Patent Application
20150199648
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-004284 filed in Japan on Jan. 14, 2014 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-255574 filed in Japan on Dec. 17, 2014.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing device, and an information processing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a small-scale office with a small number of employees, there is a need to perform attendance management without introducing a time recorder (dedicated device for attendance management). As a system that responds to this need, there is known an attendant management system in which a time recorder function is implemented in an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) that can read an employee ID from an IC card.
In this system, when working time is modified by reason of, e.g., delay of a public transportation facility (railway, bus, or the like), a user (employee) needs to acquire a delay certificate from the public transportation facility and input modification information to the system.
For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-034820 discloses a system including an abnormal section information management unit that retains information such as an abnormality occurrence route and the like, a usage section information recording unit that records therein usage section information, a unit that reads the usage section information, and a determination unit that determines whether or not an accident is one where a passenger cannot arrive at a destination station at the final arrival time owing to the abnormality based on the final arrival time for the passenger to arrive at the destination station to go to work without delay, the usage section information, and the abnormal section information.
However, conventionally, there is no system that records arrival time/leaving time while automatically reflecting delay of the transportation facility that the user uses.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an information processing system, an information processing device, and an information processing method, capable of recording arrival time/leaving time while automatically reflecting delay of the transportation facility that the user uses.
It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve the problems in the conventional technology.
According to an embodiment, there is provided an information processing system that includes an information processing device; and a server device configured to retain information related to attendance/leaving of a user. The information processing system also includes an identification information acquisition unit configured to acquire identification information for identifying the user; a first retaining unit configured to retain one or more pieces of identification information for identifying users previously registered; an authentication unit configured to authenticate the user identified by the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit when the pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit include the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit; a registration controller configured to register attendance information in which the identification information of the authenticated user and time information indicating an authentication time are associated with each other when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit; a delay information acquisition unit configured to read out information of a delay certificate according to an instruction from the authenticated user to acquire delay information including delay time information indicating a delay time; and a modification unit configured to modify, based on modification information in which the identification information of the authenticated user and the delay information are associated with each other, the time information included in the attendance information corresponding to the identification information included in the modification information.
According to another embodiment, there is provided an information processing device that includes an identification information acquisition unit configured to acquire identification information for identifying a user; a first retaining unit configured to retain one or more pieces of identification information for identifying users previously registered; an authentication unit configured to authenticate the user identified by the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit when the pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit include the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit; a first controller configured to transmit, when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit, to a server device that retains information related to attendance/leaving of the user, attendance information in which the identification information of the authenticated user and time information indicating an authentication time are associated with each other; a delay information acquisition unit configured to read out information of a delay certificate according to an instruction from the authenticated user to acquire delay information including delay time information indicating a delay time; and a second controller configured to transmit, to the server device, modification information in which the identification information of the authenticated user and the delay information are associated with each other.
According to still another embodiment, there is provided an information processing method executed by an information processing device. The information processing method includes acquiring identification information for identifying a user; authenticating the user identified by the identification information when one or more pieces of identification information for identifying users previously registered include the identification information acquired at the acquiring, the pieces of identification information being retained in a first retaining unit; transmitting, when the user is authenticated at the authenticating, to a server device that retains information related to attendance/leaving of the user, attendance information in which the identification information of the authenticated user and time information indicating an authentication time are associated with each other; reading out information of a delay certificate according to an instruction from the authenticated user to acquire delay information including delay time information indicating a delay time; and transmitting, to the server device, modification information in which the identification information of the authenticated user and the delay information are associated with each other.
The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an information processing system, an information processing device, and an information processing method and program according to the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment.
As illustrated in
The MFP 1 is a device, which may be referred to as an information processing device, having various functions such as a copy function, a scanner function, a facsimile function, and a printer function. The MFP 1 is connected with an authentication device 3. The authentication device 3 is realized by an IC card reader in the present embodiment, but not limited thereto. For example, when a user brings an IC card in which identification information for identifying the user is recorded close to (holds the IC card over) the authentication device 3, the authentication device 3 reads the identification information recorded in the IC card. In the present embodiment, the IC card reader as the authentication device 3 may be a non-contact type or a contact type and can utilize various known configurations. The attendance management server 2 is a device that retains information related to attendance and leaving of a user.
The following describes a hardware configuration of the MFP 1 using
The main body 10 can perform operation according to the user's operation received by the operation unit 20. Further, the main body 10 can communicate with an external device such as a client PC (Personal Computer) and can also perform operation according to an instruction received from the external device.
First, a hardware configuration of the main body 10 will be described. As illustrated in
The CPU 11 totally controls operation of the main body 10. The CPU 11 executes a program stored in the ROM 12 or HDD 14 using the RAM 13 as a work area to thereby control the operation of the main body 10, allowing the above-mentioned various functions such as the copy, scanner, facsimile, and printer functions to be realized.
The communication I/F 15 is an interface for connecting to the network 30. The connection I/F 16 is an interface for communicating with the operation unit 20 through the communication channel 300.
The engine unit 17 is a hardware that performs processing other than general-purpose information processing and communication processing, that is, performs processing for realizing the copy, scanner, facsimile, and printer functions. The engine unit 17 includes, e.g., a scanner (image reading unit) that scans and reads out an image on a document, a plotter (image forming unit) that performs printing with respect to a sheet material such as a paper, and a facsimile unit that performs facsimile communication. The engine unit 17 may further include a specific option such as a finisher for sorting the printed sheet material or an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) for automatically feeding a document.
The following describes a hardware configuration of the operation unit 20. As illustrated in
The CPU 21 totally controls operation of the operation unit 20. The CPU 21 executes a program stored in the ROM 22 or flash memory 24 using the RAM 23 as a work area to thereby control the operation of the operation unit 20, allowing the various functions to be described later, such as display of information (image) according to an input received from a user, to be realized.
The communication I/F 25 is an interface for connecting to the network 30. The connection I/F 26 is an interface for communicating with the main body 10 through the communication channel 300.
The operation panel 27 receives various inputs according to user's operation and displays various information (information according to the received operation, information indicating an operating state of the MFP 1, information indicating a setting state, etc.). In this example, the operation panel 27 is realized by a liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch panel function, but not limited thereto, and may be realized by an organic EL display with a touch panel function. Further, in addition to or in place of this, an operation unit such as hardware keys or a display unit such as a lamp may be provided.
The external connection I/F 28 is an interface for connecting to the above-mentioned authentication device 3.
The following describes a software configuration of the MFP 1.
Software on the application layer 101 is application software (hereinafter, sometimes referred to merely as “application”) for activating a hardware resource to provide a predetermined function. Examples of the application include a copy application for providing a copy function, a scanner application for providing a scanner function, a facsimile application for providing a facsimile function, and a printer application for providing a printer function.
Software on the service layer 102 is interposed between the application layer 101 and OS layer 103 and provides an interface for the application to use a hardware resource that the main body 10 has. More specifically, the software on the service layer 102 is software that provides a function of receiving an operation request for the hardware resource and arbitrating the operation request. The operation request that the service layer 102 receives includes reading operation for the scanner, printing operation for the plotter, and the like.
The function of the interface by the service layer 102 is provided not only for the application layer 101 of the main body 10 but also for an application layer 201 of the operation unit 20. That is, the application layer 201 (application) of the operation unit 20 can also achieve the function using the hardware resource (e.g., engine unit 17) of the main body 10 through the interface function of the service layer 102.
Software on the OS layer is basic software (operating system) for providing a basic function for controlling hardware that the main body 10 has. The software on the service layer 102 converts a hardware resource use request from various applications into a command that the OS layer 103 can interpret and passes the resultant command to the OS layer 103. Then, the software on the OS layer 103 executes this command and, thereby, the hardware resource performs operation according to the request from the application.
Similarly, the operation unit 20 includes an application layer 201, a service layer 202, and an OS layer 203. A hierarchical structure among the application layer 201, service layer 202, and OS layer 203 of the operation unit 20 is the same as that of the main body 10; however, a function provided by an application on the application layer 201 and an operation request that the service layer 202 can receive differ from those of the main body 10. The application on the application layer 201 may be software that activates a hardware resource of the operation unit 20 to provide a predetermined function, but mainly provides an UI (User Interface) function for performing operation or display regarding the functions (copy function, scanner function, facsimile function, and printer function) of the main body 10.
In the present embodiment, to maintain independence of the function, the software on the OS layer 103 of the main body 10 and software on the OS layer 203 of the operation unit 20 are made to differ from each other. That is, the main body 10 and operation unit 20 operate independently of each other on different operating systems. For example, it is possible to use Linux® as the software on the OS layer 103 of the main body 10 and to use Android® as the software on the OS layer 203 of the operation unit 20.
As described above, in the MFP 1 of the present embodiment, the main body 10 and operation unit 20 operate on the different operating systems, so that communication between the main body 10 and operation unit 20 is performed not as an inter-process communication within a single device but as communication between different devices. An operation (command communication) of transmitting information (instruction from a user) that the operation unit 20 receives to the main body 10, an operation in which the main body 10 notifies the operation unit 20 of an event, or the like corresponds to this. The operation unit 20 performs the command communication with the main body 10 and can thereby use the function of the main body 10. Examples of the event notified from the main body 10 to the operation unit 20 include, e.g., an operation execution state in the main body 10, contents set in the main body 10, and the like.
Further, in the present embodiment, power is supplied to the operation unit 20 from the main body 10 through the communication channel 300, so that it is possible to perform power control for the operation unit 20 independently of power control for the main body 10.
The following describes a functional configuration of the MFP 1.
The identification information acquisition unit 110 has a function of acquiring, from the authentication device 3, identification information for identifying a user. The first retaining unit 120 retains previously registered one or more pieces of identification information. For example, a system administrator can register, for each user who has an authority for using the MFP 1, the identification information for identifying the user in the first retaining unit 120 in advance.
The authentication unit 130 has a function of performing authentication processing by determining whether or not there exists, among one or more pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit 120, identification information coinciding with the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 110. When there exists, among one or more pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit 120, the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 110, the authentication unit 130 authenticates a user identified by the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 110.
The first controller 140 performs, when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit 130, control to transmit, to the attendance management server 2, attendance information associating at least the identification information of the authenticated user and time information indicating an authentication time. In the present embodiment, when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit 130, the first controller 140 performs control to display, on the operation panel 27, an attendance/leaving screen that prompts the user to select attendance or leaving. The user (user who holds the IC card over the authentication device 3) who views the attendance/leaving screen displayed on the operation panel 27 performs operation (e.g., operation of touching an attendance button or a leaving button displayed on the screen) of selecting attendance or leaving. As a result, selection information indicating attendance or leaving is input. Upon receiving the selection information, the first controller 140 performs control to transmit, to the attendance management server 2, the attendance information associating the identification information of the authenticated user, time information indicating the authentication time, and the received selection information.
In short, when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit 130, it is only necessary for the first controller 140 to perform control to transmit, to the attendance management server 2, the attendance information associating at least the identification information of the authenticated user and time information indicating an authentication time.
The delay information acquisition unit 150 reads out, according to an instruction from the authenticated user, information of a delay certificate issued from a transportation facility that the user uses to thereby acquire delay information including at least delay time information indicating a delay time. More specifically, the delay information acquisition unit 150 performs control to scan the delay certificate by using the above-mentioned scanner function to thereby acquire the delay information. In the present embodiment, the delay information includes information (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “second transportation facility information”) indicating delayed transportation facility, the specific content of which will be described later.
The second controller 160 performs control to transmit, to the attendance management server 2, modification information associating the identification information of the authenticated user and delay information acquired by the delay information acquisition unit 150, specific content of which will be described using a sequence diagram to be described later.
The above-described functions (identification information acquisition unit 110, authentication unit 130, first controller 140, delay information acquisition unit 150, and second controller 160) of the MFP 1 are realized by the CPU (11 or 21) executing a program stored in a storage device (e.g., ROM 12, HDD 14, ROM 22, or flash memory 24); alternatively, however, at least some of the functions of the MFP 1 may be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit (e.g., semiconductor integrated circuit). Further, the first retaining unit 120 may be realized by the HDD 14 or the like of the main body 10 or by the flash memory 24 or the like of the operation unit 20.
The following describes a functional configuration of the attendance management server 2.
The attendance information storage unit 210 stores one or more pieces of attendance information.
In the example of
The description is continued referring back to
The description is continued referring back to
The modification unit 240 receives the above modification information from the MFP 1 and modifies, based on the received modification information, the time information included in the attendance information corresponding to the identification information included in the modification information, the specific content of which will be described using a sequence diagram to be described later.
In the present embodiment, the attendance management server 2 is realized by a computer device including a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM or RAM, and a communication I/F for communicating with the MFP 1, and the above-described functions (registration controller 230 and modification unit 240) of the attendance management server 2 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the storage device; alternatively, however, at least some of the functions (registration controller 230 and modification unit 240) of the attendance management server 2 may be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit (e.g., semiconductor integrated circuit). Further, the attendance information storage unit 210 and second retaining unit 220 may be realized by the ROM, an external storage device (HDD, etc.) or the like. Further, the attendance information storage unit 210 and second retaining unit 220 may be realized by different storage devices or by a single storage device.
The authentication unit 130 performs authentication processing by determining whether or not there exists, among one or more pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit 120, identification information passed from the identification information acquisition unit 110 (step S4). When there exists, among one or more pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit 120, the identification information passed from the identification information acquisition unit 110, the authentication unit 130 authenticates the user identified by the identification information passed from the identification information acquisition unit 110 and notifies the authentication device 3 of success of the user authentication (step S5).
The authentication device 3 that receives the notification of success of the user authentication requests the first controller 140 to transmit the attendance information to the attendance management server 2 (step S6). Upon reception of the request, the first controller 140 generates the attendance information (step S7). More specifically, as described above, the first controller 140 performs control to display the attendance/leaving screen on the operation panel 27. The user (authenticated user) who views the attendance/leaving screen displayed on the operation panel 27 selects “attendance” or “leaving”. As a result, selection information indicating “attendance” or “leaving” is input. Upon receiving the selection information, the first controller 140 generates the attendance information associating the identification information of the authenticated user, time information indicating the authentication time, and the received selection information. Then, the first controller 140 performs control to transmit the generated attendance information to the attendance management server 2 (step S8).
The attendance management server 2 registers the attendance information received from the first controller 140 (step S9). Then, the attendance management server 2 identifies, from among the first transportation facility information previously registered in the second retaining unit 220, the first transportation facility information associated with the identification information included in the attendance information received in step S9, associates the identified first transportation facility information and identification information (identification information included in the attendance information received in step S9) which is associated with the identified first transportation facility information with each other, and notifies the second controller 160 of the resultant information (step S10).
Then, the authenticated user operates the operation panel 27 to instruct reading out of a delay certificate acquired in a station or the like (step S11).
Then, the delay information acquisition unit 150 requests the second controller 160 to display the delay information acquired in step S12 on the operation panel 27 (step S13). Upon receiving the request, the second controller 160 requests the operation panel 27 to display the identification information and first transportation facility information which are notified from the attendance management server 2 in step S10 and information (delay information) of which display is requested from the delay information acquisition unit 150 (step S14).
The operation panel 27 then displays the identification information and first transportation facility information notified from the attendance management server 2 to the second controller 160 and delay information acquired by the delay information acquisition unit 150 (step S15). From a different point of view, it can be considered that the second controller 160 has a function of performing control to display the delay information acquired by the delay information acquisition unit 150 on the operation panel 27. The second controller 160 may be referred to as a display controller. Alternatively, a function that performs control to display the delay information on the operation panel 27 corresponding to a display unit may be provided separately from the second controller 160.
Upon receiving the modification information from the MFP 1, the attendance management server 2 modifies, based on the received modification information, the time information included in the attendance information corresponding to the identification information included in the received modification information (step S18). More specifically, the modification unit 240 identifies, from among the one or more pieces of attendance information stored in the attendance information storage unit 210, the attendance information including the identification information included in the modification information received from the MFP 1. Then, the modification unit 240 modifies, based on the delay information included in the modification information received from the MFP 1, the time information included in the identified attendance information.
Here, it is assumed that
Alternatively, the modification unit 240 can modify the time indicated by the time information before modification associated with the identification information indicating “Ricoh Jiro” by setting back the time by a length of time indicated by the delay time information of
Further, for example, a configuration may be possible in which the modification unit 240 can perform the above modification only when the transportation facility indicated by the first transportation facility information associated with the identification information of the authenticated user coincides with the transportation facility indicated by the second transportation facility information included in the delay information. For example, the modification unit 240 identifies, from among the first transportation facility information previously registered in the second retaining unit 220, the first transportation facility information associated with the identification information included in the modification information received from the MFP 1 and performs the modification only when the public transportation facility indicated by the identified first transportation facility information coincides with the public transportation facility indicated by the second transportation facility information included in the modification information. When the determination result is negative, the modification unit 240 does not perform the modification. In this case, the modification unit 240 can request the MFP 1 to display, on the operation panel 27, information indicating that the modification is not performed.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to record arrival time/leaving time while automatically reflecting delay of the transportation facility that the user uses.
While the embodiment according to the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited thereto, but can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements in a practical stage without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, suitable combination of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment can form various inventions. For example, some constituent elements can be removed from the whole constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment.
Modifications of the present invention will be described below. The following modifications can arbitrarily be combined with each other. Further, the following modifications can arbitrarily be combined with the above embodiment.
As another embodiment of the information processing system according to the present invention, the delay information may be acquired without use of the scanner function. For example, as illustrated in
In this case, the information processing system according to the present invention may include the identification information acquisition unit, first retaining unit, authentication unit, registration controller, third retaining unit, delay information acquisition unit, and modification unit. The identification information acquisition unit acquires the identification information that identifies the user. The first retaining unit retains one or more pieces of identification information for identifying users previously registered. The authentication unit authenticates the user identified by the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit when there exists, among one or more pieces of identification information retained in the first retaining unit, the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit. The registration controller performs control to register the attendance information associating at least the identification information of the authenticated user and time information indicating the time modified by the modification unit. The third retaining unit retains, for each piece of identification information, specification information which can specify an external device that retains information related to an operation state of a transportation facility that the user identified by the identification information uses in an associate manner. The delay information acquisition unit acquires, when the user is authenticated by the authentication unit, the delay information including at least the delay time information indicating the delay time of the transportation facility from the external device specified by the specification information associated with the identification information of the authenticated user. The modification unit modifies, based on the identification information of the authenticated user and the modification information associated with the delay information, the time information included in the attendance information corresponding to the identification information included in the modification information.
For example, the identification information acquisition unit 110, first retaining unit 120, authentication unit 130, first controller 140, delay information acquisition unit 150, and second controller 160 exemplified as the functions that the MFP 1 has may arbitrarily be implemented in the main body 10 and operation unit 20 in a distributed manner.
Further, for example, the identification information acquisition unit 110, first retaining unit 120, authentication unit 130, first controller 140, delay information acquisition unit 150, second controller 160, attendance information storage unit 210, second retaining unit 220, registration controller 230, and modification unit 240 exemplified as the functions that the MFP 1 and attendance management server 2 have respectively may arbitrarily be implemented in the MFP 1 and attendance management server 2 in a distributed manner.
For example, as illustrated in
The revision unit 310 revises the delay information acquired by the delay information acquisition unit 150. More specifically, the revision unit 310 revises the delay information according to an instruction from the authenticated user. The fourth retaining unit 320 retains the delay information revised by the revision unit 310 and revision information indicating that the revision has been made by the revision unit 310 in association with each other. The third controller 330 transmits, to the attendance management server 2 including the modification unit 240, second modification information associating the identification information of the authenticated user, delay information revised by the revision unit 310, and revision information. The modification unit 240 of the attendance management server 2 modifies, based on the second modification information (in this example, second modification information associating the identification information of the authenticated user, delay information revised by the revision unit 310, and revision information) associating at least the identification information of the authenticated user and delay information revised by the revision unit 310, the time information included in the attendance information corresponding to the identification information included in the second modification information.
In the above embodiment, the main body 10 and operation unit 20 operate independently of each other on different operating systems; however, the main body 10 and operation unit 20 may operate on the same operating system.
A program that is executed by the MFP 1 or attendance management server 2 in the above embodiment may be recorded and provided in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) as files in an installable form or executable form, or provided or distributed over a network such as the Internet. The various programs may be incorporated beforehand into a non-volatile recording medium such as a ROM, and be then provided.
According to the embodiments described above, it is possible to record arrival time/leaving time while automatically reflecting delay of the transportation facility that the user uses.
Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-004284 | Jan 2014 | JP | national |
| 2014-255574 | Dec 2014 | JP | national |
