Order supporting apparatus, control method for an order supporting apparatus, order supporting system, and computer readable storage medium

• US 8,954,350 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2007
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Nagai, Keiji, Nakamura, Yutaka, Takahashi, Masato, Takahashi, Fujio, Murata, Yoshiaki, Dan, Koji, Inoue, Yuuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARIKH, HARSHAD R
• Application Number:
  US11/944,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20080126228A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,633 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 705/21
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• 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 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/14 Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit data transmission in general H04L; telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station H04Q9/00

Abstract

An order supporting apparatus connected to a monitoring apparatus over a network, the monitoring apparatus determining a supply status of devices in the network and sends supply shortage information regarding at least one of the devices determined to have a supply shortage to the order supporting apparatus. In particular, the order supporting apparatus includes a device information storage part that stores device information describing whether each device is monitored as a monitoring target, and maintenance contract information of each device, and a determination part that determines, based on the device information, whether each device is subject to the maintenance contract when the order supporting apparatus receives the supply shortage information. Further, the determination part deselects, in the device information, a device as the monitoring target when the device is determined to have a supply shortage by the monitoring apparatus.

Claims

1. An order supporting system, comprising:

a monitoring apparatus including

a determination of supply status part configured to determine a supply status of a plurality of devices in a device network; and

a sending part configured to send supply shortage information regarding at least one of the devices determined to have a supply shortage to an order supporting apparatus connected over a communication network; and

the order supporting apparatus including

a device information storage part configured to store device information describing whether each device is monitored as a monitoring target, and maintenance contract information of each device;

a determination of device subject part configured to determine, based on the device information, whether each device is subject to the maintenance contract when the order supporting apparatus receives the supply shortage information; and

an e-mail creating part configured to create a maintenance information e-mail regarding a device subject to the maintenance contract and determined to have the supply shortage by the monitoring apparatus, wherein the e-mail describes the maintenance contract information and supply shortage information of the device, and the maintenance information e-mail includes a URL of an order page,

wherein the determination of device subject part deselects, in the device information, a device as the monitoring target when the device is determined to have a supply shortage by the monitoring apparatus, wherein the deselected device is not monitored by the monitoring apparatus.