JP6418195B2 - Information processing system and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method for displaying a serviceman's message on a faulty image forming apparatus (MFP, Multifunction Peripheral).

  Conventionally, a service person heading to the site to repair a failed image forming device displays the operation panel remotely from the management server for the purpose of preventing the user from using the failed image forming device. The designated message is displayed on the part (hereinafter referred to as a panel note) (see Patent Document 1).

  In addition, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, when a failure occurs in the image forming apparatus, a message is displayed on the operation panel in addition to the remote execution of the panel note function by the service person. Sending a business trip request to a service person based on an instruction of a user of the forming apparatus has been performed (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2006-139006 A JP 2013-12027 A

  However, as in Patent Document 1, when using the panel note function, it is common for business manners to obtain permission from the owner of the image forming apparatus to display a specific message on the operation panel. It took time and effort to take communication. Also, the service person sometimes forgot to set the panel notes after communicating with the owner.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system and an information processing method that can use the panel notebook function while reducing the trouble of communication with the user.

  To achieve the above object, an information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention displays a network-connected web application server and a message designated by the web application server that is under the control of the web application server. One or more image forming apparatuses having a panel note function, wherein the web application server is capable of communicating via the network, and the one or more image forming apparatuses under management. An image forming apparatus database in which an identifier that can uniquely identify each of the one or more image forming apparatuses and a contact information of a customer to contact when maintaining each of the one or more image forming apparatuses are stored as a set, and access from a serviceman terminal Selection of any of the one or more image forming apparatuses input by An image forming apparatus management unit that receives a message to be displayed by the panel note function; and the identifier and the contact information of the selected image forming apparatus are acquired from the image forming apparatus database, and the acquired identifier and the contact are acquired. First, an e-mail address of the web application server and an e-mail link creation unit for creating an e-mail link including the message and providing the e-mail link to the terminal; A mail receiving unit that receives mail, the message from the electronic mail received by the mail receiving unit, and a destination of the image forming apparatus that displays the message are extracted, and the message is transmitted to the extracted destination A panel note message processing unit, Each of the above image forming apparatuses includes a second communication unit that enables communication via the network, a display unit, and a panel note that displays the received message on the display unit when the message is received. And a control unit. Therefore, the panel note function can be used while reducing the time and effort for communication with the user.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention, the mail link creation unit may include the contact address as a destination of the email and the identifier included in a subject of the email. Good.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing system according to an aspect of the present invention, the message may be described by enclosing the message with a predetermined special character string in the body of the electronic mail.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus management unit of the web application server is designated by the web application server input by access from a serviceman's terminal. A selection of one or more image forming apparatuses having a panel note function for displaying a message and a message to be displayed by the panel note function are received, and a mail link creating unit of the web application server Image formation in which an identifier capable of uniquely identifying the one or more image forming apparatuses under management and a customer contact information to be contacted when maintaining each of the one or more image forming apparatuses are stored in pairs From the apparatus database, the selected image forming apparatus The identifier and the contact information are acquired, and the acquired identifier, the contact information, the mail address of the web application server, and a mail link including the message are created and provided to the terminal, and the web application server A mail receiving unit receives an email edited and transmitted by a mailer activated by selecting the mail link, and a panel note message processing unit of the web application server receives the email received by the mail receiving unit. The message and the destination of the image forming apparatus that displays the message are extracted, the message is transmitted to the extracted destination, and the panel note control unit of the image forming apparatus that has received the message receives the message. Is displayed on the display.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to use the panel note function while reducing the trouble of communication with the user.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the process in the information processing system 1 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen immediately after clicking a mail link and starting a mailer. It is a figure which shows the example after a service person edits the content of the email for a customer using a mailer. It is a block diagram in case the web application server 10 is comprised by a general computer. It is a block diagram in case the portable terminal 30 is comprised with a common computer. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus 20. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a flow of processing in the information processing system 1;

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overview of overall configuration and processing]
Initially, the whole structure of the information processing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The information processing system 1 includes a web application server 10 and one or more image forming apparatuses 20 managed by the web application server 10.

  As shown in the figure, when maintenance is required in the image forming apparatus 20, the service person's mobile terminal (terminal, smartphone, tablet, etc.) 30 that performs maintenance, and the customer who is the owner of the image forming apparatus 20 A PC (Personal Computer) 40 capable of exchanging electronic mail is also connected to the network, like the web application server 10 and the image forming apparatus 20.

  The mobile terminal 30 is equipped with a web browser for a serviceman to access the web application server 10 for processing, and a mailer for sending and receiving e-mails.

  Although not shown, in the present invention, since e-mail is transmitted and received, it is necessary to provide a mail server in the network.

  The overall configuration of the information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

  Next, an overview of processing in the information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of processing in the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  (1) First, a service person who wants to maintain the image forming apparatus 20 installed at the customer site accesses the web application server 10 via the web browser of the mobile terminal 30 and sets it as a processing target. The image forming apparatus 20 is selected.

  (2) Next, the service person inputs a message (panel note message) to be displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 20 by the panel note function to the web application server 10.

  (3) Next, an identifier (such as a serial number) that allows the web application server 10 to uniquely identify the selected image forming apparatus 20 under management, a panel note message, an email address of the web application server 10, and a customer An e-mail link including the e-mail address is generated and provided (presented) to the service person. Note that a mail link is a link that allows a mailer to be launched in a form in which a destination mail address and transmission contents are already written by clicking the link.

  (4) The service person clicks the provided mail link to start a mailer and edits the content of the e-mail. Specific examples of the mailer screen immediately after clicking the mail link and the mailer screen after editing the contents of the e-mail will be described later.

  (5) When editing of the e-mail is completed, the service person transmits the e-mail. Since the e-mail destination address includes the web application server 10 and the customer's PC 40, the e-mail is sent to both.

  (6) The web application server 10 that has received the e-mail extracts the destination of the panel note message and the display content on the display unit of the operation panel from the received mail.

  (7) The web application server 10 transmits the extracted panel note message to the target image forming apparatus 20.

  (8) Receiving the panel note message, the image forming apparatus 20 displays the received panel note message on the display unit of the operation panel.

  The outline of the process in the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

[Example of editing by mailer]
Next, an example of editing contents in a mailer that is launched when a serviceman clicks an email link on the mobile terminal 30 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen example immediately after the mailer is launched by clicking the mail link.

  In the e-mail destination, the e-mail address AD1 which is the contact information of the customer and the e-mail address AD2 of the web application server 10 are already entered.

  In addition, the manufacturing number ID1 for identifying the image forming apparatus 20 that is the target for displaying the panel note message is already entered in the subject.

  In the e-mail body, a panel note message input by a serviceman is displayed in a body surrounded by a predetermined special character string (“***” in this example).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example after the service person has edited the content of the e-mail for communication with the customer using the mailer.

  A mail address AD3 of the second customer is added to the destination, a character string for the customer is added to the subject, and a text MSG2 addressed to the customer is added.

  The service person sends only one e-mail as shown in the figure to the customer and the web application server 10. With this transmission, it is possible to display the panel note message on the image forming apparatus 20 at the same time as communicating with the customer.

  In the foregoing, an example of editing contents in a mailer that is launched when a serviceman clicks an email link on the mobile terminal 30 has been described.

[Web application server configuration]
Next, the configuration of the web application server 10 will be described. The web application server 10 may be configured by dedicated hardware or software, or may be configured by a general computer. FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram when the web application server 10 is configured by a general computer.

  As shown in the figure, the web application server 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an operation input unit 14, and a communication unit 15 (first communication). Part), a display part 16 and a storage part 17, and these blocks are connected via a bus 18.

  The ROM 12 stores a plurality of programs and data such as firmware for executing various processes. The RAM 13 is used as a work area for the CPU 11 and temporarily holds an OS (Operating System), various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

  The storage unit 17 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or other nonvolatile memory. The storage unit 17 stores an OS, various applications, various data, and an image forming apparatus DB (database) 17a.

  The image forming apparatus DB 17a is a database for managing the image forming apparatus 20 under the control of the web application server 10, and for each image forming apparatus 20, a manufacturing number that serves as an identifier of the image forming apparatus 20 and a customer contact address. A mail address etc. is stored as a set. The customer contact information is for a service person to contact when the image forming apparatus 20 is maintained.

  The communication unit 15 is connected to a network for exchanging information with the image forming apparatus 20 and the PC 30.

  The CPU 11 develops a program corresponding to an instruction given from the operation input unit 14 among the plurality of programs stored in the ROM 12 or the storage unit 17 in the RAM 13, and the display unit 16 and the storage unit according to the expanded program. 17 is appropriately controlled.

  The operation input unit 14 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other operation devices.

  The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, a plasma display, or the like.

  Next, functional blocks realized by executing a program in the CPU 11 will be described.

  Functional blocks implemented in the CPU 11 of the web application server 10 are an image forming apparatus management unit 11a, a mail link creation unit 11b, a mail reception unit 11c, and a panel note message processing unit 11d.

  The image forming apparatus management unit 11a manages the image forming apparatus 20 under management by using the image forming apparatus DB 17a. The service person selects the image forming apparatus 20 on which the panel note message is displayed via the image forming apparatus management unit 11a.

  The mail link creating unit 11b creates a mail link that causes the mailer to display the mail editing screen as described above when the serviceman clicks on the web browser, and provides the mail link to the mobile terminal 30.

  The mail receiving unit 11c receives an e-mail transmitted from the mailer of the portable terminal 30 to the web application server 10 and passes it to the panel note message unit 11d.

  The panel note message processing unit 11d analyzes the e-mail delivered from the mail receiving unit 11c, and extracts a message to be displayed on the panel note and a destination of the image forming apparatus 20 that is a target of the panel note. The panel note message processing unit 11d transmits a panel note message to the destination image forming apparatus 20.

  The configuration of the web application server 10 has been described above.

[Configuration of mobile terminal]
Next, the configuration of the mobile terminal 30 will be described. The portable terminal 30 may be configured by dedicated hardware or software, or may be configured by a general computer. FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram when the mobile terminal 30 is configured by a general computer.

  As shown in the figure, the portable terminal 30 has a CPU 31, ROM 32, RAM 33, operation input unit 34, communication unit 35, display unit 36, and storage unit 37, and these blocks are connected via a bus 38. ing.

  The ROM 32 stores a plurality of programs and data such as firmware for executing various processes. The RAM 33 is used as a work area for the CPU 31, and temporarily holds the OS, various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

  The storage unit 37 is, for example, an HDD, a flash memory, or other nonvolatile memory. The storage unit 37 stores an OS, various applications, and various data.

  The communication unit 35 is connected to a network for exchanging information with the image forming apparatus 20 and the web application server 10.

  The CPU 31 expands a program corresponding to an instruction given from the operation input unit 34 among the plurality of programs stored in the ROM 32 and the storage unit 37 in the RAM 33, and in accordance with the expanded program, the display unit 36 and the storage unit 37 is appropriately controlled.

  The operation input unit 34 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other operation devices.

  The display unit 36 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an EL display, a plasma display, or the like.

  Next, functional blocks realized by executing a program in the CPU 31 will be described.

  Functional blocks implemented in the CPU 31 of the mobile terminal 30 are a web browser 31a and a mailer 31b.

  The web browser 31 a is used for accessing the web application server 10.

  The mailer 31b is used to edit and send / receive electronic mail.

  The configuration of the mobile terminal 30 has been described above.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
Next, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 will be described. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The image forming apparatus 20 includes a control unit 21. The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and governs overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 21 includes a document reading unit 22, an image processing unit 23, an image memory 24, an image forming unit 25, an operation unit 26, a display unit 26a, a facsimile communication unit 27, a communication unit 28 (second communication unit), and a storage unit. 29 and the like. The control unit 21 performs operation control of each of the above connected units, and transmission / reception of signals or data to / from each unit.

  The control unit 21 performs operation control on each function such as a scanner function, a print function, a copy function, and a facsimile transmission / reception function in accordance with a job execution instruction input from the user through the operation unit 26 or a network-connected PC. Controls the drive and processing of the mechanisms necessary to execute.

  Moreover, the control part 21 has the panel notebook control part 21a. The panel note control unit 21a is a functional block realized by the CPU loading a program loaded from the ROM or the like into the RAM.

  The panel note control unit 21 a displays the panel note message sent from the web application server 10 on the display unit 26 a of the operation panel 26.

  The document reading unit 22 reads an image from a document.

  The image processing unit 23 performs image processing on the image data of the image read by the document reading unit 22 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 23 performs image processing such as shading correction in order to improve the quality after the image read by the document reading unit 22 is formed.

  The image memory 24 is an area for temporarily storing data of a document image obtained by reading by the document reading unit 22 and temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming unit 25.

  The image forming unit 25 forms an image such as the image data read by the document reading unit 22.

  The operation unit 26 includes a touch panel unit and operation key units that receive instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 20. The touch panel unit includes a display unit 26a such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided with a touch panel.

  The facsimile communication unit 27 includes an encoding / decoding unit, a modulation / demodulation unit, and an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown), and performs facsimile transmission using a public telephone line network.

  The communication unit 28 includes a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits / receives various data to / from devices in the local area such as the web application server 10 via a LAN connected to the communication unit 28.

  The storage unit 29 stores a document image read by the document reading unit 22. The storage unit 29 is a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 has been described above.

[Process flow]
Next, the flow of processing in the information processing system 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing in the information processing system 1.

  First, the service person accesses the web application server 10 via the web browser 31a of the mobile terminal 30 and selects the image forming apparatus 20 to be processed (step S1). The selection is performed from among the image forming apparatuses 20 registered in the image forming apparatus DB 17a.

  Next, the service person inputs a message (panel note message) to be displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 20 by the panel note function to the web application server 10 via the web browser 31a (step S2).

  Next, the mail link creating unit 11b includes an identifier (such as a manufacturing number) for identifying the target image forming apparatus 20, a panel note message, a mail address of the web application server 10, a mail link of a customer, and the like. Is generated and provided to the service person (step S3). At the time of generating the mail link, the identifier of the image forming apparatus 20, the mail address of the customer, and the like are acquired from the image forming apparatus DB 17a.

  The service person starts up the mailer by clicking the provided mail link, and edits the content of the e-mail (step S4).

  When the editing of the e-mail is completed, the service person transmits the e-mail (step S5). Since the e-mail destination address includes the web application server 10 and the customer's PC 40, the e-mail is sent to both.

  Next, the mail receiving unit 11c receives an e-mail (step S6).

  Next, the panel note message processing unit 11d extracts the destination of the panel note message and the display content on the operation panel from the received mail (step S7).

  Next, the panel note message processing unit 11d transmits the extracted panel note message to the target image forming apparatus 20 (step S8).

  Next, the panel note control unit 21a of the image forming apparatus 20 that has received the panel note message displays the received panel note message on the display unit 26a of the operation unit 26 (step S9).

  The flow of processing in the information processing system 1 has been described above.

<Modification>
In the above description, the web application server 10 has only an e-mail reception function, and the e-mail transmission is performed from the mobile terminal 30 of the service person. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and e-mail transmission to the web application server 10 is possible. It may have a function.

  In that case, the service person accesses the web application server 10 from the web browser 31a of the mobile terminal 30, inputs a message for communication with the customer into a dedicated input field, and displays a message for displaying as a panel note. Enter in the input field.

  By pressing the input completion button, an e-mail to the customer is transmitted, and at the same time, a panel notebook message can be transmitted to the target image forming apparatus 20.

  The modification has been described above.

[Additional notes]
As described above, the information processing system 1 according to the present invention is connected to a network-connected web application server 10 and is under the control of the web application server 10 and displays a message designated by the web application server 10. The web application server 10 includes a first communication unit 15 that enables communication via the network, and the one or more images under management. An image forming apparatus database 17a in which an identifier capable of uniquely identifying the forming apparatus 20 and a customer contact information to be contacted when maintaining each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 are stored in pairs; The one or more image shapes input by access from the terminal 30 The image forming apparatus management unit 11a that accepts selection of any of the apparatuses 20 and a message to be displayed by the panel note function, and the identifier and the communication of the selected image forming apparatus 20 from the image forming apparatus database 17a. A mail link creating unit 11b that obtains a destination, creates a mail link including the obtained identifier, the contact information, the mail address of the web application server, and the message, and provides the mail link to the terminal 30; A mail receiving unit 11c that receives an e-mail edited and transmitted by the mailer 31b activated by selection of the e-mail, the message from the e-mail received by the mail receiving unit 11c, and an image forming apparatus that displays the message Extract and extract 20 destinations A panel note message processing unit 11d that transmits the message to the destination, and each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 20 includes a second communication unit 28 that enables communication via the network, and a display unit. 26 and a panel note control unit 21a for displaying the received message on the display unit 26 when the message is received.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course, various changes can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing system 10 ... Web application server 11 ... CPU
11a ... Image forming apparatus management unit 11b ... Mail link creation unit 11c ... Mail reception unit 11d ... Panel note message processing unit 12 ... ROM
13 ... RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Operation input part 15 ... Communication part 16 ... Display part 17 ... Memory | storage part 17a ... Image forming apparatus DB
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Bus 20 ... Image forming apparatus 21 ... Control part 21a ... Panel note control part 22 ... Document reading part 23 ... Image processing part 24 ... Image memory 25 ... Image forming part 26 ... Operation part 26a ... Display part 27 ... Facsimile communication part 28 ... Communication unit 29 ... Storage unit 30 ... Mobile terminal 31 ... CPU
31a ... Web browser 31b ... Mailer 32 ... ROM
33 ... RAM
34 ... Operation input unit 35 ... Communication unit 36 ... Display unit 37 ... Storage unit 38 ... Bus 40 ... PC

Claims (4)

A network-connected web application server, and one or more image forming apparatuses that are under the control of the web application server and have a panel note function for displaying a message designated by the web application server,
The web application server is
A first communication unit that enables communication via the network;
Image formation in which an identifier capable of uniquely identifying the one or more image forming apparatuses under management and a customer contact information to be contacted when maintaining each of the one or more image forming apparatuses are stored in pairs A device database;
An image forming apparatus management unit that receives one of the one or more image forming apparatuses input by access from a serviceman terminal and a message to be displayed by the panel notebook function;
The identifier and the contact information of the selected image forming apparatus are acquired from the image forming apparatus database, and the acquired identifier, the contact information, the mail address of the web application server, and the mail link including the message. Creating an email link and providing it to the terminal;
A mail receiving unit that receives an email edited and sent by a mailer activated by the selection of the mail link;
A panel note message processing unit that extracts the message from the email received by the mail receiving unit and a destination of an image forming apparatus that displays the message, and transmits the message to the extracted destination;
Each of the one or more image forming apparatuses includes:
A second communication unit that enables communication via the network;
A display unit;
An information processing system comprising: a panel note control unit that displays the received message on the display unit when the message is received. The information processing system according to claim 1,
The email link creation unit
The information processing system includes the contact address in a destination of the email and includes the identifier in a subject of the email. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2,
The information processing system is described by enclosing the message with a predetermined special character string in a body of the electronic mail. One of the one or more image forming apparatuses having a panel note function for displaying a message designated by the web application server, which is input by an image forming apparatus management unit of the web application server through access from a serviceman terminal. Accepts selections and messages to be displayed by the panel note function;
The mail link creation unit of the web application server communicates when maintaining each of the one or more image forming apparatuses with an identifier that can uniquely identify the one or more image forming apparatuses under the control of the web application server. The identifier and the contact information of the selected image forming apparatus are acquired from the image forming apparatus database stored as a pair with the contact information of the customer to be obtained, and the acquired identifier, the contact information, and the web application are acquired. Create a server email address and email link containing the message and provide it to the device,
The mail receiving unit of the web application server receives an email edited and transmitted by a mailer activated by the selection of the mail link,
The panel note message processing unit of the web application server extracts the message and the destination of the image forming apparatus that displays the message from the electronic mail received by the mail receiving unit, and the message is extracted to the extracted destination. Send
The information processing method of causing the panel note control unit of the image forming apparatus that has received the message to display the received message on a display unit.

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