Remote management of vending machines
First Claim
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1. A method of operating a vending machine system comprising a remote management system, a plurality of vending machine controllers (VMCs) and a plurality of audit systems connected to the remote management system by a wide area network, the method comprising:
- at a selected one of the audit control systems, receiving control data from the remote management system via the wide area network, wherein the control data comprises a command to modify a data collection parameter of the selected audit control system; and
in response to the command,modifying the data collection parameter of the selected audit system; and
using the selected audit system to collect data from one or more of the VMCs over a bidirectional data communication interface according to the modified data collection parameter;
transmitting by a selected one of the plurality of audit systems an error detection code comprising a checksum representing a status of a status code management list to a host system coupled to the remote management system to detect if an updated status code management list is present in the audit system; and
updating the status code management list with a status code management list in the host system when there is a mismatch between the checksum and a checksum stored in the host system.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for remotely managing a vending machine system are provided. A host system transmits control data to an audit system installed in a vending machine system. This control data is used to modify a data collection parameter of the audit system, such as modifying alert conditions, reporting schedules, and filter terms used to parse DEX files received from a vending machine controller.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of operating a vending machine system comprising a remote management system, a plurality of vending machine controllers (VMCs) and a plurality of audit systems connected to the remote management system by a wide area network, the method comprising:
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at a selected one of the audit control systems, receiving control data from the remote management system via the wide area network, wherein the control data comprises a command to modify a data collection parameter of the selected audit control system; and in response to the command, modifying the data collection parameter of the selected audit system; and using the selected audit system to collect data from one or more of the VMCs over a bidirectional data communication interface according to the modified data collection parameter; transmitting by a selected one of the plurality of audit systems an error detection code comprising a checksum representing a status of a status code management list to a host system coupled to the remote management system to detect if an updated status code management list is present in the audit system; and updating the status code management list with a status code management list in the host system when there is a mismatch between the checksum and a checksum stored in the host system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of operating a vending machine system comprising a remote management system, a plurality of vending machine controllers (VMCs) and a plurality of audit systems connected to the remote management system by a wide area network, the method comprising:
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receiving control data from the remote management system via the wide area network, wherein the control data comprises code for execution by a selected one of the audit systems to interface with a selected one of the VMCs over a bidirectional data communication interface; and storing the code in a nonvolatile memory of the selected audit system; transmitting by a selected one of the plurality of audit systems an error detection code comprising a checksum representing a status of a status code management list to a host system coupled to the remote management system to detect if an updated status code management list is present in the audit system; and updating the status code management list with a status code management list in the host system when there is a mismatch between the checksum and a checksum stored in the host system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. In a vending machine system comprising a remote management system, a plurality of vending machine controllers (VMCs) and a plurality of audit systems connected to the remote management system by a wide area network, an audit system comprising:
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a communications interface for receiving data over the wide area network; and an audit control system configured to receive control data from the remote management system over the communications interface, wherein the control data comprises a command to modify a data collection parameter of the audit system, said audit control system being configured to collect data over a bidirectional data communication interface from a selected one of the VMCs according to the modified data collection parameter; and
further configured to transmit an error detection code comprising a checksum representing a status of a status code management list to a host system coupled to the remote management system to detect if an updated status code management list is present in the audit control system; andconfigured to update the status code management list with a status code management list in the host system when there is a mismatch between the checksum and a checksum stored in the host system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification