JP7844893B2 - Distribution server, distribution method, and program - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a distribution server, a distribution method, and a program.

There are electronic notification services that provide information online. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that sends information to an email address that is highly likely to be immediately accessible to the recipient.

Among these electronic notification services, messaging services that use mobile phone numbers as recipients are widely used. Examples of such messaging services include RCS (Rich Communication Services). By using a mobile phone number as the recipient, messages can be sent even if the recipient's email address is unknown.

In messaging services that use mobile phone numbers as destinations, for example, a service is provided that notifies a customer's communication terminal of a request from a client, such as a company, and notifies the client of the response received as a log. When using RCS (Registered Communication System), when an action is taken to respond to a message, the content of that action and the telephone number of the communication device from which the action was taken are notified by the telecommunications carrier as Webhook information. For example, a log can be generated based on this Webhook information.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-241732

By the way, the Webhook information does not show the association between the notified message and the action information that is the response to that message. For example, there was a problem in that, for responses made after sending the same message multiple times, the Webhook information did not indicate which of the multiple messages the response was made to.

This problem can be addressed by utilizing postback data. Postback data is information that can be set on buttons displaying content used for message responses, such as "Yes" or "No," and is included in Webhook information and notified when an action is performed on the content. For example, a message is generated with a message-specific identifier set in the postback data for buttons such as "Yes" or "No." When a button on such a message is tapped, Webhook information containing the identifier is notified in response to that action. Based on the identifier extracted from the notified Webhook information, the message to which the response was made can be identified.

However, if identifiers or other information are set in the postback data, generating logs based on Webhook information results in the generated logs containing these identifiers and other information, leading to a problem of unnecessarily complex logs.

This invention was made in view of these circumstances, and its objective is to provide a distribution server, distribution method, and program that can identify messages for which responses have been made based on Webhook information, and that can prevent logs generated using Webhook information from becoming cumbersome.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the distribution server according to the present invention is a distribution server that transmits messages using RCS (Rich Communication Services) to a communication terminal via a telecommunications carrier, and comprises: a message generation unit that generates a message by associating the content contained in the message with postback data including a unique ID that identifies the message as identification information for identifying the message; an acquisition unit that acquires Webhook information notified by the telecommunications carrier when the content is manipulated, which includes the postback data; an identification unit that identifies the message corresponding to the manipulated content using the identification information contained in the Webhook information; and a log generation unit that generates a log using the Webhook information and generates a log that does not include the identification information depending on the output destination of the log.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the distribution method according to the present invention is a distribution method performed by a computer which is a distribution server that transmits messages using RCS (Rich Communication Services) to a communication terminal via a telecommunications carrier, wherein a message generation unit generates a message in which postback data including a unique ID that identifies the message as identification information for identifying the message is associated with the content contained in the message , an acquisition unit acquires Webhook information which includes the postback data and is notified by the telecommunications carrier when the content is manipulated, an identification unit identifies the message corresponding to the manipulated content using the identification information contained in the Webhook information, and a log generation unit generates a log using the Webhook information and generates a log that does not include the identification information depending on the output destination of the log.

Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a program for operating a computer as the distribution server described above, and is a program for causing the computer to function as each component of the distribution server.

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine whether a communication device that accesses the website indicated by the link in the message belongs to the user to whom the message was sent.

This is a schematic block diagram showing an example configuration of the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment. This figure shows an example of a message according to the embodiment. This is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the distribution server 10 according to the embodiment. This figure shows an example of the distribution information 120 according to the embodiment. This figure shows an example of response information 121 according to the embodiment. This is a sequence diagram showing the processing flow performed by the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment.

The following describes one embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes, for example, a distribution server 10, a corporate server 20, a telecommunications carrier server 30, and a communication terminal 40.

The distribution server 10 is a server device managed by a service provider that sends messages to the communication terminal 40. The distribution server 10 sends (distributes) messages to the communication terminal 40 via the communication carrier server 30. The distribution server 10 sends messages using RCS (Rich Communication Services), a message service that uses telephone numbers as destinations. The distribution server 10 communicates wirelessly or via wired connection with the corporate server 20 and the communication carrier server 30.

The enterprise server 20 is a server device managed by a requester who requests message distribution from the information processing system 1. The requester is, for example, a company or organization that provides information to the recipient user, such as a bank or insurance company. The enterprise server 20 communicates with the distribution server 10 via wireless or wired connection.

The telecommunications carrier server 30 is a server device managed by a telecommunications carrier. The telecommunications carrier is, for example, an MNO (Mobile Network Operator) that provides telephone number-based communication services to communication terminals 40 using communication lines it owns or operates. Communication services include communication using RCS. The telecommunications carrier server 30 communicates wirelessly or via wired connection with the distribution server 10 and the communication terminals 40. In response to a distribution request from the distribution server 10, the telecommunications carrier server 30 sends a message using RCS to the communication terminals 40.
In a communication service using RCS, Webhook information for a message sent to a communication terminal 40 is sent to a distribution server 10. Webhook information indicates the status of the message, for example, whether the message has been received by the communication terminal 40, or whether the message has been read or responded to.

The communication terminal 40 is a communication device, such as a smartphone or mobile phone, that can be associated with a telephone number. The communication terminal 40 is contracted by the user, etc., with the carrier of the communication carrier server 30 to use the communication service using the communication terminal 40. The communication terminal 40 can communicate using the communication service provided by the contracted communication carrier. The communication terminal 40 is assigned a telephone number and has the function of performing communication using this telephone number as the destination, i.e., communication using RCS.
The communication terminal 40 has, for example, a display unit such as an LCD display and an operation unit such as a touch panel that accepts user input. The communication terminal 40 communicates with the communication carrier server 30 and the communication terminal 40 using a communication network NW as communication partners. The user is, for example, an ordinary citizen.

Figure 2 shows an example of a message according to the embodiment. Figure 2 shows the information displayed on the display screen of the communication terminal 40 when the messages M1, carousel C, M2, and button B are sequentially notified to the communication terminal 40.

As shown in the example in this diagram, multiple messages are notified to the communication terminal 40. These multiple messages are sent, for example, according to a predetermined scenario. Here, the scenario is information that specifies what messages to send and in what order, depending on the messages to be sent and the responses received to the messages that have been sent.
Among the messages used in the scenario, messages that allow for response operations, such as carousel C and button B, include content used for response operations. For example, carousel C includes buttons CB1 and CB2 that accept tap operations. For example, button B includes buttons that say "Yes" and "No".
The content used to manipulate these responses can have postback data set by the distribution server 10, which is the distributor. By setting postback data for the content, when the content is manipulated, Webhook information including the postback data set for the content is notified from the telecommunications carrier server 30 to the distribution server 10.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the distribution server 10 according to the embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the distribution server 10 comprises a communication unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a control unit 13. The communication unit 11 communicates with the enterprise server 20 and the telecommunications carrier server 30. The storage unit 12 stores various types of information, such as distribution information 120 and response information 121. The distribution information 120 is information related to the message to be sent to the communication terminal 40. The response information 121 is information related to the response to the message sent to the communication terminal 40.

The storage unit 12 is composed of a storage medium, such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), flash memory, EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Read/Write Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), or any combination of these storage media. The storage unit 12 can, for example, use non-volatile memory.

The control unit 13 includes, for example, an acquisition unit 130, a message generation unit 131, a specification unit 132, and a log generation unit 133.
The acquisition unit 130 acquires various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 130 acquires information related to a message generated by the message generation unit 131 (described later) and stores the acquired information in the storage unit 12. Once the message information is written to the storage unit 12, it becomes possible to use this message information as distribution information 120. The acquisition unit 130 also acquires Webhook information received from the telecommunications carrier server 30 and stores the acquired Webhook information in the storage unit 12. Once the Webhook information is written to the storage unit 12, it becomes possible to use this Webhook information as response information 121.

The message generation unit 131 generates a message to be sent to the communication terminal 40. The message generation unit 131 generates messages usable by the RCS, such as rich cards and chip lists. The message generation unit 131 generates a message that associates postback data with content usable in the message, such as a carousel C. The message generation unit 131 generates the message such that the postback data includes identification information to identify the message.

The identification unit 132, upon receiving a response to a message, identifies which message the response was made to based on the identification information contained in the Webhook information.

For example, consider the case where a message regarding automobile insurance is sent to the user's communication terminal 40. If the user owns multiple cars and has automobile insurance for each car, a message regarding each automobile insurance policy will be notified. As a result, the user's communication terminal 40 receives multiple messages with similar content. If the user operates the communication terminal 40 and presses a button in response to any of the messages, Webhook information is notified in response to that operation. The Webhook information notified here includes the phone number of the user's communication terminal 40, indicating that the user has responded to a message. However, since the Webhook information is assigned a message ID different from the message to which the response was made, there may be cases where it is not possible to determine which of the multiple messages the user responded to.
Furthermore, consider the case where a billing message is sent to the user's communication terminal 40 every month. The monthly billing messages have a unified format, and messages are created according to the same scenario, for example, with a "Confirm" button. Such billing messages are created for, for example, October and November, and sent sequentially to the user's communication terminal 40. After the October and November messages are received by the communication terminal 40, if the user operates the "Confirm" button in the message, Webhook information is notified in response to that operation. Even in this case, it is not possible to determine from the phone number or message ID in the Webhook information whether the "Confirm" button in the October or November message was operated.

Therefore, even when multiple messages are sent to the same communication terminal 40, it is desirable to be able to identify which of the multiple messages was responded to.

As a countermeasure, in the information processing system 1 of this embodiment, information that identifies which message it is is set in the postback data associated with the button. That is, when a button is operated and a response (action) is received from the user's communication terminal 40, the Webhook information notified includes postback data with information that identifies which message it is. This makes it possible to identify which message the response is for when an action is received from the user's communication terminal 40.

The log generation unit 133 generates a log. The log contains information about the transmitted message and the status information and responses to that message. For example, it includes information such as the transmitted message, the content of the response received, and the date and time when the operation corresponding to the response was performed.

The log generation unit 133 generates logs according to the output destination. For example, when generating a log to notify the requester, the log generation unit 133 generates a log that does not include identification information. In cases where a user requests the sequential delivery of multiple messages with the same content to the same phone number after a predetermined period has elapsed—such as messages regarding insurance contracts for multiple vehicles owned by the user, or monthly billing messages—including information that identifies which message received a response from the user in the log would likely make it cumbersome and difficult to understand. Therefore, the log generation unit 133 generates logs that do not include identification information, depending on the output destination.

Figure 4 shows an example of the distribution information 120 according to the embodiment. The distribution information 120 is generated for each scenario.

The distribution information 120 includes, for example, a scenario ID and information corresponding to each of the multiple messages (message 1, message 2, message 3, ...). The scenario ID is information that identifies the scenario. Each message includes information corresponding to the scene ID and information according to the type of message. The scene ID is information that identifies which message, i.e., which message in the scenario, is being notified when multiple messages are being notified in the scenario.
This figure shows an example of delivery information 120 corresponding to the scenario shown in Figure 2, where message 1 corresponds to text M and message 2 corresponds to carousel C.
Message 1 contains a scene ID and text data. The text data is text that indicates the content of the message being notified via text.
Message 2 contains the scene ID and postback data associated with the rich card. The postback data is the postback data to be set for the rich card contained in carousel C.
In this embodiment, the postback data is set to include a scenario ID, a scene ID, a unique ID, and an arbitrary string. The unique ID is information that uniquely identifies the message. The arbitrary string can be set arbitrarily, but for example, it could be a string that describes the content. Note that here, the example given is that the postback data includes a scenario ID, a scene ID, a unique ID, and an arbitrary string, but it is not limited to this. The postback data only needs to contain identification information that allows the message to be identified, and may contain information corresponding to the scenario ID, scene ID, unique ID, part of the arbitrary string, or a combination thereof.

Figure 5 shows an example of response information 121 according to the embodiment. Response information 121 is generated for each response received to a message sent to the communication terminal 40.

The response information 121 includes, for example, information corresponding to the telephone number, timestamp, and postback data items. This information in the response information 121, namely the information corresponding to the telephone number, timestamp, and postback data items, is included in the Webhook information.
The phone number is the phone number of the communication device from which the button was operated. The timestamp indicates the time the button was operated. The postback data is the postback data associated with the button that was operated.

The processing performed by the information processing system 1 will be explained using Figure 6. Figure 6 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing performed by the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment.

The distribution server 10 sends a distribution request to the telecommunications carrier server 30 (step S1). The distribution server 10 generates a message with postback data set in the message content and requests the telecommunications carrier server 30 to distribute the generated message to the communication terminal 40.

When the telecommunications carrier server 30 receives a distribution request from the distribution server 10, it sends a distribution response to the distribution server 10 (step S11). The telecommunications carrier server 30 assigns an ID (message ID_1) to the message that is the target of distribution as indicated in the received distribution request, and sends the assigned (message ID_1) to the distribution server 10, thereby providing a response to the distribution request.
The telecommunications carrier server 30 sends a message to the communication terminal 40 in response to the distribution request (step S12). The telecommunications carrier server 30 sends a message to the communication terminal 40 that corresponds to the message ID_1 assigned in step S11.
When the communication carrier server 30 sends a message to the communication terminal 40, it notifies the distribution server 10 of the status (step S13). The communication carrier server 30 notifies the distribution server 10 of the status by sending the message ID (SENT) assigned in step S11, and a status (SENT) indicating that the message has been sent.

When the communication terminal 40 receives a message, it sends a reception status (control information that notifies the communication carrier server 30 that a message has been received) (step S14).
When the communication carrier server 30 receives a reception status from the communication terminal 40, it notifies the distribution server 10 of the status (step S15). The communication carrier server 30 notifies the distribution server 10 of the status by sending the (message ID_1) assigned in step S11 and the status (DELIVERED) indicating that the message has been received.
When the communication terminal 40 performs a read operation on a message (displays the message), the message ID_1 and a status indicating that the message has been displayed (DISPLAYED) are notified to the distribution server 10 via the communication carrier server 30.

When a response operation is performed on the communication terminal 40, it sends control information to the communication carrier server 30 indicating that a response operation has been performed (step S16).
When the communication carrier server 30 receives control information from the communication terminal 40 indicating that a response operation has been performed, it notifies the distribution server 10 of the message status by notifying it of Webhook information (step S17). The Webhook information is assigned a message ID_2, but this message ID_2 is not associated with message ID_1. The communication carrier server 30 notifies the distribution server 10 of the status by sending message ID_2 and a status indicating that a response to the message has been made. The status notified here corresponds to (Webhook information). The status notified here includes the response content, the date and time the response operation was performed, the telephone number of the communication terminal 40 that performed the response operation, and the postback data set for the content to which the response operation was performed.

As described above, the distribution server 10 of the embodiment is an information processing system that transmits messages using RCS to a communication terminal 40 via a telecommunications carrier. The information processing system 1 comprises a message generation unit 131, an acquisition unit 130, a specification unit 132, and a log generation unit 133. The message generation unit 131 generates a message that associates postback data containing identification information with a button B (an example of content) included in the message. The identifier is identification information that identifies the message, and is, for example, a scenario ID, a scene ID, a unique ID, or an arbitrary string. The acquisition unit 130 acquires Webhook information. Webhook information is information notified from the telecommunications carrier server 30 when button B in the transmitted message is operated. The Webhook information includes postback data associated with button B. The specification unit 132 uses the identification information contained in the Webhook information to identify the message corresponding to the operated content. The log generation unit 133 uses Webhook information to generate logs that do not contain identification information, depending on the output destination. This allows the distribution server 10 in this embodiment to identify messages for which responses have been made based on Webhook information, and prevents the logs generated using Webhook information from becoming overly complex.

In this embodiment, the distribution server 10 generates a message that associates postback data, including a scenario ID and a scene ID, with the content contained in the message. This allows the distribution server 10 to acquire Webhook information, including the scenario ID and scene ID, when an operation is performed on the content, and to identify the message based on the acquired Webhook information.

If a unique ID is set as postback data, it is possible to identify a message by referring to the distribution information 120 using the unique ID included in the Webhook information. However, this requires a process that includes referring to the distribution information 120. In particular, if a large number of scenarios used by the information processing system 1 are stored in the distribution information 120, the processing load for identifying a single message by referring to the distribution information 120 becomes significant. In contrast, by configuring the postback data to include a scenario ID and a scene ID, it becomes possible to identify a message without referring to the distribution information 120, thus increasing the processing load.

The information processing system 1 and distribution server 10 in the above-described embodiment may be implemented entirely or partially using a computer. In this case, the program for implementing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be loaded into the computer system and executed. Here, "computer system" includes hardware such as the OS and peripheral devices. "Computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into the computer system. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording medium" may also include those that dynamically hold programs for a short period, such as communication lines used when transmitting programs via networks such as the Internet or communication lines such as telephone lines, and those that hold programs for a certain period, such as volatile memory within the computer system acting as a server or client. The program may also be for implementing a part of the aforementioned function, or it may be a program that can implement the aforementioned function in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, or it may be implemented using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

The embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and includes designs and other elements that do not depart from the spirit of this invention.

1…Information processing system, 10…Distribution server, 20…Corporate server, 30…Telecommunications carrier server, 40…Communication terminal 40, 11…Communication unit, 12…Storage unit, 120…Distribution information, 121…Response information 121 (Webhook information), 13…Control unit, 130…Acquisition unit, 131…Message generation unit, 132…Identification unit, 133…Log generation unit 133

Claims (4)

A distribution server that sends messages using RCS (Rich Communication Services) to communication terminals via a telecommunications carrier,
A message generation unit generates a message that associates the content contained in the message with postback data including a unique ID that identifies the message as identification information for the message,
An acquisition unit that acquires Webhook information, which is notified by the telecommunications carrier when the aforementioned content is manipulated, and which includes the postback data.
An identification unit that identifies the message corresponding to the manipulated content using the identification information contained in the Webhook information,
A distribution server comprising a log generation unit that generates logs using the aforementioned Webhook information and generates logs that do not include the identification information depending on the output destination of the logs. The aforementioned message is sent according to the scenario.
The message generation unit generates a message that associates the content contained in the message with postback data that includes , as identification information , a scenario ID that identifies the scenario and a scene ID that identifies which scene in the scenario the message is sent in.
The distribution server according to claim 1. A distribution method performed by a computer that acts as a distribution server, which sends messages using RCS (Rich Communication Services) to communication terminals via a telecommunications carrier,
The message generation unit generates a message in which postback data including a unique ID that identifies the message as identification information for the message is associated with the content contained in the message.
The acquisition unit acquires Webhook information that is notified by the telecommunications carrier when the content is manipulated, and which includes the postback data.
The identifying unit uses the identification information contained in the Webhook information to identify the message corresponding to the manipulated content,
A distribution method comprising: a log generation unit generating logs using the Webhook information, and generating logs that do not include the identification information depending on the output destination of the logs. A program for operating a computer as a distribution server according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the program causes the computer to function as each component of the distribution server.