JP3641159B2 - Remote centralized management device, remote centralized management device system, and remote centralized management method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  The present invention relates to a centralized management apparatus, and more particularly to a remote centralized management apparatus, a remote centralized management apparatus system, and a remote centralized management method for centrally managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses.
[0002]
[Prior art]
  Currently, there is a system in which an image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus or a facsimile apparatus installed on the user side is connected to one remote centralized management apparatus through a public communication line network or a LAN (Local Area Network) and managed. In such a system, a plurality of service bases where service persons who maintain a failure of the image forming apparatus are resident are provided at appropriate intervals, and the service persons are sent from the service base closest to the installation place of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred. I have to. By such treatment, the time and cost for the service person to go to the user side can be reduced, and the efficiency of the system can be improved.
[0003]
  As a prior example regarding such a system, for example, JP-A-7-170357 is listed. According to the present invention, the content of the failure that has occurred in the facsimile apparatus is determined on the image forming apparatus side, and it is determined whether or not this failure should be requested by a serviceman (serviceman call) and reported to the service base. Can be.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
  However, in the above-described invention in which the service base is simply requested to arrange for a service person, the service person is dispatched whenever there is a request for arrangement. For this reason, when a serviceman call is made multiple times by a single user, or when a serviceman call is made by multiple users in the same building, the service person makes a round trip between the service base and the user's office each time. Will do. Therefore, such a system leaves room for further study in terms of service efficiency.
[0005]
  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide a remote centralized management apparatus capable of further improving service efficiency while sufficiently dealing with a failure occurring in an image forming apparatus. And
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  The above problems can be solved by the following means. That is,
  The invention according to claim 1 is a remote centralized management apparatus that remotely manages a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a communication means, and receives a failure information notifying that a failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus. Information receiving means;The failure information is classified and stored according to service bases in charge of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred, and the failure information storage unit and the information stored in the failure information storage unit are collectively collected after a predetermined time has elapsed. A transmission means for transmitting to the corresponding service base;It is characterized by having.
[0007]
  With this configuration, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus,Failure informationCan be automatically determined, and can be classified and stored for each service base. Further, the classified fault information can be collectively transmitted to the corresponding base.
[0008]
  The invention according to claim 2PredeterminedWhen the time is set to 0, the failure information storage means avoids classifying and storing the failure information,Transmission meansImmediately transmits information on the failure to the corresponding base.
[0009]
  With this configuration, failure information can be immediately transmitted to the base as necessary.
[0010]
  In the invention according to claim 3, when the failure information receiving means receives the failure information outside the service hours of the service person, the failure information storage means classifies and stores the failure information,Transmission meansIs characterized in that the failure information is transmitted to the base after waiting for the service time to come.
[0011]
  By configuring in this way, even outside service hoursFailure informationThe failure information can be classified for each base and accumulated until the service time starts.
[0012]
  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus state reading unit for reading a state of an image forming apparatus in which a failure has occurred based on the failure information stored in the failure information storage unit when the business start time of the base is reached; If the result of reading by the reading means indicates that the trouble has been resolved, if the corresponding trouble information is erased from the trouble information accumulating means, while that indicating that the trouble continues, Storage control means for leaving fault information corresponding to the fault information storage means,The transmission means is characterized in that the failure information remaining in the failure information storage means is transmitted to the corresponding service bases after a predetermined time has elapsed.
[0013]
  With this configuration, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not a failure that has occurred outside the service time continues after the service time starts. In addition, it is possible to avoid notification to the base for the trouble that has been resolved, and to prevent unnecessary transmission of trouble information.
[0014]
  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus state reading means transmits a state reading command for instructing the image forming apparatus to transmit its own state, and the state of the image forming apparatus is determined based on the transmission contents. It is characterized by judging.
[0015]
  With this configuration, the state on the image forming apparatus side can be read with a relatively simple process.
[0016]
  The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the apparatus status reading means and the accumulation control means perform processing on all the fault information stored in the fault information storage means.
[0017]
  With this configuration, it is possible to automatically determine the state at the start of the service time for all the failure information received outside the service time.
[0018]
  The invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that the failure information storage means classifies and stores the failure information further classified by region in charge of the base, by the building in charge, and further by the floor in charge of the building.
[0019]
  With this configuration, the failure information can be further classified and stored according to the location of the failure, and can be transmitted collectively.
[0020]
  The invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that the failure information storage means further classifies and stores the failure information based on an arbitrarily set keyword.
[0021]
  With this configuration, the failure information can be further classified and stored as necessary, and transmitted together.

[0022]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a remote centralized management system configured by connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a remote centralized management apparatus for remotely managing the image forming apparatuses through communication means. The centralized management device includes failure information receiving means for receiving failure information notifying that a failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus, and failure information for classifying and storing the failure information according to service bases in charge of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred The storage unit and the transmission unit that transmits the information stored in the failure information storage unit collectively to the corresponding service base after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0023]
With this configuration, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, the failure information can be automatically determined, and can be classified and stored for each service base. Further, the classified fault information can be transmitted to the corresponding bases at once.

[0024]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a remote centralized management method for remotely managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses via communication means, wherein the failure information for receiving failure information notifying that a failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus is received. The reception step, the failure information is classified and stored according to the service base in charge of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred, and the failure information storage step and the information stored in the failure information storage step are collectively collected after a predetermined time has elapsed. And a transmission step of transmitting to the corresponding service base.

[0025]
With this configuration, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, the failure information can be automatically determined, and can be classified and stored for each service base. Further, the classified fault information can be transmitted to the corresponding bases at once.
[0026]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
  FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a remote centralized management apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, the exchange on the user side is omitted. The illustrated configuration includes a remote centralized management apparatus (center system) 1, a user-side image forming apparatus group 3 a and an image forming apparatus group 3 b managed by the center system 1, and the center system 1 and the image forming apparatus group 3 a. The image forming apparatus group 3b transmits and receives information via the public communication line network 5 such as a telephone.
[0027]
  The image forming apparatus group 3a and the image forming apparatus group 3b are installed for different users, and indicate a plurality of image forming apparatuses. Among these, the image forming apparatus group 3 a includes a facsimile apparatus 31, a copying apparatus 33, and printers 34 and 35 connected to the communication adapter 32 through a dedicated interface line 30. In the image forming apparatus group 3b, the facsimile apparatus 31, the communication adapter 32, and the wireless apparatus 36 are connected by wire, and the wireless apparatus 36 further exchanges information with the copying apparatus 33 and the printer 34.
[0028]
  On the other hand, the center system 1 processes information transmitted from the client 1 and the client 2 (indicated by the computers 12a and 12b in the figure) and the image forming apparatus groups 3a and 3b respectively having the dedicated computers 12a and 12b. The server 14 to be connected is connected by a LAN cable 7. The server 14 includes a computer 12c that controls processing performed by the server 14, and further includes a customer database 16, an information code file 18, and an out-of-service failure information reception file that are data necessary for control of the computer 12c. 20 can be taken out.
[0029]
  More specifically, the client 1, the client 2, and the server 14 shown in FIG. 1 are configured as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the client 1 (the client 2 is configured in the same manner as the client 1 and therefore only the LAN interface unit 28c is shown in FIG. 2) and the server 14 are substantially the same. It is composed of devices. However, the client 1 is provided with a communication control unit 6 and a communication control unit 8 which are receiving means for receiving information of the image forming apparatus from the user side via the public communication line network 5, and the received information is stored in the server. 14 is transmitted.
[0030]
  The client 1 includes a computer 12a, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2a that processes information transmitted from the user side, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 21a that is a storage device used for processing of the CPU 2a, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 22a, a hard disk drive (HDD) 24a, an external memory control unit 23a for controlling the hard disk drive 24a, and a real-time clock 4a for generating a clock signal. The apparatus has a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display 26a, a display control unit 25a, and a keyboard 29a for inputting instructions and displaying the processing status as necessary. The above configuration is all connected to the LAN cable 7, and the client 1 includes a keyboard interface circuit unit 27a and a LAN interface unit 28a for this purpose.
[0031]
  The server 14 includes a computer 12c. The CPU 2b processes information transmitted from the client side. The ROM 21b, RAM 22b, hard disk drive 24b, external memory control unit 23b, and real-time clock 4b are used for processing by the CPU 2b. have. The apparatus has a CRT display 26b, a display control unit 25b, and a keyboard 29b for inputting instructions and displaying the processing status as necessary. The above configuration is all connected to the LAN cable 7, and the server 14 includes a keyboard interface circuit unit 27b and a LAN interface unit 28b for this purpose.
[0032]
  Information received by the communication control unit 6 and the communication control unit 8 of the client 1 includes information (failure information) notifying that a failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus. Among the configurations described above, the CPU 2a, CPU 2b, ROM 21a, ROM 21b and RAM 22a, RAM 22b, hard disk drive 24a, hard disk drive 24b, real time clock 4a, and real time clock 4b indicate that the information received by the communication control unit 6 and the communication control unit 8 is faulty. It is determined whether it is information, and further, it is determined whether it is necessary to arrange a service person. If it is determined that the service person needs to be arranged, the failure information is accumulated for each service base of the service person in charge of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred, and a preset standby time is set. After the elapse of time, it will function to automatically send to each applicable service location.Fault information storage means, transmission meansIt becomes.
[0033]
  The center system 1 described above operates as follows.
  When a failure occurs in any of the image forming apparatuses installed on the user side, this information is received by the communication control unit 6 and the communication control unit 8 of the client via the public line network 5. This information is, for example, data formatted as shown in FIG. Such data includes a model code a indicating the model and model number of the image forming apparatus, an information classification code b indicating the type of information such as a failure occurrence and the number of image forming processes, and an information code c indicating the detailed contents of the information. It is included.
[0034]
  For example, if XX = 11 in the figure, the information classification code b is set to indicate that this information is failure information. The detailed information is expressed by the following information code. As the information code, for example, when XX... X is 51200, a voltage sensor abnormality is indicated. Such a setting can be arbitrarily set by inputting a numerical value corresponding to the location and situation of the failure into the information code file 18 on the center system side.
[0035]
  The above data is sent from the client side to the server side, for example, recognized by the CPU 2b, and it is determined whether or not it is failure information by the information classification code b. As a result, if it is determined as failure information, the CPU 2b accumulates the failure information in the RAM 22b, for example. The failure information reception table as shown in FIG. 4 is set in the RAM 22b. The sequence number (SEQ No) added in the order of arrival, the type of the image forming apparatus model / machine number code a, the type of the information code b Furthermore, the incoming time recognized based on the real time clock 4a and the real time clock 4b is entered.
[0036]
  In general, service hours such as 8:00 to 18:00 are set for service bases, except for exceptions such as specific customers. In the failure information reception table, the incoming time is classified for the service hours of the service base of the service person and for the hours outside the service hours. Within the service time, a waiting time (both t1 and t2 are 10 minutes in FIG. 4) is set according to the time zone. The service time here refers to a time range in which a service base performs a service for sending a serviceman to a user. The standby time is a time interval for transmitting the failure information to each service base, and is set in advance on the server side. Of the failure information entered in the failure information reception table, the subsequent processing differs depending on what arrived within the service time and what arrived outside the service time. Hereinafter, this process will be specifically described separately for the service time and the service time.
[0037]
  (Within service hours)
  The CPU 2b first compares the information code c with the information code file 18. The information code file records the location of the failure corresponding to the information code c and whether or not it is necessary to arrange a service person. The CPU 2b determines whether or not it is necessary to arrange a service person from such an information code file 18. As a result, when it is necessary to arrange a serviceman, the user who has transmitted the failure information is identified by comparing the image forming apparatus model / machine number code a of the failure information with the customer database 16.
[0038]
  FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating the configuration of the customer database 16. According to FIG. 5, the customer database 16 includes an image forming apparatus model / machine number, a corresponding customer ID, a customer name, a customer address, a district code indicating which district the address belongs to, a customer The name of the building, the floor where the image forming device is installed, the name and telephone number of the customer's person in charge, the model / machine number of the communication adapter connected to the image forming device, and the service in charge of maintenance Information related to the ward (base name of service base, contact information, name of customer engineer), setting value of time interval for transmitting information to the service base, that is, waiting time is recorded.
[0039]
  The standby time can be set as a zero value as well as a predetermined time T. The failure information for which the standby time is set as the predetermined time T is once stored in, for example, the RAM 22b, and is transmitted to the corresponding service base whenever the standby time elapses. On the other hand, the failure information set as the waiting time 0 is immediately transmitted to the service base without being accumulated.
[0040]
  The failure information accumulation process in which the standby time is set to the predetermined time T will be described below.
  In the center system of the present embodiment, such failure information is classified and stored at the corresponding service base. In addition, the failure information classified by the service base may be classified and stored, for example, by service area in charge of the service base, by the building in charge, and by the floor in charge of the building. Further, classification and accumulation may be performed based on arbitrarily set keywords.
[0041]
  FIG. 6 shows an example in which failure information classified by service base is further classified and stored by building name. According to the example of FIG. 6, failure information is accumulated for each building name such as Shin-Yokohama Building, NN Building, and NY Building, and the accumulated information is in charge of the building for each waiting time set in the customer database 16. Is sent to the service base. The transmitted failure information data is erased from the RAM 22b. Therefore, the failure information shown in FIG. 6 is all received during the waiting time of, for example, 10 minutes. In the example as shown in FIG. 6, if the building name does not exist in the failure information, the area code classification may be further subdivided in the corresponding service base as a default.
[0042]
  Next, the above processing will be described with reference to FIG.
  First, the CPU 2a determines whether or not the communication control unit 6 and the communication control unit 8 have received information from the user side (S1), and sends it to the server side. Subsequently, the CPU 2b refers to this information to the information code file 18 and determines whether or not the information is failure information (S2). As a result of this determination, if it is determined that the failure information is present (S2: Yes), it is further determined whether or not a serviceman needs to be arranged (S3), and the customer database 16 is searched to obtain a service related to this failure information. Collect information such as bases. On the other hand, if the received information is not fault information (S2: No), or if it is information that does not require the arrangement of a service person (S3: No), the information received in a subroutine other than this routine is used. Process (S7), (S8).
[0043]
  Next, the waiting time t is read from the searched customer database 16 and it is determined whether this value is 0 or a predetermined time T (S5). As a result of this determination, if the waiting time t is 0 (S5: Yes), this failure information is not immediately stored, but is automatically transmitted to the service base set in the customer database 16, and the service person Is requested to arrange (S6). On the other hand, when the standby time t is the predetermined time T (S5: No), the failure information is classified and stored in the RAM 22b (S9). Then, a classification processing flag indicating that the failure information is accumulated in the RAM 22b is set (as 1), and is used as information used for the subsequent processing (S10).
[0044]
  Next, it is determined whether or not the standby time T has elapsed. If the standby time T has elapsed (S11: Yes), the failure information classified and accumulated with reference to the classification processing flag set in the previous step S10 is obtained. It is determined whether or not there is (S12). As a result, if there is accumulated failure information (S12: Yes), the failure information is transmitted to the corresponding service base according to the classification, and a request is made to arrange a service person (S13). Then, the failure information transmitted thereafter is deleted from the RAM 22b and the classification processing flag is set to 0 (S14), and the process returns to the determination of whether or not the information from the user side has been received again (S1). If it is determined in step S12 that there is no failure information stored in the RAM 22b (S12: No), the process returns to step S1 to wait for the next failure information to be transmitted.
[0045]
  In the transmission performed in step S13, an information code may be transmitted together with a request for arrangement by a service person so that the approximate content of the failure is notified to the service base. At this time, the information code may be transmitted as it is, or may be converted into contents indicated by the information code such as abnormality of the voltage sensor, for example. The format of the transmission content may be, for example, one piece of failure information formatted as shown in FIG.
[0046]
  As described above, according to the present embodiment, failure information that has occurred in the same building within the waiting time is collectively transmitted to the service base side. For this reason, it is possible to perform maintenance for all failures that occurred at least within the waiting time by going to the building once, and it is possible to avoid reciprocating the same building every time failure information is sent. . In addition, it is possible to request maintenance related to a plurality of pieces of failure information only by transmitting information once, and it is possible to reduce costs and labor related to processing for transmitting information to service bases such as facsimile and mail. All of these effects are effective in improving service efficiency.
[0047]
  Further, in the processing of this embodiment, the standby time can be set to 0, and a failure occurs for a user whose stoppage of the image forming apparatus greatly affects business even for a short time. It is also possible to immediately notify the service base each time. For this reason, the delay of the maintenance by providing standby time does not pose a problem.
[0048]
  (Out of service hours)
  The failure information received outside the service time is classified in the same manner as the failure information received within the service time, stored in the RAM 22b, and transmitted to the service base after waiting for the service time. In this embodiment, when the service base business start time is reached, the center system 1 first reads the state of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred based on the accumulated failure information. If this result indicates that the failure has been resolved, the corresponding failure information is erased from the RAM 22b. On the other hand, if it indicates that the failure continues, leave the relevant failure information, and automatically send the remaining failure information to each relevant service location after the standby time has elapsed. I am doing so.
[0049]
  That is, the CPU 2b compares the information code c with the information code file 18 for the failure information received outside the service time. Then, it is determined whether or not a serviceman needs to be arranged, and if the serviceman needs to be arranged, the trouble information is transmitted by comparing the image forming apparatus model / machine code a of the trouble information with the customer database 16. Identify the user. Further, the CPU 2b discriminates the service base corresponding to the specified user name from the customer database 16, and classifies and stores the service base at the service base. At this time, the classified failure information may be further classified according to other information such as, for example, by service area in charge, building in charge, or floor in charge in the building.
[0050]
  When the service time of the corresponding service base comes, the CPU 2b on the server side transmits a status reading command that instructs the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred to transmit the status of the own apparatus. This state reading command is issued through the LAN prior to transmitting the accumulated failure information to the service base. In response to the state reading command, a signal is transmitted from the client informing the state of the corresponding image forming apparatus, that is, whether the failure has been solved or whether the failure has continued. The CPU 2b determines the state of the image forming apparatus based on this transmission content.
[0051]
  Then, if the transmission content is a notification that the failure has been resolved, the information is erased from the RAM 22b, as a matter of course, no arrangement by the service person is necessary. On the other hand, if the failure still occurs, this information is stored in the RAM 22b. The failure information stored in the RAM 22b is transmitted to the corresponding service base when the waiting time measurement by the real time clock 4a and the real time clock 4b is completed.
[0052]
  The processing described above is performed for all the failure information stored in the RAM 22b when the service time comes. In the present embodiment, the CPU 2b functions as an apparatus state reading unit and a storage control unit that perform such processing.
[0053]
  Next, the above process will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.
  First, the CPU 2a determines whether or not the communication control unit 6 and the communication control unit 8 have received information from the user side (S11), and sends it to the server side. Subsequently, the CPU 2b determines whether or not this information is failure information (S12). As a result of this determination, if it is determined that the information is failure information (S12: Yes), it is further determined whether or not a serviceman needs to be arranged (S13), and the customer database 16 is searched to obtain a service related to this failure information. Collect information such as bases. On the other hand, if the received information is not fault information (S12: No), or if it is information that does not require the arrangement of a service person (S13: No), the information received in a subroutine other than this routine is used. Process (S21), (S22).
[0054]
  Next, the CPU 2b classifies and accumulates the failure information in the RAM 22b (S14), and determines whether the service time has been reached (S15). If the service time has not been reached as a result of this determination (S15: No), the process returns to step S11 again to determine whether information has been transmitted from the user side (S11). On the other hand, if the service time has been reached in the determination in step S15 (S15: Yes), the stored failure information is searched to determine whether all the failure information has been searched (S16).
[0055]
  As a result of the determination in step S16, if all the stored information has not been searched (S16: No), the information of the own device is read to the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the searched failure information. A reading command is sent to command (S17). Then, a reply to this transmission is received (S18), and it is determined from the contents of the reply whether or not the failure occurring in the image forming apparatus continues (S19). As a result of this determination, if it is determined that the generated failure has been resolved (S19: No), this failure information is deleted from the RAM 22b (S20) and stored as another log information. If it is determined in step S19 that the failure has continued (S19: Yes), the failure information is stored in the RAM 22b and the process returns to step S16 to search for all the stored failure information. It is determined whether or not (S16).
[0056]
  Further, if it is determined in step S16 that all of the accumulated failure information has been searched (S16: Yes), it is determined whether the waiting time T has elapsed (S23). As a result, if the standby time T has not been reached, the system waits until the standby time T is reached (S23: No). When the standby time is reached (S23: Yes), the corresponding service according to the classification made in step S14. The failure information is transmitted to the base, a request is made to arrange a service person (S24), and all the processes are terminated. If there is failure information that needs to be arranged by a service person who has arrived during this process during the service time, the failure information is transmitted to the corresponding service base together with the failure information.
[0057]
  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not a serviceman request is required even for failure information received outside the service time. Then, the failure information that needs to be requested by the service person can be classified and stored for each service base, and can be transmitted to the corresponding service base in a lump after the service time starts. This minimizes the number of transmissions of failure information that occurs outside the service hours to the service base, and saves the operator from having to classify requests for arrangements by service personnel that arrive outside the service hours.
[0058]
  Further, in such processing, prior to transmitting the failure information accumulated outside the service hours, the status of the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the failure information is read, and only the failure information relating to the failure continues. Is sent to the service base. For this reason, in this Embodiment, the transmission to a service base can be suppressed to the necessary minimum, and the process and expense which concern on transmission can be omitted further. Such an effect is effective in increasing the efficiency of services.
[0059]
  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. That is, in the above embodiment,Fault information storage means, transmission meansHowever, the server side CPU 2b, ROM 21b and RAM 22b, hard disk drive 24b, and real time clock 4b are mainly used. However, the configuration that functions in this way is either on the client side or on the server side, or both. May be. Any number of clients described in this embodiment may be connected to the LAN cable 7 in accordance with the number of users.
[0060]
【The invention's effect】
  The present invention described above has the following effects. That is,
  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus,Failure informationAre classified and stored for each service base, and further transmitted together to the corresponding service base. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently perform a service operation while sufficiently dealing with a failure that has occurred in the image forming apparatus, and thus, it is possible to reduce the processing time of the failure.
[0061]
  According to the second aspect of the present invention, failure information that has a great influence on the user can be dealt with immediately even by a short time by transmitting failure information immediately to the service base as needed.
[0062]
  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load on the operator at the start of the service time by classifying the failure information for each service base and storing it until the start of the service time even outside the service time.
[0063]
  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, unnecessary transmission of failure information can be prevented, service operations can be performed more efficiently, and failure processing time can be reduced.
[0064]
  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the state of the image forming apparatus can be read by a relatively simple process, and the configuration of the remote centralized management apparatus is simplified while having a function of reading the state of the image forming apparatus. Can do.
[0065]
  The invention according to claim 6 is capable of automatically determining the state at the start of the service time for all the failure information received outside the service time, and more reliably corresponding to the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred. Can do.
[0066]
  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by further classifying and storing the failure information according to the location where the failure occurs, the service operation can be performed more efficiently and the processing time of the failure can be shortened.
[0067]
  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, by classifying failure information based on arbitrarily set keywords, service work can be performed more efficiently and failure processing time can be shortened.

[0068]
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus connected to the remote centralized management system, the failure information is classified and stored for each service base, and further transmitted to the corresponding service base in a lump. . For this reason, it is possible to efficiently perform a service operation while sufficiently dealing with a failure that has occurred in the image forming apparatus, and thus it is possible to shorten the processing time of the failure.

[0069]
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, the failure information is classified and stored for each service base, and further transmitted collectively to the corresponding service base. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently perform a service operation while sufficiently dealing with a failure that has occurred in the image forming apparatus, and thus it is possible to shorten the processing time of the failure.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a remote centralized management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a client and a server shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format of failure information used in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a failure information reception table used in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a customer database used in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows an example in which failure information is classified and stored, which is used in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is another flowchart showing the process according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
  1 Remote centralized management device (center system)
  2a, 2b CPU
  3a, 3b Image forming apparatus group
  4a, 4b Real time clock
  6, 8 Communication control unit
  7 LAN cable
  12a, 12b, 12c Computer
  14 servers
  16 Customer database
  18 Information code file
  20 Out-of-service failure information reception file
  21a, 21b ROM
  22a, 22b RAM
  23a, 23b External memory control unit
  24a, 24b hard disk drive
  25a, 25b Display control unit
  26a, 26b CRT display
  27a, 27b Keyboard interface circuit section
  28a, 28b, 28c LAN interface unit
  29a, 29b keyboard
  a Model code
  b Information classification code
  c Information code

Claims (10)

A remote centralized management apparatus for remotely managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a communication means,
Fault information receiving means for receiving fault information notifying that a fault has occurred in the image forming apparatus;
Classifying and storing the failure information according to service bases in charge of the image forming apparatus in which a failure has occurred,
A remote centralized management apparatus comprising: a transmission unit that collectively transmits information stored in the failure information storage unit to a corresponding service base after a predetermined time has elapsed . When the predetermined time is set to 0, the failure information storage unit avoids classifying and storing the failure information, and the transmission unit immediately transmits information about the failure to the corresponding base. The remote centralized management apparatus according to claim 1. When the failure information receiving means receives failure information outside the service hours of the service person, the failure information accumulating means classifies and stores the failure information, and the transmission means waits for the service time to come The remote centralized management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: An apparatus status reading unit that reads the status of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred, based on the failure information stored in the failure information storage unit when the business start time of the base is reached;
When the result read by the device status reading means indicates that the failure has been resolved, the corresponding failure information is erased from the failure information storage means, while the failure continues. If there is, further comprises storage control means for leaving the failure information corresponding to the failure information storage means,
4. The remote centralized management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transmission unit transmits the failure information remaining in the failure information storage unit to the corresponding service bases after the predetermined time has elapsed. .   The apparatus state reading unit transmits a state reading command for instructing the image forming apparatus to transmit its own state, and determines the state of the image forming apparatus based on the transmission content. The remote centralized management apparatus according to claim 4.   The remote concentration according to any one of claims 4 to 5, wherein the device status reading unit and the storage control unit process all the fault information stored in the fault information storage unit. Management device.   7. The failure information accumulating unit categorizes and accumulates failure information according to a region in charge of a base, a building in charge, and a floor in charge of the building. The remote centralized management device described.   The remote centralized management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the failure information accumulation unit further classifies and accumulates failure information based on arbitrarily set keywords. A remote centralized management system configured by connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a remote centralized management apparatus for remotely managing the image forming apparatuses by communication means,
The remote centralized management device is
  Failure information receiving means for receiving failure information notifying that a failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus;
  Classifying and storing the failure information by service base in charge of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred, failure information storage means for storing,
  The information stored by the failure information storage means is collectively applicable after a predetermined time has elapsed. Transmission means to send to the service base
  A remote centralized management apparatus system characterized by comprising: A remote centralized management method for remotely managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses via communication means,
  A failure information receiving step of receiving failure information notifying that a failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus;
  A failure information storage step for classifying and storing the failure information by service base in charge of the image forming apparatus in which the failure has occurred;
  A transmission step of transmitting the information accumulated in the failure information accumulation step collectively to the corresponding service bases after a predetermined time has elapsed;
  A remote centralized management method characterized by comprising:

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