Method and system for predicting the services needs of remote point of sale devices
First Claim
1. A method for determining an operational status of a remote device comprising:
- building a performance history for the remote device;
identifying standard measures of satisfactory, periodic performance from the performance history;
determining current operational characteristics of remote device performance corresponding to the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance;
identifying differences between a current operating status of the remote device and the current operational characteristics of remote device performance; and
calculating a likelihood estimator to determine whether the differences indicate that the remote device is operating within acceptable variances from the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance or that the remote device is not functioning satisfactorily.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system and apparatus for identifying malfunctioning remote devices, such as point of sale devices, are disclosed. In operation, a performance history for one or more remote devices is built and a normal operating day is determined from the performance history. Also extracted from this performance history are average and variance values for various aspects of satisfactory remote device performance. During remote device evaluations, the current operating performance of each remote device is compared with the normal day and the average and variance values for the respective remote device. For remote devices operating outside of the normal day, average and variances values, a likelihood estimate that the remote device is actually malfunctioning is calculated. For remote devices determined likely to be malfunctioning, an approximation of the remote device'"'"'s losses are made such that the remote device with the greatest losses may be prioritized for maintenance or other purposes.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining an operational status of a remote device comprising:
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building a performance history for the remote device;
identifying standard measures of satisfactory, periodic performance from the performance history;
determining current operational characteristics of remote device performance corresponding to the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance;
identifying differences between a current operating status of the remote device and the current operational characteristics of remote device performance; and
calculating a likelihood estimator to determine whether the differences indicate that the remote device is operating within acceptable variances from the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance or that the remote device is not functioning satisfactorily. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A remotely located point of sale device comprising:
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at least one application controller operably coupled to the remotely located point of sale device;
the application controller having at least one microprocessor operably coupled to at least one memory device;
the application controller operable to communicate at least one operational characteristic of the remotely located point of sale device to at least one destination;
a program of instructions storable in the at least one memory device and executable in the at least one microprocessor; and
the program of instructions operable to build a performance history based on the at least one operational characteristic of the remotely located point of sale device, identify a standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance for the remotely located point of sale device based on the performance history, identify current operational characteristics of the remotely located point of sale device based on the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance, compare a current operating status of the remotely located point of sale device to the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance to identify differences that exceed the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance, evaluate the differences that exceed the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance to determine if they indicate a malfunction of the remotely located point of sale device and approximate economic losses resulting from the malfunction. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A remote device management system comprising:
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at least one remote device operably coupled to a wide area network;
a network operations center operably coupled to the wide area network;
the network operations center having at least one wide area network interface and at least one control;
the network operations center operable to communicate with the at least one remote device via the wide area network interface and via the wide area network; and
the network operations center control operable to build an operational performance history for the at least one remote device, identify a standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance for the remote device, generate parameters of current performance for the remote device, and identify remote devices likely to be malfunctioning based on differences between the standard measure of satisfactory, periodic performance and a current operating status of the remote device where the differences exceed the parameters of current performance for the remote device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification