JP6849644B2 - Relay device, relay method and communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a relay device, a relay method, and a communication system that provide a messaging service for transmitting and receiving messages.

In a messaging service for sending and receiving messages, various services are provided by a company by allowing the user to register with the company on the user terminal (for example, setting a friendship or sending personal information). There is a known system that enables the reception (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2017-62850

Multiple operators may offer the same messaging service. In this case, the company needs to know which operator the user is currently contracting with in order to send a message to the user using the messaging service. Therefore, the user management in the messaging service is complicated for the enterprise.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a relay device, a relay method, and a communication system that facilitate user management in a messaging service for sending and receiving messages between a user and a company. To do.

In the relay device of the first aspect of the present invention, a user terminal owned by a user is connected to a corporate server managed by a company via a communication device of a business operator contracted by the user among a plurality of business operators. In a communication system for transmitting and receiving a message in, a first storage device that relays the message and stores the identification information of the user and the identification information of the company registered by the user in association with each other. A second storage unit that stores the identification information of the user in association with the identification information of the user and the identification information of the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user, and a reception that receives the message from the company server. A unit and an extraction unit that extracts the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the receiving unit in the first storage unit. Based on the identification information of the communication device associated with the identification information of the user extracted by the extraction unit in the second storage unit, the business operator contracted by the user among the plurality of business operators. A relay device having a specific unit that specifies the communication device as a transfer destination, and a transfer unit that transfers the message received by the reception unit to the communication device at the transfer destination specified by the specific unit.

The relay device further has a third storage unit that stores the user's identification information in association with the user attribute indicating the user's attribute, and the extraction unit is the receiving unit in the first storage unit. Among the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the received message, the message indicated by the message received by the receiving unit in the third storage unit. The identification information of the user associated with the user attribute may be extracted.

The extraction unit receives the user's identification information associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the reception unit in the first storage unit. The user's identification information indicated by the message received by the unit may be extracted.

The relay device may further have an acquisition unit for acquiring the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each of the plurality of communication devices.

The acquisition unit transmits the message in the past for at least one of the business operator, the user, a user attribute indicating the attribute of the user, a method of transmitting the message, and a time zone in which the message is transmitted. The number and the number of opened may be totaled.

The transfer unit identifies and specifies at least one transmission method among a plurality of transmission methods for transmitting the message, based on the number of transmissions and the number of opens of the past message collected by the acquisition unit. An instruction indicating the transmission method may be transmitted to the communication device.

The transfer unit may specify the transmission method for at least one of the business operator, the user, the user attribute, and the time zone in which the message is transmitted.

The transfer unit may transmit to the communication device an instruction indicating at least one of the method of transmitting the message and the time zone for transmitting the message specified by the company.

The specific unit may determine a charge for the company server to send the message to the user terminal based on at least one of the transmission method and the time zone specified by the company.

The communication system of the second aspect of the present invention is a communication system for a user terminal owned by a user to send and receive a message to and from a company server managed by a company, and the message transmitted by the company server is transmitted. The relay device includes a relay device for relaying, and a communication device managed by a business operator contracted with the user among a plurality of businesses to transfer the message relayed by the relay device to the user terminal. Is a first storage unit that stores the user's identification information in association with the company's identification information registered by the user, the user's identification information, and the business operator contracted by the user. A second storage unit that stores the identification information of the communication device in association with each other, a receiving unit that receives the message from the company server, and a transmission of the message received by the receiving unit in the first storage unit. The extraction unit that extracts the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company that manages the original company server and the identification information of the user extracted by the extraction unit in the second storage unit are associated with each other. Based on the identification information of the communication device, the specific unit that specifies the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user among the plurality of business operators as the transfer destination, and the receiving unit receive the information. The communication device includes a transfer unit that transfers the message to the communication device of the transfer destination specified by the specific unit, and the communication device includes a receiving unit that receives the message from the relay device and the receiving unit. It has a transfer unit that transfers the received message to the user terminal.

In the relay method of the third aspect of the present invention, the user terminal owned by the user is connected to the corporate server managed by the enterprise via the communication device of the operator contracted by the user among the plurality of operators. In a communication system for transmitting and receiving a message in, the relay device that relays the message receives the message from the company server, the identification information of the user, and the company registered by the user. In the first storage unit that stores the identification information in association with the identification information, the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the receiving step is stored. The extraction step, the user's identification information, and the user's identification information extracted by the extraction step in the second storage unit that stores the identification information of the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user in association with each other. Based on the identification information of the communication device associated with the identification information, the step of specifying the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user among the plurality of business operators as a transfer destination, and the reception The step of transferring the message received by the step to the communication device of the transfer destination specified by the specific step is executed.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that user management in a messaging service for sending and receiving messages between a user and a company becomes easy.

It is a schematic diagram of the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram of the relay server and the operator server which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram of the enterprise server and the user terminal which concerns on embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of company information, business information and personal information. It is a schematic diagram of the first half part of the communication method performed by the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the latter half part of the communication method performed by the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram of the first half part of the communication method performed by the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram of the latter half part of the communication method performed by the communication system which concerns on embodiment. It is a front view of the user terminal which displays the screen which accepts the selection whether or not to register a user attribute.

[Outline of communication system S]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system S according to the present embodiment. The communication system S includes a relay server 1, a plurality of business server 2, a corporate server 3, and a user terminal 4. The number of the operator server 2, the enterprise server 3, and the user terminal 4 included in the communication system S is not limited. The communication system S may include other devices such as servers and terminals.

The plurality of operator servers 2 (communication devices) are computers managed by different operators (for example, a communication operator). The plurality of business server 2s provide the corporate server 3 and the user terminal 4 with a messaging service (also referred to as a message service or a messenger service) for transmitting and receiving a message by communication. The messaging service is, for example, RCS (Rich Communication Services).

The company server 3 is a computer managed by the company. A company is an organization that receives messaging services. The corporate server 3 communicates with the relay server 1. The corporate server 3 transmits and receives messages to and from the user terminal 4 via the relay server 1 and the business server 2.

The user terminal 4 is a communication terminal owned by the user. The user terminal 4 is, for example, a personal computer, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal. A user is a person who receives a messaging service. The user terminal 4 communicates with any one of the plurality of business server 2. The user terminal 4 transmits and receives a message to and from the corporate server 3 via any one of the plurality of business server 2 and the relay server 1.

The relay server 1 (relay device) is a computer that relays messages sent and received between the corporate server 3 and the user terminal 4. The relay server 1 communicates with the corporate server 3 and the plurality of business server 2.

First, the user has a contract for a communication service or the like with a business operator that manages any of the plurality of business operator servers 2. The user registers the user for the company that manages the company server 3 in the messaging service provided by the business operator. User registration may be performed for each company or for each service provided by the company.

When the user registration is performed, the relay server 1 records the identification information of the user who has registered the user for the company, the identification information of the company server 3, and the identification information of the business server 2 in association with each other. .. As a result, the relay server 1 uses the user's identification information, the corporate server 3's identification information, and the business server 2's identification information to send a message transmitted from the corporate server 3 to the business of the business operator to which the user has a contract. It can be relayed to the person server 2. Further, the relay server 1 records the personal information of the user who has registered as a user with the company. As a result, the relay server 1 can relay the message received from the company server 3 to the user who satisfies the user attribute specified by the company by using the personal information of the user.

In this way, the communication system S can relay the message transmitted by the corporate server 3 to the business server 2 of the business contracted by the user by the relay server 1 and reach the user terminal 4. Since the relay server 1 aggregates and manages the user registration information of a plurality of businesses, the corporate server 3 does not need to grasp the business operator currently contracted by the user, so that the user management in the messaging service can be performed. It will be easier.

[Communication system S configuration]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the relay server 1 and the operator server 2 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, the arrows indicate the main data flows, and there may be data flows not shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, each block shows not a hardware (device) unit configuration but a functional unit configuration. Therefore, the block shown in FIG. 2 may be mounted in a single device, or may be mounted separately in a plurality of devices. Data can be exchanged between blocks via any means such as a data bus, a network, or a portable storage medium.

The relay server 1 has a control unit 11 and a storage unit 12. The control unit 11 includes a reception unit 111, an extraction unit 112, a specific unit 113, a transfer unit 114, and an acquisition unit 115. The storage unit 12 includes a corporate information storage unit 121, a personal information storage unit 122, and a business information storage unit 123.

The storage unit 12 is a storage medium including a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk drive, and the like. The storage unit 12 stores in advance the program executed by the control unit 11. The storage unit 12 may be provided outside the relay server 1, and in that case, data may be exchanged with the control unit 11 via a network.

The company information storage unit 121 stores company information indicating which company the user has registered as a user. The company information includes, for example, a user ID and a company ID. The personal information storage unit 122 stores the personal information of the user. Personal information includes, for example, a user ID, a telephone number, a name, a gender, an age, an address, and an occupation. The business information storage unit 123 stores business information indicating which business the user has a contract with for a communication service or the like. The business information includes, for example, a user ID and a communication device ID. The corporate information storage unit 121, the personal information storage unit 122, and the business information storage unit 123 may each be a storage area on the storage unit 12, or may be a database configured on the storage unit 12.

The control unit 11 is, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and by executing a program stored in the storage unit 12, the reception unit 111, the extraction unit 112, the specific unit 113, the transfer unit 114, and the acquisition unit Functions as 115. At least a part of the function of the control unit 11 may be executed by an electric circuit. Further, at least a part of the functions of the control unit 11 may be executed by a program executed via the network.

The operator server 2 has a control unit 21 and a storage unit 22. The control unit 21 has a reception unit 211 and a transfer unit 212. The storage unit 22 is a storage medium including a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk drive, and the like. The storage unit 22 stores in advance the program executed by the control unit 21. The storage unit 22 may be provided outside the operator server 2, and in that case, data may be exchanged with the control unit 21 via the network.

The control unit 21 is, for example, a processor such as a CPU, and functions as a reception unit 211 and a transfer unit 212 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 22. At least a part of the function of the control unit 21 may be performed by an electric circuit. Further, at least a part of the functions of the control unit 21 may be executed by a program executed via the network.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the corporate server 3 and the user terminal 4 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, the arrows indicate the main data flows, and there may be data flows not shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, each block shows not a hardware (device) unit configuration but a functional unit configuration. Therefore, the block shown in FIG. 3 may be mounted in a single device, or may be mounted separately in a plurality of devices. Data can be exchanged between blocks via any means such as a data bus, a network, or a portable storage medium.

The corporate server 3 has a control unit 31 and a storage unit 32. The control unit 31 has a transmission unit 311. The storage unit 32 is a storage medium including a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk drive, and the like. The storage unit 32 stores in advance the program executed by the control unit 31. The storage unit 32 may be provided outside the corporate server 3, and in that case, data may be exchanged with the control unit 31 via the network.

The control unit 31 is, for example, a processor such as a CPU, and functions as a transmission unit 311 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 32. At least a part of the function of the control unit 31 may be executed by an electric circuit. Further, at least a part of the functions of the control unit 31 may be executed by a program executed via the network.

The user terminal 4 has a control unit 41, a storage unit 42, a display unit 43, and an operation unit 44. The control unit 41 has a reception unit 411 and a transmission unit 412.

The display unit 43 includes a display device capable of displaying information such as a liquid crystal display. The operation unit 44 includes an operation device such as a keyboard and a mouse that can input information by a user operation. By using a touch screen that can detect the position of contact by the user as the display unit 43, the display unit 43 and the operation unit 44 may be integrally configured.

The storage unit 42 is a storage medium including a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk drive, and the like. The storage unit 42 stores in advance the program executed by the control unit 41. The storage unit 42 may be provided outside the user terminal 4, and in that case, data may be exchanged with the control unit 41 via a network.

The control unit 41 is, for example, a processor such as a CPU, and functions as a reception unit 411 and a transmission unit 412 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 42. At least a part of the function of the control unit 41 may be performed by an electric circuit. Further, at least a part of the functions of the control unit 41 may be executed by a program executed via the network.

The relay server 1, the business server 2, the corporate server 3, and the user terminal 4 according to the present embodiment are not limited to the specific configurations shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The relay server 1, the business server 2, the corporate server 3, and the user terminal 4 are not limited to one device each, and may be configured by connecting two or more physically separated devices by wire or wirelessly. Good.

[Explanation of communication method]
First, the information recorded by the relay server 1 will be described. FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of the corporate information D1 stored in the corporate information storage unit 121. The company information D1 includes a user ID which is the identification information of the user and the company ID which is the identification information of the company to which the user has registered as a user, which are associated with each other. The user ID is identification information assigned to each user in order to manage the user, and is represented by an arbitrary character. The user ID may be identification information (for example, a telephone number) that can uniquely identify the user by itself, or may be identification information unique to the combination with the company ID. Further, the company information D1 identifies a service when the company provides a plurality of services (for example, a service for providing a plurality of types of insurance, a service for providing a plurality of types of members such as a premium member and a standard member) to a user. The identification information for the purpose may be included.

The company ID is identification information assigned to the company and is represented by arbitrary characters. The company ID may be assigned to each company, or may be assigned to each service provided by the company. The company ID is common among a plurality of businesses that provide messaging services to the company.

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of the business operator information D2 stored in the business operator information storage unit 123. The business operator information D2 includes a user ID, which is user identification information associated with each other, and a communication device ID, which is communication device identification information managed by a business operator contracted by the user. The definition of the user ID is the same as that of the company information D1.

The communication device ID is identification information for identifying the operator server 2, and is represented by arbitrary characters. The communication device ID may be identification information assigned to each communication device (server), or may be identification information assigned to each business operator that manages the business operator server 2.

FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of personal information D3 stored in the personal information storage unit 122. The personal information D3 includes a user ID, which is user identification information associated with each other, and a telephone number, name, gender, age, address, and occupation as user attributes of the user. The definition of the user ID is the same as that of the company information D1. User attributes may include other information about the user.

In FIGS. 4A to 4C, the company information D1, the business information D2, and the personal information D3 are represented by a character string table for visibility, but each data is recorded in an arbitrary format. It may be, for example, any of character string data, numerical data and binary data. The company information D1, the business information D2, and the personal information D3 may be recorded as a database, or may be recorded as a list listing the data.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the first half of the communication method (relay method) performed by the communication system S according to the present embodiment. When the company sends a message to the user, the transmission unit 311 in the company server 3 transmits the message to the user to the relay server 1 (a). The message transmitted by the transmission unit 311 is either a message specified by a specific user, a message specified by all users who have registered as a user in the company, or a message specified by a user attribute. When a company provides a plurality of services to users, the message may specify identification information of one or more services in order to specify a user who is using a specific service.

The message designated by a specific user is data indicating the user IDs of one or more users as destinations and the contents (that is, character strings, images, moving images, etc.) displayed on the user terminal 4. In this case, the company server 3 stores the user ID of the user registered as a user for the company in the storage unit 32. The transmission unit 311 acquires the user ID of the user to be transmitted from the storage unit 32, and transmits a message indicating the acquired user ID to the relay server 1. The message designated by all users is data indicating information (flags and the like) to which all users are transmitted and contents displayed on the user terminal 4. The transmission unit 311 transmits a message indicating information to all users as the transmission destination to the relay server 1.

The message to which the user attribute is specified is data indicating the user attribute of the user to be sent and the content displayed on the user terminal 4. The user attribute is, for example, at least one of the user's gender, age (for example, age group), address (for example, residential area), and occupation (for example, occupation). In this case, the transmission unit 311 determines the user attribute as the transmission destination, and transmits a message indicating the determined user attribute to the relay server 1.

Further, the transmission unit 311 may transmit an instruction indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the message transmission time zone to the relay server 1. The transmission method is a technical basis for transmitting a message from the operator server 2 to the user terminal 4, and is one or more of, for example, RCS, SMS (Short Message Service), SNS (Social Networking Service), and e-mail. Is. The time zone is a time that is a condition for transmitting a message from the business server 2 to the user terminal 4.

In the relay server 1, the receiving unit 111 receives the message transmitted by the corporate server 3. Further, the receiving unit 111 receives an instruction transmitted by the corporate server 3 indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the message transmission time zone.

The extraction unit 112 extracts the user ID of the user who has registered the user with the company based on the message received by the reception unit 111 (b). Specifically, the extraction unit 112 extracts the user ID associated with the company ID of the company that manages the company server 3 that is the source of the message received by the reception unit 111 in the company information storage unit 121. A company ID is preset in the company server 3, and the relay server 1 can identify the company server 3 corresponding to the company ID. Further, when the message received by the receiving unit 111 specifies the service identification information, the extracting unit 112 sets the company server 3 which is the source of the message received by the receiving unit 111 in the company information storage unit 121. The user ID associated with the company ID of the company to be managed and associated with the identification information of the service specified by the message is extracted.

Then, when the message received by the receiving unit 111 specifies a specific user, the extracting unit 112 uses the user ID indicated by the message received by the receiving unit 111 among the user IDs extracted from the company information storage unit 121. Is extracted as the user ID of the destination. As a result, the company can send a message to a specific user among the users who have registered as a user with the company.

Further, when the message received by the receiving unit 111 specifies all users, the extracting unit 112 extracts all the user IDs extracted from the company information storage unit 121 as the user IDs of the transmission destination. As a result, the company can collectively send a message to all users who have registered users with the company.

Further, when the message received by the receiving unit 111 specifies the user attribute, the extracting unit 112 receives the user ID extracted from the company information storage unit 121 by the receiving unit 111 in the personal information storage unit 122. The user ID associated with the user attribute indicated by the message is extracted as the destination user ID. As a result, the company can send a message to an unspecified user who satisfies the specified user attribute among the users who have registered the user with the company.

Next, the identification unit 113 identifies the operator server 2 of the operator to which the message is transferred based on the user ID of the destination extracted by the extraction unit 112 (c). Specifically, the specific unit 113 acquires the communication device ID associated with the user ID of the transmission destination extracted by the extraction unit 112 in the business information storage unit 123. Then, the specifying unit 113 specifies the business server 2 corresponding to the acquired communication device ID (that is, the business server 2 managed by the business contracted by the user) as the transfer destination. A communication device ID is preset in the business server 2, and the relay server 1 can identify the business server 2 corresponding to the communication device ID. As a result, regardless of which business operator the user has a contract with, the specific unit 113 identifies the business operator server 2 of the business operator with which the user has a contract, and the message can be transferred.

When the user ID of the destination is associated with a plurality of communication device IDs (that is, the user has a contract with a plurality of businesses), the identification unit 113 specifies all the communication device IDs as transfer destinations. Alternatively, a part of communication device IDs satisfying a predetermined condition (for example, a communication device ID of a business operator whose main contract is made by the user) may be specified as a transfer destination. At this time, even when one message is transferred to a plurality of business server 2s corresponding to a plurality of communication device IDs, the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages are counted as one.

At this time, the specific unit 113 corresponds to the user ID of the transmission destination extracted by the extraction unit 112 based on the instruction indicating at least one of the transmission method of the message received by the reception unit 111 and the time zone for transmitting the message. The fee for the corporate server 3 to send a message to the user terminal 4 may be determined. In this case, the storage unit 12 stores in advance a charge table indicating the method of transmitting the message and the charge corresponding to the time zone in which the message is transmitted. The specific unit 113 determines a charge using the charge table stored in the storage unit 12 for the designated transmission method and time zone, outputs charge information indicating the determined charge, and stores the charge information in the storage unit 12. .. The charge information is used to charge the company that manages the company server 3.

Further, the specific unit 113 may automatically determine the charge based on the number of past messages transmitted and the number of opened messages acquired by the acquisition unit 115, which will be described later. For example, the specific unit 113 sets a higher charge as the past message opening rate is higher and a lower charge as the past message opening rate is lower for the specified transmission method and time zone.

As a result, the relay server 1 sets different charges according to the message transmission method specified by the company and the time zone in which the message is transmitted, and the messages transmitted to the user are concentrated in some transmission methods and time zones. Can be suppressed. Further, the specific unit 113 may set different charges depending on whether the message is transmitted and the case where the message is opened after the message is transmitted.

Then, the transfer unit 114 transfers the message received by the reception unit 111 to the business server 2 of the transfer destination specified by the specific unit 113 together with the user ID of the transmission destination extracted by the extraction unit 112 (d). Further, when the receiving unit 111 receives an instruction from the corporate server 3 indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the time zone for transmitting the message, the transfer unit 114 transfers the instruction specified by the specific unit 113. Send to the previous operator server 2.

Further, when the receiving unit 111 receives an instruction indicating a time zone for transmitting a message from the corporate server 3, the forwarding unit 114 may transfer the message to the business server 2 of the forwarding destination during the time zone. .. That is, the relay server 1 may control the time zone in which the message is transmitted. In this case, the operator server 2 immediately transfers the message received from the relay server 1 to the user terminal 4.

Further, when the message received by the receiving unit 111 specifies a specific user, the forwarding unit 114 performs a predetermined period (for example, a transmission schedule) including a scheduled transmission time (current time or a designated time zone) of the message. In a predetermined time zone before and after the time), it may be possible to suppress the transfer of other messages to the business server 2 of the transfer destination. This makes it possible to increase the probability that a message designated by a specific user will be opened by that user.

Further, the transfer unit 114 may determine the transmission method for each user based on the past usage status of the transmission method recorded for each user. At this time, when the company server 3 (1) transmits by the transmission method specified by the company, (2) transmits by the transmission method frequently used by the user, and (3) is not browsed by the method specified first. The second transmission method is one of the following transmission methods: (4) transmission by multiple transmission methods at the same time, (5) monitoring the arrival status or opening status of the message and resending after a predetermined time. The selection condition is transmitted to the relay server 1 together with the message.

The receiving unit 111 receives the transmission method selection condition transmitted by the corporate server 3 together with the message. The transfer unit 114 determines a transmission method using the selection conditions received from the company based on the past usage status recorded for each user, and transmits the determined transmission method to the transfer destination business server 2. In this way, the company can select various transmission methods depending on the message to be transmitted.

Further, the relay server 1 may accept bids from the company and decide whether or not to transfer the message from the company to the user according to the method of transmitting the message and the time zone for transmitting the message. In this case, the number of messages that can be sent is limited depending on the method of sending the message and the time zone in which the message is sent. The receiving unit 111 receives an instruction indicating the bid amount from the plurality of corporate servers 3 together with at least one of the method of transmitting the message and the time zone for transmitting the message. The bid amount may be a fee for each message or a fee regardless of the number of messages.

The transfer unit 114 selects one or a plurality of corporate servers 3 according to the bid amounts received from the plurality of corporate servers 3 (for example, in descending order of the bid amount). Then, the transfer unit 114 transfers the message received by the reception unit 111 from the selected one or more corporate servers 3 to the business server 2 of the transfer destination specified by the specific unit 113. The transfer unit 114 outputs charge information indicating the charge according to the bid amount to one or more selected corporate servers 3, and stores the charge information in the storage unit 12.

Alternatively, the relay server 1 may accept bids from the company in advance for the message transmission method and the time zone for transmitting the message, and give the winning bidder the successful bid ID associated with the transmission method and the time zone. Good. In this case, the company server 3 transmits a message to the user to the relay server 1 together with the given successful bid ID. The transfer unit 114 determines the transmission method and time zone based on the successful bid ID received from the company server 3, and transmits an instruction indicating the determined transmission method and time zone to the transfer destination business server 2 together with a message.

As a result, the relay server 1 accepts bids from the company and transfers the messages transmitted from a limited number of companies according to the method of transmitting the message specified by the company and the time zone in which the message is transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the message transmitted to the user from being concentrated in some transmission methods and time zones.

In the transfer destination operator server 2, the receiving unit 211 receives the message transmitted by the relay server 1 and the user ID of the transmission destination. Further, the receiving unit 211 receives an instruction transmitted by the relay server 1 indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the message transmission time zone.

The transfer unit 212 transfers the message received by the reception unit 211 to the user terminal 4 corresponding to the user ID of the transmission destination received by the reception unit 211 (e). A user ID is preset in the user terminal 4, and the business operator server 2 can specify the user terminal 4 corresponding to the user ID.

At this time, when the receiving unit 211 receives an instruction indicating a message transmission method, the transfer unit 212 transfers the message to the user terminal 4 by one or more transmission methods indicated by the instruction. When the receiving unit 211 has not received the instruction indicating the message transmission method, the transfer unit 212 transfers the message to the user terminal 4 by a predetermined transmission method.

Further, when the receiving unit 211 receives an instruction indicating a time zone for transmitting the message, the forwarding unit 212 transfers the message to the user terminal 4 at the time zone indicated by the instruction. When the receiving unit 211 has not received the instruction indicating the time zone for transmitting the message, the forwarding unit 212 transfers the message to the user terminal 4 immediately or at a predetermined time zone.

When the transmission of the message to the user terminal 4 is completed, the transfer unit 212 stores the number of transmissions (that is, the number of user terminals 4 to which the message is sent) in association with the message (for example, the message ID assigned to the message). Store in 22.

In the user terminal 4, the receiving unit 411 receives the message transmitted by the business operator server 2. The receiving unit 411 displays the received message on the display unit 43 in response to an operation (for example, opening operation) of the operation unit 44 by the user (f).

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the latter half of the communication method (relay method) performed by the communication system S according to the present embodiment. When the message is displayed on the user terminal 4 that has received the message transmitted by the business server 2, the transmission unit 412 sends a read notification indicating the message ID of the displayed message to the sender of the message. It is transmitted to the operator server 2 (g).

In each business server 2, the receiving unit 211 receives the opening notification transmitted by the user terminal 4. The receiving unit 211 stores the number of opened (that is, the number of opened notifications received for the same message ID) in the storage unit 22 in association with the message ID indicated by the received read notification.

The transfer unit 212 transmits the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each message ID to the relay server 1 in association with the message ID at a predetermined timing (h). The timing at which the transfer unit 212 transmits the number of transmissions and the number of opened times is, for example, one hour, one day, January, or the like, when a predetermined time has elapsed.

In the relay server 1, the acquisition unit 115 receives and acquires the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each message ID transmitted by each business server 2 (each of the plurality of business servers 2). Then, the acquisition unit 115 totals the number of transmissions and the number of opened files acquired in the past (i). For example, the acquisition unit 115 may send the number of transmissions and open the message for at least one of the business operator who sent the message, the destination user, the user attributes of the destination user, the message transmission method, and the time zone in which the message was transmitted. Aggregate the numbers. In addition, the acquisition unit 115 may total the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each place where the message was opened and the time zone when the message was opened. The acquisition unit 115 stores the aggregation result in the storage unit 12. Further, the acquisition unit 115 may calculate the opening rate based on the number of transmissions and the number of opening.

As a result, the relay server 1 aggregates the number of messages transmitted and the number of opened messages across a plurality of businesses, so that the administrator and the user of the relay server 1 (for example, a company using the relay server 1) can use the user. It is possible to analyze the transmission conditions of messages that are easy to open with high accuracy.

Further, the transfer unit 114 identifies at least one transmission method among a plurality of transmission methods (for example, RCS, SMS, SNS, and e-mail) based on the aggregation result (j). For example, the transfer unit 114 has the highest open rate for each business operator who sent the message, the destination user, the user attribute of the destination user, the message transmission method, and the time zone in which the message was transmitted, based on the aggregation result. Identify high transmission methods. Then, the transfer unit 114 transmits an instruction indicating the specified transmission method to each business server 2 (k). The transfer unit 114 may transmit the specified transmission method to the operator server 2 together with the message, or may transmit the specified transmission method to the operator server 2 independently of the message. The business server 2 transmits the message to the user terminal 4 according to the instruction indicating the received transmission method.

The transmission method may be the same for all the business server 2s, or may be different for each business server 2. As a result, the relay server 1 can instruct the business server 2 of a transmission method that is easy for the user to open based on the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages in the past.

Further, the transfer unit 114 sets the user ID of the destination and the time zone for transmitting the message based on the place where the aggregated message was opened and the number of transmissions and the number of opened times for each time zone when the message was opened. You may choose. For example, the transfer unit 114 selects a user ID of a transmission destination corresponding to a place and a time zone in which the opening rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. The location of the destination user ID is specified based on the location of the user terminal 4 or the identification information of the base station to which the user terminal 4 is connected. As a result, the relay server 1 can transmit the message at a place and a time zone in which the message is likely to be opened based on the aggregation result.

Further, when the user terminal 4 opens the message, the transfer unit 114 may send the next message to the user terminal 4, or may send a message related to the opened message to the user terminal 4. Good. As a result, the relay server 1 can positively send the message to the user who opened the message.

In addition, the transfer unit 114 monitors the time change of the open rate of the user, controls to reduce the number of messages sent to the user whose open rate is low, and to the user whose open rate is improved. , You may control to increase the number of transmissions. As a result, the relay server 1 positively sends the message to the user who frequently opens the message, and does not send the message so much to the user who does not open the message so much, so that the message can be delivered efficiently.

[Sequence of communication methods]
FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of the first half of the communication method (relay method) performed by the communication system S according to the present embodiment. When the company sends a message to the user, the transmission unit 311 in the company server 3 transmits the message to the user to the relay server 1 (S11). At this time, the transmission unit 311 may transmit an instruction indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the message transmission time zone to the relay server 1.

In the relay server 1, the receiving unit 111 receives the message transmitted by the corporate server 3. Further, the receiving unit 111 receives an instruction transmitted by the corporate server 3 indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the message transmission time zone. The extraction unit 112 extracts the user ID of the user who has registered the user with the company based on the message received by the reception unit 111 (S12).

The identification unit 113 identifies the operator server 2 of the operator to which the message is transferred based on the user ID of the destination extracted by the extraction unit 112 (S13). The transfer unit 114 transfers the message received by the reception unit 111 to the business server 2 of the transfer destination specified by the specific unit 113 together with the user ID of the destination extracted by the extraction unit 112 (S14). Further, when the receiving unit 111 receives an instruction from the corporate server 3 indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the time zone for transmitting the message, the transfer unit 114 transfers the instruction specified by the specific unit 113. Send to the previous operator server 2.

In the transfer destination operator server 2, the receiving unit 211 receives the message transmitted by the relay server 1 and the user ID of the transmission destination. Further, the receiving unit 211 receives an instruction transmitted by the relay server 1 indicating at least one of the message transmission method and the message transmission time zone.

The transfer unit 212 transfers the message received by the reception unit 211 to the user terminal 4 corresponding to the user ID of the transmission destination received by the reception unit 211 (S15). At this time, when the receiving unit 211 receives an instruction indicating a message transmission method, the transfer unit 212 transfers the message to the user terminal 4 by one or more transmission methods indicated by the instruction. Further, when the receiving unit 211 receives an instruction indicating a time zone for transmitting the message, the forwarding unit 212 transfers the message to the user terminal 4 at the time zone indicated by the instruction.

When the transfer unit 212 completes transmitting the message to the user terminal 4, the transfer unit 212 stores the number of transmissions in the storage unit 22 in association with the message.

In the user terminal 4, the receiving unit 411 receives the message transmitted by the business operator server 2. The receiving unit 411 displays the received message on the display unit 43 in response to an operation (for example, opening operation) of the operation unit 44 by the user (S16).

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of the latter half of the communication method (relay method) performed by the communication system S according to the present embodiment. When the message is displayed on the user terminal 4 that has received the message transmitted by the business server 2, the transmission unit 412 sends a read notification indicating the message ID of the displayed message to the sender of the message. It is transmitted to the operator server 2 (S17).

In each business server 2, the receiving unit 211 receives the opening notification transmitted by the user terminal 4. The receiving unit 211 stores the number of opened files in the storage unit 22 in association with the message ID indicated by the received read notification. The transfer unit 212 transmits the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each message ID to the relay server 1 in association with the message ID at a predetermined timing (S18).

In the relay server 1, the acquisition unit 115 receives and acquires the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each message ID transmitted by each business server 2. Then, the acquisition unit 115 totals the number of transmissions and the number of opened files acquired in the past (S19).

The transfer unit 114 identifies at least one transmission method among a plurality of transmission methods (for example, RCS, SMS, SNS, and e-mail) based on the aggregation result (S20). The transfer unit 114 transmits an instruction indicating the specified transmission method to each business server 2 (S21). The business server 2 transmits the message to the user terminal 4 according to the instruction indicating the received transmission method.

[Modification example]
In this modification, the user terminal 4 accepts the selection of whether or not to register the user attribute in the relay server 1. Whether or not the receiving unit 411 of the user terminal 4 registers the user attribute based on the information received from the relay server 1 via the operator server 2 when the user registers the user with the company, for example. A screen for accepting selection is displayed on the display unit 43. Further, the receiving unit 411 may receive the user attributes of the user recorded by the relay server 1.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the user terminal 4 displaying a screen for accepting the selection of whether or not to register the user attribute. The screen that accepts the selection of whether or not to register the user attribute includes information 431 asking whether or not to register the user attribute in the relay server 1 and a button 432 for inputting the selection. Button 432 is a virtual button (icon) that can be pressed by the user. Further, the screen that accepts the selection of whether or not to register the user attribute may include the user attribute of the user received from the relay server 1. The user presses one of the buttons 432 by using the operation unit 44 of the user terminal 4 according to the selection of whether or not to register the user attribute in the relay server 1.

Based on the operation of the operation unit 44, the transmission unit 412 of the user terminal 4 transmits to the relay server 1 via the operator server 2 whether or not to register the user attribute in the relay server 1. The receiving unit 111 of the relay server 1 receives from the user terminal 4 the selection of whether or not to register the user attribute in the relay server 1.

In addition, the user may specify which information (that is, at least a part of the telephone number, name, gender, age, address, and occupation) of the user attributes displayed on the screen is registered. In addition, the user may specify the degree of abstraction of the user attribute to be registered (for example, whether the age is a specific age such as 33 years old or an age group such as 30s). The transmission unit 412 of the user terminal 4 transmits the designation of the user attribute to be registered to the relay server 1 via the operator server 2 based on the operation of the operation unit 44.

When the received selection indicates that the user attribute is registered in the relay server 1, the receiving unit 111 receives the user attribute from the business server 2 of the business to which the user has a contract, and stores the user attribute in the personal information storage unit 122. Remember. The receiving unit 111 does not store the user attribute in the personal information storage unit 122 when the received selection does not indicate that the user attribute is registered in the relay server 1. Further, when the receiving unit 111 receives the designation of the user attribute to be registered, the receiving unit 111 stores the user attribute in the personal information storage unit 122 according to the designation.

As described above, in the communication system S according to the present modification, the user can select whether or not to register the user attribute in the relay server 1 and receive a message specifying the user attribute from the company. Therefore, the relay server 1 can relay the message by using the personal information of the user after obtaining the consent of the user.

[Effect of this embodiment]
According to the communication system S according to the present embodiment, the relay server 1 extracts the destination user based on the message transmitted by the corporate server 3, and further identifies the business operator to which the extracted user has a contract. , Transfer the message to the operator server 2 of the specified operator. In this way, the relay server 1 aggregates and manages the user registration information of the plurality of businesses, so that the corporate server 3 does not need to grasp the business operator currently contracted by the user. User management becomes easier.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist thereof. is there. For example, the specific embodiment of the distribution / integration of the device is not limited to the above embodiment, and all or a part thereof may be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in an arbitrary unit. Can be done. Also included in the embodiments of the present invention are new embodiments resulting from any combination of the plurality of embodiments. The effect of the new embodiment produced by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment together.

The processors of the relay server 1, the business server 2, the corporate server 3, and the user terminal 4 are the main constituents of each step included in the communication methods shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. That is, the processors of the relay server 1, the business server 2, the corporate server 3, and the user terminal 4 read a program for executing the communication method shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 from the storage unit, execute the program, and relay the program. By controlling each part of the server 1, the business server 2, the corporate server 3, and the user terminal 4, the communication methods shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are executed. The steps included in the communication methods shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 may be partially omitted, the order between the steps may be changed, or a plurality of steps may be performed in parallel.

S Communication system 1 Relay server 11 Control unit 111 Reception unit 112 Extraction unit 113 Specific unit 114 Transfer unit 115 Acquisition unit 12 Storage unit 121 Corporate information storage unit 122 Personal information storage unit 123 Business information storage unit 2 Business server 21 Control unit 211 Receiver 212 Transfer 3 Corporate server 4 User terminal

Claims (11)

In a communication system for a user terminal owned by a user to send and receive a message to and from a corporate server managed by a company via a communication device of the company to which the user has a contract among a plurality of businesses. It is a relay device that relays messages.
A first storage unit that stores the identification information of the user in association with the identification information of the company registered by the user.
A second storage unit that stores the identification information of the user in association with the identification information of the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user.
A receiver that receives the message from the company server,
In the first storage unit, an extraction unit that extracts the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the reception unit, and an extraction unit.
Based on the identification information of the communication device associated with the identification information of the user extracted by the extraction unit in the second storage unit, the business operator contracted by the user among the plurality of business operators A specific unit that specifies the communication device as a transfer destination, and
A transfer unit that transfers the message received by the reception unit to the communication device of the transfer destination specified by the specific unit, and a transfer unit.
A relay device having. It further has a third storage unit that stores the user's identification information in association with the user attribute indicating the user's attribute.
The extraction unit is the first of the user identification information associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the reception unit in the first storage unit. 3. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit extracts the identification information of the user associated with the user attribute indicated by the message received by the receiving unit. The extraction unit receives the user's identification information associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the reception unit in the first storage unit. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the user's identification information indicated by the message received by the unit is extracted. The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an acquisition unit for acquiring the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages for each of the plurality of communication devices. The acquisition unit transmits the message in the past at least one of the business operator, the user, a user attribute indicating the attribute of the user, a method of transmitting the message, and a time zone in which the message is transmitted. The relay device according to claim 4, wherein the number and the number of opened pieces are totaled. The transfer unit identifies and specifies at least one transmission method among a plurality of transmission methods for transmitting the message, based on the number of transmissions and the number of opened messages in the past aggregated by the acquisition unit. The relay device according to claim 5, wherein an instruction indicating the transmission method is transmitted to the communication device. The relay device according to claim 6, wherein the transfer unit specifies the transmission method for at least one of the business operator, the user, the user attribute, and the time zone in which the message is transmitted. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the transfer unit transmits an instruction indicating at least one of a method of transmitting the message and a time zone for transmitting the message designated by the company to the communication device. Relay device. The eighth aspect of claim 8, wherein the specific unit determines a fee for the enterprise server to transmit the message to the user terminal based on at least one of the transmission method and the time zone designated by the enterprise. Relay device. A communication system in which a user terminal owned by a user sends and receives a message to and from a corporate server managed by a company.
A relay device that relays the message transmitted by the corporate server, and
A communication device managed by a business operator contracted with the user among a plurality of business operators to transfer the message relayed by the relay device to the user terminal.
With
The relay device is
A first storage unit that stores the identification information of the user in association with the identification information of the company registered by the user.
A second storage unit that stores the identification information of the user in association with the identification information of the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user.
A receiver that receives the message from the company server,
In the first storage unit, an extraction unit that extracts the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company that manages the company server that is the source of the message received by the reception unit, and an extraction unit.
Based on the identification information of the communication device associated with the identification information of the user extracted by the extraction unit in the second storage unit, the business operator contracted by the user among the plurality of business operators A specific unit that specifies the communication device as a transfer destination, and
A transfer unit that transfers the message received by the reception unit to the communication device of the transfer destination specified by the specific unit, and a transfer unit.
Have,
The communication device is
A receiving unit that receives the message from the relay device,
A transfer unit that transfers the message received by the reception unit to the user terminal, and a transfer unit.
Communication system with. In a communication system for a user terminal owned by a user to send and receive a message to and from a corporate server managed by a company via a communication device of the company to which the user has a contract among a plurality of businesses. The relay device that relays the message
The step of receiving the message from the corporate server and
In the first storage unit that stores the user's identification information in association with the company's identification information registered by the user, the company server that is the source of the message received by the receiving step is managed. And the step of extracting the identification information of the user associated with the identification information of the company.
The extraction step in the second storage unit that stores the user's identification information in association with the identification information of the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user is associated with the extracted user's identification information. A step of specifying the communication device of the business operator contracted by the user among the plurality of business operators as a transfer destination based on the identification information of the communication device.
A step of transferring the message received by the receiving step to the communication device of the transfer destination specified by the specifying step, and a step of transferring the message.
Relay method to execute.

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