JPH09114864A - Information collection analysis system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Problem] To promptly inform the information provider of the information desired by the person who collects and analyzes the information, and the information fed back by the information provider can be used by the information collector / analyzer in real time to immediately collect the information. An information collection and analysis system capable of performing analysis is provided. SOLUTION: An information collecting / analyzing computer 1 for performing processing for collecting and analyzing information, a mail server 2 for transmitting an electronic mail requesting input of information by an instruction of the information analyzing computer 1, and a mail server. The information reporting computer 4 which receives the email from the user 2 and inputs and returns the information requested by the email, and the information database 9 constructed by the information collecting and analyzing computer 1 are stored and input by the information reporting computer 4. The database server 3 that updates the information database 9 in real time with the above information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects an information collecting / analyzing computer and a plurality of information reporting computers by a communication line, and sends information items to be collected from the information collecting / analyzing computer to the information reporting computer. The present invention relates to an information collecting and analyzing system in which the information reporting computer inputs information on the information item, and the information collecting and analyzing computer can fetch the information in real time to perform information analysis.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a company sends information about demand from a sales office to a head office, and the head office collects and analyzes information from each sales office to determine a product supply amount, a price, etc., and to plan the business. It is widely reflected.

In the past, such collection and analysis of information was carried out by a sales office sending a form such as an order slip to the head office, manually inputting the numbers on the form into the computer at the head office, and fetched as data into the computer. Various kinds of information were analyzed using computer processing functions to make business decisions.

[0004] For example, if a certain amount or more of a specific product ○○○ is collectively purchased, the purchase price may be lowered, so that the head office sends the product ○○○ from each sales office.
This corresponds to the case where the order slips of (1) are collected, and the head office collects the order slips, and determines the quantity to be collectively purchased and the resale price from the totalized result. In such a case, in the past, at the head office, the clerk typed in the computer the number on the order form for the product XX sent from each sales office.

On the other hand, in a more OA system, an order may be sent from the sales office to the head office by e-mail instead of a paper order slip. In this case as well, the data on the e-mail is processed as data. It was transferred to the system and processed.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional information collecting and analyzing methods cannot make a sufficiently quick decision making. That is, a huge amount of order slips collected from each sales office are sorted and data is manually input to a computer, which takes a lot of time, and information analysis results are obtained from the time when the information is needed. It was unavoidable that a long time had passed until that point. Due to the passage of this time, decision-making is delayed in response to market trends, which may result in unfavorable business results.

Further, it has been difficult for the conventional information collecting and analyzing method to obtain the desired information from each sales office in a timely and reliable manner. That is, even if the head office requests the information that the business office wants, the reaction of each business shop is often different, and there is a problem that the information requested by the business office cannot be fed back to the head office reliably and promptly.

Further, conventionally, there has been a demand to allow the information input at the sales office to be processed and processed as it is at the head office and to omit the labor of inputting the data to the computer.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to promptly transmit the information desired by a person who collects and analyzes information to the information provider, and the information collected and analyzed by the information collector and analyst in real time. It is to provide an information collection and analysis system that can be used and can immediately analyze information.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises an information collecting and analyzing computer for collecting and analyzing information, and the information analyzing system. By the instruction of the computer for
A mail server that sends an e-mail requesting the input of information, an information reporting computer that receives an e-mail from the mail server, and inputs and returns the information requested by the e-mail, and the information collection and analysis computer And a database server which stores the constructed information database and updates the contents of the information database in real time with the information input and returned by the information reporting computer.

The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 2 of the present application is the information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 1, in which the information collecting and analyzing computer allows the user to set items of information to be collected. Collecting information setting means for constructing an information database for storing data related to the information items in the database server, and for transmitting an information input screen having the set information items as a headline to the information reporting computer as the electronic mail. It is characterized by having.

The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 3 of the present application is the information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 2, wherein the collected information setting means causes the user to set a tabular information input screen, and the tabulated information is displayed. Each row and each column of the input screen constitutes a data record of the information database, and the data of each cell input from the information reporting computer to the information input screen is used as the data record of the information database. It is characterized by being input.

The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 4 of the present application is the information collecting and analyzing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information reporting computer receives an e-mail requesting the information. To the database server, and then sends an operation signal to the database server of an operation performed by the user regarding the electronic mail, wherein the database server is a distribution destination of the electronic mail and the information reporting computer. A mail management database for inputting an incoming signal from the computer as information, and a mail operation history database for inputting an operation signal from the information reporting computer for electronic mail as information, wherein the information collecting and analyzing computer is the database. Server mail management database And by referring to the mail operation history database, and is characterized in that it comprises a data input monitoring means for monitoring the input status of the information reported computer.

The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 5 of the present application is the information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 4, wherein the information input monitoring means of the information collecting and analyzing computer is
It is characterized in that the input status of the information reporting computer that has transmitted the electronic mail is checked at a set time, and a reminder electronic mail is transmitted to the unreported information reporting computer.

An information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 6 of the present application is the information collecting and analyzing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the information collecting and analyzing computer is
It has an information analysis means for causing a user to set an information item required and an analysis condition of the information item, acquiring necessary data from the database server, performing necessary arithmetic processing, and displaying the analysis result. It is characterized by that.

The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 7 of the present application is the information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 6, wherein the information analyzing means of the information collecting and analyzing computer collects information collected up to that time at a set time. The feature is that the analysis is automatically performed.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings attached to the application. FIG.
The configuration when the information collecting and analyzing system according to the present invention is applied between the head office and a plurality of sales offices is shown.

In FIG. 1, the information collection / analysis side, that is, the head office, has a computer 1 for information collection / analysis and a business office designated with an electronic mail requesting the input of information in response to a command from the computer 1 for information collection / analysis. There is installed a mail server 2 for transmitting to a mail shop, and a database server 3 for storing information fed back from the business office, information on the input status of the business office, which will be described later, and the like. On the other hand, information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ..., 4n are installed on the side of the sales office that feeds back the information requested by the head office. The head office and each sales office are connected by a communication line, respectively, and are configured to be able to communicate by e-mail.

In this information collecting and analyzing system, the direction of information flow is defined respectively. An information input screen 5 requesting input of information and destination information 6 of the information input screen are sent from the information collecting / analyzing computer 1 to the mail server 2, and the information reporting computers 4a, 4b designated by the mail server 2 are sent. , ..., 4n, an information input screen 5 is sent by e-mail, and the information reporting computer 4 is sent.
The input information input screen 7 and the operation information 8 performed on the information input screen 5 are sent from the a, 4b, ..., 4n to the database server 3. With respect to the database server 3, the information collecting and analyzing computer 1 can freely refer to necessary data and process and process it arbitrarily.

The flow of information collection and analysis by the information collection / analysis system having the above configuration will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows the flow of the entire processing from the collection of information to its analysis in the system of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, in this system, first, the information collecting side uses the information collecting and analyzing computer 1 to input necessary information items, and the information input screen 5 is defined (step 10).
0). The definition of the information input screen 5 is to define on the information input screen 5 the items of information that the sales office wants to report. The information item defined at this time becomes a data field (space for inputting data) in the database server 3 as it is, forms a data record related to the information item in the database server 3, and is composed of these data records. Build an information database.
This will be described in more detail later.

Further, at the stage of step 100, the user can specify the destination of the information input screen and the deadline for reporting the information. The designation of the destination and the reporting deadline will be described in more detail later.

Information input screen 5 defined as described above
Is sent to the specified information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ..., 4n by the mail server 2 in a collective mail (step 110).

The sales office side, that is, the information reporting side, which received the transmission confirms the transmitted electronic mail, and inputs or corrects data on the information input screen 5 of the electronic mail (step 120).

According to this information collecting and analyzing system, the information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ..., 4n, which have received the electronic mail from the mail server 2, activate the information reporting program at the same time when the electronic mail arrives. , Sending an incoming signal to the database server 3 and subsequent information input screen 5
All operations related to, for example, opening an electronic mail, inputting / correcting data in the information input screen 5, etc. are automatically sent to the database server 3 as operation signals. This operation signal on the information report side is stored in the database server 3 as information on the input status of the information report, and becomes data for monitoring. This will be explained further below.

The input information input screen 7 in which the sales office has input data is sent to the database server 3, and the data is written in the information database previously constructed in step 100 or the data already input is displayed. Update.

As described above, by referring to the database server 3 input or updated by the sales office side, the head office can grasp the input status of the sales office side in real time,
Moreover, the content of the input information can be grasped and processed (step 130).

Furthermore, the head office can automatically close the deadline at a designated time to process the information collected up to that point, and at the same time, send a reminder e-mail to the input department store that has not been entered ( Step 140).

The sales office which receives the reminder from the head office confirms the reminder e-mail and inputs the data later (step 150). The operation signal and the input data are input to the database server 3 in real time as described above.

After taking in such additional data, the head office finally makes a deadline and utilizes the information database to analyze information (step 160).

According to the above information collection and analysis system, the input request for the information required by the head office is instantly sent to each sales office by e-mail, and the data input by each sales office according to this is directly sent to the head office. The information is stored in the information database in the database server 3, and the head office can utilize the information database in real time to perform information analysis. Further, it is possible to automatically remind the business office that has not input the information and to analyze the information using the information collected up to that point. As a result, the efficiency of collecting information can be improved, and judgments and decisions can be made at any time according to the circumstances found up to that point without delaying decision making due to lack of some information.

Next, the processing in each stage of the above-mentioned information collection and analysis will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9. 3 to 6 show examples of screens when defining the information input screen in the computer 1 for information collection and analysis. FIG. 3 shows the first screen when starting the information collection. Report information No. of this "report information title definition". Items for information collection are identified by the title, etc., and in the subsequent processing, report of information from the sales office,
The information report status of the sales offices, the analysis result of the information, and the like are uniformly fed back to the specified report information title.

At the bottom of the report information title definition screen, there is provided a "report deadline" field in which the designated sales office must report the information. The user inputs the date in the "reporting deadline" field to determine the deadline for the final deadline for information analysis described below.

Next, the head office user who wants to collect information defines each information item on the information input screen 5. The information collection analysis system in this embodiment allows the user to define the tabular information input screen 5 as the information input screen. In the tabular information input screen 5, each row and each column of the table constitutes a data record of an information database constructed in the database server 3. The data belonging to the row and column data records is arranged in a matrix, and the data input to each cell of the table belongs to both the row data column and the column data record.

FIG. 4 exemplifies a column field heading definition screen of the tabular information input screen. As shown in FIG. 4, the user inputs / defines headings such as “sales section”, “corporation section”, and “sales section 1” in each field of the column. The heading of this column field is the item of information requested.

After defining the heading of the column field of the tabular information input screen, the user defines the heading of the row field.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a line field heading definition screen. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the user can select "Product ○○○", "Product ***", and "Product ◇◇◇" as the row headings.
Etc. are entered and defined. Each of these headings also indicates the required information item.

Next, the user specifies the destination of the defined information input screen. FIG. 6 shows an example of a screen for designating the destination of the information input screen. On the right side of the screen of FIG. 6 is a list of candidate delivery destinations, where all the business offices that may request information reporting are displayed. By selecting a predetermined sales office from this "Destination candidate list" column,
The predetermined business office name is displayed in the "Delivery destination list" column on the left side. The information of this “destination list” is the destination information 6.

By setting the information input screen, an information database for storing data relating to the set information item is constructed in the database server 3, and the information input screen 5 having the set information item as a headline is sent. It is output to the mail server 2 together with the destination information 6.

The information collecting / analyzing computer 1 allows the user to set the above information items, configures the information input screen 5 from the set information items, and sends the information 6 together with the destination information 6 by the mail server 2 to the information reporting computer 4a, Four
b, ..., 4n to have collected information setting means.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the information input screen 5 constituted by the collection information setting means. 4 and 5
The characters for defining the heading of the column field and the row field input in step 3 are the heading of the row and column of the information input screen 5. At the same time, the database server 3
"Sales Section", "Corporate Section", "Sales Section 1", ... "Products ◇
An information database consisting of data records for "◇◇" and "commodity □□□" is prepared.

The information input screen 5 constituted by the collected information setting means of the information collecting / analyzing computer 1 has the information reporting computers 4a, 4b,
..., sent to 4n in the form of e-mail.

Computer 4 for reporting information received
a, 4b, ..., 4n automatically start up a program for reporting information and return an incoming signal of an electronic mail to the database server 3. Thereafter, the data input by the information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ..., 4n,
And all operations performed on the information input screen 5 are
They are sent to the database server 3 as report information and operation signals, respectively, and are directly input to the database server 3.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 shows information reporting computers 4a, 4
.., 4n are directly input into the database server 3 and the mechanism in which they are utilized as information is illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 8, the database server 3
At least an information database 9, a mail management database 10, and a mail operation history database 11 are built in each item of information collection.

Information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ...
The report information from 4n, that is, the data input to the information input screen 5, is sent to the information database 9 and directly input as the data, or the already input data is updated. As a result, the information collecting / analyzing computer 1 refers to the information database 9 to obtain the latest information at that time, and it is possible to immediately analyze the information by utilizing the database function.

On the other hand, the information reporting computers 4a, 4
The incoming signal and the operation signal from b, ..., 4n are input as data to the mail management database 10 and the mail operation history database 11, respectively.

The mail management database 10 stores the destination of each electronic mail and the presence / absence of reply of an incoming signal.

The mail operation history database 11 stores the information report status of each business office in response to an operation signal from the information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ..., 4n. Specifically, if you just received a reply to the incoming signal and did not perform any operation after that, you have not entered the email and the email has been opened, but you have entered the data. If not, you have not entered any data after checking the email, and if you are sending the report information, you have entered the data and you have sent more report information after sending the report information In this case, it is determined that the data has been corrected.

The information collecting / analyzing computer 1 is equipped with an information input monitoring means for monitoring the status of the information report of each sales office by referring to the mail management database 10 and the mail operation history database 11.

The information input monitoring means of the present embodiment checks the input status of the information reporting computers 4a, 4b, ...
Computers 4a, 4b, ...
It is configured to be able to send a reminder e-mail to.

Further, the information collecting and analyzing computer 1
Has information analysis means for referring to the information database 9 and analyzing information.

The information analysis means of the information collection and analysis computer 1 allows the user to set the cross section of the information required, that is, the information item and the analysis condition of the information item, and acquires the required data from the information database 9. Then, the necessary arithmetic processing is performed and the analysis result is displayed.

FIG. 9 shows an example of information analysis by the information analysis means. FIG. 9 shows “Sales Section”, “Corporate Section”, “Sales First Section”, collected by the information input screen 5 of FIG.
Data for each "Sales First Section" is aggregated for each sales office,
"Product ○○○", "Product ***", "Product ◇"
◇◇ ", etc., orders for all products of each sales office, and orders for all sales offices for each product are totaled.

As described above, the information analysis means of the information collection and analysis computer 1 can allow the user to set various function operations on the data in the information database 9. Further, the information analysis means cooperates with the information input monitoring means, and after a predetermined time has passed, the information input monitoring means sends a reminder e-mail to the business office which has not input the information, and the information analyzing means. Allows for information analysis of the information collected so far.

This makes it possible to increase the probability of collecting information, prevent delay in decision making due to waiting for the collection of all information, and perform information analysis with the latest information as far as is known at each time point. Can make quick decisions.

[0056]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the information collecting / analyzing system of the present invention, by the above configuration, the information desired by the person who collects and analyzes the information is promptly transmitted to the person who makes the information report, The information collected and analyzed by the information collecting analyst can be used in real time to immediately perform the information analysis by the information reporting analyst. This allows
For example, in a market for buying and selling goods in which the situation changes drastically, information can be quickly collected and analyzed to make an accurate decision.

Further, according to the information collecting and analyzing system of the present invention, the data inputted on the information reporting side can be used on the information collecting and analyzing side as it is. Compared with the case of inputting to the computer on the side, the time and labor can be saved greatly, and extremely efficient information collection and analysis can be performed.

Further, according to the information collecting and analyzing system having the information input monitoring means, the input status of the information reporting side can be grasped in real time, and the reminder e-mail is automatically sent to the person who has not entered the information. It is possible to collect reliable information and to make a certain judgment as to the certainty of the information collected up to that point.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information collecting and analyzing system according to the present invention and a flow of information thereof.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of information collection and analysis processing using the information collection and analysis system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for defining report information titles when defining an information input screen.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for defining column field headings when defining a tabular information input screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for defining row field headings when defining a tabular information input screen.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for setting a destination of the information input screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an information input screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a mechanism for directly inputting the information reported to the database server and the information input status by operating the information reporting computer.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of information analysis by the information analysis means of the information collection and analysis computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Computer for collecting and analyzing information 2 Mail server 3 Database server 4 Computer for information reporting 5 Information input screen 6 Destination information 7 Input information input screen 8 Operation information 9 Information database 10 Mail management database 11 Mail operation history database

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information collection / analysis computer that performs processing for collecting and analyzing information, a mail server that sends an electronic mail requesting information input by an instruction of the information analysis computer, and the mail server. An information report computer that receives an e-mail from the computer, inputs and returns the information requested by the e-mail, and an information database constructed by the information collection and analysis computer, and the information report computer inputs and returns the information. And a database server that updates the contents of the information database in real time with the obtained information. 2. The information collecting / analyzing computer constructs an information database for storing data relating to the information items in the database server by allowing the user to set the items of information to be collected, and setting the information database. 2. The information collection and analysis system according to claim 1, further comprising: collected information setting means for transmitting an information input screen having the selected information item as a headline to the information reporting computer as the electronic mail. 3. The collected information setting means causes a user to set a tabular information input screen, and each row and each column of the tabular information input screen constitutes a data record of the information database. 3. The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 2, wherein the data of each cell input from the information reporting computer on the information input screen is input as the data of the data record of the information database. 4. The information reporting computer, upon receiving an email requesting the information, returns an incoming signal to the database server, and then sends an operation signal indicating an operation performed by the user regarding the email to the database server. And a database management server for inputting an incoming signal from the distribution destination of the electronic mail and the information reporting computer as information, and an operation signal from the information reporting computer regarding electronic mail. And a mail operation history database for inputting information as the information, and the information collecting and analyzing computer refers to the mail management database and the mail operation history database of the database server to check the input status of the information reporting computer. Information to monitor Information collection and analysis system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises an input monitor means. 5. The information input monitoring means of the information collecting and analyzing computer checks the input status of the information reporting computer that has sent the e-mail at a set time,
The information collection and analysis system according to claim 4, wherein a reminder e-mail is transmitted to the information reporting computer that has not been entered. 6. The information collecting and analyzing computer causes a user to set an information item required and an analysis condition of the information item, obtains necessary data from the database server, and performs necessary arithmetic processing. The information collecting and analyzing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising information analyzing means for displaying the analysis result. 7. The information collecting and analyzing system according to claim 6, wherein the information analyzing means of the information collecting and analyzing computer automatically analyzes the information collected so far at the set time. .