System, computer program product and method for managing bills issued from application service providers

• US 7,720,758 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2001
• Issued: 05/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Americas Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Americas Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited), Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Hyakutake, Shogo, Kitada, Hiroshi, Kizawa, Akio, Aoshima, Minoru, Ishizuka, Hiroaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel; Jagdish N
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHANDLER, SARA M
• Application Number:
  US09/949,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20050246272A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,170 Days
• Field of Search: 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs). The method on which the system and computer readable medium are based includes receiving an ASP service request from a remote user, forwarding the ASP service request to an ASP, receiving a service bill from the ASP, and incorporating the service bill into a unified bill and issuing the unified bill to the remote user. Calculating the ASP fee may include determining a discount offered by the ASP. The discount offered by the ASP may be determined on a customer by customer basis or based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users. The accuracy of the service bill from the ASP may be verified, and a discrepancy between a calculated fee and the billing amount may be determined, and negotiations undertaken with the ASP to resolve the discrepancy. Whether the user pays the bill issued may also be monitored.

Claims

1. A method for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs) at a document manager server remote from the ASPs, comprising:

receiving a request to store a document from a remote user via a network interface at the document manager server;

receiving said document, an access level corresponding to said document and a document type corresponding to said document from said remote user via said network interface at said document manager server;

storing, at a memory of the document manager server, management information corresponding to the ASPs and said remote user, wherein said management information includes a table identifying a document type corresponding to each of said ASPs;

automatically selecting, by said document manager server, an ASP to store said document based on said document type by consulting the table included in the stored management information corresponding to the ASPs and selecting an ASP identified in said table as corresponding to said document type;

generating, by said document manager server, an ASP service request corresponding to said selected ASP;

forwarding said ASP service request, said access level corresponding to said document and said document to said selected ASP via said network interface of said document manager server;

receiving, at said network interface of said document manager server, a service bill from said ASP, said service bill including fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document; and

incorporating, by said document manager server, said service bill into a unified bill corresponding to said remote user that includes charges incurred at other ASPs in addition to said fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document and issuing said unified bill to said remote user via said network interface of said document manager server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating an ASP fee, wherein calculating said ASP fee comprises determining a discount offered by said ASP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining a discount offered by said ASP comprises determining a discount on a customer by customer basis.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said determining a discount comprises:

receiving a transaction report including information about a transaction volume for a particular user;

adding the transaction volume to a stored user ID volume pertaining to a cumulative volume for said particular user; and

determining a discount for the particular user based on said cumulative volume.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising periodically resetting said stored cumulative amount to zero.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining a discount offered by said ASP comprises determining a discount based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising verifying that said service bill from the ASP is accurate.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said receiving a service bill comprises:

receiving a charge amount calculated by the ASP; and

receiving a transaction report including information for independently calculating a charge for services requested.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said verifying comprises:

receiving a transaction report from the ASP;

calculating an ASP fee based on said transaction report; and

comparing the calculated amount with an amount of said ASP bill amount.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining that there is a discrepancy between said calculated fee and said billing amount; and

negotiating with said ASP to resolve said discrepancy.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of service requests from said remote user;

forwarding said plurality of service requests to at least two different ASPs;

receiving a service bill from each of said at least two different ASPs; and

combining the service bills from each of the ASPs into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of service requests from said remote user at different times;

forwarding said plurality of service requests to the ASP at different times;

receiving at least two different service bills from the ASP at two different times, and storing said two different service bills; and

combining the two different service bills into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring whether the user pays the bill issued.

14. A computer readable medium containing program instructions which cause a computer to execute a method of managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs), comprising:

receiving a request to store a document from a remote user;

receiving said document, an access level corresponding to said document and a document type corresponding to said document from said remote user;

storing, at a memory of the computer, management information corresponding to the ASPs and said remote user, wherein said management information includes a table identifying a document type corresponding to each of said ASPs;

automatically selecting an ASP to store said document based on said document type by consulting the table included in the stored management information corresponding to the ASPs and selecting an ASP identified in said table as corresponding to said document type;

generating an ASP service request corresponding to said selected ASP;

forwarding said ASP service request, said access level corresponding to said document and said document to said ASP;

receiving a service bill from said ASP, said service bill including fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document; and

incorporating said service bill into a unified bill corresponding to said remote user that includes charges incurred at other ASPs in addition to said fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document and issuing said unified bill to said remote user.

15. A system for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs), comprising:

a memory configured to store management information related to the ASPs and a remote user, wherein said management information includes a table identifying a document type corresponding to each of said ASPs; and

a processor in communication with said memory and configured to;

receive a request to store a document from a remote user;

receive said document, an access level corresponding to said document and a document type corresponding to said document from said remote user;

automatically select an ASP to store said document based on said document type by consulting the table included in the stored management information corresponding to the ASPs and selecting an ASP identified in said table as corresponding to said document type;

generate an ASP service request corresponding to said selected ASP;

forward said ASP service request, said access level corresponding to said document and said document to said selected ASP;

receive a service bill from said ASP, said service bill including fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document; and

incorporate said service bill into a unified bill corresponding to said remote user that includes charges incurred at other ASPs in addition to said fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document and issue said unified bill to said remote user.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is configured to calculate an ASP fee by determining a discount offered by said ASP.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said processor is configured to determine a discount offered by said ASP by determining a discount on customer by customer basis.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said processor is configured to determine a discount by:

receiving a transaction report including information about a transaction volume for a particular user;

adding the transaction volume to a stored user ID volume pertaining to a cumulative volume for said particular user; and

determining a discount for the particular user based on said cumulative volume.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said processor is further configured to periodically reset said stored cumulative amount to zero.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein said processor is configured to determine a discount offered by said ASP by determining a discount based on a volume usage of a document management system providing access to the ASP for a plurality of users.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is further configured to verify that said service bill from the ASP is accurate.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said processor is configured to receive a service bill by:

receiving a charge amount calculated by the ASP; and

receiving a transaction report including information for independently calculating a charge for services requested.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said processor is configured to verify that said service bill from the ASP is accurate by:

receiving a transaction report from the ASP;

calculating an ASP fee based on said transaction report; and

comparing the calculated amount with an amount of said ASP bill amount.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said processor is further configured to:

determine that there is a discrepancy between said calculated fee and said billing amount; and

negotiate with said ASP to resolve said discrepancy.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is configured to:

receive a plurality of service requests from said remote user;

forward said plurality of service requests to at least two different ASPs;

receive a service bill from each of said at least two different ASPs; and

combine the service bills from each of the ASPs into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

26. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is configured to:

receive a plurality of service requests from said remote user at different times;

forward said plurality of service requests to the ASP at different times;

receive at least two different service bills from the ASP at two different times, and storing said two different service bills; and

combine the two different service bills into said unified bill and issuing the unified bill to said remote user.

27. The system of claim 15, wherein said processor is further configured to monitor whether the user pays the bill issued.

28. A system for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs), comprising:

means for receiving a request to store a document from a remote user;

means for receiving said document, an access level corresponding to said document and a document type corresponding to said document from said remote user;

means for storing management information corresponding to said ASPs and said remote user, wherein said management information includes a table identifying a document type corresponding to each of said ASPs;

means for automatically selecting an ASP to store said document based on said document type by consulting the table included in the stored management information corresponding to the ASPs and selecting an ASP identified in said table as corresponding to said document type;

means for generating an ASP service request corresponding to said selected ASP;

means for forwarding said ASP service request, said access level corresponding to said document and said document to said selected ASP;

means for receiving a service bill from said ASP, said service bill including fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document; and

means for incorporating said service bill into a unified bill corresponding to said remote user that includes charges incurred at other ASPs in addition to said fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document and issuing said unified bill to said remote user.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising means for verifying that said service bill from the ASP is accurate.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein said means for receiving a service bill comprises:

means for receiving a charge amount calculated by the ASP; and

means for receiving a transaction report including information for independently calculating a charge for services requested.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein said means for verifying comprises:

means for receiving a transaction report from the ASP;

means for calculating an ASP fee based on said transaction report; and

means for comparing the calculated amount with an amount of said ASP bill amount.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

means for determining that there is a discrepancy between said calculated fee and said billing amount; and

means for negotiating with said ASP to resolve said discrepancy.

33. The system of claim 28, further comprising means for monitoring whether the user pays the bill issued.