METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INITIATING CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR AN ELECTRONIC TERMINAL

• US 20100162030A1
• Filed: 12/23/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Schindel, William G. JR., McGovern, Kevin T., Malone, David Eric
• Granted Patent: US 8,245,076 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/3
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/206 Software aspects at ATMs

Abstract

A method and device are provided for initiating corrective actions for a terminal, such as an ATM. A method of initiating corrective actions for a terminal comprises, monitoring a fault status of a first component, detecting a fault status of the first component with a first trigger plug-in, activating a first action plug-in based upon the detected fault status of the first component, and recycling the first component.

Claims

1. A method of initiating corrective actions for a terminal comprising:

monitoring a fault status of a first component;

detecting a fault status of the first component with a first trigger plug-in;

activating a first action plug-in based upon the detected fault status of the first component; and

recycling the first component.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring a fault status of a second component;

detecting a fault status of the second component with a second trigger plug-in;

activating a second action plug-in based upon the detected fault status of the second component; and

recycling the second component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the first component is a hardware component; and

the second component is a software component.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first component is a currency dispenser, an envelope repository, an identification card unit, or a receipt provider.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein recycling the second component comprises:

rebooting the terminal.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining that the terminal is being used by a customer; and

delaying recycling the second component until the terminal is no longer being used by the customer.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining the number of recycle events for the second component within a predetermined period of time; and

comparing the determined number of recycle events to a predetermined threshold, wherein recycling the second component is based upon the comparison.

8. A terminal comprising:

a first hardware component;

a first software component;

a memory;

a first hardware component trigger plug-in programmed within the memory, the first hardware component trigger plug-in configured to generate a first hardware component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of the first hardware component;

a first hardware component action plug-in programmed within the memory, the first hardware component action plug-in programmed to control recycling of the first hardware component in response to a first hardware action plug-in invocation;

a first software component trigger plug-in programmed within the memory, the first software component trigger plug-in programmed to generate a first software component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of the first software component;

a first software action plug-in programmed within the memory, the first software component action plug-in programmed to control a recycling of the first software component in response to a first software action plug-in invocation; and

an incident reduction agent programmed within the memory, the incident reduction agent programmed to (i) recognize the first hardware component trigger status, (ii) issue the first hardware action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized first hardware component trigger status, (iii) recognize the first software component trigger status, and (iv) issue the first software action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized first software component trigger status.

9. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the first hardware component is a currency dispenser, an envelope repository, an identification card unit, or a receipt provider.

10. The terminal of claim 8, wherein controlling the recycling of the first hardware component comprises:

determining the number of recycle events for the first hardware component within a predetermined period of time;

comparing the determined number of recycle events to a predetermined threshold; and

recycling the first hardware component based upon the comparison.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein controlling the recycling of the first hardware component comprises:

determining that the terminal is being used by a customer; and

delaying recycling of the first hardware component until the terminal is no longer being used by the customer.

12. The terminal of claim 8, wherein controlling the recycling of the first hardware component comprises:

recycling the first hardware component;

determining that the recycled first hardware component is operational; and

generating a first hardware component operational status in response to the operational determination.

13. The terminal of claim 8, further comprising:

a second hardware component;

a second hardware component trigger plug-in programmed within the memory, the second hardware component trigger plug-in configured to generate a second hardware component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of the second hardware component; and

a second hardware action plug-in programmed within the memory, the second hardware component action plug-in programmed to control recycling of the second hardware component in response to a second hardware action plug-in invocation, wherein

the incident reduction agent is further programmed to (i) recognize the second hardware component trigger status, and (ii) issue the second hardware action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized second hardware component trigger status.

14. The terminal of claim 8, further comprising:

a second software component;

a second software component trigger plug-in programmed within the memory, the second software component trigger plug-in configured to generate a second software component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of the second software component; and

a second software action plug-in programmed within the memory, the second software component action plug-in programmed to control recycling of the second software component in response to a second software action plug-in invocation, wherein

the incident reduction agent is further programmed to (i) recognize the second software component trigger status, and (ii) issue the second software action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized second software component trigger status.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein recycling the first software component comprises:

determining that the terminal is being used by a customer; and

delaying recycling of the first hardware component until the terminal is no longer being used by the customer.

15. A method of operating a terminal comprising:

generating a first hardware component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of a first hardware component;

recognizing the first hardware component trigger status;

issuing a first hardware action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized first hardware component trigger status;

recycling the first hardware component in response to the first hardware action plug-in invocation;

generating a first software component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of a first software component;

recognizing the first software component trigger status;

issuing a first software action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized first software component trigger status; and

recycling the first software component in response to the first software action plug-in invocation.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein recycling the first software component comprises:

determining the number of recycle events for the first software component within a predetermined period of time; and

comparing the determined number of recycle events to a predetermined threshold.

18. The terminal of claim 15, wherein controlling the recycling of the first software component comprises:

recycling the first software component;

determining that the recycled first software component is operational; and

generating a first software component operational status in response to the operational determination.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

generating a second hardware component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of a second hardware component;

recognizing the second hardware component trigger status;

issuing a second hardware action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized second hardware component trigger status; and

recycling the second hardware component in response to the second hardware action plug-in invocation.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

generating a second software component trigger status in response to a detected fault condition of a second software component;

recognizing the second software component trigger status;

issuing a second software action plug-in invocation based upon the recognized second software component trigger status; and

recycling the second software component in response to the second software action plug-in invocation.