first acquisition processor of the present disclosure. 
     The meeting acquisition processor  112  acquires the user&#39;s meeting schedule information. Specifically, the meeting acquisition processor  112  refers to the meeting-schedule information management table T 1  (see  FIG.  3   ) and acquires meeting schedule information of the meeting in which the user will participate. For example, when the user C holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg 1  in the meeting room R 1 , the meeting acquisition processor  112  identifies the user on the basis of the identification information of the user terminal  2   c  acquired from the user terminal  2   c  and acquires the meeting schedule information of the meeting in which the identified user is registered as a participant. Here, the meeting acquisition processor  112  acquires the meeting schedule information of the meeting M 2  in which the user C will participate. The meeting acquisition processor  112  is an example of a second acquisition processor of the present disclosure. 
     The determination processor  113  determines whether a meeting to be held in the meeting room corresponding to the location information acquired by the location acquisition processor  111  is registered in the meeting schedule information acquired by the meeting acquisition processor  112  or not. For example, the determination processor  113  determines whether the meeting to be held in the meeting room R 1  corresponding to the location information of the user C acquired by the location acquisition processor  111  (the location in front of the meeting room R 1 , for example) is registered in the meeting schedule information of the meeting acquired by the meeting acquisition processor  112  and in which the user C will participate or not. Here, the determination processor  113  determines that the meeting M 2  to be held in the meeting room R 1  corresponding to the location information is registered in the meeting schedule information. The determination processor  113  is an example of the first determination processor in the present disclosure. 
     The determination processor  113  also determines whether the user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the meeting or not. For example, the determination processor  113  determines whether the user C is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the meeting M 2  or not. Here, the determination processor  113  determines that the user C is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the meeting M 2 . The determination processor  113  is an example of a second determination processor in the present disclosure. 
     When the meeting is registered in the meeting schedule information and the user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the meeting, the notification processor  114  notifies the participants of the meeting currently being held in the meeting room of predetermined information. Here, since the meeting M 1  is being held in the meeting room R 1  (see  FIG.  1   ), the notification processor  114  notifies the participants of the meeting M 1 , that is, the users A, B, of the predetermined information. 
     Specifically, the notification processor  114  causes information indicating that the user C, a participant of the next meeting, is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  to be displayed at least on any one of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  of the users A, B, and the display  3   a  installed in the meeting room R 1 . The notification processor  114  also causes information on end time of the meeting M 1  of the users A, B to be displayed at least on any one of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  of the users A, B and the display  3   a.    
       FIG.  6    shows an example of a display screen of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b , and  FIG.  7    shows an example of a display screen of the display  3   a . The notification processor  114  causes remaining time to the end of the meeting M 1  (“5 minutes”, here), a message indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed at least on any one of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b , and the display  3   a.    
     The notification processor  114  may cause the predetermined information to be displayed until the meeting M 1  ends or may delete the predetermined information from the display screen when a confirmation operation is received from the user. The notification processor  114  may also cause a countdown of the remaining time to be displayed. 
     According to the above configuration, the participants in the meeting M 1  can be made aware that the start time of the next meeting M 2  is imminent, so that the meeting M 1  can be ended as scheduled. As a result, the subsequent meeting M 2  can be started on schedule. 
     The notification processor  114  may also cause information indicating that the meeting M 1  is being held (in session) in the meeting room R 1  to be displayed on the user terminal  2   c  of the user C.  FIG.  8    shows an example of the display screen of the user terminal  2   c . As shown in  FIG.  8   , the notification processor  114  causes the remaining time to the end of the meeting M 1  (“5 minutes”, here) and a message indicating that the users A, B are having a meeting in the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed on the user terminal  2   c . As a result, the user C can grasp a situation in the meeting room R 1 . 
     User Terminal  2   
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , the user terminal  2  includes a controller  21 , a storage  22 , an operation display  23 , a reader  24 , a communicator  25  and the like. The user terminal  2  is an information processor such as a smartphone, a personal computer (PC), a tablet terminal and the like. 
     The communicator  25  is a communicator which connects the user terminal  2  to the network N 1  in a wired or wireless manner and executes data communication according to a predetermined communication protocol with other devices (the management server  1 , for example) via the network N 1 . The user terminal  2  is also connected to meeting room equipment (the display  3 , a microphone-speaker device, a camera and the like) via the communicator  25  by a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. 
     The reader  24  reads the communication tag Tg. For example, the reader  24  communicates with the communication tag Tg by NFC (near field communication) and reads the identification information (tag ID) of the communication tag Tg. As another embodiment, the reader  24  may be constituted by a camera and read information codes (such as two-dimensional codes) installed near the entrance/exit of the meeting room. In this case, the reader  24  reads the meeting room ID associated with the information code. 
     The operation display  23  is a user interface including a display such as a liquid-crystal display or an organic EL display, which displays various types of information and an operation acceptor such as a mouse, a keyboard, or a touch panel, which accepts an operation. The operation display  23  accepts, for example, operations of the user of the user terminal  2 . 
     The storage  22  is a non-volatile storage such as an HDD, an SSD, or a flash memory, which stores various types of information. The storage  22  stores control programs such as a meeting support program to cause the controller  21  to execute meeting support processing (see  FIG.  9   ) and the like described below. For example, the meeting support program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD or a DVD in a non-transitory manner, is read by a reader (not shown) such as a CD drive or a DVD drive included in the user terminal  2 , and is stored in the storage  22 . The meeting support program may be distributed from a cloud server and stored in the storage  22 . 
     The controller  21  has control devices such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various types of arithmetic processing. The ROM stores in advance control programs such as a BIOS and an OS that cause the CPU to execute various types of processing. The RAM stores various types of information and is used as a temporary storage memory (work area) for the various types of processing executed by the CPU. And the controller  21  controls the user terminal  2  by causing the CPU to execute various types of control programs stored in advance in the ROM or the storage  22 . 
     Specifically, the controller  21  includes various processors such as a reading processor  211 , a display processor  212  and the like. The controller  21  executes various types of processing in accordance with the control program in the CPU and functions as various types of processors described above. Moreover, some or all of the processors included in the controller  21  may be configured by an electronic circuit. The control program may be a program that causes a plurality of processors to function as the various types of processors described above. 
     The reading processor  211  transmits the identification information of the communication tag Tg read by the reader  24  to the management server  1 . For example, when the user C arrives at the meeting room R 1  and reads the communication tag Tg 1  (see  FIG.  1   ) by the user terminal  2   c , the reading processor  211  of the user terminal  2   c  transmits the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1  to the management server  1 . The reading processor  211  may also transmit the location information corresponding to the identification information of communication tag Tg 1  (meeting room ID, for example) to the management server  1 . 
     The location acquisition processor  111  of the management server  1  acquires the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1  from the user terminal  2   c  and then, acquires the location information of the user C (user terminal  2   c ) on the basis of the meeting room ID associated with the communication tag Tg 1  (see  FIG.  4   ). 
     The display processor  212  causes various types of information to be displayed on the operation display  23 . For example, the display processor  212  causes a login screen of the meeting support application, a meeting information screen that displays meeting information, an operation screen that accepts operations to start, to end, or to extend a meeting, and a meeting screen that is displayed during a meeting after the meeting was started and the like to be displayed. 
     Moreover, the display processor  212  causes the predetermined information notified from the management server  1  to be displayed when a participant of the next meeting arrives at the meeting room during the meeting. For example, as shown in  FIG.  6   , the display processors  212  of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  cause the information notified from the management server  1  to be displayed on each of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b , when a participant (user C) of the next meeting M 2  arrives at the meeting room R 1  while the users A, B are having a meeting in the meeting room R 1 . Moreover, as shown in  FIG.  8   , for example, the display processor  212  of the user terminals  2   c  causes the information notified from the management server  1  to be displayed on the user terminal  2   c , when the participant (user C) of the next meeting M 2  arrives at the meeting room R 1  while the users A, B are having a meeting in the meeting room R 1 . 
     In addition to the processing described above, the controller  21  causes the meeting support application to be executed. The controller  21  also starts the meeting support application and executes the login processing. The controller  21  also connects the user terminal  2  to the display  3 , a microphone-speaker device, a camera and the like. When the user terminal  2  and the display  3  are connected, meeting materials, for example, are displayed on the display  3 . Moreover, progress of the meeting, remaining time to the end of the meeting and the like are displayed on the display  3 . The controller  21  may also cause the display screen of the user terminal  2  to be displayed on the display  3 . 
     The controller  21  also accepts meeting end instructions from the user. When the controller  21  accepts a meeting end instruction from the user, it ends the meeting and logs the user off from the meeting support application. 
     Meeting Support Processing 
     With reference to  FIG.  9   , an example of a procedure of the meeting support processing executed in the meeting support system  100  will be described. 
     The present disclosure can be viewed as a disclosure of a meeting support method (an example of the meeting support method of the present disclosure) in which one or a plurality of steps included in the meeting support processing are executed. The one or a plurality of steps included in the meeting support processing described herein may be omitted as appropriate. In addition, an execution order of each step in the meeting support processing may be different as long as the same or similar operational effects are exerted. 
     Furthermore, a case in which the controller  11  of the management server  1  executes each step in the meeting support processing will be described here as an example, but in other embodiments, one or more processors may execute each step in the meeting support processing in a dispersed manner. 
     Here, a state in which, at the current time (“10:55”), the users A, B are having a meeting (“meeting M 1 ”) in the meeting room R 1  as shown in the example above (see  FIG.  1    and  FIG.  3   ), and the user C, who will participate in the next meeting M 2  (meeting start time “11:00”) is waiting in front of the meeting room R 1  will be described as an example. 
     First, at Step S 1 , the controller  11  acquires location information of the user (user terminal  2 ). For example, when the user C comes to the meeting room R 1  to participate in the meeting M 2  and holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg 1 , the user terminal  2   c  transmits the identification information of the user terminal  2   c  and the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1  to the management server  1 . When the controller  11  acquires, from the user terminal  2   c , the identification information of the user terminal  2   c  and the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1 , it acquires the location information corresponding to the identification information of the communication tag Tg 1  (meeting room ID of the meeting room R 1 , here). 
     Next, at Step S 2 , the controller  11  updates the user-information management table T 3  (see  FIG.  5   ). Here, the controller  11  registers the acquired location information (meeting room R 1 , for example) in the user-information management table T 3 . 
     Next, at Step S 3 , the controller  11  acquires the meeting schedule information. Specifically, when the user C holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg 1  of the meeting room R 1 , the controller  11  identifies the user on the basis of the identification information of the user terminal  2   c  acquired from the user terminal  2   c  and acquires the meeting schedule information for the meeting in which the identified user is registered as a participant. Here, the controller  11  acquires the meeting schedule information for the meeting M 2  in which the user C will participate. The controller  11  also acquires the meeting schedule information of the meeting room R 1  corresponding to the acquired location information (the meeting schedule information of the meeting M 1  currently being held in the meeting room R 1 , for example). 
     Next, at Step S 4 , the controller  11  determines whether the target meeting in which the user will participate is registered in the acquired meeting schedule information or not. If the target meeting in which the user will participate is registered in the meeting schedule information (S 4 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 5 . On the other hand, if the target meeting in which the user will participate is not registered in the meeting schedule information (S 4 : No), the controller  11  ends the processing. Here, since the meeting M 2  in which the user C will participate is registered in the meeting schedule information (S 4 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 5 . 
     At Step S 5 , the controller  11  determines whether the user is a participant of the meeting or not. If the user is a participant of the meeting (S 5 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 6 . On the other hand, if the user is not a participant of the meeting (S 5 : No), the controller  11  ends the processing. Here, since the user C is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the meeting M 2  (S 5 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 6 . 
     At Step S 6 , the controller  11  notifies the meeting participants having the meeting of predetermined information. Here, since the meeting M 1  is being held in the meeting room R 1  (see  FIG.  1   ), the controller  11  notifies the users A, B, who are participants of the meeting M 1 , of the predetermined information. 
     Specifically, the controller  11  causes information indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  to be displayed at least on any one of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  of the users A, B (see  FIG.  6   ) and the display  3   a  (see  FIG.  7   ) installed in the meeting room R 1 . The controller  11  also causes information about the end time of the meeting M 1  of the users A, B to be displayed at least on any one of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  of the users A, B (see  FIG.  6   ) and the display  3   a  (see  FIG.  7   ). 
     After Step S 6 , the controller  11  ends the processing. The controller  11  executes the processing described above each time it acquires location information (information of the communication tag Tg) from the user terminal  2  of each user. 
     As described above, the meeting support system  100  according to this embodiment acquires the location information of the first user, acquires the meeting schedule information of the first user, determines whether the first meeting to be held in the first meeting room corresponding to the location information is registered in the meeting schedule information or not, and determines whether the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting or not. Then, when the first meeting is registered in the meeting schedule information and the first user is registered in the meeting schedule information as a participant of the first meeting, the meeting support system  100  notifies the participants of the second meeting currently being held in the first meeting room of the predetermined information. 
     As a result, when a previous meeting is being held in the meeting room to be used for the meeting, for example, it is possible to cause the participants in the meeting being held to recognize that the start time of the next meeting is approaching. This allows the meeting to end as scheduled and the next meeting to start as scheduled. 
     OTHER EMBODIMENTS 
     The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. 
       FIG.  10    shows that the users D, E, who are participants of the meeting M 2  have entered the meeting room R 2  (example of the second user of this disclosure). For example, when the user D holds the user terminal  2   d  over the communication tag Tg 2  in the meeting room R 2 , the user terminal  2   d  transmits the identification information of the communication tag Tg 2  to the management server  1 . When the controller  11  of the management server  1  acquires the identification information of the communication tag Tg 2  from the user terminal  2   d , it checks usage status of the meeting room R 2  on the basis of the meeting room ID (see  FIG.  4   ) associated with the communication tag Tg 2 . When the meeting room R 2  is vacant, the controller  11  notifies the user terminal  2   d  of the information indicating that the meeting room R 2  is vacant.  FIG.  11    shows an example of the display screen of the user terminal  2   d . As shown in  FIG.  11   , the controller  11  causes a message indicating that the meeting room R 2  is vacant, time to the start time of the meeting M 2  and the like to be displayed on the user terminal  2   d . When the user E holds the user terminal  2   e  over the communication tag Tg 2  of the meeting room R 2 , the controller  11  presents display similar to that on the user terminal  2   d  (see  FIG.  11   ). 
     In addition, as shown in  FIG.  12   , the controller  11  causes the remaining time to the end of the meeting M 1  being held in the meeting room R 1  (here, “5 minutes”), a message indicating that the user C, who will participate in the meeting M 2  in the meeting room R 1 , is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed on the display  3   b  of the meeting room R 2 . 
     The controller  11  may also acquire the location information of a participant of a meeting when the participant performs a meeting start operation at the user terminal  2 . For example, when the users D, E who entered the meeting room R 2  log in the meeting support application at the user terminals  2   d ,  2   e , the controller  11  updates the location information of the users D, E from “outside the meeting room” to “inside the meeting room”. 
     In addition, as shown in  FIG.  13   , the controller  11  causes the remaining time to the end of the meeting M 1  being held in the meeting room R 1  (here, “5 minutes”), a message indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed on each of the user terminals  2   d ,  2   e.    
       FIG.  14    is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of the meeting support processing according to another embodiment. In the following, the same processing as the meeting support processing shown in  FIG.  9    will be omitted or briefly described as appropriate. 
     At Step S 11 , the controller  11  acquires location information of the user (user terminal  2 ). Next, at Step S 12 , the controller  11  updates the user-information management table T 3  (see  FIG.  5   ). 
     Next, at Step S 13 , the controller  11  determines whether the user is in front of the meeting room or not. If the user is in front of the meeting room (S 13 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 14 . If the user is not in front of the meeting room (S 13 : No), the controller  11  ends the processing. For example, the controller  11  determines whether the user is in front of the meeting room or inside the meeting room. Specifically, when a user logs in the meeting support application at the user terminal  2 , selects the meeting room in which he/she is located, and gives an instruction to start a meeting, the controller  11  determines that the user is in the meeting room. In this case, the controller  11  registers the location information of the inside of the meeting room where the user is located in the user-information management table T 3 . Thus, the controller  11  may acquire the location information of a participant in a meeting when he/she performs a meeting start operation at the user terminal  2 . 
     At Step S 14 , the controller  11  acquires the meeting schedule information (meeting schedule information of the meeting M 2 ). The controller  11  also acquires the meeting schedule information of the meeting room R 1  corresponding to the acquired location information (the meeting schedule information of the meeting M 1  currently being held in the meeting room R 1 , for example). 
     Next, at Step S 15 , the controller  11  determines whether the target meeting in which the user will participate is registered in the acquired meeting schedule information or not. If the target meeting in which the user will participate is registered in the meeting schedule information (S 15 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing Step S 16  On the other hand, if the target meeting in which the user will participate is not registered in the meeting schedule information (S 15 : No), the controller  11  ends the processing. 
     At Step S 16 , the controller  11  determines whether the user is a participant of the meeting or not. If the user is a participant of the meeting (S 16 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 17 . On the other hand, if the user is not a participant of the meeting (S 16 : No), the controller  11  ends the processing. 
     At Step S 17 , the controller  11  determines whether there are people (meeting participants) in the target meeting room or not. If there are people in the meeting room (S 17 : Yes), that is, if a meeting is being held in the meeting room, the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 18 . On the other hand, if there is not a person in the meeting room (S 17 : No), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 171 . 
     At Step S 18 , the controller  11  notifies the meeting participants having the meeting in the meeting room of predetermined information. For example, the controller  11  causes a message indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed on each of the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  of the users A, B having a meeting in the meeting room R 1  (see  FIG.  6   ). 
     At Step S 171 , the controller  11  notifies information indicating that the meeting room is vacant. For example, the controller  11  causes a message indicating that the meeting room is vacant or the like to be displayed on each of the user terminals  2   d ,  2   e  of the users D, E, who will participate in the meeting in the meeting room R 2  (see  FIG.  11   ). 
     At Step S 19 , the controller  11  determines whether a remote meeting room is included in a meeting location for the next meeting or not. If a remote meeting room is included in the meeting location for the next meeting (S 19 : Yes), the controller  11  moves the processing to Step S 20 . On the other hand, if a remote meeting room is not included in the meeting location for the next meeting (S 19 : No), the controller  11  ends the processing. 
     At Step S 20 , the controller  11  notifies the participants of the next meeting in the remote meeting room of predetermined information. For example, the controller  11  causes a message indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed on each of the user terminals  2   d ,  2   e  of the users D, E, who will participate in the meeting M 2  in the meeting room R 2  (see  FIG.  13   ). In addition, the controller  11  causes a message indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  or the like to be displayed on the display  3   b  installed in the meeting room R 2  (see  FIG.  12   ). 
     As another embodiment of the present disclosure, the meeting support system  100  may accept a request for an extension of a meeting from a user during the meeting. Specifically, as shown in  FIG.  15   , when the user C of the next meeting M 2  is in front of the meeting room R 1  during the meeting of the meeting M 1 , the controller  11  causes a message indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1  to be displayed and moreover, causes an application button which accepts a request for an extension of the meeting M 1  to be displayed on the message. When the users A, B press down the application button to apply for the extension of the meeting M 1 , the controller  11  (notification processor  114 ) notifies a message of an inquiry of availability of the extension to the user terminal  2   c  of the user C (See  FIG.  16   ). The user C determines on the user terminal  2   c  whether the extension is approved or not for the request for extension. If the user C allows the extension, the controller  11  extends the scheduled end time of the meeting M 1 . For example, the controller  11  extends the scheduled end time of the meeting M 1  only by a predetermined period of time (15 minutes). When the scheduled end time of the meeting M 1  is extended, the controller  11  notifies information that the meeting M 1  has been extended and the scheduled end time after the extension and the like to each of the user terminals  2   c ,  2   d ,  2   e  of the users C, D, E, who are participants of the next meeting M 2 . 
     As described above, when an application for an extension of the scheduled end time of the meeting M 1  is made, the controller  11  (notification processor  114 ) notifies the user terminal  2  of the user of the meeting M 2  of a message inquiring whether the extension is possible or not. 
     As another embodiment of the present disclosure, in a case where the time when the location information of the user C is acquired is in a period from a predetermined time before the scheduled start time of the meeting M 2  to the scheduled start time, the controller  11  (notification processor  114 ) may notify information indicating that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1 . Moreover, in a case where the time when the location information of user C is acquired is earlier than the predetermined time before the scheduled start time of the meeting M 2 , the controller  11  may notify warning information to the user terminal  2   c  of the user C. 
     For example, if the time when the user C arrives at the meeting room R 1  and holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg 1  is “10:55”, it is within the predetermined time (10 minutes, for example) to the scheduled start time of the meeting M 2  in which the user C will participate, that is, “11:00”. In this case, as shown in  FIG.  6   , the controller  11  causes the predetermined information (that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1 ) to be displayed on the user terminals  2   a ,  2   b  of the users A, B. 
     On the other hand, for example, if the time when the user C arrives at the meeting room R 1  and holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg 1  is “10:45”, it is earlier than the predetermined time (10 minutes, for example) before the scheduled start time of the meeting M 2  in which the user C will participate, that is, “11:00”. In this case, as shown in  FIG.  17   , the controller  11  causes a message (warning information) indicating that there is time to the scheduled start time of the meeting M 2  (that it is too early to come to the meeting room R 1 ) or the like to be displayed on the user terminal  2   c  of the user C. The controller  11  may also notify messages that the users A, B are having a meeting in the meeting room R 1  and that the predetermined information (that the user C is waiting outside the meeting room R 1 ) is not to be notified to the users A, B or the like. 
     As another embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user C has mistaken the meeting room, the controller  11  (notification processor  114 ) may also cause a message indicating that the meeting room is wrong to be displayed on the user terminal  2   c  as shown in  FIG.  18   . For example, when the user C comes to a meeting room R 3  (not shown) and holds the user terminal  2   c  over the communication tag Tg, the location information of the user C (meeting room R 3 ) is acquired. When the acquired location information is different from the meeting room R 1  of the meeting M 2  in which the user C will participate, the controller  11  causes a message reporting to the user terminal  2   c  that the meeting room is wrong, information on the correct meeting room (in this case, the meeting room R 1 ), time to the scheduled start time of the meeting M 2  and the like to be displayed on the user terminal  2   c . As a result, the meeting participant can immediately grasp that the meeting room is wrong. 
     As another embodiment of the present disclosure, when the meeting M 2  in which the users C, D, E are to participate is canceled, the controller  11  (notification processor  114 ) may cause a message indicating that the meeting M 2  was canceled to be displayed on the user terminals  2   c ,  2   d ,  2   e  of the users C, D, E, respectively, as shown in  FIG.  19   . As a result, the meeting participant can reliably grasp that the meeting was canceled. 
     As another embodiment of the present disclosure, in a case where the users A, B are having a meeting in the meeting room R 1  as shown in  FIG.  10   , the controller  11  (notification processor  114 ) may notify the users A, B of the predetermined information when the users D, E, who are participants of the next meeting M 2 , entered the meeting room R 2  and have completed preparation for the next meeting M 2 . For example, when the users D, E log in the meeting support application, the controller  11 , as shown in  FIG.  20   , causes a message indicating that preparation for the meeting M 2  is completed to be displayed on the display  3   a  in the meeting room R 1 . As a result, the meeting M 1  can be ended as scheduled, and the next meeting M 2  can be started as scheduled. 
     As described above, the meeting support system of the present disclosure may be configured by the management server  1  and the user terminal  2  as shown in  FIG.  2   , by the single management server  1 , or by the single user terminal  2 , as shown in  FIG.  2   . 
     It is to be understood that the embodiments herein are illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.