Computer peripheral sales promoting system and method thereof

• US 20020026324A1
• Filed: 08/14/2001
• Published: 02/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Okada, Akihiko
• Application Number:
  US09/928,451
• Publication Number:
  US 20020026324A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A service status detecting component for detecting a service status of a computer peripheral and a customer product information storing means for updating and storing the specifications information and the service status of this computer peripheral are provided in the computer peripheral or a computer which acts as an upper-level system of this computer peripheral. In such a configuration, sales promoting terminals 10-30 for making access to the customer product information storing means to thereby read out the specifications information and the service status are arranged in a network to which that computer peripheral or the computer is connected. This permits a sales person to confirm at the sales promoting terminals 10-30 the specifications information and the service status of a sold computer peripheral and then compare those information items to each other and discuss them to thereby suggest a purchase plan for expansion, upgrading, functional extension of the apparatus, thus carrying out streamlined business operations without waste of labor.

Claims

1. A computer peripheral sales promoting system comprising:

a service status detecting means for detecting a service status of a computer peripheral and customer product information storing means for storing specifications information of said computer peripheral and user information which specifies a user of said computer peripheral and also for consecutively updating and storing a service status detected by said service status detecting means are provided in a computer which serves as an upper-level system for said computer peripheral; and

a sales promoting terminal for making access to said customer product information storing means to thereby read out said specifications information, said user information, and service status is arranged in a network to which said computer peripheral is connected.

3. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 1, wherein said network is constituted by the internet.

5. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 1, wherein said computer peripheral is constituted by a data storing apparatus.

7. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 3, wherein said computer peripheral is constituted by a data storing apparatus.

9. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 5, wherein:

said specifications information includes at least a disk capacity of said data storing apparatus; and

said service status detecting means detects a spent disk capacity and a load status of said data storing apparatus as a service status.

11. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 7, wherein:

said specifications information includes at least a disk capacity of said data storing apparatus; and

said service status detecting means detects a spent disk capacity and a load status of said data storing apparatus as a service status.

2. A computer peripheral sales promoting system comprising:

a service status detecting means for detecting a service status of a computer peripheral and customer product information storing means for storing specifications information of said computer peripheral and user information of a user of said computer peripheral and also for consecutively updating and storing a service status detected by said service status detecting means is provided to said computer peripheral; and

a sales promoting terminal for making access to said customer product information storing means to thereby read out said specifications information, said user information, and said service status is arranged in a network to which said computer peripheral is connected.

4. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 2, wherein said network is constituted by the internet.

6. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 2, wherein said computer peripheral is constituted by a data storing apparatus.

8. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 4, wherein said computer peripheral is constituted by a data storing apparatus.

10. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 6, wherein:

said specifications information includes at least a disk capacity of said data storing apparatus; and

said service status detecting means detects a spent disk capacity and a load status of said data storing apparatus as a service status.

12. The computer peripheral sales promoting system according to claim 8, wherein:

said specifications information includes at least a disk capacity of said data storing apparatus; and

said service status detecting means detects a spent disk capacity and a load status of said data storing apparatus as a service status.

13. A computer peripheral sales promoting method comprising steps of:

monitoring a specifications information of a sold computer peripheral and a service status of said computer peripheral by a sales promoting terminal arranged in a network to which said computer peripheral or a computer which acts as an upper-level system of said computer peripheral is connected;

comparing and discussing said specifications information and service status based on an information obtained by operating said sales promoting terminal; and

suggesting a purchase plan for expansion, upgrading, functional extension, etc. of said computer peripheral based on said user information.