WO2000062233A1 - Systeme et procede de gestion et de facturation se basant sur l'usage pour des imprimantes et autres biens - Google Patents

Systeme et procede de gestion et de facturation se basant sur l'usage pour des imprimantes et autres biens Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000062233A1
WO2000062233A1 PCT/US2000/009856 US0009856W WO0062233A1 WO 2000062233 A1 WO2000062233 A1 WO 2000062233A1 US 0009856 W US0009856 W US 0009856W WO 0062233 A1 WO0062233 A1 WO 0062233A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
usage data
data
local
remote
data store
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2000/009856
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
R. Kent Landry
Robert M. Getler
Thomas L. Coons
Steven B. Rogers
Original Assignee
Lexmark International, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Lexmark International, Inc. filed Critical Lexmark International, Inc.
Priority to AU42366/00A priority Critical patent/AU4236600A/en
Publication of WO2000062233A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000062233A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
    • G06Q20/14—Payment architectures specially adapted for billing systems
    • G06Q20/145—Payments according to the detected use or quantity
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/04—Billing or invoicing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/0014—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a system and method for facilitating Web-based management of assets. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for facilitating usage-based billing of assets and overall asset management of printers and other assets.
  • the Internet is a global network of connected computer networks. Over the last several years, the Internet has grown in significant measure. A large number of computers on the Internet provide information in various forms. Teen with a computer connected to the Internet can potentially tap into this vast pool of information.
  • the Web consists of a subset of the computers connected to the Internet; the computers in this subset run Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) servers (Web servers).
  • HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
  • Web servers The information available via the Internet also encompasses information available via other types of information servers such as GOPHER and FTP.
  • a URL uniquely specifies the location of a particular piece of information on the Internet.
  • a URL will typically be composed of several components. The first component typically designates the protocol by with the address piece of information is accessed (e.g., HTTP, GOPHER, etc.). This first component is separated from the remainder of the URL by a colon (':'). The remainder of the URL will depend upon the protocol component. Typically, the remainder designates a computer on the Internet by name, or by IP number, as well as a more specific designation of the location of the resource on the designated computer. For instance, a typical URL for an HTTP resource might be: http ://www. server.com/dir 1 /dir2/resource.htm where http is the protocol, www.server.com is the designated computer and /dirl/dir2/resouce.htm designates the location of the resource on the designated computer.
  • Web servers host information in the form of Web pages; collectively the server and the information hosted are referred to as a Web site.
  • a significant number of Web pages are encoded using the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) although other encodings using the extensible Markup Language (XML) or the Standard Generic Markup Language (SGML) are becoming increasingly more common. The published specifications for these languages are incorporated by reference herein.
  • Web pages in these formatting languages may include links to other Web pages on the same Web site or another.
  • Web pages may be generated dynamically by a server by integrating a variety of elements into a formatted page prior to transmission to a Web client.
  • Web servers and information servers of other types await requests for the information that they receive from Internet clients.
  • Client software has evolved that allows users of computers connected to the Internet to access this information.
  • Advanced clients such as NAVIGATOR (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, CA) and Internet Explorer (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA) allow users to access software provided via a variety of information servers in a unified client environment.
  • client software is referred to as browser software.
  • One known system for managing remotely located document producing devices utilizes a cellular communication network to communicate data including usage data to a central computer.
  • This system typically includes a central computer, a central cellular radio station, and a number of remote document-producing nodes.
  • the central computer generates a copier management command directed towards a selected one of the remote document producing devices, and supplies this command to the central cellular radio station.
  • This radio station uses a central cellular radio to relay the copier management command to the selected remote copier node.
  • a remote document producing device may initiate a remote management operation by transmitting management data to the central cellular station.
  • usage data associated with document producing devices may be collected for one or more enterprises at a remote central computer. No local storage of the enterprise data occurs and, consequently, cannot be mined or accessed locally but only from the remote central computer.
  • a reprographic machine includes an inventory tracking system for monitoring consumable supplies. Usage data from a plurality of networked reprographic machines is supplied to a single tracking system for monitoring inventories of supplies consumed by the network. Automatic or semi-automatic ordering can be provided via a remote interactive communication system. Order confirmation, projected shipment dates and shipment confirmations can be provided from the reorder site. Systems such as this collect and maintain usage data locally and transmit request for consumables to a remote location but do not publish the locally collected usage data to a remote location for supporting remote mining, access and processing nor for supporting analysis and processing of data across multiple enterprises.
  • the present invention addresses these and other limitations of such known systems by providing a system and method for remotely storing usage data associated with monitored assets of an enterprise utilizing local data aggregation and staging.
  • a typical system according to the present invention will include a local data store for storing usage data associated with monitored assets of an enterprise.
  • a usage data aggregation system with access to the local data store is used to aggregate data from the monitored assets and to store the aggregated data in the local data store.
  • a local server also with access to the local data store supports the transmission of the stored usage data from the local data store to a remote server.
  • a single computer system may support some or all of the functionality of the local data store, the usage data aggregation system and the local server.
  • the system will also typically utilize a remote server having access to a remote data store.
  • the remote server is utilized to receive the usage data transmitted by the local server. After receiving the data, the remote server stores it in the remote data store.
  • the remote data store and the remote server functionality may be supported within a single computer system.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram of a typical system according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a flow chart of steps that could be used in transmitting usage data from the local server to the remote server.
  • FIG. 3 is a flow chart of steps that could be used in receiving usage data from the local server and storing the received data in the remote data store.
  • FIG. 4 is a sample screen that could be used to allow the triggering of the transmission of usage data from the local server to the remote server.
  • FIG. 5 is a sample screen displaying a typical report request interface.
  • the word “enterprise” shall refer to an organization as a whole or some specifiable subgroup within an organization.
  • the word “asset” shall be construed broadly to include any shared peripheral device including, but not limited to, printers, copiers, facsimile machines, scanners, modems, computers and storage devices.
  • Ranges may be expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to "about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent "about,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint. A typical hardware and software environment for implementing the present invention will be seen in FIG. 1.
  • the local environment 125 will include a local data store 135a for storing usage data associated with monitored assets of an enterprise; in some embodiments, a portion of a monitored asset such as a network connected disk 141 could also serve this function.
  • a usage data aggregation system with access to the local data store 135a is used to aggregate data from the monitored assets and to store the aggregated data in the local data store.
  • the usage aggregation system will include hardware such as a computer workstation which is preferably a system with PENTIUM III based processor (Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA) running usage data aggregation software such as MARKTRACK (Lexmark International, Lexington, KY) or similar type software.
  • the software may support interaction with different types of monitored assets, or several software packages may be used in conjunction to aggregate the usage data across the supported asset types.
  • a local server also with access to the local data store 135a supports the transmission of the stored usage data from the local data store to a remote server.
  • the remote server in a preferred embodiment will include hardware such as a computer workstation preferably with a PENTIUM III based processor (Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA) running preferably Web server software such as IPLANET Web Server (iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance, Mountain View, CA), Enterprise Server (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, CA) or Internet Information Server (IIS) (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA).
  • IPLANET Web Server iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance, Mountain View, CA), Enterprise Server (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, CA) or Internet Information Server (IIS) (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA).
  • IIS Internet Information Server
  • other types of server software such as SMTP or FTP could be used to support the requisite functionality.
  • a single computer system 135 may support some or all of the functionality of the local data store 135a, the usage data aggregation system and the local server.
  • the local environment will typically include a communications network such as an ethernet 150 supporting communication between monitored assets such as network connected disk 141, workstation 145, printer 142, scanner 146, facsimile 143, copier (not shown), modem (not shown) and additional monitored assets and the usage data aggregation system.
  • the local environment may further include a firewall system (not shown) and will typically include a router system (not shown).
  • the communications network of the local environment may be connected to a larger scale communications network such as the Internet 120.
  • the usage aggregation system collects data from the monitored assets and stores this data in the local data store 135a.
  • the data collection may occur in several ways.
  • monitored assets are registered with the usage aggregation system. Polling of registered, monitored assets may occur on a periodic time basis. Alternatively or additionally, polling of registered, monitored assets may occur as a result of receiving a request at the local server to transmit data to the remote server.
  • the usage data aggregation system receives usage data from monitored asset without first requesting the data.
  • Monitored assets could transmit data at periodic time intervals where the schedule may vary from asset to asset.
  • monitored assets could transmit data as a result of a trigger event in the asset such as a mechanical failure requiring a service call, low supply of consumables or reaching some predetermined usage threshold.
  • the occurrence of such a trigger event could further result in forwarding a signal requesting transmission of aggregated data to the local server, thereby triggering the local server to the transmit the aggregated usage data from the local data store to the remote server.
  • the local data store may be organized in a variety of ways.
  • the data store may be organized as one or more flat files of data or as one or more hash tables.
  • the data store may in a preferred embodiment be organized as a database with a relational architecture such as provided by an ORACLE database environment (Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA). It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that other architectures such as hierarchical, object-oriented, spatial or other suitable architecture, or combination of architectures, could be used within the scope of the present invention.
  • the local server including workstation 135 and server software will transmit usage data stored in the local data store 135a to the remote server.
  • the local server will retrieve the usage data from the local data store 135a and, in some embodiments, encrypt the retrieved usage data prior to transmission to the remote server.
  • the local server will encode the usage data from the local data store 135a in a file using commas to delimit data elements.
  • Other embodiments may utilize encoding formats such as an XML-based encoding, SGML-based encoding or other suitable encoding format to encode the data prior to transmission.
  • the local server will transmit the usage data utilizing an appropriate transmission protocol such as HTTP, HTTPS (HTTP protocol over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL)), FTP, SMTP, a proprietary transmission protocol or other suitable standard.
  • HTTP HTTP protocol over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
  • FTP FTP
  • SMTP SMTP
  • a Web server by itself or in conjunction with a Java servlet, will transmit the usage data using HTTPS, HTTP over a Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
  • the HTTP standard may be accessed through the URL ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2616.txt information concerning the state of the development for this standard may be found at URL http://www.w3.org/Protocols/, the specification for SSL may be accessed at URL http://www.netscape.com eng/ssl3/. These specifications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
  • a signal requesting transmission of the usage data is received by the local server.
  • this signal is received as a result of the triggering of an active element of a Web page presented by the Web server; FIG. 4 provides an example of such a page.
  • the signal may result from an event occurring at one of the monitored assets, or the signal could be generated on a periodic time basis.
  • the remote server may generate and transmit the signal to the local server based upon an event at the remote server or at periodic time intervals. Further, a combination of the aforementioned approaches may be utilized within some embodiments.
  • step 220 the usage data is retrieved from the local data store.
  • the way this occurs will vary depending upon the structure of the local data store.
  • the servlet could retrieve the data using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC).
  • JDBC Java Database Connectivity
  • Use of JDBC to handle interact between Java programs and databases is well known in the art as seen in Chapter 17 of Ivor Horton's Beginning Java. Wrox Press Ltd., 1997, pp. 813 - 864, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
  • other database connectivity interfaces such as ODBC may be used.
  • the local server establishes a connection to the remote server via one or more communications channels such as ethernet 150, Internet 120 and ethernet 165.
  • communications channels such as ethernet 150, Internet 120 and ethernet 165.
  • ethernet 150 a variety of other communication channels such as dial up connection, dedicated line, etc. could be used within the scope of the present invention.
  • the data is transmitted to the remote server using one of the protocols discussed above.
  • the transmission may involve formatting the data in an encoding format, or the encoding may occur at the retrieval step 220. Encryption of the data may also occur at steps 220 or 240.
  • the data is formatted either at retrieval or at transmission as a comma separated data file and is transmitted using HTTPS (HTTP protocol over an SSL connection).
  • the system will also typically utilize a remote environment 100 including a remote server having access to a remote data store 110.
  • the remote server may include multiple hardware and software elements.
  • the hardware element, or elements will typically include at least one computer system preferably including at least one file server capacity processor such as a PENTIUM III based processor (Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA).
  • the remote server is utilized to receive the usage data transmitted by the local server. After receiving the data, the remote server stores it in the remote data store.
  • the remote data store and the remote server functionality may be supported within a single computer system.
  • the local server may receive requests from requestors for aggregated usage data. For instance, a manager within the enterprise may wish to view the aggregated usage data associated with the monitored assets.
  • the request could occur through the access of a Web server that could be included as part of the local server.
  • the local server would respond by retrieving the usage data from the local data store and sending the retrieved data to the requestor, or a destination specified by the requestor.
  • the local server may also format the data prior to transmission; for instance, the data may be formatted as a Web page for viewing by the requestor.
  • the local server may transmit or provide access to reports concerning the usage data in the local and/or remote data stores as more fully described below.
  • a requestor may be from an external user community 160, from within the remote environment 100 or from within the local environment 125; the origin of the requestor may be used as a criteria in determining the requestor's level of access to usage data.
  • the remote environment 100 will include a remote server and a remote data store.
  • the remote server includes a Web server cluster 105 of one or more Web servers such as IPLANET Web Server (iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance, Mountain View, CA), Enterprise Server (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, CA) or Internet Information Server (IIS) (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA) and a business to business (B2B) cluster 130 of one or more B2B servers such as B2B Integration Servers (webMethods, Inc., Fairfax, VA).
  • IPLANET Web Server iPlanet E-Commerce Solutions, a Sun-Netscape Alliance, Mountain View, CA
  • Enterprise Server Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, CA
  • IIS Internet Information Server
  • B2B business to business
  • B2B Integration Servers webMethods, Inc., Fairfax, VA
  • the remote server in a preferred embodiment may also include a cluster of one or more application servers (not shown).
  • Application servers may host the presentation logic like JavaServer Pages (JSP), Active Server Pages (ASP), etc. and the business logic like Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), COM, COM+, CORB A, etc.
  • JSP JavaServer Pages
  • ASP Active Server Pages
  • EJB Enterprise Java Beans
  • COM COM+
  • CORB A etc.
  • the web servers in the Web server cluster 105 handle the HTTP Request/Response and hand off processing and/or formatting to an application server.
  • the application server(s) actually controls the logic for processing.
  • the B2B functionality of the B2B cluster 130 and the application server functionality of the application server cluster may be handled directly by the Web server(s) in the Web server cluster 105.
  • the B2B cluster provides services functionality for supporting business to business operation while the Web servers provides Web pages for providing information and human-computer interfaces.
  • interfaces to the services provided by the B2B cluster are specified in machine interpretable form such as through an XML-based definition language such as the Web Interface Definition Language (WTDL), whose specification can be found on the internet through URL http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-widl, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
  • WTDL Web Interface Definition Language
  • the environment 100 may also include a communications network such as ethernet 165 to facilitate communication between the remote server and the remote data store 110.
  • a communications channel such as ethernet 165, Internet 120 and ethernet 150 may be used to allow communication between the remote server and the local server.
  • the environment 100 may also include load balancing device 170 to distribute requests among the clusters and/or among the servers with the clusters, router system 175 to control routing within ethernet 165 and firewall system 180 to provide security for systems connected to ethernet 165.
  • the remote data store includes a database system cluster 110 of one or more database systems.
  • These database system may in a preferred embodiment be organized as relational database(s) such as provided by an ORACLE database environment (Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA).
  • ORACLE database environment Oracle Corporation, Redwood Shores, CA.
  • the local data store may be organized in a variety of other ways.
  • the data store may be organized as one or more flat files of data or as one or more hash tables.
  • the functionality of the remote server and the remote data store may in certain embodiments be performed by a single computer system.
  • the Web server cluster 105, the B2B server cluster 130 and the database server cluster 110 will perform steps as depicted graphically in FIG. 3. Note that the arrows in FIG. 3 indicate one ordering of the steps; other orderings are equally viable within the scope of the present invention.
  • a connection is established between the remote server and the local server.
  • the connection is initiated by the local server; however, this need not be true in other embodiments.
  • a connection between the remote server and the local server may be formed via one or more communications channels such as ethernet 150, Internet 120 and ethernet 165.
  • ethernet 150 such as ethernet 150
  • Internet 120 such as a GTE network
  • ethernet 165 such as a GTE network
  • a variety of other communication channels such as dial up connection, dedicated line, etc. could be used within the scope of the present invention.
  • the connection is established with a B2B server, within the B2B cluster 130, having a particular service designed to receive the usage data. In such an embodiment the data is received via the HTTPS protocol (HTTP protocol over an SSL connection).
  • HTTPS protocol HTTP protocol over an SSL connection
  • the usage data is received from the local server.
  • the usage data is decrypted as part of the receiving process.
  • the invoked reception service receives the data transmitted by the Java servlet transmitter running as part of the local server.
  • the remote server connects to the remote data store.
  • this connection may be a serial bus or other suitable channel of communication.
  • the B2B reception service establishes a connection with one of the database systems in the database cluster 110 utilizing JDBC.
  • the remote server transmits the data to the remote data store.
  • the transmission may be effectuated via a write operation to the data store or through an ODBC, JDBC or similar connectivity interface.
  • the format of the transmission will vary depending upon the organization of the data store. For instance, if the remote data store in a particular embodiment is organized as a set of one or more flat files, the transmission may utilize and FTP protocol put transaction to transmit the usage data to the remote data store.
  • the B2B reception service formats the received data in the form of an SQL insertion statement and forwards the insertion to one of the database systems in the database cluster via JDBC.
  • the remote server may receive requests from requestors for aggregated usage data. For instance, a billing company may wish to generate an invoice based on aggregated usage data associated with the monitored assets of an ente ⁇ rise.
  • the request in some embodiments, could occur through the access of a Web server that could be included as part of the remote server.
  • the remote server would respond by retrieving the usage data from the remote data store and sending the retrieved data to the requestor, or a destination specified by the requestor.
  • the remote data store may send a transmission request signal to the local server associated with the ente ⁇ rise for which the requestor is requesting usage data prior to retrieving the usage data from the remote data store.
  • the remote server may also format the data prior to transmission; for instance, the data may be formatted as a Web page for viewing by the requestor. In some embodiments, a separate request for downloading the retrieved data may be required. In a preferred embodiment, a flat file of usage data is generated for downloading by the requestor.
  • the remote server may transmit or provide access to reports concerning the usage data in the remote data store as more fully described below.
  • a requestor may be from an external user community 160, from within the remote environment 100 or from within the local environment 125; the origin of the requestor may be used as a criteria in determining the requestor's level of access to usage data.
  • the local and/or the remote servers may also support the ability to generate reports concerning the usage data collected.
  • the local or remote server will generate reports based upon the usage data in the local or remote store, respectively; however, in some embodiments, the local server may access and generate reports based upon data in the remote data store. Further, in some embodiments, the remote server may generate reports based upon usage data in the local store. Report generation will typically occur as a result of a request for a report; FIG. 5 provides a sample screen showing a Web page including an interface 510 that could be used to generate report requests.
  • the generated reports may serve a variety of pu ⁇ oses including billing, asset utilization analysis and automated ordering of consumables used by monitored assets.
  • Billing reports such as invoices may be generated and presented in a variety of manners.
  • Billing reports in a preferred embodiment, may be generated on demand or on a periodic basis by, for example, a Finance Company in the following manner:
  • the button invokes a service on a B2B server of the B2B server cluster 130.
  • That service executes stored procedures on database server cluster 110 to extract the usage data associated with the selected ente ⁇ rise.
  • the usage data is wrapped and compressed into a file. 6.
  • the file is then made available in compressed or uncompressed form for download to the Finance Company through a Web page served by a Web server of the Web server cluster 105.
  • a consumable supply company could utilize a similar process for generating automated or semi-automated orders for supplies from the ente ⁇ rise.
  • the usage data extracted would not be directed towards usage based payment but would be analyzed to determine the level of consumable supplies associated with the various monitored assets of the ente ⁇ rise.
  • Web screens are provided that allow a requestor to evaluate the data and make assessments. For example, assume there are two assets on a network that are being supported by 25 people. Two aisles separate both assets.
  • a utilization analysis report based upon usage data could establish that one asset is being utilized 10 times as hard, probably meaning people waiting for the asset to finish printing. This example could suggest to the requestor an upgrade of the asset to provide more pages/per/minute might be needed.
  • the selection invokes a service on a B2B server of the B2B server cluster 130 that extracts the data from a database of the database cluster 110.
  • the B2B server of the B2B server cluster 130 dynamically generates the XML formatted usage data.
  • a Web server from the Web server cluster 105 makes the data available to the requestor in a variety of ways including, but not limited to: a) encoding (using HTML Form Encoding) the data as hidden HTML form fields and posts it to a URL that formats the data as a page, b) creating an HTML form on the web server that contains an XML document, c) breaking out the data and filling in an HTML table on the Web server, or d) exporting the data into another suitable format for viewing and analysis such as a spreadsheet like Exel (Microsoft Co ⁇ oration, Redmond, WA) or an alternative database format like Access (Mi crosoft Co ⁇ oration, Redmond, WA).
  • the Web server presents the data to the requestor's browser either directly as HTML or data viewable through a browser plug-in.
  • the data may be made available in a file for download and may subsequently be viewed and processed via application software such as spreadsheet software or database software.

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Abstract

L'invention porte sur un procédé et un système destinés à stocker à distance des données d'utilisation associées à des biens surveillés (141, 142, 143, 145, 146) d'une entreprise. Une mémoire de données locale (135a), notamment, est un système type de stockage de données d'utilisation associées à des biens surveillés (141, 142, 143, 145, 146) d'une entreprise. On utilise un système d'agrégation de données d'utilisation, avec accès à la mémoire de données locale (135a), pour agréger des données de biens surveillés (141, 142, 143, 145, 146) et pour stocker les données agrégées dans la mémoire de données locale (135a). Un serveur local (135), également doté d'un accès à la mémoire de données locale (135a), prend en charge l'émission des données d'utilisation stockées, à partir de la mémoire de données locale (135a), vers un serveur à distance. Ce dernier permet de recevoir les données d'utilisation émises par le serveur local (135). Dès leur réception, le serveur à distance stocke les données dans la mémoire de données à distance. Les données d'utilisation se trouvant soit dans la mémoire de données locale (135a), soit dans la mémoire de données à distance sont par la suite accessibles pour traitement et analyse par le biais du serveur local (135) et du serveur à distance respectivement.
PCT/US2000/009856 1999-04-13 2000-04-13 Systeme et procede de gestion et de facturation se basant sur l'usage pour des imprimantes et autres biens WO2000062233A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU42366/00A AU4236600A (en) 1999-04-13 2000-04-13 Usage-based billing and management system and method for printers and other assets

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US12892499P 1999-04-13 1999-04-13
US60/128,924 1999-04-13

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WO2002077718A1 (fr) * 2001-03-21 2002-10-03 Toshiba Tec Germany Imaging Systems Gmbh Procede et systeme de gestion de services et/ou d'assistance de services et/ou de production de rapports de services
EP1326188A2 (fr) * 2001-11-03 2003-07-09 Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG Procédé et appareil pour la génération des coûts d' utilisation pour l' utilisation d' un appareil
EP1349120A2 (fr) * 2002-03-25 2003-10-01 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Dispositif d'imagerie et méthode de facturation équitable et simple pour son usage
EP1521195A1 (fr) * 2003-09-30 2005-04-06 Toshiba Corporation Système, méthode et programme d'ordinateur pour un système comptable automatisé
WO2009004530A1 (fr) * 2007-06-29 2009-01-08 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Procédé et système d'enregistrement chronologique des données pour suivre des données d'activité d'un appareil de balayage médical

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EP1211651A2 (fr) * 2000-11-10 2002-06-05 Promatek Industries Ltd. Système pour générer des données d'usage d'un dispositif d'impression
EP1211651A3 (fr) * 2000-11-10 2004-04-14 Promatek Industries Ltd. Système pour générer des données d'usage d'un dispositif d'impression
WO2002077718A1 (fr) * 2001-03-21 2002-10-03 Toshiba Tec Germany Imaging Systems Gmbh Procede et systeme de gestion de services et/ou d'assistance de services et/ou de production de rapports de services
EP1326188A2 (fr) * 2001-11-03 2003-07-09 Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG Procédé et appareil pour la génération des coûts d' utilisation pour l' utilisation d' un appareil
EP1326188A3 (fr) * 2001-11-03 2004-05-06 Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG Procédé et appareil pour la génération des coûts d' utilisation pour l' utilisation d' un appareil
EP1349120A2 (fr) * 2002-03-25 2003-10-01 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Dispositif d'imagerie et méthode de facturation équitable et simple pour son usage
EP1349120A3 (fr) * 2002-03-25 2004-05-26 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Dispositif d'imagerie et méthode de facturation équitable et simple pour son usage
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EP1521195A1 (fr) * 2003-09-30 2005-04-06 Toshiba Corporation Système, méthode et programme d'ordinateur pour un système comptable automatisé
US7672880B2 (en) 2003-09-30 2010-03-02 Toshiba Corporation Automated accounting system, method and computer-readable medium for MFP devices
WO2009004530A1 (fr) * 2007-06-29 2009-01-08 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Procédé et système d'enregistrement chronologique des données pour suivre des données d'activité d'un appareil de balayage médical

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