WO2002093424A1 - Information notifying system and information notifying method - Google Patents

Abstract

Users and districts specified by the users and related with the users are included in a registration list (11). A server (10) acquires predetermined information such as crisis management information concerning the districts included in the registration list (11) from an information providing institute or collects it by itself, and sends it to user communication terminals (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, 13e) possessed by users contained in the registration list (11).

Description

 Description Information notification system and information notification method

 The present invention relates to an information notification system and an information notification method for acquiring predetermined information on an area designated by a user and transmitting the information to a user. In particular, a disaster or incident occurs in an area designated by the user. In this case, it relates to an information notification system and information notification method for transmitting information (crisis management information) on the disaster or incident that occurred to the user. Background art

 At present, various methods are used for users to obtain information on disasters in specific areas or information on the occurrence of critical incidents. For example, a user uses a TV or radio or other equipment or device to watch a broadcast in a desired area, or uses a mobile phone or a personal computer to connect to the Internet and access the site or homepage. , Etc. There is also a method of browsing newspapers and the like.

 However, such a method requires users to actively collect information on their own, and it takes time and effort to reach the information in the target area. And even if you do, you will not always get accurate information. In addition, it is very rare for television and radio to capture information on the desired area. In addition, if a user wants to obtain local information while traveling, the number of people who carry a television while traveling is small, as is the radio.

 Furthermore, even if information is obtained through newspapers, etc., it is often not very specific, but rather extensive and vague. There are also time lags from disasters and incidents.

Specifically, for example, when volcanic gas is generated by volcanic activity, there is currently no means to provide such information accurately and promptly to climbing users. As described above, the conventional method has a problem in that the information collecting ability of the user is low, and a danger cannot be avoided in the event of a disaster or the like.

 The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and is an information notification for acquiring predetermined information on an area designated by a user, particularly, crisis management information and transmitting the information to a user. It is an object to provide a system and an information notification method. Disclosure of the invention

 The present invention is an information notification system for transmitting predetermined information to a user having a communication terminal, wherein the storage means stores an area designated by the user in association with the user, Information obtaining means for obtaining predetermined information regarding the area, and transmitting means for transmitting the predetermined information regarding the area obtained by the information obtaining means to the user stored in the storage means in association with the area. It is characterized by having.

 With this configuration, the information can be obtained without gathering the information by itself, and the information collection ability is improved. In addition, by limiting the area, users can obtain more targeted information, and the information sender reduces the amount of information transmitted, thus reducing the system load. In the embodiment of the present invention, the storage means corresponds to a registration list, and the information acquisition means and the transmission means correspond to a server (system administrator). If the information to be acquired is acquired not by the system administrator but by another information provider and provided to the system, the information acquisition means will be the server and the information provider. In addition, the area designated by the user may be, for example, an unusual place for the user (going out or on a business trip), or a daily place.

(Such as a residential area). Therefore, no matter where the people are, they can always get information on areas of interest and interest, and they can feel safe.

 Further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the predetermined information is crisis management information related to the area.

 With such a configuration, the user's crisis management ability is enhanced, and danger can be avoided in advance.

Further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the crisis management information includes It is characterized by including any of harm information, traffic information, and lifeline information.

 Disaster information refers to, for example, damage caused by natural disasters (volcanic activity, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) and man-made disasters (fires, etc.). Traffic information refers to, for example, disruptions in the traffic network caused by incidents or accidents. Say. Lifeline information refers to information on danger points (no-go areas, etc.).

 Further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the information acquisition unit is connected to a communication terminal of an information providing organization that collects and provides the predetermined information in the area designated by the user or the related area. And acquiring the predetermined information from the information providing organization.

 With such a configuration, information can be reliably obtained. The information provision organizations include government agencies such as the Japan Meteorological Agency, and radio and television stations.

 Further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the information collecting means collects and transmits information in an area designated by the user or an area related thereto, and the information collected by the information collecting means. Information receiving means for receiving information.

 With such a configuration, the system itself can acquire information by its own function, so that information can be easily acquired without cooperating with the above-mentioned information provider. For example, a private meteorological company may acquire meteorological disaster information using observation equipment installed by itself and notify the user of natural disaster information, or a television station may utilize its own information network to deal with disasters and accidents. Information may be obtained and notified.

 Still further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the predetermined information transmitted by the transmission unit is at least one of character data, audio data, image data, and a control signal for causing the communication terminal to perform a specific operation. It is characterized by including.

With such a configuration, information to be provided to the user can be provided more effectively. Note that the above “specific operation” refers to, for example, setting a specific alarm on a mobile terminal owned by the user to output a warning sound, or vibrating the mobile terminal to call the user's attention. Including various operations such as doing. Further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the area designated by the user is an area where the user exists when the predetermined information is transmitted.

 With such a configuration, it is possible to always inform useful users of information on the area. In particular, when the information to be notified is crisis management information, users can avoid danger in advance.

 Still further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the communication terminal of the user has means for detecting the area where the user is located and transmitting the area in order to store the area in the storage unit. It is characterized by the following.

 With such a configuration, the current location of the user can be always reflected in the storage means as a specific area, so that it is possible to provide information on a useful area for the user.

 Further, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the communication terminal has a GPS function.

 Furthermore, in the information notification system according to the present invention, the area where the user is located is detected based on location registration information used in location registration of a communication terminal owned by the user. .

 With such a configuration, the location of the user can be obtained reliably and quickly, and the user can obtain quick and accurate information.

 The present invention also provides a step of registering a region designated by a user, a step of acquiring predetermined information on the registered region, and a step of transmitting the acquired predetermined information to a communication terminal of the user. And providing an information notification method.

 With such a method, information in a specific area can be transmitted to the user, so that the user does not need to collect the information by himself, and the user can surely obtain the information.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a step of detecting the position of the user by detecting the position of the communication terminal possessed by the user; a step of registering the position of the user; Obtaining predetermined information about an existing area; Transmitting the acquired predetermined information to a communication terminal owned by the user.

 With such a method, information around the user's current location is transmitted, so that the user can obtain useful and timely information.

 Further, the present invention provides a step of registering a region designated by a user, a step of acquiring predetermined information on the registered region, and transmitting the acquired predetermined information to a communication terminal of the user. A program for information notification comprising steps to perform is provided.

 If such a program is stored in a computer, the computer can function as a server for collecting and transmitting information on a specific area. Information can be obtained easily and reliably. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

 FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 Figure 2 is a flow chart of the operation when the system administrator and the information provider are different.

 Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the operation when the system administrator and the information provider are the same. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

 Embodiment 1

The present embodiment is an example of a system for notifying a user of a specific area designated by a user with crisis management information in real time when a disaster or an emergency occurs in the area. The system administrator can immediately obtain crisis management information in the event of a disaster or emergency, for example, by cooperating with an organization that provides crisis management information, such as a television station or a designated government agency. To the user in real time It is a mechanism that can notify the information.

 FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a server 10 of a system administrator, an information providing organization 12, and a plurality of user communication terminals 13a, 13 b, 13c, 13d, and 13e are connected via the Internet 14, respectively. Also, the server 10 has a user registration list 11 for each specific area, and when a disaster or the like occurs in a specific area, the server 10 refers to the registration list 11 and is listed. Notify users all at once. The thick solid line in the figure indicates the flow of crisis management information, and the dotted line indicates the operation of confirming the occurrence of an abnormality such as a disaster or accident from the server 10 to the information provider 12. The registration list 11 may be stored in a storage device provided in the server 10, or may be stored in a database server or the like separate from the server 10, and registered from the server 10 via the Internet 14. A system referring to FIG. 11 may be used, and there is no particular limitation.

 Specifically, as shown in Fig. 1, when an abnormality occurs in the district A, the information provider 12 obtains information on the occurrence of the abnormality (①), and inquires from the server 10 about the presence or absence of the abnormality (② ), And sends crisis management information on abnormalities to the server 10 via the Internet 14 (③). When the server 10 receives the crisis management information, the server 10 refers to the registration list of the district A and transmits the crisis management information to all the users registered in the list (④). In FIG. 1, the information is transmitted to the user communication terminal 13a and the user communication terminal 13e whose specific area is the area A.

Hereinafter, a more detailed operation of the crisis management information notification system of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user registers a specific area in advance with the system administrator. This registration process involves accessing the system administrator's server 10 from the user communication terminals 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, and 13e via the Internet 14 and entering the necessary information ( The registration list 11 may be automatically created or updated by the server 10 (S20) and the server 10 (S21), or the user may contact the system administrator with a specific area by telephone or the like. Notifying (S20), a method may be used in which a person on the system administrator side inputs data separately in the server 10 and creates or updates the registration list 11 (S21). Not limited. When the registration process is completed as described above, the server 10 notifies the user communication terminals 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, and 13e of the registration contents by e-mail or the like, and notifies the user of the registration confirmation. I do. As shown in Fig. 1, the user of user communication terminal 13a is area A, the user of user communication terminal 13b is area B, the user of user communication terminal 13c is area C, and the user is It is assumed that the user of the communication terminal 13 d has registered in the district B and the user of the user communication terminal 13 e has registered in the district A.

 Specifically, for example, if Mr. X plans to climb Mt. Y, he will request the server (system administrator) 10 from his mobile phone to provide crisis management information around Mt. (S20). In other words, the specific area is registered as the area surrounding Mt. Y (S21).

 Thereafter, the server (system administrator) 10 periodically checks with the information provider 12 whether or not an abnormality such as a disaster or an accident has occurred (S22). This confirmation is made periodically based on the agreement with the information provider. A response is always returned from the information provider 12 regardless of the presence or absence of an abnormality.If there is an abnormality in the area, crisis management information is provided.If there is no abnormality in the area, information indicating that there is no abnormality is provided. Provided (S23). The server 10 verifies the returned response and checks for an error (S24). If there is no abnormality (S24, no abnormality), do nothing and return to step S22 for periodically checking information. If there is any abnormality (S24, abnormality exists), the user refers to the registration list 11 and notifies all of the listed users of the crisis management information at the same time (S25). The user communication terminal that has registered the area receives the notification of the crisis management information (S26). After the notification, the process returns to the information confirmation step of S22.

Explaining the specific example of Mr. X climbing to Mt. Y described above, immediately before Mr. X heads to Mt. Y, volcanic gas eruption is suddenly observed around Mt. Suppose you are in danger. Such information is reported nationwide through television and radio, but is not normally transmitted to Mr. X who is climbing Mt. Y (without using this system). However, since Mr. X had previously registered the area around Mt. Y as a specific area for this system, the information provider 12 notified the server (system administrator) 10 of crisis management information on volcanic gas generation ( S23), registration list from server 10 The mobile phone of Mr. X is immediately notified by referring to 11 (S25). The management information is notified by any method such as text, voice, image, and vibration. For example, in this example, the system may call Mr. X's mobile phone and notify by voice that “volcanic gas is erupting near Mt. May be notified by character data. The same contents may be notified by visually effective image data, or the fact that a specific area is in a dangerous state may be notified by vibrating a mobile phone. Upon receiving such a notification (S26), Mr. X can immediately check the information entered and stop going to Mt. Υ to avoid danger.

 If the user changes the specific area, repeat from step S20. In the flow described above, the server 10 periodically inquires of the information provider 12 about the occurrence of an abnormality as shown in S22, but the step of S22 is omitted, and the information provider is omitted. An arrangement may be made such that information is transmitted only when an error occurs from 12. Embodiment 2

 In the first embodiment, the processing flow when the information provider is different from the system administrator has been described in detail.In the second embodiment, the case where the system administrator and the information provider are the same is described. The processing flow will be described in detail. The fact that the system administrator and the information provider are the same means that the system administrator has the function of acquiring crisis management information in a specific area. A device for detecting abnormalities is installed, and if an abnormality is detected, the crisis management information is sent to the server 10 or the system administrator is responsible for finding the abnormality. In the case where the responsible person finds an abnormality, the responsible person directly sends the crisis management information to the server 1 '0. This means that crisis management information can be obtained within the system.

The processing flow in such a case will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in Fig. 1, if an abnormality occurs in the Α area, the server (system administrator) 10 obtains information on the occurrence of the abnormality (① '), refers to the registration list in the A area, and But The crisis management information is transmitted to the user communication terminal 13a and the user communication terminal 13e in the A district (④).

 More specifically, referring to Fig. 3, the user first registers a specific area as in Fig. 2. The user requests the server (system administrator) 10 to register a specific area (S30). When the registration is completed (S31), the server 10 sends information on the registered area to the server 10. Check periodically (S32). In this embodiment, the crisis management information obtained in this system is confirmed. As a result of checking, if there is no abnormality in the registered area (S33, no abnormality), do nothing and return to step S32 for periodically checking information. If there is any abnormality (S33, abnormality exists), the risk management information is notified to all the listed users all at once by referring to the registration list 11 (S34). The user communication terminal that has registered the area receives the notification of the crisis management information (S3

Five ) . After the notification, the process returns to the information confirmation step of S32.

 In the flow described above, the server 10 periodically checks for the occurrence of an abnormality as shown in S32, but the confirmation step of S32 is omitted, and the occurrence of the abnormality is triggered. However, a mechanism may be used in which crisis management information is transmitted to the corresponding user accordingly. Embodiment 3.

In the first and second embodiments, the specific area is limited to the fixed area in which the user has registered in advance.However, the GPS function for acquiring the current position on the user communication terminal, PHS, etc. If the mobile terminal has a function to register the location to the base station, the current location of the user can always be transmitted (registered) to the server 10 as a specific area, and the location near the user who is moving The user can be notified of the abnormal situation that has occurred. In the present embodiment, in FIG. 1, the user communication terminals 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d, and 13e periodically notify the current position to the server 10 and the server 1 Update the registration list 1 1 with 0. As a result, the specific area becomes the location where the user exists, and the server 10 always refers to the latest registration list 11 and notifies the relevant user of crisis management information even if the user is moving. Can be. The processing flow for transmitting crisis management information is the same as in FIGS. 2 and 3. Industrial applicability

 As described above, according to the present invention, for example, when an emergency occurs in a specific area designated by the user, the system administrator can provide the user with information on the emergency, Users can obtain necessary information without having to collect information themselves. In addition, by limiting the area, users can obtain information on a specific area, and the system administrator (server) can reduce the amount of transmitted information, thereby reducing the load. In addition, if the ability to collect real-time information is improved and the information notified to users is crisis management information, the probability of avoiding danger in advance will increase.

Claims

The scope of the claims 1. An information notification system for transmitting predetermined information to a user having a communication terminal,  Storage means for storing the area designated by the user in association with the previous user;  Information acquisition means for acquiring predetermined information about the area,  An information notification system, comprising: transmission means for transmitting predetermined information on the area acquired by the information acquisition means to the user stored in the storage means in association with the area. . 2. In the information notification system described in claim 1,  The information notification system, wherein the predetermined information is crisis management information on the area. 3. In the information notification system described in claim 2,  An information notification system, wherein the crisis management information includes any of disaster information, traffic information, and lifeline information. 4. In the information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,  The information obtaining means is connected to a communication terminal of an information providing organization that collects and provides the predetermined information in the area designated by the user or the related area, and the predetermined information from the information providing organization An information notification system characterized by acquiring the information. 5. In the information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The information collecting means is an area designated by the user or an area related thereto. An information notification system, comprising: an information collection unit that collects and transmits information in the information collection unit; and an information reception unit that receives the information collected by the information collection unit. 6. In the information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,  The information notification system characterized in that the predetermined information transmitted by the transmission means includes at least one of character data, audio data, image data, and a control signal for causing a communication terminal to perform a specific operation. . 7. In the information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,  The information notification system, wherein the area specified by the user is an area where the user is present when the predetermined information is transmitted. 8. In the information notification system described in claim 7,  An information notification system, characterized in that the communication terminal of the user has means for detecting the area where the user is located and sending out the area to be stored in the storage means. 9. In the information notification system described in claim 8,  The information notification system, wherein the communication terminal has a GPS function. 10. In the information notification system described in claim 8,  An information notification system, wherein the area where the user is located is detected based on location registration area information used in location registration of a communication terminal owned by the user. 1 1. Registering the area specified by the user; • obtaining certain information about the registered area;  Transmitting the obtained predetermined information to a communication terminal of the user. 1 2. Detecting the position of the user by detecting the position of the communication terminal possessed by the user;  Registering the location of the user;  An information notification method, comprising: a step of acquiring predetermined information on an area where the user is located; and a step of transmitting the acquired predetermined information to a communication terminal of the user. 13. A step of registering an area designated by a user, a step of acquiring predetermined information relating to the registered area, and a step of transmitting the acquired predetermined information to a communication terminal owned by the user An information notification program comprising: