JP7812431B2 - Dialogue control device, dialogue control system, program, and dialogue control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dialogue control device, a dialogue control system, a program, and a dialogue control method.

In times of crisis, such as natural disasters, companies and other business entities are expected to take prompt action to ensure business continuity.

Patent Document 1 discloses technology related to a crisis response support device. Paragraph [0019] states, "In the process of sending and receiving messages related to progress management, the crisis response support device 10 sends a template message corresponding to a workflow to the sender terminal 2A, and enables the user to create a message for the destination terminal 2B simply by entering the necessary information into the template message." Paragraph [0029] also states, "The template message DB 142 is associated with each workflow and stores multiple template messages that are templates for communication messages exchanged between various locations. The template messages are presented to the sender terminal 2A as templates when creating messages."

JP 2019-16291 A

In the crisis response support device described in Patent Document 1, a template for a message to be sent from a source terminal to a destination terminal is presented by the crisis response support device. The source terminal then fills in the template with the necessary information to create a message. The operator of the source terminal must consider various factors when creating a message to be sent directly to the operator of the destination terminal, which is not only cumbersome but also inappropriate in a crisis situation where a rapid response is desired.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide technology that supports rapid and appropriate responses in crisis situations.

This application includes multiple means for solving the above problems, examples of which are as follows:

To solve the above problem, a dialogue control device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a dialogue control unit that controls dialogue with an information processing device, and a storage unit that stores dialogue information in which the dialogue to be presented and presentation conditions are associated with the role of an employee who owns the information processing device in a crisis situation. When the dialogue control unit acquires information related to an input operation of the employee who has a certain role, it presents predetermined action instructions in the crisis situation to the employee who has the specified role as the dialogue associated with the presentation conditions related to the input operation in the dialogue information.

The dialogue control unit may be characterized in that, when acquiring information related to a predetermined input operation by an employee with a predetermined role, it presents the predetermined action instruction associated with the input operation in the dialogue information to employees with roles other than the role.

The dialogue control device may be characterized by including a manager determination unit that determines a manager from among the employees, the storage unit storing manager candidate information including one or more manager candidates, and the manager determination unit determining one manager from among the manager candidates based on the presence or absence of a response from the information processing device or the content of the response.

The dialogue control device may be characterized by including a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of the employees, and the manager determination unit using the location information of the manager candidate to determine whether the manager candidate is capable of performing the work, and determining the manager candidate who is capable of performing the work as the manager.

the responsible person determination unit determines one decision maker as the responsible person based on the presence or absence of a response from the decision maker candidate or the content of the response, and when the dialogue control unit receives a response from the decision maker indicating that investigation is required, determines one business manager as the responsible person based on the presence or absence of a response from the business manager candidate or the content of the response;
The dialogue control unit may be characterized by displaying a screen that accepts input from the decision maker regarding whether or not an investigation is required, and obtaining information indicating an input operation indicating whether or not an investigation is required in response.

The dialogue control device may also be characterized by including a safety information acquisition unit that, when receiving a response from the decision maker indicating that an investigation is required, sends a dialogue to the employee inquiring about their safety information and acquires the safety information in response.

When receiving a response from the decision maker indicating that an investigation is required, the dialogue control unit may display a screen for receiving input of the damage status of the business premises to the business manager determined by the manager determination unit, and obtain information indicating the damage status of the business premises as a response.

The dialogue control unit may be characterized by presenting the damage situation of the business premises entered by the business manager to the decision maker determined by the manager determination unit, displaying a screen that accepts input operations regarding whether or not to issue a BCP declaration, and obtaining information indicating whether or not to issue a BCP declaration from the decision maker in response.

The dialogue control device may include a crisis information acquisition unit that acquires crisis information from other devices, and a recovery continuation determination unit that uses the investigation results regarding the recovery of the business establishment and the crisis information to determine whether to continue the recovery of the business establishment, and the dialogue control unit may acquire information indicating the investigation results from the information processing device owned by the business manager selected as the manager of the business establishment.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, another aspect of the present invention provides a dialogue control system comprising a plurality of information processing devices owned by employees and a dialogue control device communicatively connected to each of the information processing devices, each of which comprises a dialogue display unit that displays dialogues transmitted from the dialogue control device and dialogues input by the employee, and a dialogue input reception unit that receives input operations from the employee. The dialogue control device comprises a dialogue control unit that controls dialogues with the information processing device, and a memory unit that stores dialogue information in which dialogues to be presented and presentation conditions are associated with roles of employees who own the information processing devices in a crisis situation. When the dialogue control unit acquires information indicating input operations of an employee with a certain role, it presents predetermined action instructions in the crisis situation to the employee with the predetermined role as the dialogue associated with the presentation conditions related to the input operations in the dialogue information.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, another aspect of the present invention provides a program that causes a computer processing unit to execute a dialogue control method, which executes a dialogue control procedure that controls dialogue with an information processing device. When the dialogue control procedure acquires information indicating an input operation on the information processing device by an employee with a certain role, the program references dialogue information that associates the dialogue to be presented with presentation conditions for the employee's role in a crisis situation, and presents predetermined action instructions for the crisis situation to the employee with the specified role as the dialogue associated with the presentation conditions related to the input operation.

Furthermore, to solve the above-mentioned problems, a dialogue control method according to another aspect of the present invention is a dialogue control method by a dialogue control device, comprising a dialogue control procedure for controlling a dialogue with an information processing device, and when the dialogue control procedure acquires information indicating an input operation on the information processing device by an employee with a certain role, it references dialogue information in which the dialogue to be presented and presentation conditions are associated with the employee's role in a crisis situation, and presents predetermined action instructions in the crisis situation to the employee with the specified role as the dialogue associated with the presentation conditions related to the input operation.

The present invention provides technology that supports rapid and appropriate responses in crisis situations.

Other issues, configurations, and advantages will become clear from the description of the following embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overview of a dialogue control system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of management information. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of dialogue information. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of response information. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of manager candidate information. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a dialogue control device. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a BCP activation support process of the dialogue control system. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a decision maker determination process. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a business manager determination process. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of post-BCP processing in the dialogue control system. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating examples of chat screens on a general employee device. Fig. 11A shows an example of a chat screen including a message inquiring about safety information. Fig. 11B shows an example of a chat screen including a message in response to the safety information. 12A and 12B are diagrams showing examples of chat screens of the business manager device (part 1). Fig. 12A is an example of a chat screen including a message inquiring about the investigation results. Fig. 12B is an example of a chat screen including a message in response to the investigation results. FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 2) showing an example of a chat screen of the business manager device. 14A and 14B are diagrams illustrating examples of chat screens of decision maker devices. Fig. 14A is an example of a chat screen including a message prompting input of the disaster situation and whether or not to issue a BCP declaration. Fig. 14B is an example of a chat screen including a message responding to the question of whether or not to issue a BCP declaration.

An example embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of an overview of a dialogue control system 1. In this embodiment, the dialogue control system 1 includes a dialogue control device 100 and multiple information processing devices (200, 300, 400). The dialogue control device 100 and each of the multiple information processing devices are communicatively connected via a network N.

The dialogue control system 1 facilitates a rapid response to a crisis situation by conducting a dialogue between the dialogue control device 100 and each information processing device in a crisis situation. The dialogue is realized, for example, by so-called chat. In this case, the dialogue control device 100 functions as a so-called chatbot, and a dialogue using chat is conducted between the dialogue control device 100 and the information processing device.

The dialogue control device 100 is a server computer, PC, or the like, owned by, for example, a business providing crisis response services. The information processing device is a device such as a PC, smartphone, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), laptop, or tablet terminal.

A certain information processing device is operated by a decision maker within a company who is responsible for business continuity response based on a BCP (Business Continuity Plan). The information processing device operated by the decision maker will be described as decision maker device 200. The decision maker has the role of overseeing all activities based on the BCP. When necessary, the decision maker declares that business continuity activities based on the BCP will be carried out. The BCP is considered to be activated when the decision maker makes this declaration.

In this embodiment, before the BCP is activated, the dialogue control device 100 aggregates information on the damage situation at each business location. When the BCP is activated based on the aggregated information, each business location is notified of measures based on the damage situation.

In addition, a certain information processing device is operated by a business manager who is responsible for a business within a company. The information processing device operated by the business manager will be described as business manager device 300. The business manager has the role of overseeing the business office and the employees who belong to the office.

Furthermore, one information processing device is operated by a general employee. The information processing device operated by a general employee will be described as the general employee device 400. Note that the decision maker device 200, the business manager device 300, and the general employee device 400 may each have the functions of other information processing devices. For example, the decision maker device 200 may function as the business manager device 300 in some cases. Note that below, when an "information processing device" is described, the description applies to the decision maker device 200, the business manager device 300, and the general employee device 400.

The dialogue control device 100 comprises a processing unit 110, a memory unit 120, an input unit 130, an output unit 140, and a communication unit 150. The processing unit 110 provides overall control of the dialogue control device 100. The memory unit 120 stores information necessary for processing by the processing unit 110. The input unit 130 accepts information input to the dialogue control device 100 from an input device connected via an input IF 14 (described below). The output unit 140 outputs information stored in the dialogue control device 100 to an output device connected via an output IF 15 (described below). The communication unit 150 mediates the transmission and reception of information between the decision maker device 200, the business manager device 300, and the general employee device 400.

The processing unit 110 includes a crisis information acquisition unit 111, a dialogue control unit 112, a responsible person determination unit 113, a safety information acquisition unit 114, a location information acquisition unit 115, a recovery continuation determination unit 116, and a BCP determination unit 117. The crisis information acquisition unit 111 acquires crisis information from a server device (not shown) connected via network N. The crisis information includes information indicating the occurrence of a crisis and the severity of the crisis. For example, in the event of an earthquake, the crisis information acquisition unit 111 acquires crisis information including the time of occurrence, the epicenter, and the seismic intensity.

The crisis information acquired by the crisis information acquisition unit 111 is, for example, information such as disaster alerts notified from server devices operated by government or private businesses.

The dialogue control unit 112 controls the dialogue between the dialogue control device 100 and the information processing device. As an example, the dialogue control unit 112 controls the dialogue with the information processing device via a chat application (hereinafter referred to as "chat app"). As a chatbot, the dialogue control unit 112 automatically generates messages to be sent to the information processing device and sends them to the information processing device.

When the dialogue control unit 112 acquires information indicating an input operation by an employee with a certain role, it presents predetermined action instructions in a crisis situation to the employee with the predetermined role as a dialogue related to the presentation conditions for the input operation in the dialogue information 122 described below. Furthermore, when the dialogue control unit 112 acquires information indicating a predetermined input operation by an employee with a predetermined role, it presents predetermined action instructions associated with the input operation in the dialogue information 122 to employees with roles other than the role in question. For example, when the dialogue control unit 112 acquires information indicating a predetermined input operation from a person who plays the role of manager, it presents predetermined action instructions to the employee with the predetermined role.

As an action instruction, the dialogue control unit 112, for example, displays a screen that accepts input from the decision maker as to whether an investigation is necessary, and displays a message prompting the decision maker to make an input. The dialogue control unit 112 acquires information indicating whether an investigation is necessary or not, which is input as a response. When the dialogue control unit 112 acquires information indicating the need for an investigation, it displays a screen that accepts input from the business manager regarding the damage status of the business premises, and displays a message prompting the decision maker to make an input. The dialogue control unit 112 acquires information indicating the damage status of the business premises as a response.

The dialogue control unit 112 also presents the decision maker with the damage status of the business premises for which input has been received from the business manager, displays a screen that accepts input as to whether or not a BCP should be activated, and displays a message prompting the decision maker to enter input. In response, the dialogue control unit 112 obtains information indicating whether or not the decision maker should activate a BCP.

Furthermore, when the dialogue control unit 112 receives information indicating the input operation of the investigation results of the business establishment from the business manager, it presents the determination result by the recovery continuation determination unit 116 (described below) as a response. Furthermore, the dialogue control unit 112 displays a message as an action instruction to the regular employee device 400 of each employee, prompting them to input safety information. The dialogue control unit 112 receives the safety information of each employee input as a response.

The manager determination unit 113 determines a manager from among the employees. The manager determination unit 113 determines one manager from among the candidate managers based on whether or not there is a response from the information processing device and the content of the response. The manager determination unit 113 uses, for example, the location information of the candidate manager to determine whether the candidate manager is capable of performing the work, and determines the candidate manager who is capable of performing the work as the manager.

For example, the manager determination unit 113 determines one decision maker as the manager based on whether or not there is a response from the candidate decision maker and the content of the response. Furthermore, when the dialogue control unit 112 receives a response from the decision maker indicating that investigation is required, the manager determination unit 113 determines one business manager from the candidate business manager candidates as the manager based on whether or not there is a response from the candidate business manager and the content of the response (e.g., location information).

When the safety information acquisition unit 114 receives a response from the decision maker indicating that an investigation is required, it sends a dialogue inquiring about the employee's safety and acquires safety information in response. The safety information acquisition unit 114 may also inquire about employee safety information when the BCP determination unit 117 (described below) determines that a BCP should be activated.

The location information acquisition unit 115 acquires the location information of employees. For example, the location information acquisition unit 115 queries an information processing device for location information and acquires the location information in response. Note that when safety information is received from an information processing device, the location information acquisition unit 115 may acquire the location information included in the safety information.

The recovery continuation determination unit 116 uses the investigation results and crisis information related to the recovery of the business establishment to determine whether to continue the recovery of the business establishment. The recovery continuation determination unit 116 determines whether to continue the recovery by determining whether the investigation results and crisis information satisfy the recovery continuation conditions included in the recovery continuation condition information 125 described below. For example, the recovery continuation determination unit 116 determines to continue the recovery if the recovery status estimated from the investigation results received from the business manager is at a rate equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

The recovery continuation determination unit 116 may use the crisis information to refer to the crisis criteria information included in the recovery continuation condition information 125 to determine whether the crisis situation will continue, and then determine whether to continue recovery based on the determination result. For example, the recovery continuation determination unit 116 may determine that the crisis situation will not continue if a certain period of time has passed since the most recent disaster alert occurred.

The BCP determination unit 117 uses the response from the decision maker to determine whether or not to activate a BCP. When the BCP determination unit 117 receives an input operation to activate a BCP from the decision maker, it determines that a BCP should be activated. The BCP determination unit 117 also references the BCP cancellation conditions stored in an area (not shown) of the memory unit 120, and determines whether the recovery status of the business establishment satisfies the BCP cancellation conditions.

The memory unit 120 stores management information 121, dialogue information 122, response information 123, manager candidate information 124, and recovery continuation condition information 125. Management information 121 is information for managing employees and their roles. Employees belong to business locations, and a business manager is assigned to each business location. Furthermore, a decision maker is assigned to one or more business locations to oversee business continuity activities in accordance with the BCP for each location.

Dialogue information 122 is information that associates, for each employee role in a crisis situation, the dialogue to be presented to the employee in that role with the presentation conditions. Response information 123 is information extracted from responses received from an information processing device. Candidate manager information 124 is information that includes one or more candidate managers, from which a manager is selected. Recovery continuation condition information 125 is information that includes conditions for whether or not to continue recovery, and includes, for example, criteria for the investigation results and crisis information as recovery continuation conditions.

The decision maker device 200 comprises a processing unit 210, an input unit 220, an output unit 230, and a communication unit 240. The processing unit 210 provides overall control of the decision maker device 200. The input unit 220 accepts information input to the decision maker device 200 from an input device connected via an input IF. The output unit 230 outputs information stored in the decision maker device 200 to an output device connected via an output IF. The communication unit 240 mediates the transmission and reception of information to and from the dialogue control device 100.

The processing unit 210 includes a dialogue display unit 211 and a dialogue input reception unit 212. The dialogue display unit 211 displays dialogues received from the dialogue control device 100 and dialogues input by the decision maker. For example, the dialogue display unit 211 displays, on the chat screen, messages generated as a chatbot by the dialogue control unit 112 of the dialogue control device 100 and messages input by the dialogue input reception unit 212 (described below) in a manner that allows them to be distinguished.

The dialogue input reception unit 212 accepts messages entered by the decision maker on the chat screen.

The business manager device 300 comprises a processing unit 310, an input unit 320, an output unit 330, and a communication unit 340. The processing unit 310 provides overall control of the business manager device 300. The input unit 320, output unit 330, and communication unit 340 are similar to the input unit 220, output unit 230, and communication unit 240, respectively, and therefore will not be described here.

The processing unit 310 includes a dialogue display unit 311 and a dialogue input reception unit 312. Similar to the dialogue display unit 211, the dialogue display unit 311 displays dialogues received from the dialogue control device 100 and dialogues input by the business manager. Similar to the dialogue input reception unit 212, the dialogue input reception unit 312 receives messages input by the business manager to the chat screen.

The regular employee device 400 comprises a processing unit 410, an input unit 420, an output unit 430, and a communication unit 440. The processing unit 410 provides overall control of the regular employee device 400. The input unit 420, output unit 430, and communication unit 440 are similar to the input unit 220, output unit 230, and communication unit 240, respectively, and therefore will not be described here.

The processing unit 410 includes a dialogue display unit 411 and a dialogue input reception unit 412. Similar to the dialogue display unit 211, the dialogue display unit 411 displays dialogues received from the dialogue control device 100 and dialogues input by general employees. Similar to the dialogue input reception unit 212, the dialogue input reception unit 412 receives messages input by general employees on the chat screen.

Figure 2 shows an example of the data structure of management information 121. Management information 121 includes decision maker ID 121a, decision maker position 121b, business manager ID 121c, business manager position 121d, establishment ID 121e, and employee ID 121f. Decision maker ID 121a is identification information that identifies an employee who plays the role of decision maker. Decision maker position 121b is information that identifies the position, such as the job title, of the decision maker identified by decision maker ID 121a.

Business manager ID 121c is identification information that identifies an employee who holds the role of business manager at the business establishment overseen by the decision maker identified by decision maker ID 121a. Business manager position 121d is information that identifies the position, such as the job title, of the business manager identified by business manager ID 121c.

Establishment ID 121e is identification information that identifies a business establishment. Employee ID 121f is identification information that identifies an employee. The employee identified by employee ID 121f is at the business establishment of the business manager identified by business manager ID 121c, and belongs to the business establishment identified by establishment ID 121e.

If the decision maker identified by decision maker ID 121a or the business manager identified by business manager ID 121c is determined to be unable to carry out the work, another decision maker or business manager is selected. In other words, the decision maker and business manager and other managers included in management information 121 can be considered temporary managers until the manager selection process, such as the decision maker selection process or business manager selection process described below, is performed.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of dialogue information 122. Dialogue information 122 includes role 122a, dialogue content 122b, and presentation conditions 122c. Role 122a is information indicating the role of an employee. Role 122a includes information indicating roles such as "decision maker," "business manager," or "general employee."

Dialogue content 122b is information indicating the content of the dialogue to be presented to an employee with the role identified by role 122a. Presentation condition 122c is information indicating the conditions for presenting the dialogue included in dialogue content 122b. If the conditions included in presentation condition 122c are satisfied, the dialogue included in dialogue content 122b is displayed on the information processing device of the employee with the role identified by role 122a.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of response information 123. Response information 123 includes business establishment ID 123a, decision maker ID 123b, business manager ID 123c, business establishment damage status 123d, personnel damage status 123e, BCP activation status 123f, and recovery status 123g. Business establishment ID 123a is identification information that identifies the business establishment. Decision maker ID 123b is identification information that identifies the employee determined as the decision maker by the decision maker determination process described below for the business establishment identified by business establishment ID 123a.

Business manager ID 123c is identification information that identifies the employee who has been designated as the business manager for the business identified by business establishment ID 123a through the business manager designation process described below. Business establishment damage status 123d is information that indicates the damage status and recovery status of the business establishment identified by business establishment ID 123a. Business establishment damage status 123d is information entered as survey results by the business manager identified by the information included in business manager ID 123c.

Personnel damage status 123e is information indicating the damage status of employees belonging to the establishment identified by establishment ID 123a. BCP activation status 123f is information indicating whether a BCP has been activated for the establishment identified by establishment ID 123a. If the BCP activation status 123f of a certain record indicates that a BCP has been activated, this indicates that the decision maker identified by the decision maker ID 123b of that record has activated a BCP for the establishment identified by establishment ID 123a.

The decision maker may implement a BCP for each business location under his/her control, or may decide whether to implement a BCP for all business locations under his/her control.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of manager candidate information 124. Manager candidate information 124 includes a manager candidate ID 124a, a role 124b, and a business establishment ID 124c. Manager candidate ID 124a is identification information that identifies an employee who is a manager candidate. Role 124b is information that indicates the role. In this embodiment, role 124b includes information that indicates the role of the manager, such as whether they are a decision maker or a business manager.

For example, in Figure 5, if role 124b is "1", it indicates "decision maker", and if role 124b is "2", it indicates "business manager". An employee identified by manager candidate ID 124a included in a record where role 124b is "1" is treated as a decision maker candidate. An employee identified by manager candidate ID 124a included in a record where role 124b is "2" is treated as a business manager candidate.

Establishment ID 124c is identification information that specifies the establishment that the employee identified by manager candidate ID 124a will oversee if he or she is the manager.

Note that if multiple different manager candidate IDs 124a are included in records of manager candidate information 124 that have the same combination of role 124b and establishment ID 124c, the priority of the manager candidates can be determined by referencing the manager candidate information 124. For example, in the manager candidate information 124 shown in Figure 5, the higher the record, the higher the priority.

In the example shown in Figure 5, the records whose manager candidate ID 124a is "xxa," "xxb," and "xxc" all have role 124b of "1" and business establishment ID 124c of "a1aa10, aa1aa11, a1aa12...". This indicates that the decision maker candidates for the business establishments whose identification information is "a1aa10, aa1aa11, a1aa12..." are the employees identified by the identification information of "xxa," "xxb," and "xxc," in order of priority.

Similarly, the records whose manager candidate ID 124a is "yya," "yyb," and "yyc" all have a role of "2" and an establishment ID 124c of "a1aa10." This indicates that the business manager candidates for the establishment whose identification information is "a1aa10" are employees identified by the identification information of "yya," "yyb," and "yyc," in order of priority.

Note that the manager candidate information 124 may be sufficient as long as it can identify a manager candidate for each combination of business establishment and role. For example, a manager candidate for a certain role may be determined based on the job title included in the management information 121 shown in Figure 2.

As an example, if it is predetermined that the role of "decision maker" will be held by an employee with the title of "division manager," an employee with the title of "division manager" at a certain business establishment will be treated as the highest priority candidate for the role of decision maker at that business establishment. In other words, the employee identified by decision maker ID 121a associated with the business establishment identified by business establishment ID 121e in management information 121 will be treated as the highest priority candidate for the role of decision maker.

Furthermore, other employees whose decision-maker position 121b in the management information 121 is "Division Manager" are treated as candidates for manager with the next highest priority. The priority of other employees who hold the position of "Division Manager" may be determined based on predetermined conditions, such as the location of the business establishment.

As illustrated above, if it is possible to identify a candidate manager based on a combination of business establishment and role by referencing management information 121, then management information 121 can be said to function as candidate manager information 124.

Figure 6 shows an example hardware configuration of the dialogue control device 100. The dialogue control device 100 includes a calculation device 11, memory 12, an external storage device 13, an input IF (Interface) 14, an output IF 15, a communication IF 16, and a storage medium drive device 17, with each component connected via a bus.

The arithmetic unit 11 is a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes processing in accordance with programs stored in the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. In the dialogue control device 100, processing is performed by the arithmetic unit 11, which operates in accordance with programs read from the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. The processing unit 110 realizes its respective functions by the arithmetic unit 11 executing the programs.

Memory 12 is a storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) or flash memory, and functions as a storage area from which programs and data are temporarily read. External storage device 13 is a writable and readable storage medium and storage media drive, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), or DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disk-Random Access Memory). The functions of memory unit 120 are realized by memory 12 or external storage device 13. Note that the functions of memory unit 120 may also be realized by a storage device connected via communication IF 16.

The input IF 14 is an interface for accepting input operations from the operator, and is connected to input devices such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, and microphone. The output IF 15 is an interface for outputting information to an output device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) built into the dialogue control device 100.

The communication IF 16 is an interface for connecting the dialogue control device 100 to the network N, and is a communication device such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card. The storage medium drive device 17 is a device for inputting and outputting information from portable media 18 such as a CD (Compact Disk) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

The processing of each component of the dialogue control device 100 may be executed by a single piece of hardware, or by multiple pieces of hardware. Furthermore, the processing of each component of the dialogue control device 100 may be realized by a single program, or by multiple programs.

The hardware configurations of the decision maker device 200, business manager device 300, and general employee device 400 are the same as those of the dialogue control device 100, so explanations will be omitted.

Figure 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the BCP activation support process of the dialogue control system 1.

First, the crisis information acquisition unit 111 of the dialogue control device 100 acquires crisis information (step S01). Specifically, the crisis information acquisition unit 111 acquires crisis information from another server device that is communicatively connected via the network N.

Next, the responsible person determination unit 113 executes the decision maker determination process (step S02).

Figure 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the decision maker determination process. This flowchart explains the details of the process performed in step S02 of Figure 7.

First, the manager determination unit 113 identifies the decision maker candidate with the highest priority (step S201). Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 references the manager candidate information 124 shown in FIG. 5 and extracts records in which the role 124b is "1". Of the extracted records, the manager determination unit 113 identifies the manager candidate ID 124a with the highest priority for each record that includes the same establishment ID 124c.

Next, the responsible person determination unit 113 inquires of the candidate decision maker whether or not they are able to make a decision (step S202). Specifically, the responsible person determination unit 113 inquires of the candidate decision maker identified in step S201 whether or not they are able to make a decision. The responsible person determination unit 113 may send the inquiry to the decision maker device 200 owned by the candidate decision maker using a chat app via the dialogue control unit 112, or may send information indicating the inquiry by email. When sending the inquiry by email, the email may include link information to a message display screen of the chat app.

Next, the responsible person determination unit 113 determines whether or not a response indicating that a decision is possible is received within a certain period of time (step S203). If a decision is possible, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 of the decision maker device 200 that received the inquiry accepts the input operation indicating that a decision is possible. The responsible person determination unit 113 of the dialogue control device 100 determines whether or not information indicating that a decision is possible is received from the decision maker device 200 within a certain period of time after the inquiry regarding whether a decision is possible in step S202.

In addition, in this embodiment, a decision maker who transmits information indicating that they are able to make a decision within a certain period of time is treated as being able to carry out their duties. As with the business manager determination process described below, the manager determination unit 113 may use the location information of the decision maker candidate to determine whether the decision maker candidate is able to carry out their duties.

If the manager determination unit 113 determines that a decision-possible response has been received within a certain period of time ("YES" in step S203), the manager determination unit 113 determines the decision maker candidate as the decision maker (step S204). Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 determines the decision maker candidate whose decision maker device 200 transmitted the decision-possible response in step S203 as the decision maker. The manager determination unit 113 extracts the business establishment ID 124c associated with the manager candidate ID 124a of the employee determined as the decision maker from the manager candidate information 124. The manager determination unit 113 generates a record of the response information 123 by setting the decision maker's ID as decision maker ID 123b and the extracted business establishment ID 124c as business establishment ID 123a.

The responsible person determination unit 113 then terminates the processing of this flowchart. That is, the processing of step S03 shown in Figure 7 continues.

If the responsible person determination unit 113 determines that there is no response indicating that a decision is possible within a certain period of time ("NO" in step S203), the responsible person determination unit 113 identifies other decision maker candidates (step S205). Specifically, the responsible person determination unit 113 extracts records with a role of "1" from the records included in the responsible person candidate information 124. For each record containing the same establishment ID 124c, the responsible person determination unit 113 identifies the responsible person candidate ID 124a with the next highest priority after the decision maker candidate already identified. The responsible person determination unit 113 then transitions to step S202. That is, the decision maker candidate with the next highest priority is queried regarding whether or not the decision is possible.

Referring back to Figure 7 for the explanation. Following the decision maker determination process in step S202, the dialogue control unit 112 inquires about the need for an investigation (step S03). Specifically, the dialogue control unit 112 sends information inquiring about the need for an investigation to the decision maker device 200 of the decision maker determined in step S02 via a chat app, email, or the like. If the information inquiring about the need for an investigation is sent to the decision maker device 200 by a method other than a chat app, the transmitted information includes information prompting the user to launch the chat app.

Next, the dialogue display unit 211 of the decision maker device 200 launches a chat app (step S04). Specifically, the input unit 220 of the decision maker device 200 accepts an operation to launch the chat app from the decision maker in response to the inquiry about the need for an investigation in step S03, and the dialogue display unit 211 launches the chat app. Note that if the chat app is already running in the decision maker device 200 in the decision maker determination process in step S02, this process is omitted. A message from the chatbot prompting the user to input whether or not an investigation is needed is displayed on the screen of the launched chat app.

Next, the dialogue input acceptance unit 212 accepts input regarding whether an investigation is necessary (step S05). Specifically, the dialogue input acceptance unit 212 accepts input regarding whether an investigation is necessary from the decision maker via the chat screen. The dialogue input acceptance unit 212 may also accept input regarding the type of crisis situation (e.g., earthquake, flood, typhoon, etc.) in response to a message from the dialogue control device 100.

Next, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 transmits an investigation instruction to the dialogue control device 100 (step S06). Specifically, if input that an investigation is necessary is received in step S05, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 transmits information indicating the investigation instruction to the dialogue control device 100. If input that an investigation is not necessary is received in step S05, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 transmits the input information to the dialogue control device 100. Since the dialogue between the dialogue control device 100 and the decision maker device 200 is basically carried out via a chat app, the message indicating whether or not an investigation is necessary, input received by the dialogue input receiving unit 212, is displayed on the chat screen separately from the message from the dialogue control device 100 prompting input as to whether or not an investigation is necessary.

If the dialogue input receiving unit 212 receives information indicating that an investigation is not required, the dialogue control system 1 terminates the processing of this sequence diagram. The following description will be given assuming that the dialogue input receiving unit 212 has received input indicating that an investigation is required.

Next, the safety information acquisition unit 114 of the dialogue control device 100 transmits information inquiring about safety information to the decision maker device 200, the business manager device 300, and the regular employee device 400 (step S07). Specifically, the safety information acquisition unit 114 transmits a message inquiring about safety information using a chat app via the dialogue control unit 112. Note that the safety information acquisition unit 114 may also transmit the inquiry using a method other than a chat app, such as email. In that case, it may also transmit information prompting the user to respond to the inquiry using the chat app.

The processing performed in step S09 is similar to the processing performed in step S04, so its explanation will be omitted.

Next, the dialogue input acceptance unit 212 of the decision maker device 200, the dialogue input acceptance unit 312 of the business manager device 300, and the dialogue input acceptance unit 412 of the regular employee device 400 accept input of safety information (step S10). Specifically, the dialogue input acceptance units 212, 312, and 412 accept input of responses to the message inquiring about safety information displayed on the chat screen.

Figure 11 shows an example of a chat screen on a regular employee device 400. Figure 11 (A) is an example of a chat screen including a message inquiring about safety information. Figure 11 (B) is an example of a chat screen including a message in response to the safety information.

The regular employee device screen 450 displayed by the dialogue display unit 411 of the regular employee device 400 includes a message display area 451 and a response input area 452. The message display area 451 displays messages from the chatbot of the dialogue control device 100 and messages indicating information entered by regular employees in a distinguishable manner.

The dialogue control unit 112 of the dialogue control device 100 determines the message to be sent as a chat by referring to the dialogue information 122. For example, the dialogue information 122 includes records in which the role 122a is "decision maker," "business manager," and "general employee," the dialogue content 122b is "Please report on the damage situation. Where are you currently?", and the presentation condition 122c is "Inquiry about safety information." The dialogue information 122 also includes records in which the role 122a is "decision maker," "business manager," and "general employee," the dialogue content 122b is "Please report on your damage situation," and the presentation condition 122c is "Reply with current location."

In Figure 11 (A), messages indicating inquiries about safety information from the dialogue control device 100 are displayed, such as "Please report the damage situation. Where are you currently?", "Please report your own damage situation," and "Please report the damage situation of your family members." The dialogue control unit 112 determines whether the information input to the information processing device satisfies the presentation conditions 122c of the dialogue information 122, and displays the dialogue content 122b related to the satisfied presentation conditions 122c on the information processing device of the employee associated with the role 122a.

The regular employee device screen 450 in Figures 11(A) and 11(B) displays a message from the chatbot (dialogue control unit 112) saying "Please report the damage suffered by your family," and in response to that message, displays a message indicating "Minor damage" input by the regular employee device 400. Also, a message from the chatbot is displayed saying "Current location: Company base, Damage status (person): Safe, Damage status (family), Minor damage, is that correct?" and in response to that message, displays the message "YES." In this way, the message display area 451 on the regular employee device screen 450 displays messages from the dialogue control unit 112 and messages input by regular employees in a distinguishable manner.

In this embodiment, the response input area 452 displays response types to inquiries from the chatbot as options. In addition to the options, the response input area 452 may also display an area for accepting free input of a message.

Figures 11(A) and 11(B) show an example of the general employee device screen 450 when inquiring about safety information from the general employee device 400, but inquiries about safety information are also made to the decision maker device 200 and the business manager device 300. Therefore, the screens shown in Figures 11(A) and 11(B) are also displayed on the decision maker device 200 and the business manager device 300.

In addition, the regular employee device screen 450 may display a chatbot message prompting the employee to choose whether or not to contact a supervisor. When the dialogue input receiving unit 412 of the regular employee device 400 receives input of information indicating a desire to contact a supervisor, the dialogue control unit 112 of the dialogue control device 100 may display a chat dialogue between the regular employee and the supervisor in the message display area 351.

Referring back to Figure 7 for the explanation, the dialogue input acceptance units 212, 312, and 412 then accept input of a response to the inquiry about safety information (step S11). Specifically, the dialogue input acceptance units 212, 312, and 412 accept input of safety information in the response input area 452 (and the response input areas 252 and 352, described below). The dialogue input acceptance unit 212 then transmits the input response to the dialogue control device 100.

When the safety information acquisition unit 114 of the dialogue control device 100 acquires safety information transmitted from the dialogue input reception unit 212, 312, or 412, the personnel damage status 123e in the response information 123 is updated. The safety information acquisition unit 114 updates the personnel damage status 123e corresponding to the establishment ID 123a to which the employee whose information processing device transmitted the safety information belongs.

In addition, as mentioned above, the safety information acquisition unit 114 may acquire safety information when the BCP determination unit determines to activate the BCP. In this case, the processing performed in steps S10 and S11 is executed in the post-BCP activation processing described below.

Next, the location information acquisition unit 115 of the dialogue control device 100 queries the business manager device 300 for location information (step S12). The location information acquisition unit 115 transmits to the business manager device 300 information querying the location information of the business manager device 300 acquired by the chat app of the business manager device 300.

Next, the dialogue input receiving unit 312 of the business manager device 300 transmits the location information to the dialogue control device 100 (step S13). Specifically, the dialogue input receiving unit 312 acquires location information using a location information acquisition device (not shown) possessed by the business manager device 300 and transmits it to the dialogue control device 100. The location information acquisition device receives signals from satellites such as GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and measures the distance between the mobile object and the satellite and the rate of change of distance for three or more satellites to determine the current location, traveling speed, and traveling direction of the business manager device 300. The location information acquisition device may also receive positioning signals from a quasi-zenith satellite system or the like, which is used to calculate the current position with higher accuracy than GPS satellites.

In addition, the timing at which the location information acquisition unit 115 acquires location information is not limited to the timing shown in this sequence diagram. For example, in step S09, the location information acquisition unit 115 may acquire location information of the business manager device 300 when the chat app on the business manager device 300 is launched. In that case, the processing of steps S12 and S13 may be omitted.

Next, the manager determination unit 113 of the dialogue control device 100 executes the business manager determination process (step S14).

Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the business manager determination process. This flowchart explains the details of the process performed in step S14 of Figure 7.

First, the manager determination unit 113 identifies the business manager candidate with the highest priority (step S141). Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 references the manager candidate information 124 shown in FIG. 5 and extracts records in which the role 124b is "2". Of the extracted records, the manager determination unit 113 identifies the manager candidate ID 124a with the highest priority for each record that includes the same establishment ID 124c.

Next, the manager determination unit 113 references the safety information of the business manager candidate (step S142). Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 identifies the safety information acquired in step S11 of FIG. 7 for the identified business manager candidate.

Next, the responsible person determination unit 113 determines whether the safety information indicates that the person is safe (step S143). Specifically, the responsible person determination unit 113 determines whether the safety information identified in step S142 indicates that the person is safe.

If the responsible person determination unit 113 does not determine that the safety information indicates safety ("NO" in step S143), the responsible person determination unit 113 proceeds to step S148. Note that if a response to the inquiry about safety information is not transmitted from the business manager device 300 of the business manager candidate, the responsible person determination unit 113 determines that the safety information does not indicate safety.

If the responsible person determination unit 113 determines that the safety information indicates safety ("YES" in step S143), the responsible person determination unit 113 determines whether the location information is within a predetermined range from the establishment (step S144). Specifically, the responsible person determination unit 113 references the management information 121 to identify the establishment to which the business manager candidate belongs. The location information of the establishment contained in the management information 121 is stored in an area of the memory unit 120 not shown. The responsible person determination unit 113 uses the location information transmitted from the business manager device 300 owned by the business manager candidate in step S13 of FIG. 7 to determine whether the business manager device 300 is located within a predetermined range from the location of the establishment.

If the responsible person determination unit 113 determines that the location information is within a predetermined range from the business establishment ("YES" in step S144), the responsible person determination unit 113 proceeds to step S147.

If the manager determination unit 113 determines that the location information is not within a predetermined range from the business establishment ("NO" in step S144), the manager determination unit 113 references traffic information (step S145). Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 references traffic information held by a server device (not shown) connected via network N. The manager determination unit 113 uses the traffic information to determine the required time for the business manager candidate to travel to the business establishment. The manager determination unit 113 determines the required time using the location information of the business manager device 300 held by the business manager candidate and the location information of the business establishment.

The method for determining the required time using traffic information is well-known, so a detailed explanation is omitted. For example, the server device is managed by a traffic information service provider using a Web API, and receives location information from the business manager's device 300 and the business's location information, thereby notifying the dialogue control device 100 of the required time.

As an example, the responsible person determination unit 113 determines the required time when using public transportation. For establishments that are predetermined to calculate the required time using a passenger car, the responsible person determination unit 113 may determine the required time when using a passenger car.

Next, the manager determination unit 113 determines whether it is within a predetermined time from the current location of the business manager candidate to the business premises (step S146). Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 determines whether the required time determined in step S145 is within a predetermined time.

If the manager determination unit 113 determines that the travel time from the current location to the business establishment is within the predetermined time (YES in step S146), or if the manager determination unit 113 determines in step S144 that the location information is within a predetermined range from the business establishment, the manager determination unit 113 determines that the business manager candidate is capable of performing the business and determines the business manager candidate to be the business manager (step S147). The manager determination unit 113 then ends the processing of this flowchart. That is, the processing of step S15 shown in Figure 7 continues.

If, in step S143, the manager determination unit 113 does not determine that the safety information indicates safety, or if, in step S146, the manager determination unit 113 does not determine that it is within the specified time from the current location to the business premises (if "NO" in step S146), the manager determination unit 113 determines that the business manager candidate is unable to carry out the business and identifies another business manager candidate (step S148).

Specifically, the manager determination unit 113 extracts records with a role of "2" from the records included in the manager candidate information 124. For each record containing the same establishment ID 124c, the manager determination unit 113 identifies the manager candidate ID 124a with the next highest priority after the business manager candidate already identified. The manager determination unit 113 then proceeds to step S142. That is, the business manager candidate with the next highest priority is inquired about whether or not to make the decision.

Note that if safety information is acquired after BCP is activated, steps S142 and S143 can be omitted.

Referring back to Figure 7 for the explanation. Following the business manager determination process in step S14, the dialogue control unit 112 transmits information inquiring about the survey results to the business manager (step S15). Specifically, the dialogue control unit 112 causes the business manager device 300 of the business manager determined in step S14 to display a screen that accepts input of survey results regarding the damage status of the business premises. As a result, a message prompting input of survey results is displayed on the chat screen of the business manager device 300.

Next, the business manager's interactive input reception unit 312 receives input of the survey results (step S16). Specifically, the interactive input reception unit 312 receives input operations on the chat screen regarding the damage situation.

Figure 12 shows an example of a chat screen on the business manager device 300 (part 1). Figure 12(A) is an example of a chat screen including a message prompting the user to enter survey results. Figure 12(B) is an example of a chat screen including a message in response to the survey results.

The business manager device screen 350 displayed by the dialogue display unit 311 of the business manager device 300 includes a message display area 351 and a response input area 352, similar to the general employee device screen 450. The message display area 351 displays messages from the chatbot of the dialogue control device 100 and messages indicating information entered by the business manager in a distinguishable manner.

The dialogue control unit 112 references the dialogue information 122, and if the presentation condition 122c included in the record in which the role 122a is "business manager" is met, displays the dialogue content 122b related to the presentation condition 122c on the business manager device screen 350 as a chatbot message.

The message display area 351 on the business manager device screen 350 in Figure 12 (A) displays information indicating the occurrence of a disaster and the damage status of other business locations. The message display area 351 also displays the message "Please select an action," which prompts the user to enter the results of the investigation, as an instruction for action.

The message display area 351 on the business manager device screen 350 in Figure 12 (B) displays the messages entered by the business manager in response to the chatbot's message, "Report on damage status at base locations," and a message indicating "Chiba Second Branch." As with the general employee device screen 450, the response input area 352 displays response types to inquiries from the chatbot as options, but in addition to the options, an area for accepting free message input may also be displayed.

In the response input area 352 of Figure 12 (B), selectable buttons are displayed as survey result options: "Severe Damage," "Medium Damage," "Minor Damage," and "Unconfirmed."

Figure 13 is a diagram (part 2) showing an example of the chat screen on the business manager's device 300. The message display area 351 shown in Figure 13 displays the message "Moderate Disaster" as the disaster status entered by the business manager.

Referring back to Figure 7 for the explanation, the dialogue input receiving unit 312 of the business manager device 300 transmits the information entered as the investigation results to the dialogue control device 100 (step S17). The dialogue control unit 112 of the dialogue control device 100 references the response information 123 and updates the response information 123 by including the received investigation results in the business establishment damage status 123d for the record having the business manager ID 123c related to the business manager device 300 that transmitted the investigation results.

Next, the dialogue control unit 112 of the dialogue control device 100 transmits the survey results sent by the business manager and information inquiring about the need to activate a BCP to the decision maker device 200 (step S18). The decision maker device 200 displays, as a chatbot message, the damage status of the business premises and a message prompting the user to input whether or not to activate a BCP declaration.

Next, the decision maker's interactive input reception unit 212 receives input of the decision result on whether or not to activate the BCP (step S19).

Figure 14 shows an example of a chat screen on the decision maker device 200. Figure 14(A) is an example of a chat screen including a message prompting input of the disaster situation and whether or not to issue a BCP declaration. Figure 14(B) is an example of a chat screen including a message responding to the question of whether or not to issue a BCP declaration.

The decision maker device screen 250 displayed by the dialogue display unit 211 of the decision maker device 200 includes a message display area 251 and a response input area 252, similar to the general employee device screen 450. The message display area 251 displays messages from the chatbot of the dialogue control device 100 and messages indicating information entered by the decision maker in a distinguishable manner.

The dialogue control unit 112 references the dialogue information 122, and if the presentation condition 122c included in the record in which the role 122a is "decision maker" is met, displays the dialogue content 122b related to the presentation condition 122c as a chatbot message in the message display area 251 on the decision maker device screen 250.

The message display area 251 on the decision maker device screen 250 in Figure 14 (A) displays a message indicating the damage situation and a message prompting the user to perform the next input operation, saying "Please select an action."

The message display area 251 on the decision maker device screen 250 in Figure 14 (B) displays the instruction to "activate BCP" entered by the decision maker in response to the chatbot's message, and the message indicating "ON" entered in response to the message confirming the activation of the BCP declaration. Furthermore, the decision maker device screen 250 displays, in response to the message entered by the decision maker, the message "BCP has been activated!! Business managers and employees will be notified that the BCP has been activated. Please take action according to the plan," and a message from the chatbot saying "Please select an action."

As with the general employee device screen 450, the response input area 252 displays response options for inquiries from the chatbot, but in addition to the options, an area for accepting free input of a message may also be displayed.

Referring back to Figure 7 for the explanation, in step S19, upon receiving input of the decision maker's judgment result in the response input area 252, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 of the decision maker device 200 transmits the judgment result to the dialogue control device 100 (step S20). Thereafter, the dialogue control system 1 ends the processing of this sequence diagram.

Note that some crisis situations that require business continuity response are localized. For example, there are crisis situations where business continuity response is sufficient for a specific area, such as flooding caused by a riverbank breaching at a specific location. The dialogue control unit 112 may refer to the crisis area and the details of the crisis contained in the crisis information to determine whether a response is necessary for each business establishment. For example, the dialogue control unit 112 uses the crisis information received in step S01 to determine for each business establishment whether the response establishment criteria stored in an area not shown in the memory unit 120 are met. The dialogue control unit 112 can control the processing from step S02 onwards for business establishments that meet the response establishment criteria.

As described above, this embodiment can promote appropriate behavior regarding business continuity in a crisis situation. Decision makers, business managers, and general employees respond to messages from the chatbot to appropriately send the information necessary for making decisions regarding business continuity to the dialogue control device 100. At this time, the dialogue control device 100 appropriately collects the information required according to the employee's role using the chatbot. This makes it possible to guide employees to take appropriate action even when there is a dependency between the decisions or actions of employees with different roles, such as when the decisions of an employee with one role affect the actions of employees with other roles.

In addition, in this embodiment, whether or not the business manager conducts an investigation and reports will depend on, for example, the decision maker's judgment on whether an investigation is necessary. Even in such cases, appropriate instructions for action can be given to employees in one role in response to input operations by an employee in another role.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, if a manager is unable to carry out their duties, a new manager who can carry out the duties can be efficiently selected, making it possible to respond quickly to crisis situations.

Figure 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of post-BCP activation processing in the dialogue control system 1. The processing in this sequence diagram is executed following the BCP activation support processing in the dialogue control system 1 shown in Figure 7. Note that if a decision not to activate the BCP is input in the decision maker device 200, the processing shown in this diagram will not be executed.

First, the BCP determination unit 117 of the dialogue control device 100 determines that a BCP has been activated (step S31). When the BCP determination unit 117 receives a determination result indicating that a BCP has been activated from the decision maker device 200 in step S20 shown in FIG. 7, the BCP determination unit 117 identifies the business establishment in response to the decision maker's BCP activation and updates the BCP activation status 123f in the response information 123 associated with that business establishment.

Next, the BCP determination unit 117 transmits the countermeasures previously associated with the investigation results to the decision maker device 200 and the business manager device 300 (step S32). Specifically, a BCP manual containing the countermeasures assigned to employees in each role when the BCP is activated is stored in an area (not shown) of the memory unit 120 of the dialogue control device 100. The BCP determination unit 117 references this area and transmits action instructions according to each role to the information processing device. The BCP determination unit 117 transmits action instructions not only to the decision maker device 200 and the business manager device 300, but also to the general employee device 400.

The transmitted action instructions are displayed as chatbot messages by the chat app installed on each information processing device.

Next, the dialogue input receiving unit 312 of the business manager device 300 reports the post-response situation as investigation results to the dialogue control device 100 (step S33). Specifically, the business manager investigates the recovery status of the business establishment as appropriate and enters the investigation results on the chat screen. The dialogue input receiving unit 312 sends the entered information to the dialogue control device 100. Note that, similar to the processing from inquiry about investigation results to transmission of the investigation results, which is performed in steps S15 to S17 of Figure 7, the dialogue control unit 112 can specify the specific investigation content as a message to the chatbot. The business manager enters the investigation results on the chat screen in accordance with the instructions.

In response to the dialogue control unit 112 inquiring about the damage status of each employee, the dialogue input receiving unit 412 of the regular employee device 400 may input each employee's damage status into the response input area 452 on the regular employee device screen 450. The dialogue control unit 112 uses the damage status received from the business manager device 300 to update the business establishment damage status 123d in the response information 123. The dialogue control unit 112 also uses the received damage status of each employee to update the personnel damage status 123e in the response information 123.

The transmission of countermeasures from the dialogue control device 100 in step S32 and the reporting of the damage situation from the business manager and general employees in step S33 are carried out one or more times at predetermined times in accordance with the BCP manual.

Next, the crisis information acquisition unit 111 acquires crisis information (step S34). The processing of this step is similar to the processing of step S01 in FIG. 7. The crisis information acquisition unit 111 may acquire crisis information periodically, or may acquire crisis information that is suddenly issued in response to a crisis situation.

Next, the recovery continuation determination unit 116 determines whether the recovery continuation conditions are met for each business location (step S35). Specifically, the recovery continuation determination unit 116 uses the investigation results acquired in step S33 and the crisis information acquired in step S34 to refer to the recovery continuation condition information 125 and determines whether the recovery continuation conditions are met. As an example, the recovery continuation conditions include a value indicating the recovery rate of the business location and crisis criteria information used to determine whether the crisis situation will continue.

For example, the recovery continuation determination unit 116 determines that a business establishment that has recovered a percentage equal to or greater than a predetermined value within a predetermined period of time from the activation of the BCP in step S31 satisfies the recovery continuation conditions. Furthermore, if a certain period of time has passed since the most recent disaster alert occurred, the recovery continuation determination unit 116 references the crisis criteria information to determine that the crisis situation will not continue, and determines that the recovery continuation conditions are met. The recovery continuation determination unit 116 may also use both the recovery percentage of the business establishment and information on whether the crisis situation will continue to determine comprehensively whether to continue the recovery of the business establishment. The recovery continuation determination unit 116 may also obtain weather information from another server device (not shown) and use the weather information to determine whether the recovery continuation conditions are met.

Next, the dialogue control unit 112 inquires of the decision maker device 200 about continuing restoration (step S36). Specifically, the dialogue control unit 112 displays on the decision maker device screen 250 a message including the damage situation and crisis information used to determine whether restoration should continue in step S35, and the determination result of whether restoration should continue. The dialogue control unit 112 also displays a message on the decision maker device screen 250 requesting input of whether restoration should continue.

Next, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 of the decision maker device 200 transmits information including a judgment regarding continuation of recovery to the dialogue control device 100 (step S38). Specifically, the decision maker, having referenced the judgment result, damage situation, and crisis information transmitted from the dialogue control device 100 in step S37, inputs the judgment regarding continuation of recovery into the response input area 252 on the decision maker device screen 250. The dialogue input receiving unit 212 receives the decision maker's input operation into the response input area 252 and transmits it to the dialogue control device 100.

Next, the dialogue control unit 112 of the dialogue control device 100 presents the business manager device 300 with the need to continue recovery. The dialogue control unit 112 transmits the next predetermined measure to the business establishments for which it has been determined that recovery should not be continued (step S39). Specifically, the dialogue control unit 112 transmits the determination result received from the decision maker in step S38 to the business manager of the business establishment for which it has been determined that recovery should be continued.

In step S38, for business locations where it is determined that recovery should not be continued, the dialogue control unit 112 refers to the BCP manual, identifies the next measures predetermined in the BCP manual, and transmits them to the business manager device 300. As an example, a recovery instruction specifying another adjacent business location is transmitted to the business manager device 300 of the business location where it is determined that recovery should not be continued. The necessity of continuing recovery and the measures transmitted by the dialogue control unit 112 are displayed in the message display area 351 on the business manager device screen 350.

Note that if a decision-maker's decision regarding continuation of recovery is not required, steps S36 to S38 can be omitted. In this case, the dialogue control unit 112 communicates the next measure in step S39 to the business manager device 300 of the business establishment determined in step S35 to not satisfy the recovery continuation conditions. The dialogue control unit 112 also references the management information 121 to identify the decision maker who oversees the business establishment. The dialogue control unit 112 also presents the decision maker device 200 of the identified decision maker with the need to continue recovery in step S39, and also presents the business establishments determined not to continue recovery and the measures to be sent to the business manager of the business establishments, which are displayed in the message display area 251 on the decision maker device screen 250.

In addition, the dialogue control device 100 and the business manager device 300 of the business location where the need for continued recovery has been determined will continue to execute the processes of steps S32 and S33 as necessary after the determination, in accordance with the BCP manual.

Next, the BCP determination unit 117 determines whether the BCP cancellation conditions are met (step S40). Specifically, the BCP determination unit 117 determines whether the investigation results indicating the recovery status of the business establishment transmitted from the business manager device 300 meet the BCP cancellation conditions. For business establishments for which the BCP determination unit 117 does not determine that the BCP cancellation conditions are met, this process is repeated until investigation results that meet the BCP cancellation conditions are transmitted from the business manager device 300.

Next, the BCP determination unit 117 notifies the decision maker device 200 that the BCP cancellation conditions have been met (step S41). Specifically, the BCP determination unit 117 refers to the management information 121 to identify the decision maker who oversees the business establishments that meet the BCP cancellation conditions, and sends information indicating that the BCP cancellation conditions have been met to the decision maker device 200 owned by that decision maker. The dialogue display unit 211 of the decision maker device 200 displays a message indicating that the BCP cancellation conditions have been met in the message display area 251 on the decision maker device screen 250.

Next, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 of the decision maker device 200 receives input of the result of the determination as to whether or not the BCP needs to be cancelled (step S42). Specifically, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 receives an input operation by the decision maker of the result of the determination as to whether or not the BCP needs to be cancelled, in the response input area 252 on the decision maker device screen 250.

Next, the dialogue input receiving unit 212 transmits the determination result of the input operation received in step S42 to the dialogue control device 100 (step S43).

If the judgment result sent to the dialogue control device 100 is a judgment not to cancel the BCP, the dialogue control system 1 returns the process to step S32. That is, recovery measures are again sent to the business manager device 300. The dialogue control device 100 may not return the process to step S32, but may again send notification in step S41 to the decision maker device 200 until a judgment result to cancel the BCP is sent. If the judgment result sent to the dialogue control device 100 is a judgment to cancel the BCP, the dialogue control system 1 ends the processing of this sequence diagram.

As described above, the dialogue control system 1 of this embodiment can encourage role-based decisions even after the BCP is activated. Furthermore, even if the behavior of employees in one role changes depending on the decision made by an employee in another role, appropriate instructions for behavior can be given to employees in the other role based on the decision result.

Although each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described exemplary embodiment and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described exemplary embodiment has been described in detail to make the present invention easier to understand, and the present invention is not limited to having all of the configurations described herein. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one exemplary embodiment with the configuration of another exemplary embodiment. It is also possible to add the configuration of another exemplary embodiment to the configuration of one exemplary embodiment. Furthermore, it is also possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each exemplary embodiment with other configurations. Furthermore, some or all of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. Furthermore, the control lines and information lines in the diagrams indicate those considered necessary for explanation, and are not necessarily all shown. It is possible to assume that almost all configurations are interconnected.

Furthermore, the functional configurations of the above-mentioned dialogue control device 100, decision maker device 200, business manager device 300, and general employee device 400 have been categorized according to the main processing content for ease of understanding. The classification method or names of the components do not limit the present invention. As described above, the configurations of the dialogue control device 100, decision maker device 200, business manager device 300, and general employee device 400 can be categorized into even more components depending on the processing content. Furthermore, a single component can be categorized to perform even more processing.

1: Dialogue control system, 11: Computing device, 12: Memory, 13: External storage device, 14: Input IF, 15: Output IF, 16: Communication IF, 17: Storage medium drive device, 18: Media, 100: Dialogue control device, 110, 210, 310, 410: Processing unit, 111: Crisis information acquisition unit, 112: Dialogue control unit, 113: Responsible person determination unit, 114: Safety information acquisition unit, 115: Location information acquisition unit, 116: Recovery continuation determination unit, 117: BCP determination unit, 120: Memory unit, 121: Management information, 122: Dialogue information, 123: Response information, 124: Responsible person candidate information 125: Recovery continuation condition information, 130, 220, 320, 420: Input section, 140, 230, 330, 430: Output section, 150, 240, 340, 440: Communication section, 200: Decision maker device, 211, 311, 411: Dialogue display section, 212, 312, 412: Dialogue input reception section, 250: Decision maker device screen, 251, 351, 451: Message display area, 252, 352, 452: Response input area, 300: Business manager device, 350: Business manager device screen, 400: General employee device, 450: General employee device screen, N: Network

Claims (10)

a dialogue control unit that acquires survey results regarding the recovery of the business establishment from information processing devices possessed by employees;
a crisis information acquisition unit that acquires crisis information relating to the degree of the crisis ;
An information processing device comprising: a recovery continuation determination unit that determines whether to continue the recovery of the business establishment using the investigation results and the crisis information. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The information processing device is characterized in that the recovery continuation determination unit uses the investigation results to determine whether to continue the recovery of the business office by referring to recovery continuation condition information including a value indicating the recovery rate of the business office. 3. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The information processing device is characterized in that the recovery continuation determination unit determines whether to continue the recovery of the business establishment by determining whether the crisis information satisfies a recovery continuation condition indicating whether the crisis situation will continue. 4. The information processing device according to claim 3,
The information processing device, wherein the restoration continuation determination unit refers to the crisis information, and when it determines that the crisis situation will not continue, determines to continue the restoration of the business establishment. 5. The information processing device according to claim 1,
the dialogue control unit controls dialogue with an information processing device of the employee regarding the employee's crisis situation ;
An information processing device characterized in that a restoration instruction specifying another adjacent business office is transmitted to the information processing device owned by the employee of the business office where it has been determined that restoration should not be continued. 6. The information processing device according to claim 5,
The information processing device, wherein the dialogue control unit acquires the investigation results through the dialogue. 7. The information processing device according to claim 5,
a BCP determination unit that determines whether to activate the BCP based on a response from the decision maker ;
The information processing device, characterized in that the recovery continuation determination unit determines whether to continue recovery using the investigation results acquired when the BCP determination unit determines that a BCP should be initiated. A dialogue control system having a plurality of employee information processing devices owned by employees and an information processing device communicably connected to each of the employee information processing devices,
Each of the employee information processing devices comprises:
an interactive input receiving unit that receives input operations of investigation results regarding the restoration of the business establishment from the employees;
The information processing device includes:
a dialogue control unit that acquires survey results related to the restoration of the business establishment from the employee information processing device;
a crisis information acquisition unit that acquires crisis information relating to the degree of the crisis ;
a restoration continuation determination unit that determines whether to continue restoration of the business establishment using the investigation results and the crisis information;
A dialogue control system comprising: A program for causing a processing unit of a computer to execute an information processing method,
A dialogue control procedure for acquiring survey results regarding the recovery of the business from information processing devices owned by employees;
a crisis information acquisition procedure for acquiring crisis information regarding the severity of the crisis ;
and a recovery continuation determination procedure for determining whether to continue the recovery of the business establishment using the investigation results and the crisis information. An information processing method by an information processing device,
A dialogue control procedure for acquiring survey results regarding the recovery of the business from information processing devices owned by employees;
a crisis information acquisition procedure for acquiring crisis information regarding the severity of the crisis ;
an information processing method comprising: a restoration continuation determination procedure for determining whether to continue restoration of the business establishment using the investigation results and the crisis information.