JP2009200942A - Notification processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a notification processing apparatus capable of efficiently processing overlapping notifications, thereby simplifying operator work. <P>SOLUTION: A notification processing apparatus comprises: a notification receiving unit for receiving a notification reporting a predetermined event from a predetermined device; a notification accumulation unit for determining whether a notification received by the notification receiving unit is overlapped with any notification received in the past and accumulated or not, and accumulating the notification if not overlapped, or discarding the notification if overlapped; and a mail transmission unit for determining whether the notification is a target of a call to an operator or not if the notification accumulation unit determines that the relevant notification is not overlapped, and transmitting mail reporting presence of the notification to a terminal of the operator if the notification is the target of the call. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a notification processing apparatus that processes a notification of a failure or the like transmitted from a device such as an image forming apparatus disposed in a remote place such as a customer.

  Targeting image forming devices such as multi-function copiers (MFPs) such as the number of printed pages, failure information such as failure, remaining consumables information such as running out of toner, etc. on a network such as the Internet The system which collects via this is put into practical use (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In such a system, counter information etc. is regularly reported as a regular service (for example, once a day) to the center via the network, and trouble occurrence information, consumables remaining information, etc. are very When an event occurs as a service, the center is notified. Information reported as a regular service is stored in the database on the system side, and is used to understand the customer's device usage status and billing. However, the information reported as an emergency service is immediately transmitted to service bases, etc. Measures such as dispatch of service personnel are taken according to the degree.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional notification processing system, in which devices 1A, 1B,... Arranged at customers are connected to a network 2 such as the Internet. A server 3 and a client terminal 4 operated by an operator are connected.

Now, for example, when a failure occurs in the device 1A, a notification is sent from the device 1A to the notification processing server 3 via the network 2. If the notification processing server 3 is a notification that requires a call to the operator, the network 2 A mail is transmitted to the client terminal 4. The client terminal 4 recognizes the occurrence of the report by receiving the mail, and confirms the details of the report by accessing the report processing server 3 from the client terminal 4 via the network 2.
JP 2001-24830 A

  The conventional notification processing system operates as described above, but the following problems have been pointed out.

  That is, in the devices 1A, 1B,..., In general, one notification per one event is a rule, but a plurality of notifications are continuously made despite one event. There is. For example, in the case of an image forming apparatus, if the power supply is repeatedly turned on and off in a state where a failure has occurred, a notification indicating that the failure has occurred is made each time. If the report requires a call to the operator, an email is sent each time, and the operator side determines whether the report is a duplicate report and processes such as closing the duplicate report. I need it.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described conventional problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a notification process capable of efficiently processing a duplicate notification and simplifying an operator's work. To provide an apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, as described in claim 1, a notification receiving unit that receives a notification informing the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device and the notification receiving unit If there is no duplication, the report is accumulated, and if it does not overlap, the report is accumulated. A mail transmission unit that determines whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator, and transmits a notification to the operator's terminal that the notification is received when the notification is a target of the call. The gist of the report processing device is provided.

  Further, as described in claim 2, the notification processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a notification display unit that displays the stored notification in response to access from the operator's terminal. be able to.

  In addition, as described in claim 3, a report accepting unit that receives a report notifying that a predetermined event has occurred from a predetermined device, and a report received by the report accepting unit overlaps with a report that has been received and accumulated in the past. If there is no duplication, the message is accumulated as it is when it is not duplicated, and the message accumulation unit that accumulates information identifying the duplicated message when it is duplicated, A mail transmission unit that determines whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator when the determination is made, and transmits a mail notifying that the notification has been received to the operator's terminal when the notification is a target of the call; It can be configured as a notification processing device provided.

  In addition, as described in claim 4, in the notification processing apparatus according to claim 3, for the access from the operator terminal, continuous reports with information for identifying duplicate reports are provided, and It is possible to further include a notification display unit that performs display that enables expansion and folding.

  In addition, as described in claim 5, in the notification processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the determination of duplication of reports by the report storage unit is performed by determining a report type, an occurrence date, and a device ID. Can be done with all of the matches.

  Further, as described in claim 6, in the notification processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the notification type and the device ID match in the determination of the duplication of reports by the report storage unit. And it can be performed when the difference in occurrence is smaller than a predetermined value.

  Further, as described in claims 7 and 8, it can be configured as a notification processing control method.

  Further, as described in claims 9 and 10, the information processing control program can be configured.

  In the notification processing apparatus of the present invention, duplicate notifications can be processed efficiently, and the operator's work can be simplified.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

<Configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a notification processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, devices 1 (1A, 1B,...) Arranged at customers are connected to a network 2 such as the Internet. The network 2 has a notification processing server 300 on the center side and a client terminal operated by an operator. 4 is connected.

  The device 1 originally includes a function unit 11, an event detection unit 12, an event notification unit 13, and a communication unit 14. The original function unit 11 is a part that provides the original functions of the device 1. For example, when the device 1 is an image forming apparatus, it provides functions such as printing, document scanning, copying, facsimile, and document storage. The event detection unit 12 has a function of detecting various events in the device 1, for example, occurrence of a failure such as a failure or a decrease in the remaining amount of consumables (toner or the like). The event reporting unit 13 has a function of reporting a preset address of the notification processing server 300 according to a predetermined protocol when the event detection unit 12 detects an event. The report includes a “report type” indicating the type of report, an “occurrence date” indicating the date on which the report occurred, and a “device ID” identifying the device 1 on which the report event has occurred. . The communication unit 14 has a function of transmitting / receiving signals to / from the network 2.

  On the other hand, the report processing server 300 includes a communication unit 301, a report reception unit 302, a report storage unit 303, a mail transmission unit 304, and a report display unit 305 as functional units. These functional units are realized by a computer program executed on hardware resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) of a computer constituting the report processing server 300. Is. In addition, the notification processing server 300 includes a notification information table 311 and a device information table 312 as databases. These databases systematically hold data on a storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) in the notification processing server 300.

  The communication unit 301 has a function of transmitting and receiving signals to and from the network 2. The report receiving unit 302 has a function of receiving a report from the device 1 via the communication unit 301. The report storage unit 303 has a function of storing the report received by the communication unit 301 in the report information table 311. The mail transmitting unit 304 sends a mail including a minimum information indicating that a notification has been made to a client at a preset address for a report requiring a call to an operator among reports received by the report receiving unit 302. It has a function of transmitting to the terminal 4 via the communication unit 301. The report display unit 305 has a function of synthesizing the contents of the report information table 311 and the device information table 312 for the access from the client terminal 4 and presenting the details of the report.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the report information table 311. (a) is an example of the report information table 311 used in the first pattern, and (b) is a report information table 311 used in the second pattern. It is an example. 3A, the report information table 311 includes a “report type” field indicating the type of report, an “occurrence date” field indicating the date when the report occurred, and the device 1 where the report event has occurred. It includes a “device ID” field for identifying. In FIG. 3B, the report information table 311 indicates a “group ID” field indicating a duplicate report group, a “report type” field indicating a report type, and a date when the report occurs. It includes an “occurrence date” field and a “device ID” field for identifying the device 1 in which the notification event has occurred. Note that the “group ID” field is blank when a report is received and accumulated, and is filled in as necessary in subsequent processing.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the device information table 312, and includes a “device ID” field for identifying the device 1 and an “installation destination” field indicating the installation destination of the device 1.

<Operation>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing example according to the first pattern of the above embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, when the report reception unit 302 of the report processing server 300 receives a report from the device 1 via the communication unit 301 (step S <b> 101), the report storage unit 303 stores the newly received report in the report information table 311. It is determined whether or not the notification is duplicated (step S102). Specifically, it is determined that the report is a duplicate report when all of the report type, the date of occurrence, and the device ID match. In the case where management is performed up to the time of occurrence instead of the date of occurrence, it is possible to determine that the temporal elements that are within a predetermined range (those whose occurrence time is smaller than a predetermined value) are the same.

  If the notifications do not overlap, the notification storage unit 303 stores the content of the notification in the notification information table 311 (FIG. 3A) (step S103).

  Next, the mail transmission unit 304 determines whether or not the notification is the notification that is the target of a call to the operator from the notification type of the notification received at the present time (step S104). In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the report type “failure” is a report that is a target of a call to the operator, and the report type “alarm” is not a target of a call to the operator. However, the report type can be further divided according to the degree of urgency, and it can be set in detail whether or not to make a call to the operator.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the notification is a call target, the mail transmission unit 304 transmits a mail to the client terminal 4 having a predetermined address via the communication unit 301 (step S <b> 105). FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of data included in an email, which includes a notification type “failure”, an occurrence date “20071001”, and a device ID “A129143145132”.

  Returning to FIG. 5, if the notification is not a call target, the process ends (step S107).

  On the other hand, if the notifications overlap, the notification storage unit 303 discards the notification without accumulating the content of the notification (step S106), and ends the process without sending an email to the operator (step S107). As a result, the storage area of the notification information table 311 is not wasted due to the duplicate notification, and it is possible to prevent the duplicate mail from reaching the operator.

  Thereafter, the operator who receives the mail at the client terminal 4 accesses the notification processing server 300 from the client terminal 4 and confirms the details of the notification under the control of the notification display unit 305. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a notification display screen, in which the same contents as in FIG. 3A are displayed. Here, since the list of reports to be displayed does not already include a duplicate report, the operator can eliminate the task of determining and closing the duplicate report. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the content (installation destination etc. matched with apparatus ID) of the apparatus information table 312 is also contained in display content.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example according to the second pattern of the embodiment.

  In FIG. 8, when the report receiving unit 302 of the report processing server 300 receives a report from the device 1 via the communication unit 301 (step S <b> 201), the report storage unit 303 stores the newly received report in the report information table 311. It is determined whether or not the notification is duplicated (step S202). Specifically, it is determined that the report is a duplicate report when all of the report type, the date of occurrence, and the device ID match. In the case where management is performed up to the time of occurrence instead of the date of occurrence, it is possible to determine that the temporal elements that are within a predetermined range (those whose occurrence time is smaller than a predetermined value) are the same.

  If the notifications do not overlap, the notification storage unit 303 stores the contents of the notifications as they are in the notification information table 311 (FIG. 3B) (step S203).

  Next, the mail transmission unit 304 determines whether or not the notification is the notification that is the target of a call to the operator from the notification type of the notification received at the present time (step S204). In the example shown in FIG. 3B, the report type “failure” is a report that is a target of a call to the operator, and the report type “alarm” is not a target of a call to the operator. However, the report type can be further divided according to the degree of urgency, and it can be set in detail whether or not to make a call to the operator.

  Returning to FIG. 8, when the notification is a call target, the mail transmission unit 304 transmits a mail to the client terminal 4 having a predetermined address via the communication unit 301 (step S <b> 205). The data included in the e-mail is the same as that shown in FIG. 6 and includes a notification type “failure”, an occurrence date “20071001”, and a device ID “A129143145132”.

  Returning to FIG. 8, if the notification is not a call target, the process ends (step S207).

  On the other hand, when the notifications overlap, the notification storage unit 303 bundles the notifications and stores them in the notification information table 311 (step S206). Specifically, in the case of newly occurring duplication, a unique group ID is assigned and set in the “group ID” field of both duplicated reports. If a group ID has already been set for a previous report that overlaps, the group ID is set in the “group ID” field of the new report. Thereafter, the process is terminated without sending an email to the operator (step S207). Thereby, it is possible to prevent duplicate mails from reaching the operator.

  Thereafter, the operator who receives the mail at the client terminal 4 accesses the notification processing server 300 from the client terminal 4 and confirms the details of the notification under the control of the notification display unit 305. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a screen example of the report display. The display contents are the same as those in FIG. 3B, but duplicate reports with common group IDs are displayed continuously and expanded / By clicking the folding mark M or the like, it is possible to select the display of expansion and folding, so that the operator can simplify the operation of discriminating overlapping reports. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the content (installation destination etc. matched with apparatus ID) of the apparatus information table 312 is also contained in display content.

<Summary>
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, duplicate notifications can be processed efficiently, and the operator's work can be simplified.

  The present invention has been described above by the preferred embodiments of the present invention. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, various modifications and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Obviously you can. In other words, the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the details of the specific examples and the accompanying drawings.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the conventional report processing system. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the notification processing system concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the data structure example of a report information table. It is a figure which shows the example of a data structure of an apparatus information table. It is a flowchart which shows the process example concerning the 1st pattern of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the data contained in an email. It is FIG. (1) which shows the example of a screen of report display. It is a flowchart which shows the process example concerning the 2nd pattern of embodiment. It is FIG. (2) which shows the example of a screen of report display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A, 1B apparatus 11 Original function part 12 Event detection part 13 Event notification part 14 Communication part 2 Network 300 Report processing server 301 Communication part 302 Report reception part 303 Report storage part 304 Mail transmission part 305 Report display part 311 Report information table 312 Device information table 4 Client terminal

Claims (10)

A report accepting unit for receiving a report notifying the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device;
Determining whether or not the report received by the report reception unit overlaps with the report received and accumulated in the past, accumulates the report when it does not overlap, and discards the report when it overlaps; and
When it is determined by the message storage unit that the notifications do not overlap, it is determined whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator. A message processing device comprising: a mail transmission unit for transmitting to the terminal. In the notification processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A notification processing apparatus, further comprising: a notification display unit that displays a stored notification in response to access from the operator's terminal. A report accepting unit for receiving a report notifying the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device;
It is determined whether or not the report received by the report reception unit overlaps with a report received and accumulated in the past. The message storage unit
When it is determined by the message storage unit that the notifications do not overlap, it is determined whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator. A message processing device comprising: a mail transmission unit for transmitting to the terminal. In the notification processing apparatus according to claim 3,
A report further comprising a report display unit that displays a display that enables continuous expansion and folding of a report with information for identifying a duplicate report for access from the operator's terminal. Processing equipment. In the report processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The report processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination of duplicate reports by the report storage unit is performed when the report type, the date of occurrence, and the device ID all match. In the report processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The notification processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination of duplication of reports by the report storage unit is performed when a report type and a device ID match and a difference at the time of occurrence is smaller than a predetermined value. A report acceptance process for receiving a report informing the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device;
It is determined whether or not the report received by the report reception step overlaps with the report received and accumulated in the past, and when not overlapping, the report is stored, and when it overlaps, the message storage step to be discarded,
When it is determined that the notifications are not duplicated by the notification accumulation step, it is determined whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator. And a mail transmission process for transmitting to the terminal. A report acceptance process for receiving a report informing the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device;
It is determined whether or not the report received in the report reception process overlaps with the previously received and accumulated reports. The message accumulation process
When it is determined that the notifications are not duplicated by the notification accumulation step, it is determined whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator. And a mail transmission process for transmitting to the terminal. The computer that makes up the report processing device
A report receiving means for receiving a report notifying the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device;
It is determined whether or not the report received by the report receiving means overlaps with the previously received and accumulated reports, and when not overlapping, the report accumulation means that accumulates the reports and discards the duplicated reports,
When it is determined by the message storage means that the notifications do not overlap, it is determined whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator, and if the notification is a target of the call, an e-mail notifying that there has been a notification is sent to the operator Report processing control program to function as a mail transmission means to be transmitted to the terminal. The computer that makes up the report processing device
A report receiving means for receiving a report notifying the occurrence of a predetermined event from a predetermined device;
It is determined whether or not a report received by the report receiving means overlaps with a report received and accumulated in the past. Report accumulation means to accumulate
When it is determined by the message storage means that the notifications do not overlap, it is determined whether or not the notification is a target of a call to the operator, and if the notification is a target of the call, an e-mail notifying that there has been a notification is sent to the operator Report processing control program to function as a mail transmission means to be transmitted to the terminal.

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