JP2003331049A - Print service providing method using wide area network - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To predict use state and demand tendency of printing equipment in a market by tabulating pieces of reservation information and performing statistical processing in print service using network in which a server terminal is used that intensively manages pieces of the reservation data of a certain specific area by the server terminal and to practically use the predicted use state and demand tendency of the printing equipment for operation and new introduction (sales) of the printing equipment in a printing equipment sales dealer and a printing equipment service provision dealer. <P>SOLUTION: This method for providing print service is constituted of a reservation terminal, the server terminal connected with the wide area network and a reservation acceptance terminal owned by the service provision dealer, in the server terminal, information data by adding reservation accomplishment state data to the reservation data accepted from the reservation terminal is generated, statistical processing result information for the same data is further generated, provided to the print equipment sales dealer and the print service provision dealer, use tendency of the print service and demand tendency of the printing equipment are predicted. In addition, a server terminal manager receives a price for information distribution. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print service providing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to improvements in electrophotographic technology, printers such as copiers and page printers using electrophotographic technology are rapidly increasing in speed and image quality. On the other hand, however, such a high-speed, high-quality printer device that requires advanced technology is very expensive, and it is not yet common for each user to purchase and use the printing device. Therefore, the dealer installs a high-speed, high-quality printer device in the store, and the user brings the manuscript printed / recorded on the sheet medium or the digitized manuscript data to the same store and uses the device himself / herself. Or request the dealer to operate the printing device to create a printout for the original image,
The so-called print service business style of paying a considerable amount for the output has become widespread in recent years. The print service has an advantage that the user can obtain a high-quality copy image output for a desired original image at a relatively low cost, but in order to obtain the output, the user must directly go to a nearby print service providing store. In addition, if the printer device you want to use is being used by another user, you may have to wait for your turn, so a user who wants to obtain print output immediately. It wasn't always very convenient for me.

Therefore, a business style has been proposed in which a user can make a print device reservation in advance at a print service providing store through a telephone or a wide area network line such as the Internet which has been remarkably developed in recent years. ing. Users can make reservations for printing equipment. If you make a reservation after confirming the current usage status of the printing equipment you want to use for multiple print service store dealers, you can print the desired print faster. Can be obtained.

Further promoting this idea, a server terminal connected to a wide area network line is installed in an arbitrary area, and the printing speed including the usage status of a printing device owned by a dealer of a print service providing store in the vicinity, While collecting various information such as image quality and usage charges, the information including the desired conditions for printing device reservation received from the user and the information about the previously acquired printing device are collated, and printing that satisfies the most desirable conditions for the user is performed. By providing only the information about the device to the user and making it possible to make reservations for use and confirmation of reservations via the wide area network line, the user's time and effort can be saved as much as possible and the desired print device can be used more efficiently. Which uses a wide area network that enables It has also been proposed for the cement service providing method.

[0005]

The merit of the above method is that the existing printing equipment group provided by a plurality of print service providing store dealers can be efficiently operated in an arbitrary area. However, if the absolute number of print devices that the print service store dealer can provide is insufficient for the user's demand, the user cannot use the desired print device or waits for use. The time will be long. In addition, the printing device to be used may be unusable because it requires maintenance. To avoid such problems,
Increasing the number of printing devices that are expected to have concentrated demand or prior to the situation where users are expected to use
Dealers on the print service store dealer side are required to complete maintenance work.

However, since the user's needs in a certain area are managed by the server terminal via the wide area network, it is difficult for each print service providing store to grasp the user's needs as a fixed customer. This is because many users who make reservations via the server terminal capture a plurality of print service providing stores in the area side by side and find the store that owns the print device with the highest degree of satisfaction at that time. I'm just choosing. Therefore, the possibility that the store will be used next time is quite uncertain, if not to say low. Therefore, it is difficult to predict future user needs only from the trends of users who visit each print service providing store. In that case, the store providing print services will not be able to make decisions based on the demand forecast when newly introducing expensive printing equipment, and the timing of maintenance of printing equipment will be unequivocally determined only by the trends of users at one store. It is difficult to do so and confusion is expected to occur.

[0007] In such a situation, it is considered that there are many disadvantages because the user who uses the print service delays the improvement of the usage situation.

[0008]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the printing speed, the image quality, and the usage fee including the usage status of the printing device that is connected to the wide area network line in an arbitrary area and is owned by the nearby dealer of the print service providing store. We installed a server terminal that can collect various information such as the above and information about reservation conditions related to printing device reservation received from a reservation terminal owned by a nearby user, and the status of reservation completion at that server terminal Reservation result information data consisting of various information such as reservation completion availability information, elapsed time until reservation completion, scheduled print service start time after reservation, etc. are generated, and print service usage status information data is generated. Based on various statistical processing data related to the breakdown of contents, Suggest print service providing method using the wide area network, such as to allow to perform the location prediction of demand print service usage trends and the printer device in the region.

[0009] Further, the print service utilization status information data itself, which is the basis for generating the prediction information regarding the print service utilization trend and the demand trend of the printer device, or the print service utilization status data itself, is used as a print service providing dealer or a print device sales dealer. The information is sent to the information acquisition terminal owned by the company, and from the results, the dealer providing print services and the dealer selling print equipment understand the print service usage trends and demand trends for printer equipment in the area, and sell / introduce the next printer equipment. We also propose a print service providing method using a wide area network that can make a plan or can be used as a guideline for smoothly operating the currently owned printing device.

Further, as a server terminal administrator, a print service providing method using a wide area network which enables to receive compensation for distributing the above information to a print service providing dealer or a print device selling dealer is also provided. suggest.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the constituent elements described in this embodiment are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited thereto.

[Embodiment] First, a form of a print service system which provides a service via a conventional wide area network will be described with reference to FIG. A wide area network 101 typified by the Internet is connected with terminals 105, 106 and 107 owned by dealers of a plurality of print service stores 102, 103 and 104. Each print service store 102, 103,
A plurality of printing devices 108 (a)-
(C), 109 (a) to (c), 110 (a) to (c)
Is installed. On the other hand, the user holds the original document printed / recorded on the sheet medium, or the original document data in electronic form, and the print service stores 102, 103,
A print device 108 that directly visits one of the print service stores 104 and is owned by the print service store 102, 103, 104.
(A)-(c), 109 (a)-(c), 110 (a)
Any one of (c) to (c) is used, or a print operation is created for the original brought by the dealer or by requesting the dealer to operate the printing device, or the original data.
(Hereinafter, this will be generically referred to as a print service.) Then, the user pays the dealer a considerable usage fee according to the number of print outputs created, the occupied occupation time of the printing device, and the like.

The usage fee varies depending on the created print output content or the performance of the printing device.
Details of the print information for determining the usage fee will be described with reference to FIG.

First, each item of the basic information 2 (a) for determining the usage fee will be described.

The printing device name 201 is the name of the printing device and serves as a basis for judging the performance of the printing device from the specifications guaranteed by the printing device manufacturer. The manuscript type 202 indicates whether the manuscript serving as a source for the user to create a print output is printed or recorded on a sheet medium or is digitized manuscript data. The print type 203 indicates whether the print output to be created is color print, monochrome print, or monocolor print.

Billing information 2 (b) for determining the usage fee paid to the dealer by the user based on this basic information 2 (a)
The print unit price 204, which becomes, can be determined as follows.

(Print unit price) = f (print device name,
Document Type, Print Type) Here, the print unit price 204 is uniquely defined by the dealer as a function of a plurality of parameters for determining the usage fee as shown below.

Further, it is possible to determine the usage fee 206 paid by the user to the dealer based on the print unit price 204 and the number of print outputs 205 created by the user which is another billing information 2 (b). That is, in the present embodiment, the usage fee 206 paid by the user to the dealer can be expressed by the following equation.

(Usage fee) = (Number of printouts) ×
(Print Unit Price) By the way, when the user goes to any of the print service stores 102, 103, and 104 to use the print service, the print device 108 desired to be used.
(A)-(c), 109 (a)-(c), 110 (a)
Whether any of ~ (c) is used by other users,
Or, if it is out of order, the user must either go to another print service store that owns the other desired printing device, or wait at that store until the desired printing device becomes available. It will be.

Therefore, as a user, in order to avoid such a wasteful time consumption, the print service store 102 from the terminals 113 and 114 installed in the user's home 111 or office 112 via the wide area network in advance, Access any of the terminals 105, 106, 107 owned by dealers 103, 104. The terminals 105, 106 and 107 owned by the dealers are the printing devices 108 (a) to (c) and 109 (a) installed in the print service stores 102, 103 and 104.
~ (C) and 110 (a) to (c), the information regarding the use status is sequentially registered. Note that the registration of the information is performed by the store manager on the dealer side, such as the print service store 102, in the printing devices 108 (a) to
In the case where the information on the usage status in (c) is sequentially input to the terminal 105, the print service stores 103, 10
4 through the printing devices 109 (a) to (c) and 110 (a) through the local area network in the store.
In (c), there is a case where the terminals 106 and 107 are connected and the terminals 106 and 107 automatically acquire information regarding the usage status through mutual local area communication and the information is automatically updated.

Now, the user is the terminal 1 owned by the dealer of each print service store 102, 103, 104.
By accessing 05, 106, and 107, the print devices 108 (a) to (c) and 109 (a) in each of the print service stores 102, 103, and 104 are accessed.
To (c) and 110 (a) to (c), that is, printer device specific information, and information regarding the use status and use waiting time of the print device, that is, print device status information. Can be sequentially acquired. The printer device unique information and the print device status information are collectively referred to as printer device information 3. Details of the printer device information 3 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the printer device specific information 3 (a) will be described in detail.

The print device name 301 is the name of the print device. The printing device type 302 is a so-called copying machine in which the printing device can copy a document printed / recorded on a sheet medium, or a page printer capable of printing digitized document data. Or a multi-function peripheral having both functions. The printable type 303 indicates whether the print output that can be created is a color print, a monochrome print, a monocolor print, or a plurality of them. The printable speed 304 is a print output speed that can be created. Printable image quality 3
Reference numeral 05 is an index value that means the degree of print output definition that can be created. The print unit price 306 means the price paid by the user to create one print as described above, and is a value uniquely obtained from the function defined by the dealer according to the print device name, the document type, and the print type. ,
Or it is that function. The printing device location 307 is information for indicating the location of the print service store in which the printing device is installed.

Next, the printer device status information 3 (b) will be described in detail.

The usage status information 308 is information indicating the usage status of the target printing device. Specifically, (a) standby, (b) busy, (c) faulty. , (D) discrimination during adjustment. Waiting time 3
09 is 0 when the status of the usage status information 308 is (a), and when the usage status information 308 is (b) to (d), the status is resolved and the estimated time is considered to return to the status of (a). Is.

The users have their own reservation terminals 113,
The printer device information 3 acquired via 114 is acquired from the terminals 105, 106 and 107 owned by the dealers of the print service stores 102, 103 and 104, and the desired printing device is determined after identifying the printing device to be used. To the print service stores where the printers are installed, or from the terminals 113 and 114 owned by the user to the terminals 105, 106 and 107 installed in the print service stores.
The print device is reserved for use by transmitting the reservation information to. Details of the reservation information 4 transmitted via the reservation terminals 113 and 114 are shown in FIG.

The desired manuscript type 401 indicates whether the manuscript to be printed by the user is printed or recorded on a sheet medium or is digitized manuscript data. The desired print type 402 is whether the print output that the user is requesting to print is color print, monochrome print, or mono-color print. Desired print speed 403
Is the print speed of the printing device that the user is going to request for print output. Desired print output quality 404
Is an index value that means the degree of fineness of the print output that the user will request for print output. The desired print unit price 405 is a desired amount of money that the user may pay as a consideration when creating one printout that the user will request. Desired printing device location range 4
Reference numeral 06 is information relating to the location range of the print service store in which the printing device scheduled to request print output is installed. The desired output sheet count 407 is the number of print output sheets that the user will request for print output.

If the store manager on the dealer's side of the print service store that has received such reservation information determines that a printing device matching the reservation information from the user can be provided, the fact is indicated as reservation confirmation information. Information for notification is returned from the terminals 105, 106, 107 installed in the print service store to the terminal 1 owned by the user.
13 and 114, and after confirming the reservation, the user can receive a predetermined print service by going to each print service store in which the reserved printing device is installed at a designated time.

It can be said that the convenience of the user is improved by making a reservation through such a wide area network. However, in reality, there is a limit to the print service stores that one user can grasp, and after all, a usable printer device installed in a limited store is selected. For example, if a user knows the existence of the print service stores 102 and 103 but does not know the existence of the print service store 104, a reservation is made from one of the print service stores 102 and 103. The situation is almost the same even if the difference is recognized by other users. Therefore, by making a reservation in advance, it is possible to avoid the waste of time that the user has to wait for the use of the printing device at the store that he / she went to without making a reservation. As a result, the situation in which the desired device cannot be used unless the current user completes the use will not change. That is, it cannot be said to be a fundamental solution to the purpose of urgently obtaining print output.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the user can easily grasp the situation of the printing apparatus in a more advanced form, in a large number of stores, in a wide range, and that matches the user's request,
Also, a print service providing method using a wide area network that enables quick reservation has been proposed.

The form of the print service system for providing the print service will be described with reference to FIG.

The wide area network 501 has a plurality of print service stores 50 as in the case of the conventional example.
2, 503, 504 dealer-owned terminals 505,
506 and 507 are connected, and a plurality of printing devices 508 (a) are provided in each print service store.
~ (C), 509 (a) ~ (c), 510 (a) ~
(C) is installed.

In the present embodiment, in addition, the server terminal 51
5 is connected to the wide area network 501. At least one server terminal is installed to control a wide area network within a certain area, but in some cases, the functions may be realized by a plurality of server terminals for processing distribution.

With respect to the server terminal 515, the dealer has the printing devices 508 (a) to (c), 509 installed in the respective print service stores 502, 503, 504.
Regarding each of (a) to (c) and 510 (a) to (c),
The printing device information 3 described above is sequentially transferred. The transfer of the information is performed by the store manager on the dealer side, such as the print service store 502, by the printing device 508 in the store.
Information regarding the usage statuses of (a) to (c) is sequentially output to the terminal 50.
5 or print service store 50
3, 504, printing devices 509 (a) to (c), 510 via a local area network in the store.
There are cases where (a) to (c) are connected to the terminals 506 and 507, and the terminals 506 and 507 automatically acquire information regarding the usage status through mutual local area communication and are automatically updated.

One of the server terminals 515 receives all the print devices 508 (a)-(c), 509 (a)-.
The print device information 3 regarding (c) and 510 (a) to (c) is collectively registered and managed.

Now, the user is a reservation terminal 513 owned by his / her own at the home 511 or the office 512.
From 514, nearby print service stores 502, 50
The reservation information 4 regarding the desired use of the printing device described in detail with reference to FIG.

Now, the reservation information from the user is the server terminal 5
When it is received by 15, the server terminal 515 performs a collation process of the series of printing device information 3 and the reservation information 4 acquired in advance. The details of this matching process are as follows.

First, of the reservation information 4, desired items that are absolute conditions for collation, that is, the above-mentioned information of the desired document type 401 and the desired print type 402, and registered / managed in the server terminal 515. The print device unique information 3 (a) included in the print device information 3 is checked. That is, specifically, the following processes (1) and (2) are performed.

(1) It is checked whether the desired print type 401 corresponds to the target print model type 302. That is, if the desired document type 401 is the document printed / recorded on the sheet medium, the print model type 30
2 is a copier or a multifunction machine. On the other hand, if the desired document type 401 is electronic document data, whether the print model type 302 is a page printer or a multifunction device. Will be checked.

(2) The desired print type 402 is compared with the printable type 303 to see if it corresponds to a print output that can be created.

The printing device specific information 3 (a) that matches these verification results is picked up and the process proceeds to the next step.

In the next step, the printing unit price 3 is applied to the picked-up plural printing device unique information 3 (a).
06 is calculated. Specifically, the print device name 3 included in the picked-up print device specific information 3 (a)
01, the desired document type 401 and the desired print type 402 included in the reservation information 4 can be uniquely obtained by using the above-described function defined by the dealer.

Subsequently, a collation process is performed on the reservation information 4.
The desired item that is a secondary condition above, that is, the desired print
Speed 403, desired print output quality 404, desired
Print unit price 405, desired printing device location range 40
For the 4 items of 6 in the item of printing device information
Printable speed 304, printable image quality 3
05, print unit price 306, print device location 307
Match with. For details, see print speed and pudding.
Checking the image quality and print unit price information is not supported.
Difference between reservation information 4 and printing device specific information 3 (a)
Is expressed as a percentage, the difference between hope and actual information
 Diff_{A, B, C}Calculate as Also the location of printing equipment
Regarding collation of information, desired printing device location range 4
If the printing device location 307 is included in 06,
Diff the result_D= 0, if the printing device location is 30
If 7 is outside the desired printing device location range 406
Is the same area as the center O of the printing device location range 406
Average distance from the outline of the enclosure l₀For O and printing equipment
Shows the difference with the distance l from the location 307 as a percentage.
Diff by_D To calculate. Note that l₀ > L
Diff for convenience _D= 0.

Diff calculated as described above_{A, B, C, D}of
The sum is the matching degree M of the matching result,
The smaller the value of M in
And the conditions of printing device specific information 3 (a) are met
Means that. With the reservation information 4 obtained as above
N highly compatible prints (where n is one or more)
Device-specific information 3 (a)_nAnd corresponding printing equipment
State information 3 (b)_nPrinting device information 3
_nFrom the server terminal to the reservation terminal 51 owned by the user
3, 514 via a wide area network. on the other hand
The user acquires the reservation information acquired from the reservation terminals 510 and 511.
Multiple printing device information 3 that is highly compatible with report 4 _nBrowse
Then, in addition to the printing device specific information 3 (a), print
Current usage status information 3 included in device status information 3 (b)
08, waiting time 309, etc.
The device information 3 can be efficiently selected. So
As a result, printing device information 3 that matches the user's wishes
_{n = s}Is included in the information transferred from the server terminal 515.
If so, the user transfers / notifies to that effect to the server terminal 515.
Knowing that, as a result
Will be done.

While the above method has the aspect that the user who uses the print service can efficiently use the print service in a certain arbitrary area, on the contrary, the dealer of the print service providing store From the perspective, it also has the merit of being able to efficiently operate the existing printing equipment group. However, if the absolute number of print devices that the print service store dealer can provide is insufficient for the user's demand, the user cannot use the desired print device or waits for use. Time will increase. Alternatively, even when the printing device requires maintenance when the user wants to use it, the user cannot use the desired printing device, or the waiting time for using the device becomes long. In order to avoid such problems, increase the number of print devices that are expected to have concentrated demand, or complete maintenance work before users are expected to use the service. Dealers need to deal with this, but in that respect it is no different from the conventional print service providing method, and it is a common problem in any case.

However, in the above-described conventional print service system, user needs can be regarded as being subordinate to each print service providing store, so that the demand for print equipment increases and the service usage situation. It can be said that is relatively easy to understand.

On the other hand, in the print service system to be described later, the user needs in a certain area are managed by a single server terminal via a wide area network, so that each print service providing store needs the user as a fixed customer. Is difficult to capture. This is because many users who make reservations via the server terminal capture multiple print service stores in the area side by side and select the store that owns the most satisfying print device at that time. I'm just out.
Therefore, the possibility that the store will be used next time is quite uncertain, if not to say low. Therefore, it is difficult to predict future user needs only from the trends of users who visit each print service providing store.

In such a case, when the print service providing store newly introduces an expensive printing device, it becomes impossible to make a judgment supported by the demand forecast, and as a result, it is expected that the new introduction will often be postponed. This can be said to be a big problem for both dealers selling printing equipment and dealers providing print services.

Further, it is difficult to determine the timing of maintenance of the printing device only by the user trend of one store, which causes confusion, which hinders the smooth provision of the printing service. In addition, since such a situation leads to a delay in improvement of the usage situation even for the user who uses the print service, it can be a great disadvantage for the printing device sales dealer, the print service providing dealer, and the user who uses it. Is.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, a new system is added to the above-described print service providing system described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 so that the above problem can be solved. It proposes a print service providing system.
Details of the print service providing system according to the present embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 6 schematically shows a print service providing system according to this embodiment.

This system is, to put it simply, 601 which is equivalent to the print service providing system described in detail in FIG.
It is realized by adding parts 616 to 622 to the system of ~ 615. 601-61
Since the details of the print service providing system related to No. 5 are equivalent to the parts described using FIG. 5 and will not be described here, and the system newly added in 616 to 622 will be described in detail.

A wide area network 616 represented by the Internet or the like has a server terminal 615, print service providing dealer information collecting terminals 618, 619, 620 owned by print service providing dealers of a plurality of print service stores 102, 103, 104. Further, a print device sales dealer information collection terminal 622 owned by the print device sales dealer 621 is connected.

As described above, the server terminal 615 is the reservation information 4 transferred from the user terminal and n candidates (n is one or more) which are reservation candidates according to the compatibility with the reservation information 4. The printing device information 3 _n is transmitted to the user terminals 613 and 614, and as a result, the information about the availability of the reservation from the user is received. At this time, various pieces of numerical information regarding whether or not the user can make a reservation and the determination thereof are generated as the reservation result information 7.

The reservation result information 7 in this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The reservation closing result 701 is a value indicating whether or not the reservation has been closed. If the reservation is confirmed by the user's reply to the reservation, 1 (= concluded), either the user does not reply to the reservation or the reservation is not returned for a certain period of time. 2 if the reservation failure is confirmed
(= None), and 0 (= Unknown) is recorded if neither of them.

The reserved contract elapsed time 702 records the time elapsed from the start of reservation to the completion of contract. For the sake of convenience, 0 is recorded when it is uncertain whether or not the reservation can be closed.

The scheduled print service start time 703 is
From the time when the reservation is made by the user and the waiting time 309 in the print device status information 3 (b) at the target print device information 3 _{n = s} at that time, the actual use of the print device after the reservation is made. The time at which the event should occur is recorded.

In addition to the reservation result information 7 described above, the information set including the previous reservation information 4 and the print device information 3 _n is stored by the server terminal 615 one after another as the print service usage status information data 8 shown in FIG. To be done.

At this time, since the print service utilization status information data 8 is recorded for a long period of time, it becomes a huge amount of information. Therefore, in the present embodiment, recording is performed in the mass storage device 617 connected to the server terminal 615.

Now, on the basis of the print service usage status information data 8, the server terminal 615 uses the print service as basic information for predicting future print service usage trends and printer equipment demand trends in a specific area. It is possible to generate trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 to 11. The print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 to 11 are composed of various statistical processing data relating to the breakdown of various information data contents included in the print service usage status information data 8.

Print service usage trends and printer equipment demand trend prediction information data 9 to 1 in this embodiment
1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, one embodiment of the print service utilization trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 based on the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 will be described with reference to FIG.

Breakdown of desired manuscript type 901 (a), (b)
Is for the user to make a printout of the reservation content that the user has recently used or desires to use based on the desired document type 401 in the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. This is statistical processing data showing a breakdown as to whether the original document, which is the original document, is printed or recorded on a sheet medium or is electronic document data. More specifically, 901 (a) shows a desired manuscript type breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been concluded, and 901 (b) shows a desired manuscript type breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been concluded. . 901 (a),
FIG. 12A shows an embodiment in which the graph of FIG.

Breakdown of desired print type 902 (a),
(B) shows the print desired by the user regarding the reservation content that is recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the desired print type 402 in the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistically processed data showing a breakdown of whether the output is a color print, a black-and-white print, or a mono-color print. More specifically, 902 (a) shows a desired print type breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been completed, and 902 (b) shows a desired print type breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been completed. . It should be noted that FIG. 12B shows an embodiment in which 902 (a) and (b) are graphed.

Desired print speed breakdown 903 (a),
(B) is the reservation information 4 that the reservation was made in the last m months.
Based on the desired print speed 403, the print speed breakdown of the printing device for which the print output is requested regarding the reservation content that is recently used by the user or desired to be used is shown. More specifically, 903 (a) shows a desired print speed breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been completed, and 903 (b) shows a desired print speed breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been completed. . It should be noted that FIG. 12 shows an embodiment in which graphs of 903 (a) and 903 (b) are formed.
It shows in (c).

Desired print output image quality breakdown 904 (a),
(B) is the reservation information 4 that the reservation was made in the last m months.
This is a breakdown of the print output definition requested for output with respect to the reservation content that is recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the desired print output image quality 404 in FIG. More specifically, 904 (a) shows a desired print output image quality breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been completed, and 904 (b) shows a desired print output image quality breakdown corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been completed. Indicates. Note that FIG. 12D shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for 904 (a) and 904 (b).

Desired print unit price breakdown 905 (a),
(B) is the reservation information 4 that the reservation was made in the last m months.
Based on the desired print unit price 405 in the above, it is considered that the user may pay as a consideration when creating one print output to be requested regarding the reservation content that is recently used by or is desired to be used by the user. This shows the breakdown of the desired amount. Specifically, 905 (a)
Indicates the breakdown of the desired print unit price corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been concluded, and 905 (b) indicates the breakdown of the desired print unit price corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been concluded. Note that FIG. 12 (e) shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for 905 (a) and (b).

Desired printing device location range breakdown 906
(A) and (b) are requests regarding the contents of the reservation recently used by or desired to be used by the user based on the desired print device location range 406 in the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been concluded in the last m months. It shows a breakdown of the location range of the print service store in which the planned printing device is installed. More specifically, 906 (a) shows a breakdown of the desired print device location range corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been concluded, and 906 (b) shows a desired print device location corresponding to the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been concluded. The range breakdown is shown. Further, 906 (c) shows the ratio of contracted / non-contracted reservations for each breakdown of the desired printing device location range. Note that FIG. 12 (f) shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for 906 (a) and (b).

Next, in FIG. 10, the print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 10 based on the print device information 3 _n selected as having a high degree of conformity with the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615. An embodiment will be described.

Print device name breakdown 1001 (a),
(B) shows a reservation that has been recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the print device name 301 in the print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistically processed data showing a breakdown of print device names that are candidates to be used according to the contents. More specifically, 1001 (a) shows a breakdown of the print device name in the reservation target print device information 3 _{n = s} for the reservation information 4 of which the reservation has been completed, and 1001 (b) shows that the reservation has not been completed. Reservation information 4
In contrast, the print device name breakdown in the print device information 3 _n that is a reservation candidate is shown. 1001 (a),
FIG. 13A shows an embodiment in which a graph is made for (b).

Print device type breakdown 1002 (a),
(B) is a reservation that has been recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the print device type 302 in the print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistical processing data indicating a breakdown of printing device types that are candidates to be used corresponding to the contents. Specifically, 1002
(A) shows the print device type ratio in the print device information 3 _{n = s} that is the reservation target for the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been closed, and 1002 (b) for the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been made. Reservation candidate print device information 3 _n
The printing device type ratio in FIG. 1002
FIG. 13B shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for (a) and (b).

Printable type breakdown 1003 (a),
(B) is a reservation that has been recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the printable type 302 in the print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistical processing data showing a breakdown of printable types that are candidates to be used corresponding to the contents. Specifically, 1003
(A) shows the printable type ratio in the reservation target printing device information 3 _{n = s} with respect to the reservation information 4 that has been booked, and 1003 (b) shows the reservation information 4 that has not been booked. Reservation candidate print device information 3 _n
Shows the printable type ratio in. 1003
FIG. 13C shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for (a) and (b).

Printable speed breakdown 1004
(A) and (b) show the server terminal 615 in the last m months.
Print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by
Based on the printable speed 304 in, the statistically processed data showing the breakdown of the printable speeds that are candidates to be used corresponding to the reservation contents that are recently used or desired to be used by the user. More specifically, 1004 (a) shows the printable speed ratio in the reservation target printing device information 3 _{n = s} with respect to the reservation information 4 that the reservation has been made, and 1004 (b) shows that the reservation has not been made. For the reservation information 4, the printable speed ratio in the print device information 3 _n that is a reservation candidate is shown. Note that FIG. 13D shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for 1004 (a) and 1004 (b).

Printable image quality breakdown 1005 (a),
(B) is a reservation that has been recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the printable image quality 305 in the print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistical processing data showing a breakdown of printable speeds that are candidates to be used according to the contents. Specifically, 1005
(A) shows the printable image quality breakdown for the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been made for the reserved printing device information 3 _{n = s} , and 1005 (b) for the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been made. Reservation candidate print device information 3 _n
The printable image quality breakdown in is shown. 1005
FIG. 13E shows an embodiment in which graphs are formed for (a) and (b).

Print unit price breakdown 1006 (a), (b)
Is based on the print unit price 306 in the print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months, and corresponds to the reservation contents that are recently used by the user or want to use. It is statistically processed data showing a breakdown of print unit prices that are candidates to be used as a result. More specifically, 1006 (a) shows a breakdown of the print unit price in the reservation target printing device information 3 _{n = s} with respect to the reservation information 4 that has been booked.
(B) shows the breakdown of the print unit price in the printing device information 3 _n which is a reservation candidate for the reservation information 4 in which the reservation is not concluded. Note that FIG. 13 (f) shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for 1006 (a) and (b).

Print device location breakdown 1007 (a),
(B) shows a reservation that has been recently used by or is desired to be used by the user based on the print device location 307 in the print device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is the statistical processing data showing the breakdown of the locations of the printing devices that are candidates to be used according to the contents. Specifically, 1007
(A) shows the breakdown of the printing device location in the reservation information 4 of the reserved printing device information 3 _{n = s} , and 1007 (b) shows the reservation information 4 of the non-contracted reservation. Print device information 3 which is a candidate for reservation
_The breakdown of the location of printing equipment in _n is shown. 100
FIG. 13 (g) shows an embodiment in which graphs are made for 7 (a) and 7 (b).

Print waiting time breakdown 1008 (a),
(B) shows the reservation contents that have been recently used by the user or wish to be used, based on the print waiting time 309 in the printing device information 3 _n corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistical processing data showing a breakdown of the print waiting time which is a candidate to be used corresponding to. Specifically, 1008 (a)
Shows a breakdown of the print waiting time in the case of the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has been concluded and the printing device information 3 _{n = s} that has been reserved, and 1008 (b) indicates a reservation candidate for the reservation information 4 for which the reservation has not been concluded. The print waiting time breakdown in the printing device information 3 _n is shown below. Note that 1008 (a),
FIG. 13 (h) shows an embodiment of a graph of (b).

Next, referring to FIG. 11, one embodiment of the print service utilization trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 11 based on the reservation result information 7 corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 will be described.

Breakdown of elapsed time until printing is concluded 1101
Corresponds to the reservation content that has been recently used by the user or wishes to be used, based on the reservation completion elapsed time 702 in the reservation result information 7 corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is statistically processed data showing a breakdown of the reservation contract elapsed time regarding the contract that has been closed. By the way, if the reservation is not closed, 0 is set for the reservation closed elapsed time 702 for convenience as described above. Therefore, in the present embodiment, statistical processing is not performed regarding the case where the reservation is not concluded. Note that FIG. 14A shows an embodiment in which 1101 is graphed.

Breakdown of scheduled print service start time 110
2 indicates the reservation content that has been recently used by the user or wishes to be used based on the scheduled print service start time 703 in the reservation result information 7 corresponding to the reservation information 4 received by the server terminal 615 in the last m months. It is the statistical processing data showing the breakdown of the scheduled print service start time, which is a candidate to be used corresponding to. 11
FIG. 14 (b) shows an embodiment of a graph of 02.

The print service utilization trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 to 11 are stored in the print service providing dealer information collecting terminal 6 owned by the print service providing dealer through the server terminal 615.
18, 619, 620, and the print device sales dealer 621 owns the print device sales dealer information collecting terminal 622 via the wide area network 616.

At the print device sales dealer information collecting terminal 622 owned by the print service providing dealer information collecting terminals 618, 619, 620 and the print device selling dealer 621, the acquired print service utilization trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 are obtained. For 11 to 11, information is analyzed based on various statistical judgments.

Details of specific information analysis in the present embodiment will be described.

First, a desired manuscript type breakdown 901 (a),
With regard to (b), first, by knowing the total amount of non-contracted reservations from the information in 901 (b), the original document for creating the print output is printed on the sheet medium.
It is possible to determine how much potential demand the user has for the recorded document and the digitized document. Further, from the ratio of the non-contracted information 901 (b) to the reserved contracted information 901 (a), the original document for creating the print output is printed on the sheet medium.
It is possible to determine how much the potential demand of the user tends to increase or decrease for each of the recorded original and the electronic original.

Desired print type breakdown 902 (a),
Regarding (b), first of all, by knowing the total amount of non-contracted reservations from the information of 902 (b), what is the potential demand of the user for each of color print, monochrome print, and mono-color print? Can be determined.
Further, from the ratio of the non-contracted information 902 (b) to the reserved contracted information 902 (a), to what extent the user's potential demand for each of color print, black-and-white print, and mono-color print increases, Alternatively, it can be determined whether there is a decreasing tendency.

Desired print speed breakdown 903 (a),
With regard to (b), first, by knowing the total amount of non-contracted reservations from the information in 903 (b), what is the potential demand of the user with respect to the print speed of the printing device for which print output is requested. Can judge.
Further, from the ratio of the non-contracted information 903 (b) to the reserved contracted information 903 (a), to what extent the potential demand of the user increases with respect to the print speed of the printing device for which the print output is requested. Or, it can be determined whether there is a decreasing tendency.

Desired print output image quality breakdown 904 (a),
As for (b), first, by knowing the total amount of non-contracted reservations from the information in 904 (b), how much the potential demand of the user with respect to the output definition of the printing device for which the print output is requested is estimated. You can judge whether there is. Further, from the ratio of the non-contracted information 904 (b) to the reserved contracted information 903 (a), what is the potential demand of the user with respect to the output definition of the printing device for which the print output is requested? It is possible to judge whether there is an increasing or decreasing tendency.

Desired print unit price breakdown 905 (a),
Regarding (b), first, by knowing the total amount of non-contracted reservations from the information in 905 (b), it seems that the user may pay as a consideration when creating one printout to be requested. It is possible to judge how much potential demand the user has for the desired amount of money. Further, based on the ratio of the non-contracted information 905 (b) to the reserved contracted information 905 (a), it is considered that the user may pay as a consideration when creating one printout to be requested. It is possible to judge how much the potential demand of the user is increasing or decreasing with respect to the desired amount of money to be provided.

Desired printing device location range breakdown 906
Regarding (a) and (b), first, by knowing the total amount of non-contracted reservations from the information in 906 (b), it is possible to confirm the location range of the print service store in which the requested print device is installed. It is possible to judge how much potential demand the user has. In addition, it is the information that the reservation is closed 9
From the ratio of non-contracted information 905 (b) to 05 (a), the extent to which the potential demand of users increases or decreases with respect to the location range of the print service store in which the requested printing device is installed Can determine if there is.

Print device name breakdown 1001 (a),
As for (b), first, 1001 which is reservation contract information.
It can be seen from (a) which printer device has been selected by the user, and which printer device has not been selected by the user from 1001 (b) which is reservation non-contract information. Therefore, the degree of popularity of the currently installed printer device can be determined from the data, and thus the tendency to the future demand for the printer device can be determined.

Print device type breakdown 1002 (a),
With regard to (b), first, 1002 which is reservation contract information.
From (a), a so-called copying machine capable of copying a document printed / recorded on a sheet medium or a page printer capable of printing digitized document data. Whether the printer device of which device type has been selected by the user as to whether or not it is a multifunctional device having both functions, on the other hand, from the reservation non-contract information 1002 (b), the printer device of which device type is selected. The user knows whether or not it was selected. Therefore,
Since the degree of popularity of the currently installed printer device with respect to the printer device type can be determined from these data, it is possible to determine the tendency to the future demand for the printing device.

Printable type breakdown 1003 (a),
As for (b), first, 1003 which is reservation contract information.
From (a), it is possible to know which type of printer device capable of print output, such as color print, monochrome print, and mono-color print, is selected by the user. It is possible to know whether the user has not selected a printer device capable of outputting. Therefore, the degree of popularity of the printer type currently installed in the printer device can be determined from the data, and thus the tendency for the future demand for the printing device can be determined.

Printable speed breakdown 1004
Regarding (a) and (b), it is the reservation contract information 1
From 004 (a), it is possible to know which print device has a printable speed selected by the user, while from 1004 (b) which is reservation non-contract information, the user has not selected a print device having a printable speed. I know how. Therefore, since the popularity of the printable speed of the currently installed printer device can be determined from the data, it is possible to determine the tendency to the future demand for the printing device.

Printable image quality breakdown 1005 (a),
As for (b), first, 1005, which is reservation contract information.
It can be seen from (a) which printable image quality has been selected by the user, while which printable image quality has not been selected by the user from the reservation non-contract information 1005 (b). I understand. Therefore, the degree of popularity regarding the printable image quality of the currently installed printer device can be determined from those data, so that it is possible to determine the tendency to the future demand for the printing device.

Print unit price breakdown 1006 (a), (b)
With regard to (1), first, it can be seen from the reservation contract information 1006 (a) which printer unit has a print unit price, and the reservation non-contract information 10
It can be seen from 06 (b) which printer unit price has not been selected by the user. Therefore, since the popularity of the printing unit price of the currently installed printer device can be judged from those data,
It is possible to judge the tendency for the future demand for printing equipment.

Printing equipment location breakdown 1007 (a),
As for (b), first, 1007, which is reservation contract information.
From (a), it is possible to know which location the printer device is selected by the user, and it is the reservation non-contract information 1
From 007 (b), it can be known at which location the printer device has not been selected by the user. Therefore, since the popularity of the location of the currently installed printer device can be determined from these data, it is possible to determine the tendency to the future demand for the printing device.

Print waiting time breakdown 1008 (a),
Regarding (b), first, there is reservation contract information 1008.
From (a), it can be seen that the printer device with a print waiting time or less is selected by the user. On the other hand, from 1008 (b), which is the reservation non-contract information, the printer device with a printing waiting time or more is shown to the user. You can see if it was not selected. Therefore, the degree of popularity regarding the print waiting time in the currently installed printer device can be determined from these data, so that it is possible to determine the tendency to the future demand for the printing device.

Breakdown of elapsed time until print completion 1101
With regard to (2), it is possible to know how long the elapsed time until the print contract is completed is selected by the user as the printer device. It is considered that the shorter the elapsed time until the reservation is closed, the higher the degree of satisfaction with the user's request regarding the print device group owned by the dealers in the neighborhood where multiple print service providing stores are located. On the other hand, if the elapsed time until the reservation is concluded is relatively long, it is expected that the degree of satisfaction with the user's request regarding the printing device group owned by the dealers in the neighboring multiple print service providing stores is low. If the elapsed time up to the reservation contract tends to be relatively long, it is considered that the degree of satisfaction with the user's request is relatively high, which is a proof for future demand for printing devices.

Breakdown of scheduled print service start time 110
As for No. 2, the tendency of the time distribution regarding the actual implementation of the print service can be seen. As a result, in the print service store, it becomes possible to make various operational judgments, for example, when the work such as maintenance is required for the printing device, the work is performed during a time period when the demand is relatively low.

Based on the above judgment, as a print service providing dealer, it is possible to more smoothly operate and maintain the currently owned printing equipment based on the demand trend including the trend of the neighboring market surrounding it. Moreover, since it is possible to make an accurate judgment as to whether the absolute amount of printing equipment is insufficient or not to meet the demand, it is possible to effectively introduce new printing equipment in consideration of future market changes.

On the other hand, as a printer equipment sales dealer,
It becomes possible to accurately determine the type of printing equipment shortage at each store of the printer service providing dealer and the expected shortage quantity, and it can be useful for own sales planning and sales.

Further, as a result, the operating status of the printing apparatus is optimized in the area, which is considered to be a great merit for the user who uses the printing service.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the server terminal 6
Dedicated managers and managers are required due to the complicated data processing performed at 15. The management company receives a reasonable price as a reward for transmitting the print service utilization trend and the printer device demand trend prediction information data to the print service providing dealer and the printer device selling dealer. FIG. 15 schematically shows the mutual relationship between the above management company, the print service providing dealer, and the printer device selling dealer.

[Other Embodiments] In this embodiment, the server terminal 615 generates the print service usage trend and the printer device demand trend prediction information data based on the print service usage status information 8 and then provides the print service. Dealer Information Collection Terminal 61
8, 619, 620 and dealer 621 for printing equipment sales
Sale of printing equipment owned by dealers Information collection terminal 62
Although the same information data is transmitted to the printer 2, the print service usage status information 8 itself is printed on the server terminal 615 by the print service providing dealer information collecting terminals 618, 619, 620 and the print equipment sales dealer 621. Transmitting to the device sales dealer information collecting terminal 622, and performing the subsequent processing of generating the print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data based on the data on the side of the printing device sales dealer or the print service providing dealer. Of course it is possible. However, it is possible to limit a part of the information regarding the individual print service providing dealer who is the customer, because it is judged that the customer information is leaked when the information is provided to another print service providing dealer. In that case, the server terminal 6
The fifteen management companies will receive a corresponding consideration as a reward for transmitting the print service usage status information data 8.

In the present embodiment, the print device sales dealer or the print service providing dealer who received the print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data analyzes the information. Server terminal 51 for data analysis
6, and the analysis result may be transmitted as information to a dealer selling print equipment or a dealer providing print services. In that case, the management company of the server terminal 615 will receive a corresponding consideration as a reward for transmitting the information of the analysis result.

The wide area network 616 and the wide area network 601 for providing the print service described above.
However, a common infrastructure may be used as long as it is a wide area network capable of providing the functions described below. Similarly, the print service providing dealer information collecting terminals 618, 619, and 620 are respectively terminals 60.
Of course, it does not matter even if it is a terminal common to 5, 606, and 607.

In the present embodiment, the print device name, the document type, and the print type of the print information 2 are used as a plurality of parameters of the function for determining the print unit price for the print output, but the print unit price is not limited to these three parameters. Instead of being determined, print information other than that may be used as the parameter. For example, it is of course possible to reflect the number of printouts in the print unit price.

The distinction as to whether each information item is an absolute condition or a subsidiary condition when the reservation information and the print device information are collated in this embodiment is not necessarily described in the embodiment. It is needless to say that the collation process is not limited to the distinction made, and the collation processing may be performed by other distinction.

The matching degree M obtained as the collation processing of the reservation information and the printing device information in this embodiment.
The calculation method is not limited to the calculation method using the arithmetic expression described in the embodiment, and if the method is a method for calculating the matching degree of general multiple information, the matching degree M is calculated by other methods. Of course you can do it.

In this embodiment, the threshold value M _TH of the matching degree for selecting the print device information having a high degree of compatibility with the reservation information uses a value predetermined by the server terminal. In order to increase the degree of freedom of the user in selecting information, the value added by the user to the reservation information and transmitted to the server terminal may be used as the threshold value. Also, in the case of recursively performing collation processing at other neighboring server terminals, in order to unify the criteria for selecting highly compatible printing device information, a threshold value set in advance at each server terminal is set. It is also possible to recursively use the value added to the reservation information and transmitted to the nearby server terminal as the threshold value without using.

In the present embodiment, electronic mail is used to transmit and receive information exchanged between the terminals via the wide area network, but other general methods that enable information transmission via the wide area network. Of course, it is also possible to substitute various types of information transmission methods and protocols for electronic mail.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to an apparatus composed of one device. .

The present invention supplies a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus directly or remotely, and a computer of the system or apparatus reads out the supplied program code. Including cases that can be achieved by executing. In that case, the form need not be a program as long as it has the functions of the program.

Therefore, the program code itself installed in the computer to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also implements the present invention. That is, the claims of the present invention include the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

In this case, the program may take any form such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS as long as it has the function of the program.

A recording medium for supplying the program is, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO or CD.
-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM,
DVD-R).

In addition, as a program supply method,
It can also be supplied by connecting to a homepage on the Internet using a browser of a client computer, and downloading the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file having an automatic installation function from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from different homepages. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for implementing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the claims of the present invention.

The program of the present invention is encrypted to C
By storing the information in a storage medium such as a D-ROM and distributing it to the user, and having the user who satisfies the predetermined conditions download the key information for decrypting the encryption from the home page via the Internet, and by using the key information It is also possible to execute the encrypted program and install the program in a computer to realize it.

Further, the computer executes the read program to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the OS running on the computer executes the actual processing based on the instructions of the program. The function of the above-described embodiment can be realized also by performing a part or all of the above.

Further, after the program read from the recording medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program,
CPU provided on the function expansion board or function expansion unit
Performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0121]

According to the present invention, as described above,
According to the present invention, various information such as printing speed, image quality, usage fee, etc., including the usage status of a printing device owned by a nearby print service providing store dealer is connected to a wide area network line in an arbitrary area, and is owned by a nearby user. Install a server terminal that can collect together with the information on the reservation conditions related to the printing device reservation received from the reservation terminal. Of print service usage status information data with reservation result information data consisting of various information such as the elapsed time of, the scheduled print service start time after reservation, etc., and based on various statistical processing data regarding the breakdown of the information data content, Print service in the area where the server terminal is located It made it possible to realize a print service using the wide area network, such as to enable it to predict the usage trends and printer equipment demand trends.

[0122] Furthermore, the print service utilization status information data itself, which is the basis for generating the forecast information regarding the print service utilization trend and the printer device demand trend, or the print service utilization status information data itself, is used as a print service providing dealer or a print device sales dealer. The information is sent to the information acquisition terminal owned by the company, and from the results, the dealer providing print services and the dealer selling print equipment understand the print service usage trends and demand trends for printer equipment in the area, and sell / introduce the next printer equipment. It is now possible to realize a print service using a wide area network that can be used as a guideline for making a plan or smoothly operating a print device currently owned.

Further, as a server terminal administrator, it is possible to realize a print service using a wide area network that enables to receive compensation for distributing the above information to a print service providing dealer or a print device selling dealer. did.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a form of a print service system for providing a service via a conventional wide area network.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing each item of print information for determining a usage fee in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing each item of printer device information according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing each item of reservation information according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional example of the form of a print service system for providing services via a wide area network.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a form of a print service system for providing services via a wide area network according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of reservation result information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an embodiment of print service usage status information data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of print service usage trends and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 based on reservation information 4;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment of print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 10 based on print device information 3 _n .

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an embodiment of print service usage trends and printer device demand trend prediction information data 11 based on reservation result information 7.

12A to 12F are diagrams showing an embodiment in which a print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data 9 are graphed in the present embodiment.

13A to 13H are diagrams showing an embodiment of a graph of the print service usage trend and the printer device demand trend prediction information data 10 in the present embodiment.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams showing an embodiment of a graph of the print service usage trend and the printer device demand trend prediction information data 11 in the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a mutual relationship between a manager, a print service providing dealer, and a printer device selling dealer according to the present embodiment.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. One or a plurality of reserved terminals that can be used by a user connected to a wide area network, one or a plurality of server terminals for processing distribution connected to the same wide area network, and the same wide area network. It is composed of a reservation reception terminal that can be used by a print service providing dealer at a connected print service providing store, and the reservation terminal outputs print service reservation condition information data based on a user's instruction The print service acceptability condition information data that can be accepted at the service providing store is transmitted to each of the server terminals, and the print service reservation condition information data and the print service acceptability condition information data received at the server terminal are collated. The print service reservation conditions set by the user One or a plurality of the print service acceptability condition information data having a high degree of conformity is transmitted to the reservation terminal, and then, at the reservation terminal, one or a plurality of the print service acceptance condition information data transmitted from the server terminal. In a print service reservation system using a wide area network, in which a desired service information is selected and transmitted as service reservation data to the server to make a print service reservation, the server terminal receives all of the received information. A print service providing method, characterized in that information data obtained by adding reservation result information data regarding a reservation contract status to service reservation condition information data is generated as print service usage status information data. 2. The reservation result information data particularly includes one or a plurality of items of reservation success / failure information, elapsed time until reservation completion, and scheduled print service start time after reservation. Item 1. A print service providing method according to Item 1. 3. The server terminal has means for transmitting the print service usage status information data to another terminal connected to the same wide area network, and the other terminal user uses the print service usage status information data to send the print service usage status information data. 3. The print service providing method according to claim 1, wherein the print service usage status of the user in the area where the server terminal is arranged can be grasped. 4. The other terminal generates print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data in an area where the server terminal is arranged from the print service usage status information data acquired from the server terminal, and 4. The print service providing method according to claim 3, wherein the print service usage trend and the printer device demand trend in the area where the server terminal is arranged are predicted based on the above. 5. The print service according to claim 4, wherein the print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data is statistical processing data relating to a breakdown of the contents of the print service usage status information data. How to provide. 6. The print service providing method according to claim 4, wherein the other terminal is an information acquisition terminal owned by a print service providing dealer. 7. The print service providing method according to claim 4, wherein the other terminal is an information acquisition terminal owned by a printing device sales dealer. 8. An administrator of the server terminal in particular receives a fee for distributing the print service utilization status information data to the other terminal.
The print service providing method described in. 9. The server terminal generates print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data in an area where the server terminal is located, from the print service usage status information data.
Or the print service providing method described in 2. 10. The print service according to claim 9, wherein the print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data is statistical processing data relating to a breakdown of the contents of the print service usage status information data. How to provide. 11. The other terminal receives print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data generated in the server terminal in an area where the server terminal is arranged, and based on the received data, the other terminal receives 10. The method for predicting the trend of print service usage and the trend of demand for printer equipment in the arranged area is performed.
Or the print service providing method described in 10. 12. The print service providing method according to claim 11, wherein the other terminal is an information acquisition terminal owned by a print service providing dealer. 13. The print service providing method according to claim 11, wherein the other terminal is an information acquisition terminal owned by a print device sales dealer. 14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the manager of the server terminal receives a fee for distributing print service usage trend and printer device demand trend prediction information data to the other terminal. Print service provision method,