Method and apparatus for automated call assistance for malfunctions in an image production device
First Claim
1. A method for automated call assistance for malfunctions in an image production device, comprising:
- receiving a signal from a user interface requesting automated call assistance;
transmitting the call assistance request to an automated call assistance processing unit along with customer and image production device identification information;
receiving a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit to identify one or more malfunctions in the image production device, the signal being sent from the automated call assistance processing unit to a call assistance module of the image production device, after and in response to the call assistance request;
identifying one or more malfunctions, the identifying being performed by the call assistance module in response to the signal to identify one or more malfunctions received from the automated call assistance processing unit;
sending a prompt to a user to confirm the one or more identified malfunctions;
determining if the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunctions from the user has been received, wherein if it is determined that the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunction from the user has been received,transmitting the one of more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit after the determining if the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunctions has been received;
receiving a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit to perform one or more diagnostic tests on the image production device after the transmitting the one or more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit;
performing the one or more diagnostic tests;
transmitting results of the one or more diagnostic tests to at least one of the user interface and the automated call assistance processing unit;
receiving instructions from the automated call assistance processing unit concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions;
implementing the received instructions concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions, andproviding, by the automated call assistance processing unit, a check mark for field service cost reporting functions indicating reduced service time by the implementing the received instructions concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions in the image production device.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for automated call assistance for malfunctions in an image production device may include receiving a signal from a user interface requesting call assistance, transmitting the call assistance request to an automated call assistance processing unit along with customer and image production device identification information, receiving a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit to identify one or more malfunctions, identifying one or more malfunctions, transmitting the one of more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit, receiving a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit to perform one or more diagnostic tests on the image production device, performing the one or more diagnostic tests, transmitting the results of the one or more diagnostic tests to at least one of the user interface and the automated call assistance processing unit, receiving instructions from the automated call assistance processing unit concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions, and implementing the received instructions concerning one or more remedies.
12 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for automated call assistance for malfunctions in an image production device, comprising:
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receiving a signal from a user interface requesting automated call assistance; transmitting the call assistance request to an automated call assistance processing unit along with customer and image production device identification information; receiving a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit to identify one or more malfunctions in the image production device, the signal being sent from the automated call assistance processing unit to a call assistance module of the image production device, after and in response to the call assistance request; identifying one or more malfunctions, the identifying being performed by the call assistance module in response to the signal to identify one or more malfunctions received from the automated call assistance processing unit; sending a prompt to a user to confirm the one or more identified malfunctions; determining if the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunctions from the user has been received, wherein if it is determined that the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunction from the user has been received, transmitting the one of more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit after the determining if the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunctions has been received; receiving a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit to perform one or more diagnostic tests on the image production device after the transmitting the one or more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit; performing the one or more diagnostic tests; transmitting results of the one or more diagnostic tests to at least one of the user interface and the automated call assistance processing unit; receiving instructions from the automated call assistance processing unit concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions; implementing the received instructions concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions, and providing, by the automated call assistance processing unit, a check mark for field service cost reporting functions indicating reduced service time by the implementing the received instructions concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions in the image production device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An image production device, comprising:
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a communication interface that facilitates transmission and reception of communications to and from the image production device; a user interface that receives a signal from a user requesting automated call assistance; and a call assistance module that transmits the call assistance request through the communication interface to an automated call assistance processing unit along with customer and image production device identification information, receives a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit through the communication interface to identify one or more malfunctions in the image production device, identifies one or more malfunctions and is configured to identify the one or more malfunctions in response to the signal received from the automated call assistance processing unit, sends a prompt to the user at the user interface to confirm the one or more identified malfunctions, determines if the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunctions from the user has been received, wherein if it is determined that the confirmation of the one or more identified malfunctions from the user has been received, transmits the one of more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit through the communication interface after the receiving the signal from the automated call assistance processing unit through the communication interface to identify one or more malfunctions in the image production device, receives a signal from the automated call assistance processing unit through the communication interface to perform one or more diagnostic tests on the image production device after the transmitting the one or more identified malfunctions to the automated call assistance processing unit, performs the one or more diagnostic tests, transmits results of the one or more diagnostic tests through the communication interface to at least one of the user interface and the automated call assistance processing unit, receives instructions from the automated call assistance processing unit through the communication interface concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions, implements the received instructions concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions, and provides, with the automated call assistance processing unit, a check mark to field service cost reporting functions to indicate that service time is reduced by the implementing the received instructions concerning one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for providing automated call assistance for malfunctions in an image production device, comprising
receiving a call assistance request from an image production device along with customer and image production device identification information; -
transmitting a request to a call assistance module of the image production device to identify one or more malfunctions; receiving one or more identified malfunctions from the image production device, at least one of the one or more identified malfunction being identified by the call assistance module of the image production device in response to the call assistance request to the image production device to identify one or more malfunctions; identifying one or more diagnostic tests based on the received one of more identified malfunctions after the receiving the one or more identified malfunctions from the image production device; transmitting a message to the image production device for a user to perform the identified one or more diagnostic tests after the identifying the one or more diagnostic test based on the received one or more identified malfunctions; receiving results of the one or more diagnostic tests from the image production device; identifying one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions based on the results of the one or more diagnostic tests; transmitting instructions concerning the one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions to the image production device; prompting the user at the user interface to indicate the malfunction was resolved by implementing the transmitted instructions concerning the one or more remedies; providing a check mark to field service cost reporting functions to indicate that a service time is reduced by the implementing the transmitted instructions concerning the one or more remedies for the one or more malfunctions in the image production device; and storing the transmitted instructions concerning the one or more remedies implemented to solve the malfunction and the one or more malfunctions in memory at the automated call assistance processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification