System, computer program product and method for managing bills issued from application service providers

• US 20050246272A1
• Filed: 09/12/2001
• Published: 11/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Americas Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Americas Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Inventors: Hyakutake, Shogo, Kitada, Hiroshi, Kizawa, Akio, Aoshima, Minoru, Ishizuka, Hiroaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,720,758 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs). The method on which the system and computer readable medium are based includes receiving an ASP service request from a remote user, forwarding the ASP service request to an ASP, receiving a service bill from the ASP, and incorporating the service bill into a unified bill and issuing the unified bill to the remote user. Calculating the ASP fee may include determining a discount offered by the ASP. The discount offered by the ASP may be determined on a customer by customer basis or based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users. The accuracy of the service bill from the ASP may be verified, and a discrepancy between a calculated fee and the billing amount may be determined, and negotiations undertaken with the ASP to resolve the discrepancy. Whether the user pays the bill issued may also be monitored.

Claims

1. A method for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs), comprising:

receiving an ASP service request from a remote user;

forwarding said ASP service request to an ASP;

receiving a service bill from said ASP; and

incorporating said service bill into a unified bill and issuing said unified bill to said remote user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of calculating said ASP fee comprises determining a discount offered by said ASP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of determining a discount offered by said ASP comprises determining a discount on a customer by customer basis.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said determining a discount comprises:

receiving a transaction report including information about a transaction volume for a particular user;

adding the transaction volume to a stored user ID volume pertaining to a cumulative volume for said particular user; and

determining a discount for the particular user based on said cumulative volume.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising periodically resetting said stored cumulative amount to zero.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said step of determining a discount offered by said ASP comprises determining a discount based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising verifying that said service bill from the ASP is ac curate.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said step of receiving a service bill comprises:

receiving a charge amount calculated by the ASP; and

receiving a transaction report including information necessary for independently calculating a charge for services requested in the service request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said step of verifying comprises:

receiving a transaction report from the ASP;

calculating an ASP fee based on said transaction report; and

comparing the calculated amount with an amount of said ASP bill amount.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining that there is a discrepancy between said calculated fee and said billing amount; and

negotiating with said ASP to resolve said discrepancy.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said step of receiving an ASP service request from a remote user comprises receiving a plurality of service requests from a remote user;

said step of forwarding said ASP service request comprises forwarding said plurality of service requests to at least two different ASPs;

said step of receiving a service bill comprises receiving a service bill from each of said at least two different ASPs; and

said step of incorporating the service bill comprises combining the service bills from each of the ASPs into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said step of receiving an ASP service request from a remote user comprises receiving a plurality of service requests from a remote user at different times;

said step of forwarding said ASP service request comprises forwarding said plurality of service requests to the ASP at different times;

said step of receiving a service bill comprises receiving at least two different service bills from the ASP at two different times, and storing said two different service bills; and

said step of incorporating the service bill comprises combining the two different service bills into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring whether the user pays the bill issued.

14. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for execution on a computer system to perform the steps recited in any one of claims 1-13.

15. A system for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs), comprising:

a memory configured to store information related to managing bills issued from ASPs; and

a processor in communication with said memory and configured to;

receive an ASP service request from a remote user;

forward said ASP service request to an ASP;

receive a service bill from said ASP; and

incorporate said service bill into a unified bill and issue said unified bill to said remote user.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is configured to calculate said ASP fee by determining a discount offered by said ASP.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said processor is configured to determine a discount offered by said ASP by determining a discount on customer by customer basis.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said processor is configured to determine a discount by:

receiving a transaction report including information about a transaction volume for a particular user;

adding the transaction volume to a stored user ID volume pertaining to a cumulative volume for said particular user; and

determining a discount for the particular user based on said cumulative volume.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said processor is further configured to periodically reset said stored cumulative amount to zero.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein said processor is configured to determine a discount offered by said ASP by determining a discount based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is further configured to verify that said service bill from the ASP is accurate.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said processor is configured to receive a service bill by:

receiving a charge amount calculated by the ASP; and

receiving a transaction report including information necessary for independently calculating a charge for services requested in the service request.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said processor is configured to verify that said service bill from the ASP is accurate by:

receiving a transaction report from the ASP;

calculating an ASP fee based on said transaction report; and

comparing the calculated amount with an amount of said ASP bill amount.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said processor is further configured to:

determine that there is a discrepancy between said calculated fee and said billing amount; and

negotiate with said ASP to resolve said discrepancy.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is configured to:

receive an ASP service request from a remote user by receiving a plurality of service requests from a remote user;

forward said ASP service request by forwarding said plurality of service requests to at least two different ASPs;

receive a service bill by receiving a service bill from each of said at least two different ASPs; and

incorporate the service bill by combining the service bills from each of the ASPs into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

26. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is configured to:

receive an ASP service request from a remote user by receiving a plurality of service requests from a remote user at different times;

forward said ASP service request by forwarding said plurality of service requests to the ASP at different times;

receive a service bill by receiving at least two different service bills from the ASP at two different times, and storing said two different service bills; and

incorporate the service bill by combining the two different service bills into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

27. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is further configured to monitor whether the user pays the bill issued.

28. A system for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs), comprising:

means for receiving an ASP service request from a remote user;

means for forwarding said ASP service request to an ASP;

means for receiving a service bill from said ASP; and

means for incorporating said service bill into a unified bill and issuing said unified bill to said remote user.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising means for verifying that said service bill from the ASP is accurate.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein said means for receiving a service bill comprises:

means for receiving a charge amount calculated by the ASP; and

means for receiving a transaction report including information necessary for independently calculating a charge for services requested in the service request.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said means for verifying comprises:

means for receiving a transaction report from the ASP;

means for calculating an ASP fee based on said transaction report; and

comparing the calculated amount with an amount of said ASP bill amount.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining that there is a discrepancy between said calculated fee and said billing amount; and

means for negotiating with said ASP to resolve said discrepancy.

33. The system of claim 28, further comprising means for monitoring whether the user pays the bill issued.