SELF-SERVICE TERMINAL MANAGEMENT

• US 20110054677A1
• Filed: 08/31/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Liddell, Marc, Forrest, Simon J., McCracken, Heather
• Granted Patent: US 8,870,064 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/236
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/206 Software aspects at ATMs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/207 Surveillance aspects at ATMs

Abstract

A self-service terminal comprises at least one customer transaction module, a terminal controller, a management component, and a network connection coupled to the terminal controller. The customer transaction module is operable to (i) implement a function associated with a customer transaction, and (ii) provide status information relating to the module. The terminal controller is coupled to the customer transaction module and includes (i) a management component for retrieving status information from the customer transaction module and (ii) a Web services interface for providing access to the retrieved status information to a remote device. The network connection is coupled to the controller and provides the remote device with access to the Web services interface.

Claims

1. A self-service terminal comprising:

a customer transaction module operable to (i) implement a function associated with a customer transaction, and (ii) provide status information relating to the module;

a terminal controller coupled to the customer transaction module and including (i) a management component for retrieving status information from the customer transaction module and (ii) a Web services interface for providing access to the retrieved status information to a remote device; and

a network connection coupled to the controller to provide a remote device with access to the Web services interface.

2. A self-service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the self-service terminal comprises a plurality of customer transaction modules, including:

a card reader module, a media dispenser module, and a media depository module.

3. A self-service terminal according to claim 2, wherein the self-service terminal further comprises a plurality of service personnel modules.

4. A self-service terminal comprising:

a media dispense module operable to implement a media dispense function, and including (i) a processor executing (a) a management component operable to obtain status information relating to the media dispense module, and (b) a Web services interface for providing access to the obtained status information to a remote device, and (ii) a network connection for communicating directly with a remote transaction controller; and

a media deposit module operable to implement a media deposit function, and including (i) a processor executing (a) a management component operable to obtain status information relating to the media deposit module, and (b) a Web services interface for providing access to the obtained status information to a remote device, and (ii) a network connection for communicating directly with a remote transaction controller.

5. A self-service terminal according to claim 4, wherein the network connections comprise dedicated network cards for each module.

6. A self-service terminal according to claim 4, wherein the network connections comprise dedicated communication stacks, each communication stack being associated with a serial port to provide the transport layer;

and a single network card used by all of the serial ports.

7. A distributed self-service terminal comprising customer transaction modules at a first location and a transaction controller at a second location, remote from the first location, the customer transaction modules including:

a media dispense module operable to implement a media dispense function, and including

(i) a processor executing (a) a management component operable to obtain status information relating to the media dispense module, and (b) a Web services interface for providing access to the obtained status information to a remote device, and

(ii) a network connection for communicating directly with the remote transaction controller; and

a media deposit module operable to implement a media deposit function, and including

(i) a processor executing (a) a management component operable to obtain status information relating to the media deposit module, and (b) a Web services interface for providing access to the obtained status information to a remote device, and

(ii) a network connection for communicating directly with the remote transaction controller.

8. A distributed self-service terminal according to claim 7, wherein the remote transaction controller controls a plurality of media dispense modules, each media dispense module being located in a different geographical location.

9. A distributed self-service terminal according to claim 7, wherein the remote transaction controller controls a plurality of media deposit modules, each media deposit module being located in a different geographical location.

10. A method of providing access to management information relating to a self-service terminal, the method comprising:

receiving a request for management information from a remote device via a Web Service executing on a controller within the self-service terminal;

translating the request to a format compatible with a management component executing on the self-service terminal;

retrieving the requested management information from a module within the self-service terminal via the management component; and

providing the requested management information to the remote device.

11. A method of providing access to management information according to claim 10, wherein the method comprises the further step of requiring a request for management information from the remote device to fulfill a security criterion.

12. A method of providing access to management information according to claim 11, wherein the security criterion includes the request for information:

(i) originating from a known source and (ii) including a correct username and passcode combination.

13. A method of providing access to management information stored in a self-service terminal, the method comprising:

receiving from a remote device a request for management information in a format compatible with a Web services interface;

ascertaining if the received request fulfils a security criterion;

transforming the received request into a different format in the event that the request does fulfill the security criterion;

communicating the transformed request to a device manager;

receiving a response from the device manager;

transforming the response into a format compatible with a Web services interface; and

relaying the transformed response to the remote device.