Apparatus for managing a device, program for managing a device, storage medium on which a program for managing a device is stored, and method of managing a device

• US 7,017,071 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2001
• Issued: 03/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Kawashima, Makoto, Nakamura, Shinichi, Hara, Hiroyuki, Hirose, Junichi, Katayama, Kojiro, Omori, Kazushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): PUENTE, EMERSON C
• Application Number:
  US09/985,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20020073356A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4, 714/47, 714/48, 709/223, 709/224, 379/9.03
• US Class Current: 714/4.4
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

A remote site managing system manages, in a unified fashion, computers and peripheral devices installed at a customer site. The remote site managing system automatically receives information indicating a failure which has occurred or indicating a high possibility that a failure will occur in some of PC/servers or peripheral devices installed in a customer'"'"'s office and provides maintenance services without causing a customer to be concerned about anything. Furthermore, transmission of a request to a maintenance service company and reception of a service operation report from the service company are performed by the remote site managing system in an unified fashion.

Claims

1. A device managing apparatus for managing a device via a network, said device managing apparatus comprising:

failure detection means for receiving data indicating an occurrence of a failure in the device;

first generating means for generating data indicating a request for a service operation in accordance with reception of the data by said failure detection means;

selection means for selecting a company among a plurality of companies which should perform the service operation for the device;

transmission control means for transmitting the data indicating the request for the service operation generated by said first generating means to the selected company assigned to perform the service operation for the device;

management means for managing the status of the service operation corresponding to the request;

count information acquisition means for acquiring count information associated with the device; and

second generating means for generating data indicating a device operation report associated with the device, in accordance with the count information acquired by said count information acquisition means,

wherein, in accordance with the status of the service operation corresponding to the request managed by said management means, said second generating means describes, in the device operation report, device information indicating which device corresponds to the request for the service operation which has not been completed or which device corresponds to the request for the service operation which has been resolved.

2. A device managing program stored on a computer-readable storage medium and executed by a computer to manage a device via a network, said program comprising:

a failure detection step, of receiving data indicating an occurrence of a failure in the device;

a first generation step, of generating data indicating a request for a service operation in accordance with reception of the data in said failure detection step;

a selection step, of selecting a company among a plurality of companies which should perform the service operation for the device;

a transmission control step, of transmitting the data indicating the request for the service operation generated in said first generation step to the selected company assigned to perform the service operation for the device;

a management step, of managing the status of the service operation corresponding to the request;

a count information acquisition step, of acquiring count information associated with the device; and

a second generation step, of generating data indicating a device operation report associated with the device, in accordance with the count information acquired in said count information acquisition step,

wherein, in accordance with the status of the service operation corresponding to the request managed in said management step, said second generation step includes describing, in the device operation report, device information indicating which device corresponds to the request for the service operation which has not been completed or which device corresponds to the request for the service operation which has been resolved.