JP2006139647A - Printer support server, printer control program, printer support server program, storage medium, and printer support control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a service for transmitting necessary failure restoration information for supporting failure restoration processing treatable on a user side, and automatically fully supporting it in other cases. <P>SOLUTION: This server comprises a printer 13 information receiving means receiving printer state information 17 including the content of a failure caused in a printer 13 and management information 18 including unique information of the printer 13 through a network interface 21; a storage device 22 storing failure restoration information 23 for restoring failures caused in the printer 13; a failure restoration information 23 management means selecting, based on a predetermined condition contained in the state information 17 and the management information 18, failure restoration information 23 stored in the storage device 22; and an information transmitting means 33 transmitting support information 24 for displaying the selected failure restoration information 23 through the network interface 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer support server, a printer control program, a printer support server program, a recording medium, and a printer support control method for optimizing a printer support service.

For users who use a large number of printers at various locations in a business office, management of printer consumables and maintenance management are extremely complicated tasks. Therefore, a system has been developed in which a service company automatically supports full supply and maintenance management of consumables by connecting the user's printer to the network and monitoring the printer status information on the server side (Patent Literature). 1).
JP2003-058745A

Here, the conventional technique has the following problems to be solved.
Although the full support system is very safe for the user, a corresponding expense is required. On the support side as well, there was a problem that a large number of engineers had to be requested and secured because a service person was dispatched immediately after a minor problem occurred. For example, if the user can operate the printer to some extent, the number of cases where the problem is solved without dispatching a service person increases. Moreover, if the user can recover from the trouble, the inconvenience that the printer cannot be used while waiting for the arrival of the service person can be solved.
The present invention has been made paying attention to the above points. In order to support failure recovery processing that can be handled by the user side, the present invention transmits necessary failure recovery information, and in other cases automatically. It is an object to provide a printer support server, a printer control program, a printer support server program, a recording medium, and a printer support control method capable of realizing a full support service.

In each embodiment of the present invention, the above-described problems are solved by the following configurations.
<Configuration 1> A printer information receiving means for receiving printer status information including the content of a fault that has occurred in the printer and management information that includes information unique to the printer, and a fault that has occurred in the printer are restored through the network interface. And a failure recovery information for selecting the failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to the condition based on a predetermined condition included in the state information and the management information A printer support server comprising: management means; and information sending means for generating support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information and sending it through the network interface.

  When a failure occurs in a printer, the server status information of the printer and management information unique to the printer such as the printer serial number, manufacturing date, and firmware version are acquired on the server side. As a result, it is possible to select optimal failure recovery information including problems specific to individual printers and transmit the selected information to the printer administrator.

  <Configuration 2> The printer support server according to Configuration 1, wherein the management information received by the printer information receiving unit includes information indicating a maintenance management history of the printer.

  By acquiring information indicating the maintenance management history including the contents of responses to past failure occurrences, it is possible to select optimal failure recovery information including problems specific to individual printers.

  <Configuration 3> In the printer support server according to Configuration 1, the support information selects a screen for displaying the failure recovery information and whether to resolve the failure recovery processing on the user side or to request a support service. And a support management means for sending support service request information with reference to the printer user information when selection information for selecting to request the support service is received. Printer support server.

  When the failure recovery information is displayed, the user of the printer can determine whether it can be easily processed by himself or should be requested from the support service. Here, since the support service request information is transmitted so that the service person is automatically dispatched when the button for requesting the support service is clicked, the user service is improved.

  <Configuration 4> In the printer support server according to Configuration 1, the support information includes a message indicating that the failure recovery processing is executed not on the user side but on the support service side, and displays the message. A printer support server comprising support management means for automatically transmitting support service request information with reference to the user information.

  If it is not appropriate for the user to perform failure recovery processing, a service equivalent to the full support system is displayed by automatically displaying support service execution information and sending support service request information. Enable.

  <Configuration 5> In the printer support server according to Configuration 1, the printer information receiving means receives the information adopted for the failure recovery on the printer side and the information for identifying the failure through the network interface after the failure recovery. And the failure recovery information management means stores the information adopted for the failure recovery and the information for specifying the failure in the failure recovery information and stores them in the storage device. .

  <Structure 6> When a failure occurs in the printer, the computer includes failure monitoring means for displaying the fact, printer status information including the details of the failure occurring in the printer, and management information including information unique to the printer. A storage device for storing, printer information transmitting means for transmitting status information and management information stored in the storage device, and request information for providing support information for failure recovery via a network interface; and for recovery from the failure A printer control program for a terminal device, characterized in that it functions as information receiving means for generating support information and receiving it through the network interface.

  The above function can be realized by providing a function of transmitting status information, management information, and support information provision request information for failure recovery to a computer that uses the printer.

  <Configuration 7> In the printer control program according to Configuration 5, the management information after the failure recovery includes the information adopted for the failure recovery and the information specifying the failure included in the support information for the failure recovery. A printer control program for a terminal device, comprising management information control means for recording information in addition to information.

  By adding and recording information and the like adopted for failure recovery, the failure recovery information of the printer can be optimized.

  <Configuration 8> Printer information receiving means for receiving, via the network interface, printer status information including the contents of a failure that has occurred in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer, and a failure that has occurred in the printer A failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to this condition based on a predetermined condition included in the state information and the management information A printer support server program that functions as a failure recovery information management unit and an information transmission unit that generates support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information and transmits the support information through the network interface.

  <Configuration 9> Printer information receiving means for receiving status information of the printer including the contents of the fault that has occurred in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer through the network interface, and a fault that has occurred in the printer A failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to this condition based on a predetermined condition included in the state information and the management information A computer-readable recording medium recording a failure recovery information management unit and a printer support server program that functions as an information transmission unit that transmits support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information through the network interface. .

  <Configuration 10> A step of executing a process in which the printer information receiving means receives the status information of the printer including the contents of the failure that has occurred in the printer and the management information including information unique to the printer through the network interface; The step of storing the failure recovery information for recovering the failure that has occurred in the printer, and the failure recovery information management means, based on the condition information and the predetermined condition included in the management information, And a step of selecting the failure recovery information stored in the storage device in correspondence with the information, and the information transmitting means transmits support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information through the network interface. A printer support control method comprising: a step of executing processing.

  In the present invention, a user who can recover from a failure while supporting the full support service displays the appropriate failure recovery information on the terminal device on the user side to assist the user. As a result, the number of support personnel can be reduced, and the problem of making the user wait for a long time with a simple failure is solved. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail for each example.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a network system using the present invention.
In the figure, a server 20, a terminal device 12, and another terminal device 27 are connected to a network 10 such as the Internet or an intranet. A printer 13 is connected to the terminal device 12. The user of the printer 13 receives the support service from the server 20. The terminal device 12 is provided with a status monitoring unit 15 for monitoring the operation of the printer 13 and a storage device 16 for storing monitoring data. The state monitoring unit 15 is a computer program for controlling the computer of the terminal device 12 included in the printer driver, for example. The storage device 16 stores state information 17 and management information 18. The status information 17 is information indicating the current status of the printer 13. For example, the content of the failure that has occurred in the printer 13 is included. The management information 18 includes printer-specific information such as a printer product number. The specific contents of these information will be described in detail later. The terminal device 27 is a communication terminal of a company that dispatches a support service staff.

  The server 20 has a function of monitoring the status of the printer 13 through the network 10 and the terminal device 12 and executing a support service. The server 20 is provided with a network interface 21, a storage device 22, and an arithmetic processing device 30. The storage device 22 stores failure recovery information 23, support information 24, and management information 26 for each user. The support information 24 includes data for displaying the support screen 25. The arithmetic processing unit 30 has a function of executing computer programs such as a printer information receiving unit 31, a failure recovery information management unit 32, an information transmission unit 33, a support management unit 34, a display screen control unit 35, and a mail transmission unit 36.

  The printer information receiving unit 31 has a function of executing processing for receiving the status information 17 and management information 18 of the printer 13 through the network interface 21 and the network 10. The failure recovery information management means 32, based on predetermined conditions included in the state information 17 and the management information 18, applies the corresponding one of the failure recovery information 23 stored in the storage device 22 so as to correspond to them. It has a function to select and output. The information transmission unit 33 generates a support screen 25 for displaying the failure recovery information 23 selected by the failure recovery information management unit 32 on the display of the terminal device 12, and together with the support information 24 for screen control, the terminal device 12 It has a function to send to. That is, these pieces of information are transmitted to the terminal device 12 through the network interface 21 and the network 10.

  When the support screen 25 displayed on the terminal device 12 is operated to detect selection information selected to request support service, the support management unit 34 refers to the management information 26 for each user and It has a function of transmitting support service request information to the terminal device 27 of the support service staff so that the support service is dispatched to the user. The support service request information is transmitted through the network interface 21 or the network 10 by e-mail or the like.

  The display screen control unit 35 has a function of reading the support screen 25 from the storage device 22 and transmitting it to the terminal device 12 through the network 10 and controlling the display of the corresponding screen. In addition, the terminal device 12 has a function of acquiring data input by operating the screen. The failure recovery information 23 stored in the storage device 22 is information including an operation method and an operation procedure for recovering a failure when a predetermined failure occurs in the printer 13. These pieces of information are stored in a database so as to correspond to the type of failure. The support information 24 is data generated by the information transmission unit 33 and transmitted to the terminal device 12 when a failure occurs in the printer 13. The support information 24 includes the failure recovery information 23 and the support screen 25 selected by the failure recovery information management unit 32. Contains data for display. The management information 26 for each user is a database that records a large number of printers 13 (not shown) connected to the network 10 and information about the users.

FIG. 2 is a hardware external view and a block diagram of the above system.
The system shown in FIG. 1 is realized by a server computer 101, an arbitrary number of personal computers 102, and an arbitrary number of printers 103 whose external appearance is shown in FIG. For example, the server computer 101 corresponds to the server 20, the personal computer 102 corresponds to the terminal device 12, and the printer 103 corresponds to the printer 13. The personal computer 102 includes a display 104, a main body control unit 105, a keyboard 106, and a mouse 107. A printer 103 is connected to the main body control unit 105.

FIG. 2B is a hardware block diagram of the system.
The server computer 101 is connected to the network 100 by a network interface 111. A CPU 112, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 113, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 114, and an HDD (Hardware Disk) 115 are connected to the bus line 110 of the server computer 101. The CPU 112 functions as an arithmetic processing device, and the ROM 113, RAM 114, and HDD 115 function as a storage device.

  A main body control unit 105 of the terminal device is connected to the network 100 via a network interface 121. CPU 122, ROM 123, RAM 124, HDD 125, and input / output interface 126 are connected to bus line 120. A printer 103, a display 104, a keyboard 106 and a mouse 107 are connected to the input / output interface 126. The CPU 122 functions as the state monitoring unit 15. The ROM 123, RAM 124, and HDD 125 function as the storage device 16. All of the above hardware is provided in a generally well-known computer. A detailed description of hardware such as a cache memory unnecessary for the description of the present invention is omitted.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the support screen 25.
The support screen 25 is generated by the information transmission unit 33 and displayed on the terminal device 12 under the control of the display screen control unit 35 provided in the server 20. The support screen 25 includes a text box 41 that displays the model of the printer 13 and a text box 42 that displays the product number of the printer 13. These pieces of information are included in the management information 18 of the storage device 16 included in the terminal device 12 and are transferred to the server 20. Further, the support screen 25 includes a list box 43 for displaying the content of a failure that has occurred in the printer 13. The content of the failure is included in the state information 17 transmitted from the terminal device 12 toward the server 20.

  Also included is a list box 44 for displaying failure recovery guidance data (displayed as “Troubleshooting” on the practical screen). The failure recovery guidance data is data representing the content of failure recovery information for recovering a failure in a specific procedure. That is, when the management information 18 and the status information 17 are transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 20 along with the occurrence of the failure, the printer information receiving unit 31 receives this, and the failure recovery information managing unit 32 stores the storage device. 22, the failure recovery information 23 corresponding to the failure is selected and read.

  Information corresponding to the printer model and product number included in the management information 18 is displayed in the text box 41 and the text box 42 of the support screen 25. In addition, information indicating the failure that has occurred, which is included in the status information 17, is displayed in the list box 43. Further, the failure recovery guidance data included in the failure recovery information 23 selected by the failure recovery information management unit 32 is displayed in the list box 44. When the support screen 25 assembled in this way is displayed on the display of the terminal device 12, the user refers to the list box 44 and determines whether or not the failure can be recovered by himself.

  For example, the user tries to recover from a failure in a certain procedure according to the failure recovery guidance data shown in the list box 44. Here, when the failure is recovered, the command button 45 is clicked. If it is determined that the command button 46 is not very manageable, the command button 46 is clicked. The command button 45 is a button for starting the failure recovery information management means 32 that processes the information in a certain procedure when the failure is recovered. The command button 46 is a button for activating the support management means 34 and automatically calling a support service. The command button 47 is a control button that is clicked to close the support screen 25.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the contents of the status information 17, the management information 18, and the failure recovery information 23.
FIG. 4A shows the contents of the status information 17. The status information 17 includes data 51 indicating the time when the status occurs, data 52 indicating the type of ink used by the printer 13 at that time, data 53 indicating the remaining amount of ink, and data used at that time. Data 54 indicating the paper that is being printed, data 55 indicating the failure that has occurred, and the like. The status information 17 is generated by automatically extracting internal information of the printer 13 at regular intervals, for example. Alternatively, the internal information of the printer 13 is collected and generated when a failure occurs.

  After a failure has occurred, this content is retained until, for example, the command button 47 on the support screen 25 is clicked and all failure recovery processing is completed. FIG. 4B shows the contents of the management information 18. The management information 18 indicates data 56 indicating the product number of the printer 13, data 57 indicating the date of manufacture, data 58 indicating all types of usable ink, and all types of usable paper. It includes data 59 and a failure recovery history 60 relating to failures that have occurred in the past.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the failure recovery history includes data 61 indicating the time of occurrence of failure, data 62 indicating the type of failure, and data indicating the content of failure recovery information applied to the recovery of the failure. 63. In other words, the management information 18 includes a list of information in which unique information of the printer 13, information indicating the type of failure that has occurred in the past, and failure recovery information used to recover from the failure are associated with each other. Yes. Thus, when a new failure occurs, it is possible to select failure recovery information that is most suitable for the failure recovery of the printer.

  In this embodiment, management information 18 as shown in FIG. 4B is stored in the storage device 16 shown in FIG. Further, the management information 18 of all the printers managed by the server 20 is also stored in the failure recovery information 23 provided in the storage device 22 of the server 20. The management information transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 20 when a failure occurs may not be the entire management information 18. When all the management information 18 necessary for printer management is recorded in the storage device 22, for example, only the product number included in the management information 18 may be transmitted from the terminal device 12.

  When the status information 17 and management information 18 are transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 20, the server 20 side can identify the user by the source information. Therefore, it is possible to immediately determine which type of printer of which user has failed. If the management information 18 is stored in the storage device 22 for each corresponding printer, it is not necessary to receive all data transfer from the terminal device 12.

  FIG. 4C is an explanatory diagram of the contents of the failure recovery information 23. The failure recovery information 23 includes a failure recovery history 60, failure recovery guidance data 66, and support screen basic data 67, as shown on the right side of the figure. This failure recovery information 23 is used to search for necessary failure recovery guidance data from a combination of various types of information such as the type of failure, printer model, history of failure that has occurred, ink used, paper used, etc. The search engine 65 is provided. That is, it has a function of selecting not only general failure recovery guidance data for a failure but also unique guidance data in consideration of the failure occurrence history of each printer and the characteristics of the printer.

  Therefore, when a failure occurs in any of the printers 13 connected to the network 10, the status information 17 and management information 18 for specifying the printer 13 are received by the server 20. A support screen 25 including failure recovery guidance is generated and displayed on the terminal device 12. The user tries to recover the failure while viewing the screen, and when the failure is recovered, the user clicks the command button 45 on the support screen 25 to input the fact. As a result, a failure recovery history 60 including the type of failure and the applied failure recovery information is newly generated.

  When the management information 18 including this is updated, the subsequent failure recovery becomes easier. In addition, if the user determines that it is impossible to respond, a process of calling a support person immediately can be executed by clicking the command button 46 provided on the support screen 25. In addition, the present invention has a function for automatically and forcibly dispatching a support service person who is determined to be impossible to solve by the user himself at the stage of selecting the failure recovery information 23. This part is the same as the full support system provided conventionally.

  Such processing reduces the load of dispatching a service person for all failures on the server administrator side. On the other hand, for problems that should not be solved on the user's side, it is possible to forcibly dispatch service personnel without waiting for the user's judgment, so that the advantages of the conventional full support system can be utilized as they are. Can do. Hereinafter, specific operations of the server and the terminal device will be described with reference to flowcharts.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the printer support control operation by the server.
First, when a failure occurs in any of the printers 13 connected to the network 10, the server 20 receives the status information 17 and the management information 18 from the terminal device 12 to which the printer 13 is connected in step S11. This information is received by the printer information receiving means 31 and passed to the failure recovery information management means 32. In step S <b> 12, the failure recovery information management unit 32 supplies a search key to the search engine 65 in order to search the failure recovery information 23 stored in the storage device 22.

  The search key is a condition such as the type of failure included in the status information 17, the model or history of occurrence failure included in the management information 18, ink used, paper used, and the like. In step S13, the search engine 65 selects appropriate failure recovery guidance data 66. In step S14, the support information 24 and the support screen 25 are generated using the support screen basic data 67 stored in the storage device 22. It is preferable that the management information 18 is periodically received from the terminal device 12 and necessary information is accumulated in the management information 26 for each user. The support screen 25 is selected in an appropriate step S14, and the support screen 25 is generated in step S15.

  In step S <b> 16, the display screen control unit 35 transmits the support screen 25 to the terminal device 12. As a result, the support screen 25 is displayed on the terminal device 12. Here, when the user clicks the command button 45 or the command button 46 included in the support screen 25, selection information is generated. In step S <b> 17, the selection information is acquired by the display screen control unit 35 via the printer information receiving unit 31. The data is notified to the support management means 34.

  The support management unit 34 determines whether or not full support is to be performed in step S18. If the result of this determination is yes, the process proceeds to the next step S19. If no, jump to step S21. In step S19, information including a mail text for requesting a support service is generated. In step S <b> 20, the mail transmission unit 36 transmits the information to the terminal device 27 through the network interface 21.

  Next, in step S21, it is determined whether the failure has been recovered. When the command button 45 on the support screen 25 is clicked, it can be determined that the failure has been recovered. In this case, the process proceeds to step S22. In other cases, the process ends. In step S22, failure recovery information is received. That is, when the command button 45 on the support screen 25 is clicked, the failure recovery information management means 32 secures the status information 17 indicating the failure that has occurred and the contents of the failure recovery information 23 transmitted to the terminal device 12. Is included in the failure recovery history 60. In this embodiment, this information is recorded in the management information 18 on the terminal device 12 side and also in the management information 26 for each user on the server 20 side. Of course, it is sufficient if it is stored in either one. That is, these pieces of information are acquired, the management information 18 and the management information 26 for each user are updated, and the process ends.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart by the terminal device 12 on the printer side.
A state monitoring unit 15 provided in the terminal device 12 periodically monitors the state of the printer 13 and collects necessary information. That is, the state is detected at a predetermined timing in step S31, and the contents of the state information 17 are updated in step S32. The state monitoring unit 15 analyzes the contents of the state information 17 in step S33. As a result, it is determined whether or not an order for consumables is necessary in step S34. For example, when the remaining amount of ink used is low, it is determined that an order for consumables is necessary.

  In this case, the process proceeds to step S35, and the consumable item is automatically ordered. At this time, for example, a mail is transmitted to the server 20, and the support management means 34 on the server 20 side receives this, and forwards the mail toward the terminal device 27. The record is added to the management information 26 for each user on the server 20 side. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S34 that no consumables need to be ordered, the process jumps from step S34 to step S36. Even when the ordering process is completed, the process proceeds to step S36, and it is determined whether or not a failure is detected as a result of the analysis of the state information.

  If a failure is detected, the process proceeds to step S37. In other cases, the process ends. When a failure is detected, the state monitoring unit 15 transmits the state information 17 and the management information 18 to the server 20 in step S37. As already described, only the necessary part of the management information 18 may be transmitted. In step S38, the fault recovery information and support information acquired by the operation of the fault recovery information management means 32 of the server 20 are acquired. Thereafter, in step S39, the support screen 25 is displayed on the display of the terminal device 12.

  In step S40, when the user refers to the contents of the list box 44 shown in FIG. 3 and executes the process for fault recovery one by one, the state monitoring unit 15 automatically records the fault recovery history. . This content is written in the management information 18. Thereafter, if the user solves the failure, the command button 45 is clicked. If not resolved, the command button 46 is clicked. In step S41, the selection information is acquired. Then, the process proceeds to step S42, and it is determined whether or not the failure is recovered.

  When the command button 45 is clicked, it is determined that the failure has been recovered, and the failure recovery history recorded at that time is transmitted to the server 20. In the server 20, the failure recovery information management unit 32 updates the contents of the management information 26 for each user and stores the resolved result. This is used for the subsequent retrieval of the failure recovery information 23. Whether the failure recovery is performed by the user or not, the process proceeds to step S44, and the selection information is transmitted to the server 20. As a result, the server 20 performs the process of step S17 already described.

FIG. 7 shows an operation flowchart when the support service is forcibly called.
For example, when the support screen 25 is displayed on the terminal device 12, the state monitoring unit 15 measures time from the start of display. Then, in step S51, it is determined whether or not recovery is possible within a certain time. If it cannot be recovered within a certain time, the forced support flag is turned on in step S52. Otherwise, the process jumps from step S51 to step S53. In step S53, it is determined whether or not the same failure has recurred within a predetermined time. This can be understood by referring to the failure recovery history included in the management information. What is necessary is just to compare with the content of the failure occurrence immediately before.

  If the same failure recurs within a certain time, the process proceeds from step S53 to step S54, and the forced support flag is turned on. That is, in the case of a very troublesome failure, there are cases where the user takes time to recover and does not readily resolve it. In addition, when exactly the same failure is repeated in a short time, even if a failure occurs temporarily, it is considered that other causes to be solved are included. In such a case, it is preferable to automatically and forcibly contact the user from the support service and dispatch a technician. The process shown in FIG. 7 operates to turn on the forced support flag in order to execute it.

  In step S55, it is determined whether the forced support flag is on. If the forced support flag is on, the process proceeds to step S56, and an automatic support request is made. In other cases, the process ends. If there is something that requires a forced support process other than the determination in step S51 or step S53, a fixed determination process is executed in the same way. If the forced support flag is turned on in any of the determination processes, an automatic support request is made. You can adopt the method of doing. In this case, a message indicating that an automatic support request has been made is transmitted to the terminal device 12 to notify the user of that fact. The user only has to interrupt or end the failure recovery process by looking at the message.

  In the above embodiment, a personal computer is used to display a support screen on the printer user side or to communicate with a server. However, the support screen is displayed on a display provided in the printer. If various operations can be performed by the printer alone, a computer for controlling the printer is unnecessary. A computer program for the terminal device may be installed in the network printer and all functions of the terminal device and the printer may be given.

  Note that the computer program executed by the arithmetic processing unit may be modularized in units illustrated in functional blocks, or may be integrated by combining a plurality of functional blocks. Further, the above computer program may be used by being incorporated into an existing application program. The computer program for realizing the present invention can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM and installed in an arbitrary information processing apparatus for use.

The block diagram of the specific example of the network system using this invention. The hardware external view and block diagram of a system. Explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of a support screen. Explanatory drawing of status information, management information, and failure recovery information. 5 is a flowchart of printer support control operation by the server. The operation | movement flowchart by the terminal device 12 by the side of a printer. The operation | movement flowchart in the case of calling a support service compulsorily.

Explanation of symbols

10 network, 12 terminal device, 13 printer, 15 status monitoring means, 16 storage device, 17 status information, 18 management information, 20 server, 21 network interface, 22 storage device, 23 failure recovery information, 24 support information, 25 support screen 31 Printer information receiving means 32 Failure recovery information managing means 33 Information sending means 34 Support management means 35 Display screen control means 36 Mail sending means

Claims (10)

A printer information receiving means for receiving, via the network interface, printer status information including the content of the failure that has occurred in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer;
A storage device storing failure recovery information for recovering a failure that has occurred in the printer;
Failure recovery information management means for selecting the failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to the condition based on the predetermined condition included in the state information and the management information;
A printer support server, comprising: information transmission means for generating support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information and transmitting the support information through the network interface. The printer support server according to claim 1,
The printer support server, wherein the management information received by the printer information receiving means includes information indicating a printer maintenance management history. The printer support server according to claim 1,
The support information includes a screen for displaying the failure recovery information and a screen for selecting whether to solve the failure recovery processing on the user side or to request a support service,
A printer support server, comprising: a support management unit that transmits support service request information with reference to user information of the printer when selection information for selecting to request the support service is received. The printer support server according to claim 1,
The support information includes a message indicating that the failure recovery processing is executed on the support service side instead of the user side,
A printer support server, comprising: a support management unit that displays the message and automatically transmits support service request information with reference to user information of the printer. The printer support server according to claim 1,
The printer information receiving means receives the information adopted for the failure recovery on the printer side and the information for identifying the failure through the network interface after the failure recovery,
The printer support server characterized in that the failure recovery information management means stores information adopted for the failure recovery and information for identifying the failure in the failure recovery information and stored in the storage device. Computer
When a fault occurs in the printer, a fault monitoring means for displaying the fact,
A storage device for storing printer status information including details of a failure occurring in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer;
Printer information transmission means for transmitting status information and management information stored in the storage device and support information provision request information for failure recovery through a network interface;
Information receiving means for generating support information for failure recovery and receiving it through the network interface;
A printer control program for a terminal device, wherein The printer control program according to claim 5,
Management information control means for recording information adopted for failure recovery and information for identifying the failure included in the support information for failure recovery in addition to the management information after failure recovery A printer control program for a terminal device. Computer
A printer information receiving means for receiving, via the network interface, printer status information including the content of the failure that has occurred in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer;
A storage device storing failure recovery information for recovering a failure that has occurred in the printer;
Failure recovery information management means for selecting the failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to the condition based on the predetermined condition included in the state information and the management information;
Information transmitting means for generating support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information and transmitting the support information through the network interface;
Printer support server program to function as Computer
A printer information receiving means for receiving, via the network interface, printer status information including the content of the failure that has occurred in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer;
A storage device storing failure recovery information for recovering a failure that has occurred in the printer;
Failure recovery information management means for selecting the failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to the condition based on the predetermined condition included in the state information and the management information;
Information transmitting means for transmitting support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information through the network interface;
A computer-readable recording medium that records a printer support server program that functions as a computer. A step of executing a process in which the printer information receiving means receives, via the network interface, printer status information including the content of the failure that has occurred in the printer and management information including information unique to the printer;
A step of executing a process in which the storage device stores failure recovery information for recovering a failure that has occurred in the printer;
The failure recovery information management means executes a process of selecting the failure recovery information stored in the storage device corresponding to the condition information and the predetermined condition included in the management information, and
An information transmitting means for executing a process of transmitting support information for displaying the selected failure recovery information through the network interface;
A printer support control method comprising:

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