Method and system of remote support of device using e-mail

• US 20020152292A1
• Filed: 01/09/2001
• Published: 10/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Fong, Avery
• Application Number:
  US09/756,120
• Publication Number:
  US 20020152292A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0873 Checking configuration conflicts between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

A computer-implemented system, method, and computer program product for remotely monitoring network devices. A network management protocol such as the simple network management protocol (SNMP) is used to collect status information and/or configuration information from devices connected to a network such as an intranet. The information collected may be stored on a database connected to that network. The information is sent via a standard communication technique, such as e-mail to a remote monitor. The remote monitor retrieves the information from, for example, a mail server and stores the device information in a database connected to the network of the remote monitor.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented remote device monitoring system, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer readable medium encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor implement,

a device information collecting mechanism configured to collect information from a device connected to a first network using a network management protocol;

a device information sending mechanism configured to send the information to a monitor connected to a second network via a wide area network using a protocol; and

a device information receiving mechanism configured to receive the information using the protocol and store the information in a digital repository connected to the second network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises at least one of status information corresponding to the device and configuration information corresponding to the device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the device comprises a printer.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein status information comprises at least one of a low paper indicator, a no paper indicator, a low toner indicator, a no toner indicator, door open indicator, a jammed indicator, an offline indicator, and a service requested indicator.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein configuration information comprises at least one of a manufacturer of the device, a model of the device, a serial number of the device, a media access control address, an Internet protocol address, a company name, a street address, a city, a state, a postal code, a physical location of the device, a contact person for the device, a phone number for the contact person, and an e-mail address for the contact person.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the wide area network comprises the Internet.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the protocol comprises at least one of a simple mail transfer protocol and an Internet mail access protocol.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the first network and the second network comprises an intranet.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the digital repository comprises a database.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the computer readable medium is further encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor further implements,

a device information storing mechanism configured to store the information collected by the device information collecting mechanism in a first digital repository connected to the first network; and

the device information sending mechanism is further configured to retrieve the information from the first digital repository.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the digital repository comprises a database.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor readable instructions comprises at least one of a dynamic link library, a static link library, a script, a JAVA class, a C++ class, and a C library routine.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the network management protocol comprises a simple network management protocol.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the device information receiving mechanism is further configured to store the information in the digital repository through an open database connectivity interface.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the device information storing mechanism is further configured to store the information in the first digital repository through an open database connectivity interface.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the information comprises at least one of status information corresponding to the device and configuration information corresponding to the device.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the device comprises a printer.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein at least a portion of the wide area network comprises the Internet.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the network management protocol comprises a simple network management protocol.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the protocol comprises at least one of a simple mail transfer protocol and an Internet access protocol.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the digital repository comprises a database.

23. The method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

storing the collected information collected in the in the collecting step in a first digital repository; and

retrieving the information stored in the storing the collected information step from the first digital repository.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first digital repository comprises a database.

26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the information comprises at least one of status information corresponding to the device and configuration information corresponding to the device.

27. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the device comprises a printer.

28. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein at least a portion of the wide area network comprises the Internet.

29. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the network management protocol comprises a simple network management protocol.

30. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the protocol comprises at least one of a simple mail transfer protocol and an Internet access protocol.

31. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the digital repository comprises a database.

32. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the computer program code mechanism further having,

a fifth computer code device configured to store the information collected by the first computer code device in a first digital repository, and

a sixth computer code device configured to retrieve the information from the first digital repository.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the first digital repository comprises a database.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein:

the network management protocol is a simple network management protocol; and

the protocol is at least one of a simple mail transfer protocol and an Internet mail access protocol.

16. A method for remotely monitoring network devices, comprising the steps of:

collecting information from a device connected to a first network using a network management protocol;

sending the information collected in the collecting step to a monitor connected to a second network via a wide area network using a protocol;

receiving the information sent in the sending step by the monitor; and

storing the information received in the receiving step in a digital repository connected to the second network.

25. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer storage medium; and

a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to remotely monitor a device connected to a first network with a monitor connected to a second network, the computer program code mechanism having,

a first computer code device configured to collect information from the device using a network management protocol,

a second computer code device configured to send the information to the monitor via a wide area network using a protocol,

a third computer code device configured to receive the information sent to the monitor; and

a fourth computer code device configured to store the information received in a digital repository connected to the second network.

34. A system for remotely monitoring network devices, comprising:

means for collecting information from a device connected to a first network using a network management protocol;

means for sending the information collected in the collecting step to a monitor connected to a second network via a wide area network using a protocol;

means for receiving the information sent in the sending step by the monitor; and

means for storing the information received in the receiving step in a digital repository connected to the second network.