ELECTRONIC CONFERENCING SYSTEM, ELECTRONIC CONFERENCE OPERATIONS METHOD, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND CONFERENCE OPERATIONS TERMINAL

• US 20110252092A1
• Filed: 04/05/2011
• Published: 10/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Amemura, Tatsuaki
• Application Number:
  US13/080,271
• Publication Number:
  US 20110252092A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

An electronic conferencing system is provided with a conference operations terminal to be operated at an electronic conference and a participation terminal to be applied to participation in the electronic conference. The conference operations terminal is provided with a storage portion that stores a conferencing program to be applied to the electronic conference, a recognition count determination unit that determines a recognition count based on participation terminals recognized by a participation terminal recognition unit that recognizes participation terminals, and a conferencing program activation unit that activates the conferencing program, when the recognition count determination unit determines that the recognition count equals a set recognition count that is preset.

Claims

1. An electronic conferencing system comprising a conference operations terminal to be operated at an electronic conference and a participation terminal to be applied to participation in the electronic conference, the conference operations terminal including:

a storage portion that stores a conferencing program to be applied to the electronic conference;

a recognition count determination unit that determines a recognition count based on the participation terminal recognized by a participation terminal recognition unit that recognizes the participation terminal; and

a conferencing program activation unit that activates the conferencing program, when the recognition count determination unit determines that the recognition count equals a set recognition count that is preset.

2. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the conference operations terminal includes the participation terminal recognition unit.

3. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of slave terminals that communicate with the conference operations terminal,

wherein the slave terminals each include the participation terminal recognition unit.

4. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 3,

wherein the slave terminals include a slave display portion, and

the slave display portion is configured to display a screen for executing the conferencing program received from the conference operations terminal.

5. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1,

wherein the conference operations terminal includes:

a participation terminal information obtaining unit that obtains, from a participation terminal information database that registers participation terminal information held by the participation terminal, participation terminal information corresponding to an authorization condition for participation in the electronic conference; and

an authorization determination unit that determines whether the participation terminal information obtained by the participation terminal information obtaining unit meets the authorization condition,

the set recognition count is an authorization recognition count that is preset in association with the authorization condition, and

the recognition count determination unit is configured to determine whether the recognition count of the participation terminal determined by the authorization determination unit to meet the authorization condition equals the authorization recognition count.

6. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 5, wherein the conference operations terminal has the participation terminal information database.

7. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 5,

wherein the conference operations terminal is connected to a server via a network, and

the server has the participation terminal information database.

8. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 5, wherein the authorization condition is that a security level set for the participation terminal is greater than or equal to a threshold.

9. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 8,

wherein a plurality of security levels are set,

a plurality of conferencing programs are set according to the security levels, and

the conferencing program activation unit is configured to activate the conferencing program corresponding to the security level satisfying the authorization condition.

10. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 9,

wherein the conference operations terminal includes:

a program status determination unit that determines whether a conferencing program is already active; and

a priority determination unit that, when the program status determination unit determines that a conferencing program is active, compares a priority of the conferencing program that is active and a priority of a conferencing program that is to be activated, and

the priority determination unit is configured to terminate the conferencing program that is active when the priority of the conferencing program that is to be activated is higher than the priority of the conferencing program that is active, and to terminate processing on the conferencing program that is to be activated when the priority of the conferencing program that is to be activated is lower than the priority of the conferencing program that is active.

11. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the conferencing program that is activated by the conferencing program activation unit is one of a conferencing application program to be applied to the electronic conference and a program for displaying a conference file to be used at the electronic conference.

12. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the participation terminal is a terminal device satisfying a preselected wireless communication standard.

13. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 4,

wherein the conference operations terminal

includes a level determination unit that determines a security level of the participation terminal, and a file selection unit that selects a conference file according to the security level determined by the level determination unit, and

is configured to display the conference file selected by the file selection unit on the slave display portion.

14. An electronic conference operations method of an electronic conferencing system including a conference operations terminal to be operated at an electronic conference and a participation terminal to be applied to participation in the electronic conference, the conference operations terminal storing a conferencing program to be applied to the electronic conference, comprising:

a recognition count determination step of the conference operations terminal determining a recognition count based on the participation terminal recognized in a participation terminal recognition step of recognizing the participation terminal; and

a conferencing program activation step of the conference operations terminal activating the conferencing program, when it is determined in the recognition count determination step that the recognition count equals a set recognition count that is preset.

15. A computer program product including a computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a computer-readable program, the program being for causing a computer to function as a conference operations terminal to be operated at an electronic conference realized by an electronic conferencing system including a participation terminal to be applied to participation in the electronic conference, and the conference operations terminal storing a conferencing program to be applied to the electronic conference, the program, when executed on the computer, causing the computer to execute:

a recognition count determination step of determining a recognition count based on the participation terminal recognized in a participation terminal recognition step of recognizing the participation terminal; and

a conferencing program activation step of activating the conferencing program, when it is determined in the recognition count determination step that the recognition count equals a set recognition count that is preset.

16. A conference operations terminal to be operated at an electronic conference realized by an electronic conferencing system including a participation terminal to be applied to participation in the electronic conference, comprising:

a storage portion that stores a conferencing program to be applied to the electronic conference;

a recognition count determination unit that determines a recognition count based on the participation terminal recognized by a participation terminal recognition unit that recognizes the participation terminal; and

a conferencing program activation unit that activates the conferencing program, when the recognition count determination unit determines that the recognition count equals a set recognition count that is preset.