While playing a melody often used in Japan to signal the end of business hours, a drone flew over desks in a demonstration in early December of a new business utilizing drones to urge employees to leave work on time.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corp. has teamed up with a drone business developer and a building management firm for the new operation, which is also aimed at addressing a shortage of office building security guards.

By having an autonomously controlled drone take and send images as it flies around an office, the small unmanned aircraft can serve as both security guards as well as labor supervisors, by providing footage that can be checked by actual management personnel.

The telecom company, along with Blue Innovation Co., a Tokyo-based company developing drone operation systems, and Taisei Co., a Nagoya-based building management firm, plan to begin offering the service on a trial basis next April before formally launching it in October.

In another sign of the diversification of drone-related businesses, e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. announced early this month the development of a new smartphone app which provides information about no-fly zones for drones, weather data and other useful information for drone operators.

Rakuten AirMap Inc., a joint venture between Rakuten and AirMap Inc. of the United States, developed the app, which also enables drone operators in Japan to apply for permission from airspace administrators to fly drones in restricted airspaces such as over airports and populated residential areas, simplifying the approval process.

The city government of Chiba, east of Tokyo, became the first local government in Japan to accept an application filed via the app for a drone test flight over areas of the city, Rakuten AirMap said.