Process for monitoring the consumptions of franking machines

• US 20030131103A1
• Filed: 03/03/2003
• Published: 07/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neopost Industrie
• Original Assignee: Neopost Industrie
• Inventors: Lecarpentier, Marc, Deslandes, Thierry
• Granted Patent: US 8,626,885 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/0008 Communication details outside or between apparatus coin-freed apparatus for franking per se G07F17/26
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00096 via phone lines
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00145 via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00169 from a franking apparatus, e.g. for verifying accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00201 Open franking system, i.e. the printer is not dedicated to franking only, e.g. PC (Personal Computer)

Abstract

According to the process for monitoring the consumptions of a plurality of franking machines through a public communication network, at least one franking machine not being connected to this network, a link is firstly established with a management server, through the public network, by means of at least one supervision terminal independent of the off-line franking machine, in accordance with a determined protocol of communication, and data is then exchanged between the terminal and the server during which the user acquires at the supervision terminal a current invoicing index relative to the off-line franking machine and receives in return a code of authorization to frank in order to validate the subsequent frankings of the off-line franking machine.

Claims

1. A process for monitoring the consumptions of a plurality of franking machines through a public communication network, the process comprising the steps of:

first establishing a link with a management server through the public communications network, via a supervision terminal, in accordance with a protocol of communication, the plurality of franking machines all being independent of the supervision terminal; and

subsequently proceeding with an exchange of data between the supervision terminal and the management server during which a user (1) inputs at the supervision terminal an identifier including at least one of a password and a personal identification number, and (2) receives from a display of the supervision terminal statistical data indicative of franking performed by said plurality of franking machines.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the protocol of communication used for establishing a link with the management server is a Videotex protocol, such as teletel protocol.

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the protocol of communication used for establishing a link with the management server is a protocol of TCP/IP type.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the protocol of communication used for establishing a link with the management server is a protocol of telephonic communication of a vocal synthesis type.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of data exchange further comprises displaying, at the supervision terminal, one of a selectable plurality of tables and statistics in graph form relating to a list of printing heads of the plurality of franking machines.