ASSISTED SERVICE TERMINAL

• US 20120023028A1
• Filed: 11/22/2010
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fiona Mcdade, John Hall, Kisan Choutapelly
• Original Assignee: Fiona Mcdade, John Hall, Kisan Choutapelly
• Inventors: McDade, Fiona, Hall, John, Choutapelly, Kisan
• Granted Patent: US 10,217,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/305
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/206 Software aspects at ATMs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/209 Monitoring, auditing or diagnose of functioning of ATMs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/023 Arrangements for display, data presentation or advertising

Abstract

An assisted service terminal is described. The terminal comprises a currency dispenser; and an operator computer coupled to the currency dispenser. The operator computer includes: (i) an agent arranged to communicate status information to a remote management system, and (ii) a dashboard application. The dashboard application is arranged to (a) receive status messages from the currency dispenser indicative of a fault in the currency dispenser, (b) present the received status messages to an operator, and (c) notify the agent to issue a request to create an incident on the remote management system in response to the operator indicating that the fault cannot be resolved without a visit from a service engineer.

Claims

1. An assisted service terminal comprising:

a currency dispenser; and

an operator computer coupled to the currency dispenser, the operator computer including;

(i) an agent arranged to communicate status information to a remote management system; and

(ii) a dashboard application arranged to

(a) receive status messages from the currency dispenser indicative of a fault therein,

(b) present the received status messages to an operator, and

(c) notify the agent to issue a request to create an incident on the remote management system in response to the operator indicating that the fault cannot be resolved without a visit from a service engineer.

2. An assisted service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the operator computer further comprises (iii) a control application arranged to control the operation of the currency dispenser and to provide a user interface to the operator.

3. An assisted service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the dashboard application is arranged to receive status messages directly from the currency dispenser.

4. An assisted service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the dashboard application is arranged to receive status messages relating to the currency dispenser from a communication channel proxy connected to both the currency dispenser and the control application.

5. An assisted service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the agent comprises a simple network management protocol status agent.

6. An assisted service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the agent and the dashboard application are provided as components of a status monitoring application.

7. An assisted service terminal according to claim 1, wherein the dashboard application is arranged to notify the agent to issue a request to create an incident on a remote management system indirectly by creating an event in a repository monitored by the agent.

8. A method of operating an assisted service terminal, the method comprising:

receiving a status message relating to a currency dispenser, where the status message is indicative of a fault in the currency dispenser;

providing details of the fault to an operator of the assisted service terminal to allow the operator to attempt to correct the fault;

sending an updated status message from the assisted service terminal in the event that the operator has corrected the fault; and

sending a request for a service engineer to correct the fault in response to a selection by the operator indicating that the operator cannot correct the fault.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the method comprises the further step of confirming to the operator that a request for a service engineer has been dispatched.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the step of confirming to the operator that a request for a service engineer has been dispatched includes displaying an incident code to the operator and/or providing an estimated time when the service engineer will arrive.

11. A managed terminal system comprising:

a central management system for managing a plurality of terminals; and

an assisted service terminal coupled to the central management system by a network;

wherein the assisted service terminal comprises a currency dispenser, and an operator computer coupled to the currency dispenser, the operator computer including;

(i) an agent arranged to communicate status information to the central management system, and (ii) a dashboard application arranged to (a) receive status messages from the agent indicative of a fault in the currency dispenser, (b) present the received status messages to an operator, and (c) notify the agent to issue a request to create an incident on the central management system in response to the operator indicating that the fault cannot be resolved without a visit from a service engineer.

12. A managed terminal system according to claim 11, wherein the managed terminal system further comprises a self-service terminal.

13. A managed terminal system according to claim 12, wherein the self-service terminal comprises an automated teller machine.

14. A managed terminal system according to claim 11, wherein the central management system creates an incident in response to any status information indicating a fault in the currency dispenser.

15. A managed terminal system according to claim 11, wherein the central management system closes an incident in response to any status information indicating that a previously reported fault in the currency dispenser has now been corrected.