The present invention relates to a mobile phone device having a capability to accept an external remote operation, a control method for activating a remote operation function by a mobile phone device, and a non-transitory computer readable medium.
A remote operation system remotely operating a mobile phone device is known (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). With the use of a remote operation system, settings and operations of a mobile phone device or an application program installed in the mobile phone device can be performed from a terminal which is remotely located. Accordingly, a remote operation system can be used for a “remote support” in which an operator remotely located supports a user who is not familiar with operations of a mobile phone device.
Here, the terms used in this specification are defined. The term “mobile phone device” in this specification includes a basic mobile phone device (i.e., basic phone) that supports only a telephone function or supports only telephone and SMS (Short Message service), a feature phone, a smartphone, and a tablet PC (Personal Computer) having a telephone function. Moreover, the terms “remote operation” and “remote support” in this specification include at least one of performing an input operation on a mobile phone device which is remotely located, monitoring a display screen of a mobile phone device which is remotely located, changing configuration stored in a mobile phone device which is remotely located, and transferring data to a memory of a mobile phone device which is remotely located. Further, in this specification, a terminal performing a remote operation on a mobile phone device shall be referred to as a “support terminal”. Furthermore, in this specification, a remotely located operator who performs a remote support on the mobile phone device and a user of the mobile phone device shall be referred to as a “supporter”.
The inventors of the present application have found out the following problems in performing a remote support on a mobile phone device. It is desirable that the mobile phone device is limitedly made ready to accept a remote operation only while accepting a remote support. This is because that when the mobile phone device is always in a state ready to accept a remote operation, the mobile phone device will be at an increased risk of accepting an illegal connection. Therefore, in the case of using a remote support, the user needs to perform an operation for starting to accept a remote operation on a mobile phone device. For example, the state ready to accept a remote operation is achieved by executing an application program for remote operation. In this case, the user needs to perform a launching operation of the application program for remote operation on the mobile phone device in order to receive the remote support.
However, in the case of a remote support, a remote operation by a supporter is often performed during a telephone conversation between the user and the supporter. For this reason, while the user is on the call with the supporter using the mobile phone device, the user further needs to operate the mobile phone device for starting the remote support. However, a user who requires the remote support is expected to have low information literacy. It is difficult for such a user to intuitively understand operating the mobile phone device during a telephone call using the mobile phone device. Thus, for example, the telephone call with the supporter may be terminated by an erroneous operation.
Incidentally, Patent Literature 2 discloses that a call control apparatus associates a voice call terminal with a supplementary service terminal that provides supplementary services other than voice call. The supplementary service is a service other than voice call and is, for example, a chat service transmitting and receiving text information, or a video service. In response to an initiation of a telephone call between two voice call terminals, the call control apparatus disclosed in Patent Literature 2 associated with these two voice call terminals, and requests a start of the supplementary service cooperating with voice communication. However, Patent Literature 2 fails to disclose associating voice communication by the mobile phone device with a start of accepting a remote operation on the mobile phone device that is not originally cooperated with voice communication.
The present invention is made based on the above-mentioned findings by the inventors of the present application, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone device, a control method for activating a remote operation function by a mobile phone device, and a program that are capable of appropriately starting and stopping a remote operation on a mobile phone device without excessively bothering a user.
In a first aspect of the present invention, includes a mobile phone device includes a wireless communication unit, a telephone function unit, a remote operation function unit, and a control unit. The telephone function unit is configured to perform at least a voice telephone call via the wireless communication unit. The remote operation function unit is capable of accepting a remote operation on the mobile phone device from an external. The control unit controls the remote operation function unit to allow accepting the remote operation on the condition that a telephone call using the telephone function unit is initiated with a predetermined counterparty that is permitted for the remote operation. The control unit also controls the remote operation function unit to stop accepting the remote operation on the condition that the telephone call with the predetermined counterparty is terminated.
In a second aspect of the present invention, a control method for activating a remote operation function by a mobile phone device includes the following steps (a) and (b):
(a) allowing acceptance of a remote operation on the mobile phone device from an external on the condition that a telephone call using a telephone function unit of the mobile phone device is initiated with a predetermined counterparty that is permitted for the remote operation; and
(b) stopping the acceptance of the remote operation on the condition that the telephone call with the predetermined counterparty is terminated.
In a third aspect of the present invention, a computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to the second aspect of the present invention described above.
According to the above aspects of the present invention, it is possible to provide a mobile phone device, an activation control method of a remote operation function by a mobile phone device, and a program that are capable of appropriately starting and stopping a remote operation on a mobile phone device without excessively bothering a user.
In the following description, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference symbols, and overlapping description will be omitted as appropriate for the sake of clarification of description.
A mediation server 2 connects to the user terminal 1 and the support terminal 3 via the network 4, thereby mediating a remote operation on the mobile phone device 1 from the support terminal 3. The mediation server 2 may be a typical computer.
The support terminal 3 is a communication terminal such as a mobile phone device or a personal computer. The support terminal 3 includes an input device (e.g., an operation button, a touch panel, a mouse, a keyboard, a microphone, or a camera), an output device (e.g., a display, or a speaker), and a wireless or wired communication device.
The networks 4 and 6 are data transfer networks such as an IP network. The networks 4 and 6 include, for example, a radio access network and a packet core network of a mobile operator, an IP dedicated line, or a public Internet.
Note that the configuration shown in
The mobile phone device 1 according to this embodiment allows accepting a remote operation from the support terminal 3 on the condition that a telephone call has been initiated with a predetermined counterparty that is permitted for a remote operation. The mobile phone device 1 stops accepting the remote operation from the support terminal 3 on the condition that the telephone call with the predetermined counterparty has been terminated. A configuration and an operation of the mobile phone device 1 are explained in detail below.
A telephone function unit 11 has a voice codec function that performs compression of an analog voice signal and decompression of encoded voice data. The telephone function unit 11 is connected to a speaker (not shown) and a microphone (not shown). The telephone function unit 11 accepts an operation by a user (e.g., accepts an operation to specify a telephone number of a call counterparty) and performs communication protocol processing for initiating a voice call.
A remote operational function unit 12 accepts a remote operation on the mobile phone device 1 from the support terminal 3. The remote operation on the mobile phone device 1 performed by the support terminal 3 includes at least one of performing an input operation on the mobile phone device 1, monitoring a display screen of the mobile phone device 1, changing configuration stored in the mobile phone device, and transferring data to a memory of the mobile phone device 1. The remote operation function unit 12 receives data including a remote operation request transmitted from the support terminal 3 or the mediation server 2 via the wireless communication unit 10. Then, in response to the request from the support terminal 3 or the mediation server 2, the remote operation function unit 12 performs, for example, data collection, configuration change processing on the terminal 1, and data transmission to the support terminal 3 or the mediation server 2.
The control unit 13 controls the remote operation function unit 12 to start and stop accepting a remote operation. Specifically, the control unit 13 allows accepting a remote operation from the support terminal 3 on the condition that a telephone call using the telephone function unit 11 has been initiated with the predetermined counterparty. Moreover, the control unit 13 stops accepting the remote operation on the condition that the telephone call with the predetermined counterparty has been terminated. The predetermined counterparty is, typically, a supporter. However, the predetermined counterparty may be a counterparty other than the supporter. The mobile phone device 1 may stores information necessary for initiating a telephone call such as a telephone number, a user name, or an e-mail address of the predetermined counterparty in association with permission information indicating that it is the predetermined counterparty.
In order to start accepting a remote operation at the remote operation function unit 12, the control unit 13 may send a start request to the remote operation function unit 12. The remote operation function unit 12 may start accepting the remote operation in response to the start request. Accepting a remote operation may be performed by, for example, opening a communication port (e.g., TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) port) for reception. On the other hand, in order to stop accepting the remote operation at the remote operation function unit 12, the control unit 13 may send a stop request to the remote operation function unit 12. The remote operation function unit 12 may stop accepting the remote operation by closing the communication port in response to the stop request.
As stated above, the mobile phone device 1 according to this embodiment automatically switches allowing and stopping the acceptance of a remote operation according to whether or not a telephone call is performed with the predetermined counterparty. In other words, the mobile phone device 1 according to this embodiment allows accepting a remote operation from the support terminal 3 on the condition that a telephone call has been initiated with the predetermined counterparty that is permitted for a remote operation, and stops accepting the remote operation from the support terminal 3 on the condition that the telephone call with the predetermined counterparty has been terminated. Hence, the mobile phone device 1 can limitedly and automatically accept a remote operation when it is necessary to start the remote operation, i.e., when a telephone call is performed with the predetermined counterparty (typically, a supporter). Therefore, the mobile phone device 1 can appropriately start and stop a remote operation of the terminal 1 without excessively troubling a user.
A specific example of a start procedure and a stop procedure for accepting a remote operation by the control unit 13 is explained below.
The processing of allowing and stopping the acceptance of a remote operation by the control unit 13, which is explained in this embodiment, may be implemented using a semiconductor processing apparatus including ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively, such processing may be implemented by causing a computer, such as a microprocessor or DSP (Digital Signal Processor), to execute a program. Specifically, one or a plurality of programs including instructions for causing a computer to execute algorithms shown in
This program can be stored and provided to a computer using any type of non-transitory computer readable media. Non-transitory computer readable media include any type of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer readable media include magnetic storage media (such as floppy disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, etc.), optical magnetic storage media (e.g. magneto-optical disks), CD-ROM (compact disc read only memory), CD-R (compact disc recordable), CD-R/W (compact disc rewritable), and semiconductor memories (such as mask ROM, PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory), etc.). The program may be provided to a computer using any type of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electric signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. Transitory computer readable media can provide the program to a computer via a wired communication line (e.g. electric wires, and optical fibers) or a wireless communication line.
The telephone function unit 11 shown in
The microcontroller 131 is a microprocessor, and executes an OS (Operating System) 130, a telephone application program 110, and a remote operation application program 120 that are stored in a non-volatile storage unit 102. The non-volatile storage unit 102 is, for example, a flash memory, a hard disk drive, or a combination thereof. The microcontroller 131 performs (a) Protocol processing regarding the wireless communication unit 10, (b) protocol processing regarding the telephone function unit 11, (c) interaction processing with the user regarding the telephone function unit 11, (d) processing to accept a remote operation regarding the remote operation function unit 12, and (e) control processing to start and stop the acceptance of a remote operation regarding the control unit 13.
For example, the microcontroller 131, which executes the telephone application program 110, displays a user interface screen on a display (not shown) included in the terminal 1. The user inputs a telephone number using the displayed user interface screen and makes a telephone call or receives an incoming call and initiates a telephone conversation.
In addition, the microcontroller 131, which executes the remote operation application program 120, receives a request from the support terminal 3 or the mediation server 2, and executes an operation according to the request. For example, the microcontroller 131, which executes the remote operation application program 120, may provide a WEB server function and accept an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) request from the support terminal 3 or the mediation server 2. The controller 131 may execute processing regarding a remote operation such as configuration change of the terminal 1 in accordance with parameters contained in the HTTP request from the server terminal 3 or the mediation server 2.
This embodiment explains a modified example of the remote operation system according to the first embodiment.
In Step S33, the microcontroller 131 transmits a response (e.g., an HTTP response) to the remote operation request to the support terminal 3 or the mediation server 2 via the wireless communication unit 10. The response to the remote operation request indicates a processing result for the remote operation request. When the processing according to the request is successfully completed, the microcontroller 131 may transmit a response indicating normal processing (e.g., an HTTP response including a header indicating a success). On the other hand, when there is an abnormality in the processing according to the request, the microcontroller 131 may transmit a response including an error message.
As an example of information included in a remote operation request,
POST/contacts/add
name=CCCC
tel=090********
email=cccc@dddd.com
According to this embodiment, it is possible to automatically start or stop accepting a remote operation in association with a telephone call between a user and a supporter by specifying the supporter in the telephone book data in advance. Therefore, the user is able to accept a remote support only by making a telephone call to the supporter without any other special operations.
In a similar manner as stated in the first embodiment, the control of starting and stopping the acceptance of a remote operation by the mobile phone device 1, which is described in this embodiment, may be implemented by causing a computer to execute a program.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications obvious to one skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention already stated above.
The present application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-111013 filed on 18 May 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirely by reference.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-111013 | May 2011 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2012/002060 | 3/26/2012 | WO | 00 | 11/14/2013 |