JP2002279114A - Service providing system and service providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the service provided by a communication line successful by relaxing pain and boring of a user in the waiting time for the service to be provided by the communication line. SOLUTION: This service providing system is constituted by a service server, a user terminal and a service means. The service server includes a waiting room used in the user's waiting time for the service to be provided, and the waiting room displays the status of waiting the service to the user. In this system, the user terminal and the service server specified by the user are connected through the communication line, and when the user can't be provided with the service due to the limit on the number of persons of the service means provided through the service server, the user is made to be in standby in the waiting room of the service server to display the status of sequence wait for the service.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a service providing system and a service providing method using a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, services using communication lines such as the Internet and cable television have been remarkably developed, and advertisements, shopping, and the like using Internet lines and the like have been actively performed. further,
It has also been proposed to provide users with real-time leisure, such as games, by utilizing the interactivity of these communication lines. For example, the present applicant has previously described Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-236.
757 proposes a method and a system relating to a remote control game and remote control fishing using an Internet line, so that a user can enjoy a game and fishing with a sense of presence while staying at home.

[0003] However, since such services provide services to users on a one-to-one basis, the number of persons is naturally limited, and many users try to access a server that provides such services. In such a case, since the number of accesses exceeds the number limit, most users who have requested access may not be able to receive the service. In this case, the user has to wait for the order of receiving the service until the desired service can be received.

However, conventionally, in such a case, the user has not been able to know what is the status of the waiting for receiving the service and when he / she can receive the service. That is, conventionally,
If you exceed the limit, you will not be able to connect to the server or you will only be prompted to reconnect later.Even if you contact the server that provides the service, you will receive an email Was contacted to some extent. On the other hand, if the user releases access to the server, the right to wait for the service is lost. Therefore, a user who wants to receive a service needs to spend a boring time while feeling frustrated and mentally distressed during an unpredictable time. Such a situation ultimately reduces the user's desire to receive services, and thus hinders the development of service provision using such communication lines.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to alleviate the pain and boredom of a user and to prosper in providing services through a communication line during a waiting time for receiving a service using a communication line. I do.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a service server for providing a service to a user, a user terminal connected to the service server via a communication line, and the service server. In a service providing system including service means connected via a communication line, the service server includes a waiting room that can be used when a user waits for a turn to receive a service, and the waiting room receives a service from the user. A service providing system for displaying a status of a waiting queue (claim 1).

As described above, the service server is provided with a waiting room that can be used when the user waits for a service, and the waiting room displays the waiting status of the service for the user. For example, since the user can know how long he or she should wait before receiving the service, the time can be effectively used. Furthermore, since it is not driven by anxiety or a feeling of frustration, it is preferable in terms of mental health.

[0008] On the other hand, the system of the present invention also has advantages for the service providing side. In a conventional system, a user who spends a waiting time often gives up waiting and leaves a service server. In such a case, if the user who was receiving the service at that time has finished receiving the service, there is no longer a next service, and the service server has a blank time for providing the service. Operating rate of the service to be reduced. However, in the service providing system of the present invention, since it is expected that the user waits for the order of receiving the service longer than before, the idle time of providing the service is reduced, and the operation rate of the provided service can be improved.

In this case, the waiting room is
It is preferable to have a waiting room content that provides advertisement information to the user and / or allows the user to shop (claim 2).

[0010] As described above, if the waiting room is provided with the advertisement information to the user or has the content that allows the user to shop, the user may not transmit the advertisement information during the waiting time for receiving the service. You can enjoy watching and shopping. for that reason,
The user can spend the waiting time for receiving the service meaningfully without being bored.

[0011] The contents in the waiting room are not merely for the user.
For example, even if the content is free for the user such as advertisement information, the waiting room can provide additional profit by collecting a publication fee from the advertiser. In addition, for paid contents such as shopping and movies, it can be expected that the user will be further profitable. That is, the waiting room of the present invention does not let the user get tired of waiting time, and at the same time, the service provider can develop a new business.

In this case, the order of receiving the service in the waiting room may be determined by any one of the order of access to the service server by the user, the lottery, and the auction. ).

As described above, the order in which services are received can be the order in which the service server was first accessed according to the principle of waiting for a turn. However, in the case where access is concentrated in a short time and it is not always fair to give priority to the person who accessed first, it is possible to determine the order of receiving services by appropriate lottery. Alternatively, the order can be determined by an auction. In this auction, for example, the period is appropriately determined from what time to what time to what time, and the right to wait for the service is obtained from the successful bidder within that time.

In this case, the affiliated site has an affiliated site linked to the waiting room, and the affiliated site provides the user with the service based on the affiliated site content while retaining the right to wait for the user to receive the service in the waiting room. It is preferable that this is done (claim 4).

[0015] In this way, the same function as the waiting room is added to the affiliated site so that the right to wait for the user's turn to receive the service in the waiting room can be retained, and the user can be provided with the contents of the affiliated site content. If the service is provided, the user has more options in the service waiting time, and the user can more comfortably spend the service waiting time. Furthermore, if shopping or the like is performed at affiliated sites, royalties can be obtained according to the sales.
In addition, even if the partner is not a business site or the like, if there is a site (for example, a gazette) that many people want to visit, the link can be made at a certain partner fee.

In this case, the service means may be a remote control game or a remote control fishing. In the case where such a service means is a remote control game or remote control fishing, if the number of accesses from the user increases, the number of available games or the number of fishing can be exceeded and the user's waiting time may increase. As expected, the present invention, in which the user can comfortably wait for the service, is more effective.

In this case, the communication line connecting the service server and the user terminal can be a telephone line, an Internet line, a two-way broadcast, or a combination thereof.

As described above, the communication line in the present invention is not necessarily limited to the Internet line, but may be a telephone line, a two-way broadcast, or a combination thereof. For example, transmission from the service server to the user terminal may be performed by cable television, and transmission from the user terminal to the service server may be performed using a telephone line. As a result, the range in which the service of the present invention can be received is greatly expanded.

The present invention also relates to a service providing method, wherein at least a user terminal is connected to a service server specified by the user via a communication line, and the user is provided with the number of service means provided via the service server. When the service cannot be received due to restrictions, the user waits in the waiting room of the service server to display the waiting status of the service to the user, and when the user can receive the service, connects the user to the service means. And a service providing method (claim 7).

As described above, when the user cannot receive the service due to the limitation of the number of service means provided through the service server, the user waits in the waiting room of the service server to wait for the service. Is displayed to the user, it is possible to reduce the pain and boredom of the user during the waiting time.
Further, from the service provider side, it can be expected that users who always wait for service provision can be secured, so it is possible to eliminate idle time of service provision and improve the service provision availability.

In this case, it is preferable to provide the user with advertisement information and / or a service that allows the user to shop in the waiting room (claim 8).

As described above, if the user can enjoy shopping or the like in the waiting room, the user can spend a significant amount of time without waiting for the service waiting time, and the service provider inserts an advertisement for the service in the waiting room. It is possible to obtain profits from fees and shopping sales.

In this case, the order of receiving the service in the waiting room can be determined by any one of the order of access to the service server by the user, the lottery, and the auction (claim 9).

As described above, the order of receiving the service can be determined by arbitrarily selecting an appropriate method from the order of access to the service server by the user, the lottery, and the auction depending on the service status.

According to an access request of a user waiting for the order of receiving service in the waiting room, the affiliated site linked to the waiting room is connected to the user, and the affiliated site determines the order of receiving the service in the user's waiting room. It is preferable to provide a service based on the affiliated site content to the user while retaining the content (claim 10).

As described above, the user is connected to the affiliated site linked to the waiting room, and the affiliated site provides the user with the service of the affiliated site content while maintaining the order of receiving the service in the user's waiting room. By doing so, it is possible to satisfy users who are not satisfied with the waiting room content alone.

In this case, the service means can be a remote control game or a remote control fishing. As described above, even if the service means has a waiting time for a service due to the limitation of the number of people, such as a remote operation game or a remote operation fishing, the service providing method of the present invention provides the user with a waiting time. Can be comfortably spent, and when the user turns around, the user can enjoy a remote control game or remote control fishing with a sense of realism.

In this case, the communication line connecting the service server and the user terminal can be a telephone line, an Internet line, a two-way broadcast, or a combination thereof.

As described above, the communication line connecting the service server and the user terminal is not limited to the telephone line or the Internet line, but may be a two-way broadcast such as a cable television or a combination thereof. Regardless of whether it is wired or wireless, the transmission line and the reception line may be the same or different.

[0030]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a service providing system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a service providing system according to the present invention includes a service server 1 for providing a service to a user, a user terminal 3 connected to the service server 1 via a communication line 4, and a service line connected to the service server 1. 4 comprises a service means 2 connected via

The user terminal 3 is connected to a service server via a communication line 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 3 can be a personal computer connected via a normal telephone line or an Internet line. Alternatively, FIG.
As shown in the above, a mobile phone or a mobile personal computer can be used. When the user terminal 3 is configured as described above, the user can receive the service according to the present invention even when away from home. Further, the user terminal 3
May be a cable television as shown in FIG. In this case, the cable TV plays the role of a personal computer.

Further, the service server 1 and the user terminal 3
The communication line 4 that connects the wireless LAN and the wireless LAN may be wired or wireless. Also, the lines used for transmission and reception need not be the same or the same type. For example, when the user terminal 3 is a cable television, transmission from a user can be performed by telephone using a telephone line, and reception from the service server 1 can be performed using a cable line.

The service means 2 provides a service to the user on the user terminal 3 side. This service means 2
Can be, for example, a remote control game or remote control fishing. In this case, a perception means such as a television camera and an operation means capable of performing a game or fishing by remote control are arranged in a game place or a fishing place. The user connected to and can enjoy a game or fishing by inputting an appropriate input to the user terminal 3 while watching the screen display of the user terminal 3.

However, since these services are provided to the user on a one-to-one basis, there is a limit to the number of people who can simultaneously provide the service. Therefore, when many users access the same service server, some of the accessing users cannot receive the service. Therefore, the service providing system of the present invention is effective.

The service server 1 is connected to both the user terminal 3 and the service means 2 via the communication line 4, and can perform control for appropriately providing a service to the user. Here, it is a feature of the present invention that the service server 1 includes a waiting room 5 that can be used when the user waits for a turn to receive a service. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the waiting room 5 includes a display window 7 for displaying the status of waiting for the user to receive the service, and various waiting rooms to prevent the user from getting bored during the waiting time for the service. The content 8 is provided. The service server 1 determines the number of accesses from the user terminal 3 and the service status of the service means 2, and can control whether the user is directly connected to the service means 2 or kept in the waiting room 5. I have.

When displaying the status of waiting for a service to be received by the user, the status does not always need to be displayed. For example, the status may be displayed to the user when the order is approached to some extent. Also, the means for displaying the waiting status for receiving the service to the user is not limited to the display window described above, and the order may be transmitted to the user by sound or vibration. For example, if the user terminal is not a normal personal computer or the like but a mobile phone or a mobile personal computer, it is particularly effective to inform the user of the order of receiving services by sound or vibration.

Service provision using such a service provision system is performed, for example, as follows. First, a user requests access to a specific service server 1 from a personal computer as the user terminal 3 and establishes a connection with the service server 1. The service server 1 manages the waiting state of the service means 2 such as a remote control game, and if the user cannot receive the service due to the limitation of the number of service means 2, the user waits in the waiting room 5 of the service server 1. Let it.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, a waiting room 5 is displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 3, and a message indicating that the waiting user is in a service waiting state due to the limitation of the number of users. Display window 7
Is opened, and the user waiting status is displayed to the user.

The display of the waiting status differs depending on how the order of waiting for the service is determined. For example, if the order of receiving services is simply determined based on the order of access to the service server 1, the display window 7 indicating the waiting status of receiving services is displayed on the display window 7.
Just show how many people can wait for the service.

However, when many users access the same service server 1 in a short time, it may not always be fair to determine the order based on the access order. This is because the speed at which access is established may vary depending on the communication environment of each user and the like. Therefore,
In such a case, the order of access can be determined by lottery. In this lottery, for example, the order in which the users who access the service server 1 within a certain period of time receive services can be determined by random numbers or the like. Alternatively, a lottery in which the order is determined by the user also participating in the lottery and the user making an appropriate input to the user terminal 3 may be used.

For example, when there are a large number of users who want to receive the service, the order of receiving the service can be determined by an auction.
For example, users who have accessed within a certain period of time place a right to wait for a turn and compete during the waiting time. The user who has won the right by bidding may be given preferential service when the service means is next available. Above, lottery and auction,
Since the game itself has a kind of game characteristics, even a user who has temporarily omitted the lottery or the like can enjoy the waiting time without getting bored.

Further, the waiting room 5 itself may be provided with various waiting room contents 8. For example, an advertisement can be posted as shown in FIG. For example, viewing this advertisement is free to the user, but by collecting a posting fee from the advertiser, the service server provider can make a profit and not only bore the user during the service waiting time. Without having to start a new business.

Further, the waiting room contents are not limited to free contents, and can provide paid contents such as shopping. This allows the service server provider to make further profits. The paid content is not limited to shopping, but may be in the form of a movie or the like.

In principle, the right to wait for a turn to receive service is deemed to be a waiver of the right to wait when the user leaves the waiting room. However, it is also possible to use a system in which the link between the service provider's affiliated site and the waiting room is used and the right of the user to wait for a turn is retained.

The partner site 6 in FIG. 1 is an example of such a system. The partner site 6 is linked to the waiting room 5 of the service server 1 and the user holds the right to wait in the waiting room 5 while waiting for the partner site 6. For example, services such as shopping and movies can be received by the affiliated site content 9 provided in. If shopping or the like is performed at such an affiliate site 6, royalties can be obtained according to the sales. Even if the partner is not a business site, if there is a site that many people want to visit, for example, a site that browses and issues a gazette, the link can be made at a certain partner fee.

Specifically, the user accesses the affiliated site 6 by clicking on the display of the linked affiliated site 6 as shown in FIG. 2, for example. At the affiliated site, as shown in FIG. 3, the user can enjoy the affiliated site content 9 such as shopping and movies. Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the display order for the user, the status of the lottery, and the like are displayed in the display window 7 on the screen for the user. You can know that immediately.

As described above, the user who waits in the waiting room 5 or the affiliated site 6 is connected to the service means when it is time to receive the service, and receives the service of the service means 2 which the user originally wants to receive. Can receive. Of course, the user can freely stay at the content of the affiliated site as it is. In that case, a system that holds the right to wait for the user's turn for a certain period of time is possible, or a system that allows the user to abandon the right to wait for the turn is also possible.

In the service means 2, the user can enjoy the remote control game and the remote control fishing in an environment full of presence. According to the present invention, even if the service means 2 cannot be immediately accessed, the user is released from the frustration of the service waiting time, and the connection to the service server is promoted. On the other hand, from the service provider side, it is possible to develop a useful business during the waiting time of the user, and it is possible to obtain a profit added to the original service.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above embodiment is an exemplification, and has substantially the same configuration as the technical idea described in the scope of the claims of the present invention. It is included in the technical scope of the invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a normal personal computer is used as the user terminal and an Internet line is used as the communication line connecting the user terminal and the service server has been mainly described. Without being limited to this, a mobile phone or the like may be used as the user terminal, and a communication line may use a cable network or the like. Also, the service means is not necessarily limited to the remote control game or the remote control fishing, and the present invention can be applied to any service that requires waiting for a turn to receive the service.

[0051]

As described above, the present invention allows the user to wait in the waiting room of the service server during the service waiting time of the user and display the waiting status for receiving the service to the user. You can know if you can get the service if you wait, and you can reduce the pain and boredom during the waiting time. The service provider can also eliminate the idle time of the service provision and improve the service utilization rate. In addition, during service waiting time,
By adding a function that does not make the user tired, it is possible to spend the waiting time comfortably, and to promote the use of the service of the user. In addition, since the service provider can develop a business in which the service waiting time of the user is beneficial, the provision of the service using the communication line is actively performed. Therefore, the present invention contributes to the prosperity of service provision using communication lines.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a service providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of displaying a waiting room to a user in the service providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of display of affiliate server content to a user.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Service server 2 ... Service means 3 ... User terminal 4 ... Communication line 5 ... Waiting room
6 ... partner site, 7 ... display window, 8 ... waiting room content, 9 ... partner site content.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) A63F 13/12 A63F 13/12 C G06F 3/00 651 G06F 3/00 651A

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A service server for providing a service to a user, a user terminal connected to the service server via a communication line, and service means connected to the service server via a communication line. In the service providing system, the service server includes a waiting room that can be used when the user waits for a service, and the waiting room displays a status of the waiting for the service to the user. Service providing system characterized by the following. 2. The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the waiting room includes a waiting room content that provides advertisement information to a user and / or allows the user to shop. . 3. The order in which the service is received in the waiting room is determined by an order of access to a service server by a user, a lottery, or an auction. 3. The service providing system according to 2. 4. An affiliated site linked to the waiting room, wherein the affiliated site provides the user with the services of the affiliated site content while retaining the right to wait for the user's turn to receive the service in the waiting room. The service providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: 5. The service providing system according to claim 1, wherein the service means is a remote control game or a remote control fishing. 6. The communication line connecting the service server and the user terminal, comprising a telephone line, an Internet line, a two-way broadcast, or a combination thereof. Service providing system according to 1. 7. A service providing method, wherein at least a user terminal and a service server specified by a user are connected via a communication line, and the user is limited in the number of service means provided through the service server. If the service is not available, the user is put on standby in the waiting room of the service server to display the waiting status of the service to the user. If the user can receive the service, the user is connected to the service means and the service is connected. A service providing method characterized by providing a service. 8. The service providing method according to claim 7, wherein in the waiting room, a user is provided with advertisement information and / or a service that allows the user to shop. 9. The service receiving order in the waiting room is determined by any one of a user's access order to a service server, a lottery, and an auction.
Or the service providing method according to claim 8. 10. An access request of a user waiting to receive a service in the waiting room,
Connecting the affiliated site linked to the waiting room to the user, and providing the affiliated site content service to the user while maintaining the order of receiving the user's service in the waiting room. The service providing method according to any one of claims 7 to 9. 11. The service providing method according to claim 7, wherein the service means is a remote control game or a remote control fishing. 12. The communication line connecting the service server and the user terminal is a telephone line, an Internet line, a two-way broadcast, or a combination thereof. Service provision method described in.