JP2011159233A - Equipment information collecting and analyzing program, and portable memory - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment information collecting and analyzing program, and a portable memory, with which equipment information of each vendor equipment is collected under multi-vendor network environment. <P>SOLUTION: The equipment information collecting and analyzing program is used to collect equipment information from the vendor equipment having equipment information stored in the portable memory and based on extended MIB of its own equipment, which is disclosed via the Web, and to analyze the collected equipment information. A computer to which the portable memory is connected is functioned as: an equipment searching means which searches the vendor equipment; an equipment information collecting means which collects the equipment information of the vendor equipment via the Web disclosed by the searched vendor equipment; a storage means which stores the collected equipment information; an equipment information analysis means which analyzes the equipment information; and a display means which displays the analysis result of the equipment information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to the field of device information collection / analysis program and portable memory.

  Companies are engaged in sales activities from various viewpoints to acquire new customers in order to sell their products and increase market share. In addition, in order to cultivate new customers, activities such as switching to in-house products (replacement) and suggesting expansion for customers who have already used products of other companies are also actively conducted as part of sales activities.

  In general, in the case of equipment products such as copiers and printers, customers are interested not only in equipment performance and installation costs, but also in the cost of consumables (printing paper, ink, toner, etc.) associated with daily operations. is there. For this reason, sales representatives analyze the usage status of other companies 'products (for example, copiers, printers, etc.) in part or all of other companies' products, and the superiority of their products (for example, (Matching needs, improving performance, reducing costs, etc.) can be offered to customers to increase the share of their products. First of all, in order to propose a solution that can optimize customer needs and costs, it is essential to analyze the current usage situation.

  Conventionally, for example, at a copy machine manufacturer's sales site, with the consent of the customer, after collecting device information of other companies from the customer network, analysis and comparison of the current usage status, There is an attempt to propose superiority (merit) to customers. Here, the collection of device information of other companies can be realized by using a sales promotion sales support tool (hereinafter referred to as a sales promotion tool). When the sales promotion tool is executed from a terminal on the customer network, the sales promotion tool collects device information from the company's own product or another company's product on the network using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). The collected device information is developed on a sales promotion tool and displayed in a graph / list such as usage status so that it can be easily seen by customers.

  More specifically, for example, the sales promotion tool searches a list of copiers and printers from the customer network. Also, from the retrieved device, device information related to analysis of various usage conditions such as the number of times of copying and printing is acquired, and the information is displayed for each device.

  As a technique related to this, for example, Patent Document 1 analyzes whether or not the performance of a device connected to the network has been sufficiently demonstrated based on the performance of the device connected to the network and its operation status. Describes a network device management apparatus that analyzes the presence of an unreasonable device that does not meet the requirements and outputs the information.

  However, certain restrictions exist when a certain copy machine manufacturer (for example, Company A) collects device information from devices of other companies' products (for example, Company B and Company C). In other words, the above SNMP is used to collect device information. If general-purpose information such as standard MIB is used, MIB information can be obtained for other companies' products. It is possible to collect information including general equipment information. On the other hand, non-generic information based on an extended MIB (Privete MIB) or a unique protocol is device information unique to each company, and cannot be acquired. Therefore, when company A collects device information not only for its own products but also for other companies' products in a network environment using a sales promotion tool, it can obtain detailed device information including standard MIB and extended MIB for its own products. For other companies' products, it was limited to collecting simple device information including only standard MIBs. A similar problem arises in the management device described in Patent Document 1, and the range of the invention is limited to its own products.

  From the viewpoint of the above sales activities, there is little significance in acquiring detailed device information about the company's products. Rather, it is desirable that detailed device information about the products of other companies can be acquired and used for analyzing the usage status. However, as described above, it is difficult for sales representatives to analyze the detailed usage status of other companies 'products because it can collect only simple device information of standard MIBs for other companies' products, so it is always accurate and persuasive. As a result, we could not carry out sufficient sales activities.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a device information collection / analysis program and portable memory that collect device information of vendor devices in a multi-vendor network environment and can analyze and evaluate the use status of the device information. The purpose is to do. More specifically, a device that enables device information to be acquired and collected from vendor devices by different vendors in a centralized manner, and that device information can be analyzed and evaluated based on the collected device information visually and objectively. An information collection / analysis program is proposed by the present invention.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an integrated device information collection / analysis program according to the present invention stores device information based on the extended MIB of its own device via the Web in a network that is stored in a portable memory and connected to multi-vendor devices. Device search means for collecting device information from publicly available vendor devices and analyzing the collected device information, wherein the computer is connected to the portable memory and searches for the vendor device from the network. And a device information collecting means for collecting device information of the vendor device, a storage means for storing the collected device information, and analyzing the stored device information via the Web published by the searched vendor device. It is made to function as a device information analysis means to perform and a display means for displaying the analysis result of the analyzed device information.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the integrated device information collection / analysis program causes the device information collection means to access Web data from the vendor device by accessing the searched vendor device using the http protocol. By acquiring and analyzing the acquired Web data, device information based on the extended MIB of the vendor device is extracted.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the integrated device information collection / analysis program causes the device search means to acquire a standard MIB value that can specify a model from a vendor device searched from the network, and Search for vendor equipment classified into a specific model based on the value.

  In order to solve the above problem, in the integrated device information collection / analysis program, the storage unit stores the collected device information in a storage area in the portable memory.

  In addition, what applied the arbitrary combination of the component of this invention, expression, or a component to a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program, a recording medium, etc. is also effective as an aspect of this invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a device information collection / analysis program and a portable memory capable of collecting device information of each vendor device in a multi-vendor network environment and analyzing and evaluating the usage status.

It is a system configuration figure concerning this embodiment. It is a hardware block diagram which shows the main structures of one Embodiment of PC terminal 2. It is a functional block diagram which shows the main functions of one Embodiment of PC terminal 2. A sales promotion tool screen example 1 is shown. The sales promotion tool screen example 2 is shown. The example 3 of a sales promotion tool screen is shown. The sales promotion tool screen example 4 is shown. The sales promotion tool screen example 5 is shown. It is a flowchart which shows the information processing in the case of newly collecting a device search and device information. A web page screen example 1 of the MFP 3a manufactured by company A is shown. A web page screen example 2 of the MFP 3a manufactured by company A is shown.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in each embodiment. As an example of the apparatus, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus (MFP: Multi-Function Peripheral) and a printer will be described.

[System configuration]
(overall structure)
First, before describing specific contents of the present invention, an overall configuration for carrying out the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the customer network 7 according to the present embodiment includes a PC terminal 2, an MFP 3a manufactured by A company, a printer 4a manufactured by A company, an MFP 5b manufactured by B company, and a printer 6c manufactured by C company. This customer employs OA products of Company A, Company B, Company C, and each company, and uses them for daily daily operations.

  An MFP is a digital multi-function peripheral in which a plurality of functions such as a printer, a copy, and a scanner are housed in a single casing, and is a device known as an image forming apparatus. In addition to these basic functions such as printers, copiers, and scanners, MFPs have a variety of functions as digital image technology becomes more advanced and MFP-related technologies evolve, and provide various usage forms in the user environment. .

  Here, each company device such as the MFP 3a manufactured by company A, the printer 4a manufactured by company A, the MFP 5b manufactured by company B, and the printer 6c manufactured by company C provides and publishes device information of its own device via the Web. That is, when a user accesses each company's device from a Web browser, the user can browse a Web screen on which a device information list and the like are collected. In general, the device information provided on the Web includes device information at a detailed level based on the extended MIB as well as the standard MIB so that the user can grasp the device information (status, etc.) in detail. This point will be described later again.

  The PC terminal 2 may be a user terminal used for daily daily work, for example, and of course, a plurality of PC terminals 2 may be provided. In the present embodiment, the PC terminal 2 is also used as an execution device for a sales promotion tool (referred to as a device information collection / analysis tool, but referred to below for convenience). That is, with the customer's consent, the sales representative of company A connects the USB memory 1 brought to the PC terminal 2. The USB memory 1 has a sales promotion tool program. When this sales promotion tool program is executed using the PC terminal 2, the sales promotion tool collects device information from the company's own products and other companies' products on the network using SNMP. The collected device information is developed on a sales promotion tool, and the usage status is displayed in a graph / list so that it can be easily seen by customers. This is also used as sales promotion data from the sales representative of company A to customers (examples of use will be described later).

  The USB memory 1 is a portable memory device that has a sales promotion tool program as described above. The USB memory 1 has a USB connector directly attached to the main body without a cable, among auxiliary storage devices that read and write data by connecting to a computer using a universal serial bus. Since the size of the USB memory 1 is generally about several centimeters, it is a memory device that is very suitable for moving and carrying data. In this embodiment, the sales representative of company A carries the USB memory 1 and conducts sales activities using a sales promotion tool in the USB memory 1.

(hardware)
Here, the hardware configuration of the PC terminal 2 will be briefly described. This is because the sales promotion tool is only a program and is actually executed on an information processing apparatus such as the PC terminal 2.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram showing the main configuration of one embodiment of the PC terminal 2. The PC terminal 2 includes, as main components, a CPU 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, an auxiliary storage device 204, a storage medium reading device 205, an input device 206, a display device 207, and a communication device. 208 is included.

  The CPU 201 is composed of a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, and is a circuit that controls the entire apparatus. The ROM 202 is a memory that stores a predetermined control program (software component) executed by the CPU 201. The RAM 203 executes various control operations by the CPU 201 executing a predetermined control program (software component) stored in the ROM 202. This is a memory used as a work area (work area) when performing.

  The auxiliary storage device 204 is a device that stores various information including a general-purpose OS (Operating System) and a sales promotion tool / program, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), which is a nonvolatile storage device, is used. By setting a portable medium such as a USB memory in the storage medium reader 205, information from the outside, for example, a sales promotion tool program can be acquired.

  In addition to the auxiliary storage device 204, the various types of information are stored in various storage media such as portable media such as CD-ROM (Compact Disk-ROM), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and USB memory, and other media. Various information stored in these storage media can be read via a drive device such as the storage media reader 205. Actually, in this embodiment, device information (for example, MIB information) collected by the sales promotion tool is stored in the USB memory instead of the HDD of the PC terminal 2. After that, the device information can be easily taken home.

  The input device 206 is a device for the user to perform various input operations. The input device 206 includes a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel switch provided so as to be superimposed on the display screen of the display device 207, and the like. The display device 207 is a device that displays various data on a display screen. For example, it is composed of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and the like.

  The communication device 208 is a device that communicates with other devices via a network. Supports communication according to various network forms including wired and wireless networks.

(function)
Next, a functional configuration of the PC terminal 2 will be briefly described. This is because the sales promotion tool is a program to the last, and is actually realized as a function on an information processing apparatus such as the PC terminal 2.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the main functions of one embodiment of the PC terminal 2. The PC terminal 2 includes a device search unit 301, a device information collection unit 302, a storage unit 303, a device information analysis unit 304, and an analysis result display unit 305 as main functions.

  The device search unit 301 has a function of searching for devices from the network. Specifically, a device with a response is searched using ICMP or the like from the entire network or a network within a range specified by an IP address. If only a specific model device (for example, a printer device) is to be searched, a standard MIB value that can specify the model is acquired using SNMP, and a device classified into the specific model is searched based on the standard MIB value. . MIB information necessary for a specific model is in the standard MIB range.

  The device information collection unit 302 has a function of collecting device information (including extended MIB information) of the device via the Web published by the searched device. As described above, each company device provides and publishes device information of its own device via the Web. Specifically, the device information collection unit 302 accesses the searched device using the http protocol. Thus, Web data is acquired from the device, and device information based on the extended MIB of the vendor device is extracted by analyzing the acquired Web data. This means that device information corresponding to the extended MIB information can be acquired from another company's device. Needless to say, the device information collection unit 302 can acquire the standard MIB and extended MIB of its own device using SNMP, and can acquire the standard MIB of other companies' devices. This point will be described later again.

  The storage unit 303 has a function of storing the collected device information. The storage unit 303 of this embodiment stores the collected device information in a storage area in the USB memory 1. This is because if the device information is stored in the USB memory 1, the device information can be analyzed even after being taken home.

  The device information analysis unit 304 has a function of analyzing device information. In other words, the collected device information is analyzed so that it can be easily seen by the customer, such as the usage status. A specific example of this point will be described later.

  The analysis result display unit 305 has a function of displaying the analysis result of the analyzed device information. The device information is analyzed by the device information analysis unit 304 so that it can be easily seen by the customer, such as a usage status. As a result, the analysis result display unit 305 displays the analyzed device information in a graph / list so that the customer can easily see the usage status. This point will also be described later in a specific example.

  Note that these functions described above are actually realized by programs executed by the CPU 201.

[Promotion tool usage example]
Next, a usage example of the sales promotion tool will be specifically described. In using the sales promotion tool according to the present embodiment, the USB memory 1 brought by the sales representative of company A is first connected to the PC terminal 2 as described above. Since the sales promotion tool / program is stored in the USB memory 1 in the execution file format (for example, xxx.exe file), the sales representative of Company A operates the PC terminal 2 to execute the sales promotion tool / program. As a result, the sales promotion tool collects device information from its own products and products of other companies on the network. The collected device information is developed on a sales promotion tool, and the usage status is displayed in a graph / list so that it can be easily seen by customers. Hereinafter, it demonstrates concretely, referring drawings.

  FIG. 4 shows a sales promotion tool screen example 1. This is a main screen that appears when a sales promotion tool program is executed on the PC terminal 2. When a device search and device information are newly collected, a “new data acquisition” (button) 401 is pressed to proceed to the next.

  FIG. 5 shows a sales promotion tool screen example 2. It is a new data registration screen that is launched when a new device search and device information is collected. In the data name column 501, a name is input for data to be collected. For example, “customer: XX Corporation” can be entered. In the comment field 502, an arbitrary character string can be input. For example, “△△ sales office, general affairs department in charge XXX” can be entered. If input is successful, the user presses OK 503 and proceeds to the next.

  FIG. 6 shows an example 3 of the sales promotion tool screen. This is a search condition setting screen that appears when a new device search is performed. The range of the network to be searched is set here as a search condition. The range can be selected from broadcast 601 or IP address range designation 602. When the broadcast 601 is selected, the broadcast reachable range is a search target. That is, the same network as the PC terminal 2 is set as a search target. On the other hand, when the IP address range designation 602 is selected, the designated IP address range is a search target. If a plurality of IP address ranges are stored in advance, it can be selected from them without input. When the search condition has been set, OK 603 is pressed to proceed to the next.

  FIG. 7 shows a sales promotion tool screen example 4. This screen is displayed when device search and device information are collected. As shown in the figure, the IP address 701, model name 702, MAC address 703, and status 704 of the searched (detected) device are displayed. Here, the IP address 701 and the MAC address 703 can be acquired by ICMP response packets, and the model name 702 can be acquired by SNMP (standard MIB: 1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.1.3.1). Further, details of the device information (displayed separately) can be obtained by accessing the device using the http protocol, acquiring Web data, and analyzing the acquired Web data to extract device information based on the extended MIB of the device. . This point will be described later. When the device search and device information collection is completed, the status bar 705 displays 100%, and the status 704 indicates success. When completed, the collection end 706 is pressed to proceed to the next. Then, the screen returns to the main screen of FIG. At this time, on the main screen, counter acquisition 402 and analysis execution 403 can be pressed. When the counter acquisition 402 is pressed, the search condition setting screen shown in FIG. When the analysis execution 403 is pressed, the analysis of the device information collected for the device search is performed, and the screen shifts to an analysis result output (display) screen. Here, the analysis execution 403 is pressed to proceed to the next.

  FIG. 8 shows a sales promotion tool screen example 5. It is an example of an output (display) screen of an analysis result based on an analysis result of collected device information. For example, on the screen 801, device information is analyzed and tabulated in a table format known by spreadsheet software. The main items of collected equipment information are IP address, model name, manufacturer name, total counter, color total counter, number of both sides, etc. In addition, since known information such as monochrome (printing) unit price and color (printing) unit price is given in advance, it is displayed and macro calculation is performed based on the known information, total counter, total color counter, number of both sides, etc. The current cost can be calculated and output together. Further, for example, on the screen 802, the data is output in the graph format based on the data analyzed and tabulated in the table format. When output in this way, it is easy to grasp visually and is convenient for analyzing the current situation. Note that this analysis result output (display) screen is merely an example, and the output format of the analysis result can be variously devised as long as it is effective from a business viewpoint.

  The example of using the sales promotion tool has been specifically described above. The sales representative of company A connects the USB memory 1 brought to the PC terminal 2 and collects device information from the company's own products and other companies' products on the network simply by operating the PC terminal 2 and executing the sales promotion tool program. be able to. The collected device information is developed on a sales promotion tool, and displayed in a graph / list so that it can be easily seen by customers such as usage status. Here, the device information collected by the sales promotion tool according to the present embodiment includes detailed information (for example, an extended MIB) of another company's device that has conventionally been difficult to collect. Specifically, device information such as total counter (used number), color total counter (color used number), and double-sided number required for usage status analysis could not be collected. ). This is because these pieces of device information are information collected based on the extended MIB. However, since the sales promotion tool according to this embodiment can collect such information, it is possible to analyze the detailed usage status of other companies' products in more detail, and to conduct accurate and persuasive proposals and sufficient sales activities. Is possible. The information processing regarding this point will be described below with reference to the flowchart.

[Information processing]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing information processing when a device search and device information are newly collected. In the above-described sales promotion tool screen example of the PC terminal 2 (FIG. 6), when OK 603 is pressed, a device search and device information collection command is issued and the information processing shown in the flowchart is executed.

  First, the device search unit 301 searches for a device having a response using ICMP from the entire network or a network within a range specified by an IP address (S901). At this point, since the network range to be searched is set on the search condition setting screen (FIG. 6), the devices existing in the search target network range are searched according to this setting.

  When a device is searched from the search target network range (S902), device information that can be acquired from the response IP packet of ICMP is acquired (S903). For example, at least an IP address and a MAC address can be acquired.

  The device information collection unit 302 acquires standard MIB information using SNMP for the searched device (device IP address) (S904). In this embodiment, since the device to be searched is a printer-type OA device, standard MIB information that can be used for specifying the printer model is acquired. Specifically, using SNMP, the standard MIB value is acquired by specifying the IP address and OID (object ID) of the searched device. The device name can be obtained from OID: 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0, and the model name can be obtained from OID: 1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.2.

  Based on the acquired standard MIB value, model classification is performed (S905). In the present embodiment, since the device to be searched is a printer-type OA device, only the device classified as the printer model can be extracted, and any other information that is not related can be discarded. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the MFP 3a manufactured by A company, the printer 4a manufactured by A company, the MFP 5b manufactured by B company, and the printer 6c manufactured by C company are searched and classified into printer models (FIGS. 1 and 7).

  Next, the device information collection unit 302 obtains Web data from the device by accessing the printer model using the http protocol (S906).

  Here, as described above, devices of each company such as the MFP 3a manufactured by A company, the printer 4a manufactured by A company, the MFP 5b manufactured by B company, and the printer 6c manufactured by C company provide and disclose the device information of their own devices via the Web. From the Web page, it is possible to manage the status of output devices at a remote location, check job history, and change settings by simply inputting the IP address of the target device from a Web browser of a personal computer on the network.

  FIG. 10 shows a web page screen example 1 of the MFP 3a manufactured by Company A. When the user inputs the IP address (for example, 172.17.1.11) of the MFP 3a manufactured by company A from the Web browser, the Web page screen of the MFP 3a manufactured by company A is displayed. As shown in the figure, on this Web page screen, various device states of the MFP 3a manufactured by Company A can be browsed. Further, for example, when the counter 1001 on the left side of the Web page screen is pressed, a Web page screen on which counter (output number information) information can be browsed is displayed.

  FIG. 11 shows a Web page screen example 2 of the MFP 3a manufactured by Company A. It is a Web page screen in which counter information can be browsed. As shown in the figure, on this Web page screen, counter information of MFP 3a manufactured by company A, specifically, total, copy, printer, A3 / DLT, duplex, and staple use count (number of sheets) information can be viewed. In addition, information on the number of times of use of the breakdown (monochrome, full color, single color, two colors) regarding the copy and the breakdown (monochrome, color) regarding the printer can also be viewed.

  In this way, the same Web page can be browsed not only for the MFP 3a manufactured by the company A and the printer 4a manufactured by the company A but also for the MFP 5b manufactured by the company B and the printer 6c manufactured by the company C. In addition, although there are differences in format and design with respect to Web pages, it can be said that the device information that can be browsed is substantially the same.

  Therefore, the process returns to S906 again, and the device information collection unit 302 sends an IP address to the Web I / F of each company's printer device such as the MFP 3a manufactured by A, the printer 4a manufactured by A, the MFP 5b manufactured by B, and the printer 6c manufactured by C. Is specified, and Web data is acquired from the device by accessing using the http protocol. Here, in particular, because we want to acquire counter information (corresponding to information on the number of times printed output is used, that is, the number of output sheets), when specifying the access destination for the Web I / F of the printer device of each company, “http: // IP address / counter By performing an access such as “URL of information page /”, it is possible to obtain Web data (Web page screen data) including counter information. The “URL of the counter information page” differs for each company, but is stored in advance in the sales promotion tool as known information for each company. The company name can be specified from the device name acquired from the standard MIB information.

  When acquiring the Web data, the device information collection unit 302 extracts the device information by analyzing the acquired Web data (S907). The counter information page above contains total, copy, printer, A3 / DLT, duplex, and staple usage count information, and also includes details about copying (monochrome, full color, single color, two colors) and printer. Information on the number of times of use (black and white, color) was also included. Accordingly, since similar information is included in the Web data, the device information collection unit 302 can extract the information by analyzing the Web data.

  In the analysis, first, HTML tags and the like are removed from the Web data. Although each company's Web page has its format and design differences, each company has a certain pattern based on the position and tag in the Web data, so the sales promotion tool stores this pattern in the pattern dictionary in advance as known information. is doing. Therefore, the device information collection unit 302 can extract device information by analyzing the acquired Web data. More specifically, the device information collection unit 302 analyzes the acquired Web data, so that the total copy from the MFP 3a manufactured by the A company, the printer 4a manufactured by the A company, the MFP 5b manufactured by the B company, and the printer 6c manufactured by the C company (breakdown: Information on the number of times of use of black and white, full color, single color, two colors), printer (breakdown: black and white, color), A3 / DLT, duplex, and staple can be extracted.

  Strictly speaking, there may be information that can be acquired by each company. This is because the information published on the Web page may be different. However, in practice, if the same model (for example, a printer model), the device information displayed on the Web page is almost the same for each company. If there is still an information item that cannot be acquired, it can be displayed as “N / A” on the sales promotion tool.

  Finally, the storage unit 303 stores the collected (extracted) device information in the storage area of the USB memory 1 (S908). The collected (extracted) device information is analyzed by the device information analysis unit 304, and the analysis result display unit 305 displays the analysis result in a graph / list so that the usage status can be easily seen by the customer.

  Since the detailed device information of other companies 'devices is information that can be acquired by the extended MIB, it has been difficult to acquire detailed device information such as counter information (use count information, output number information) from other companies' devices. Such information was obtained by directly interviewing the customer. However, in the sales promotion tool according to the present embodiment, more detailed device information such as counter (output number information) information is copied (breakdown: Use frequency information such as black and white, full color, single color, two colors), printer (breakdown: black and white, color), A3 / DLT, duplex, and staple can be acquired. As a result, the sales tool can analyze the detailed usage status of other companies' products in more detail, allowing sales representatives to conduct accurate and persuasive proposals to customers, and therefore sufficient sales activities. . In implementation, the sales staff can collect the device information by a simple operation by simply pointing the USB memory 1 to the PC terminal 2, and the collected device information can be taken home by the USB memory 1.

[Example of device information]
When the device is an output-type OA device such as an MFP or a printer, useful device information that cannot be collected only from the conventional standard MIB will be exemplified. In other words, the sales promotion tool according to this embodiment can collect these information through the Web. According to such useful information, it is possible to analyze the detailed usage status of products of other companies in more detail.
Total counter full color total counter two color total counter single color total counter monochrome total counter copy full color counter copy two color counter copy single color counter copy monochrome counter printer full color counter printer two color counter printer single color counter printer monochrome counter FAX reception counter FAX transmission counter scanner color counter Scanner monochrome counter double-sided counter
[Case Study]
Finally, examples that can be used by using device information collected by the above-described sales promotion tool according to the present embodiment will be introduced. Specifically, this is a utilization example when counter information is collected as device information from a printer-type OA device using a sales promotion tool.

(Equipment optimization)
Appropriate in the customer environment by presenting output information (copy, printer, fax, scanner) by function for each device using the sales promotion tool according to this embodiment and presenting the ratio of each function used to the entire output It is used for grasping whether or not a proper device is used. This is because by using the sales promotion tool to accurately analyze the current usage status, it is possible to propose to the customer the optimization of equipment performance and equipment location (placement department).

  For example, an MFP placed in a department with a very high utilization rate for all functions can be proposed to be replaced with a higher-function MFP. This is because, in the sales department and the like, the output of materials for the outside occupies the majority, so it is appropriate to arrange a full-function high-function MFP. As described above, based on accurate grasp / analysis of the current usage status, it is possible to improve work efficiency and optimize the location of equipment (location department).

  In addition, for example, with respect to a high-function MFP arranged in a department where the use of only FAX is dominant, replacement with a low-cost MFP can be proposed from the viewpoint of cost reduction. In addition, for example, for a full-function high-function MFP arranged in a department where the output of in-house materials accounts for the majority, replacement to a monochrome copier can be proposed from the viewpoint of cost reduction. In this way, based on accurate grasp / analysis of the current usage status, cost reduction and device layout optimization can be performed in consideration of main applications and workload.

  In addition, with regard to the above-mentioned replacement, it is possible to increase the sales and share of the company's products by proposing the superiority of the company's products and the optimality of the company's products based on the usage situation analysis in comparison with the products of other companies. In addition, by accurately grasping and analyzing the customer environment, it can be expected that new problems will be discovered and lead to proposals for more advanced solutions.

(Environmental index analysis)
In recent years, due to the growing awareness of environmental issues, environmental and energy saving considerations are also being emphasized for OA equipment. In the case of printer-type OA equipment, reducing the number of printed pages not only reduces costs, but also reduces paper (resources) and power consumption (and CO2). be able to.

  Therefore, the sales promotion tool of this embodiment also introduces an environmental index indicating the influence and connection to the natural environment, and the above-described device information analysis unit 304 analyzes and converts the device information into the environmental index. The analysis result display unit 305 displays the analyzed environmental index.

  Specifically, using the device information collected by the sales promotion tool of this embodiment, such as the total counter for each device and the number of both sides, the number of used sheets, estimated CO2 emissions (the amount of Co2 generated when the number of used sheets is manufactured) ), Standing tree equivalent (the number of 50-year-old cedar trees needed to absorb Co2 emissions), and the reduction effect of using the double-sided function can be presented to customers as an environmental indicator. As a result, the customer can easily know how much the current usage is burdened on the environment and how much the burden on the environment can be reduced by the duplex printing function or replacement.

  In this way, according to the sales promotion tool of this embodiment, based on the accurate grasp and analysis of the current usage status, the superiority of the company's product based on environmental considerations and the optimality of the product based on the usage status analysis By proposing, etc., it is possible to increase sales and share of in-house products. In addition, by accurately grasping and analyzing the customer environment, it can be expected that new problems will be discovered and lead to proposals for more advanced solutions.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a device information collection / analysis program and a portable memory capable of collecting device information of each vendor device in a multi-vendor network environment and analyzing and evaluating the usage status. .

  Note that the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

1 USB memory 2 PC terminal 3a Company A MFP
4a Printer made by company A 5b MFP made by company B
6c Printer made by company C 7 Network 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 Auxiliary storage device 205 Storage medium reader 206 Input device 207 Display device 208 Communication device 301 Device search unit 302 Device information collection unit 303 Storage unit 304 Device information analysis unit 305 Analysis result display unit

JP 2008-040627 A

Claims (5)

Collect device information from vendor devices that disclose device information based on the extended MIB of their devices via the Web in a network that is stored in portable memory and connected to multi-vendor devices, and analyze the collected device information A program to
A computer to which the portable memory is connected;
Device search means for searching for the vendor device from the network;
Device information collection means for collecting device information of the vendor device via the Web published by the searched vendor device;
Storage means for storing the collected device information;
Device information analysis means for analyzing stored device information;
Display means for displaying the analysis result of the analyzed device information;
Equipment information collection / analysis program to make it function. The device information collection means acquires Web data from the vendor device by accessing the searched vendor device using the http protocol, and analyzes the acquired Web data to expand the extended MIB of the vendor device. Extracting device information based on
The apparatus information collection / analysis program according to claim 1. The device search means acquires a standard MIB value that can specify a model from the vendor devices searched from the network, and searches for a vendor device classified into the specific model based on the standard MIB value.
The apparatus information collection / analysis program according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above-mentioned. The storage means stores the collected device information in a storage area in the portable memory;
The apparatus information collection / analysis program according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   5. A computer-readable portable memory in which the device information collection / analysis program according to claim 1 is stored.

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