Schedule management support system

• US 5,781,731 A
• Filed: 09/20/1996
• Issued: 07/14/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Maxell Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Inoue, Yoshiisa, Yamauchi, Tsukasa, Asuma, Hajime, Tomita, Hiromi, Oeda, Shigeto, Nakajima, Akira, Ito, Jun, Koreeda, Hiroyuki, Kumai, Hiroyuki, Hasegawa, Tsukasa, Hataya, Shigeki, Kanazawa, Rituko, Matsuda, Yasumasa, Kasai, Yasuhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Ellis B.
• Application Number:
  US08/717,251
• Time in Patent Office: 662 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.32, 395/200.34, 395/200.5, 395/200.51, 345/330, 345/331, 345/332
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

When conference conditions are set by a conference sponsor, a conference sponsor agent inquires of schedule management agents of requested attendants about available time within a range of set dates, determines an optimum conference schedule on the basis of the available time of the individual requested attendants, sends to the conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to the requested attendants. In order to permit an input value set by a user to have a range in accordance with the kind of parameter requiring the input value and conditions at that time, an input value acquiring element acquires an input value of a parameter necessary for a processing realized by an application element, the input value being set by the user by an input element. An allowable value determining element determines an allowable value to be added to the input value on the basis of information supplied from the application element and corresponding to the kind of the parameter and conditions at that time, and an allowable value adding element determines a different input value from the acquired input value by adding the allowable value to the acquired input value and delivers the acquired input value and the thus determined different input value, as input values of the parameter, to the application element.

Claims

1. A conference schedule management support system comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions in a fuzzy expression from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines whether or not a conference schedule is agreeable by all users who are requested to attend on the basis of available time information from all of the requested attendants, chances at least one aspect of the available time information within a range of the fuzzy expression to coordinate a conference schedule that is agreeable by all users who are requested to attend, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants.

2. A conference schedule management support system according to claim 1, wherein said conference sponsor further sends inquiries to conference places utilizing the fuzzy expression regarding available times for holding a conference, and said schedule management agents of the requested attendants send information including available time without travel time to the conference place to said conference sponsor agent.

3. A conference schedule management support system according to claim 1, wherein, when a part of a designation of a desirable conference date is omitted, said conference sponsor agent sends an inquiry regarding available times within a range of dates and times for attending the conference.

4. A conference schedule management support system according to claim 1, wherein said conference sponsor agent designates the desirable conference date in a fuzzy expression form, determines a range of dates and times corresponding to the designated expression by consulting past conference information and sends inquiries to said schedule management agents of requested attendants about available times on the basis of the thus obtained range of dates and hours.

7. A conference schedule management support system according to claim 1, wherein when no available time is open but attendance to the conference is possible if the date is changed, said schedule management agents answer the inquiries regarding available times within the range of the desirable conference dates from said conference sponsor agent by searching for an available time near the desired conference date and proposing a change in the date to a date to said conference sponsor agent and said conference sponsor agent changes the conference conditions on the basis of said change proposal and again sends the inquiries.

8. A conference schedule management support system according to claim 1, wherein when no available time is open but substitute attendance is possible, said schedule management agents of the requested attendants respond to the inquiries regarding available times from said conference sponsor agent by selecting a substitute attendant, sends an inquiry to a schedule management agent of the substitute attendant regarding available times and proposes changing the attendant in the conference conditions to the substitute attendant designated by the requested attendant to said conference sponsor agent.

5. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein said conference sponsor agent designates the desirable conference date in a fuzzy expression form, determines a range of dates and times corresponding to the designated expression by consulting past conference information and sends inquiries to said schedule management agents of requested attendants about available times on the basis of the thus obtained range of dates and times,

wherein when a time range within which all of the requested attendants are able to attend the conference is not available, said conference sponsor agent extends the range of dates and times corresponding to the fuzzy expression and repetitively sends the inquiries regarding available times until schedules of all requested attendants coincide.

6. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule manager of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein when no available time is open but attendance to the conference is possible if the conference place is changed, said schedule management agents answer the inquiries regarding available times within the range of desirable conference dates from said conference sponsor agent by proposing a chance in the conference place to a place where said conference sponsor agent is able to attend, and said conference sponsor agent changes the conference conditions on the basis of said change proposal and again sends the inquiries.

9. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein when there are a plurality of candidate time ranges for scheduling the conference, said conference sponsor agent selects, as a first candidate, a weekday and a conference giving time range which were selected most frequently for past conferences of the same series thereof known from past schedule information and sends notice of the first candidate to said conference sponsor.

10. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein when there are a plurality of candidate time ranges for scheduling the conference, candidates of time ranges are arranged in the order of frequency according to past conferences of the same series known from past schedule information, and the time range candidates are sent to said conference sponsor.

11. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein when there are a plurality of candidate time ranges for scheduling the conference, said conference sponsor agent determines an average of intervals at which past conferences belonging to the same series were held according to past schedule information, selects as a first candidate a day which is closest to the interval of days from the conference held most recently by the average interval of days between conferences, and sends notice of the first candidate to said conference sponsor.

12. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein said conference sponsor agent adds adds increments of "1" to a consecutive number of conferences held most recently in each series of conferences to series names of past conferences known from past schedule information and displays a resulting series names in a list.

13. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information Processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein when designation of conference place is omitted, said conference sponsor agent determines the number of first candidates for requested attendants, searches and reserves a conference room which is unoccupied and which can be utilized by that number of requested attendants, and sets said conference room as the conference place.

14. A conference schedule management support system, comprising:

a plurality of information processing apparatuses coupled to each other through communication means, each information processing apparatus having a function of interacting with a user, a schedule management agent which holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent which performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for scheduling a conference designated by a user,

wherein, when given desirable conference scheduling conditions from a user who desires to hold a conference, said conference sponsor agent inquires of said schedule management agents of all users who are requested to attend the conference about available times within a range of desirable conference dates, determines a conference schedule on the basis of the available time information from all of the requested attendants, presents to said conference sponsor the conference schedule for confirmation thereof, and sends a conference notification to said schedule management agents of the requested attendants,

wherein when designation of conference place is omitted, said conference sponsor agent searches for conference rooms in the order of frequency at which past conferences of the same series were held thereat until a usable conference room is found and reserved, and confirms the reserved conference room as the conference place.

15. A conference schedule management support system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses each having a function of interacting with a users are coupled to each other through communication means, a schedule management agent holds schedule information for each user and a conference sponsor agent performs schedule adjustment for requested attendants in accordance with desirable conditions for holding a conference designated by a user, said system comprising:

means for holding schedule information for each user;

means for setting schedule information;

means for reading the schedule information;

information holding means for holding a user'"'"'s information in a fuzzy expression used to perform conference and schedule management;

means for retrieving information from said information holding means;

conference condition setting means for inputting conditions in the fuzzy expression for scheduling a conference on the basis of a designation by a user;

schedule inquiring means for sending an inquiry to said information processing apparatus of all requested attendants of the conference set by said conference condition setting means regarding available times within a range of desirable conference dates and times set by said conference condition setting means;

schedule searching means, in response to the inquiry, for reading schedule information available within a corresponding range of dates and hours;

schedule returning means for sending available time information;

conference hour determining means for selecting an optimum time range within which all requested attendants are able to attend the conference within the range of conditions expressed in fuzzy form based on the available time information sent from the requested attendants and determining the selected optimum time range;

conference contents notifying means for sending notice of the determined conference contents to a user who has input the conference conditions; and

conference giving notifying means for transmitting a conference giving notice message to said information processing apparatus of the requested attendants on the basis of information of the conference contents determined by said conference hour determining means.

16. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

processing means for execution of processings;

input value acquiring means for acquiring an input value of a parameter necessary for said processing means to execute a processing;

an allowable value determining means for determining an allowable value to be added to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means in accordance with information expressed in fuzzy form supplied from said processing means; and

allowable value adding means for determining a different input value including the acquired input value or another different input value exclusive of the acquired input value by adding the allowable value determined by said allowable value determining means to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means.

17. An information processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said allowable value determining means determines the allowable value to be added to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means by selecting any one of a plurality of allowable values, and said processing means responds to information concerning the parameter to supply information for specifying the allowable value to be selected by said allowable value determining means.

18. An information processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said input value acquiring means acquires a designation regarding whether a user acknowledges the input value determined by said allowable value adding means, said apparatus further comprises allowable value learning means for storing designated contents acquired by said input value acquiring means in accordance with the kinds of parameters, said allowable value determining means modifies the determined allowable value on the basis of the storage contents of said allowable value learning means.

19. An information processing system having two or more information processing apparatus as recited in claim 18 and connected to each other, wherein allowable value determining means of each of said information processing apparatus determines an allowable value in accordance with information delivered out of a different information processing apparatus.

20. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

processing means for executing processings;

input value acquiring means for acquiring an input value of a parameter expressed in fuzzy form necessary for said processing means to execute a processing; and

allowable value adding means for determining a different input value including the acquired input value or another different input value excluding the acquired input value by adding an allowable value corresponding to information concerning the parameter supplied from said processing means to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means.

21. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

processing means for executing processings;

input value acquiring means for acquiring an input value of a parameter necessary for said processing means to execute a processing; and

allowable value adding means for determining a different input value including the acquired input value or another different input value excluding the acquired input value by adding an allowable value corresponding to information concerning the parameter supplied from said processing means to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means,

wherein said input value acquiring means acquires a designation regarding whether a user acknowledges the input value determined by said allowable value adding means, and said apparatus further comprises allowable value learning means for storing designated contents acquired by said input value acquiring means in accordance with the kinds of parameters and allowable value modifying means for modifying the allowable value to be added by said allowable value adding means on the basis of the storage contents of said allowable value learning means.

22. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

processing means for executing processings;

input value acquiring means for acquiring an input value of a parameter, expressed in fuzzy form, necessary for said processing means to execute a processing and an allowable value to be added to the input value; and

allowable value adding means for determining a different input value from the acquired input value by adding the allowable value acquired by said input value acquiring means to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means, wherein said processing means determines whether the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means and the input value determined by said allowable value adding means are input values suitable for executing the processing.

23. An information processing apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said processing means handles the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means in preference to the input value determined by said allowable value adding means.

24. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

processing means for executing processings;

input value acquiring means for acquiring an input value of a parameter necessary for said processing means to execute a processing and an allowable value to be added to the input value; and

allowable value adding means for determining a different input value from the acquired input value by adding the allowable value acquired by said input value acquiring means to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means,

wherein said processing means decides whether the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means and the input value determined by said allowable value adding means are input values suitable for executing the processing,

wherein said input value acquiring means acquires a weight value representing a value of a weighting set by a user or said processing means, and said processing means allots weight values acquired by said input value acquiring means to the input value acquired by said input value acquiring means and the input value determined by said allowable value adding means, respectively, to distinctively handle the two input values.

25. An information processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said input value acquiring means acquires an allowable value set by the user.

26. An information processing apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said input value acquiring means acquires an input value set by the user.

27. An information processing apparatus according to claim 25, further comprising different processing means for executing a different processing from that executed by said processing means, wherein said input value acquiring means acquires an input value set by said different processing means.

28. An information processing apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said information processing apparatus is connected to different information processing apparatus, and said input value acquiring means acquires an input value delivered out of said different information processing apparatus.

29. An information processing system having two or more information processing apparatus as recited in claim 28 and connected to each other, wherein allowable value adding means of each of said information processing apparatus adds an allowable value delivered out of a different information processing apparatus.