System, computer program product and method for managing documents

• US 8,275,852 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2006
• Issued: 09/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Americas Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited), Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Americas Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited), Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Uchida, Yuki, Hyakutake, Shogo, Aoshima, Minoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Neurauter, George C
• Application Number:
  US11/545,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20070094358A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,176 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-202, 709/217, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for managing documents. The system includes a document manager that is configured to search for application services providers (ASPs) over a network and based on a user input. The document manager can search documents within the ASPs, retrieve documents and URLs, store documents and data, format documents, generate and issue unified bills from a plurality of bills from a plurality of ASPs. The documents manager can provide consulting advise to the user regarding document managing, and can manage the documents stored on a user storage device, for example by transferring these documents to a ASP storage device after storage time periods associated with the documents.

Claims

1. A method for managing documents, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request from a user;

selecting an application service provider from a plurality of application service providers based on said request;

forwarding said request to said application service provider together with a user access level corresponding to said user, wherein said user access level includes at least first, second and third sections, each section indicating a different hierarchical level of access;

receiving information from said application service provider indicating information of a document provided from said application service provider to said user based on a comparison between an access level of said document and each of said different hierarchical levels of access indicated by said at least first, second and third sections included in said user access level corresponding to said user; and

formatting said document from said application service provider into a standardized format regardless of which application service provider of said plurality of application service providers is selected.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing said user with said document from said application service provider.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of providing said document to said user comprises:

delivering a print out of said document to said user; and

providing said user with a URL of said document.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of providing said document to said user comprises transmitting said document to a user storage device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of providing said document to said user comprises transmitting said document to a user display device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of searching for said document in said application service provider.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

retrieving said document;

formatting said document into a format requested by said user; and

providing said user with said document formatted in said formatting step.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating a unified bill from bills received from application service providers; and

transmitting said unified bill to said user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving information step comprises receiving the information which is a billing information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving information step comprises receiving the information which is the document.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving information step comprises receiving the information which is a URL for said document.

12. A system for managing documents, comprising:

a request receiving device configured to receive a request from a user;

a selecting device configured to select an application service provider from a plurality of application service providers based on said request;

a forwarding device configured to forward said request to said application service provider together with a user access level corresponding to said user, wherein said user access level includes at least first, second and third sections, each section indicating a different hierarchical level of access;

an information receiving device configured to receive information from said application service provider indicating information of a document provided from said application service provider to said user based on a comparison between an access level of said document and each of said different hierarchical levels of access indicated by said at least first, second and third sections included in said user access level corresponding to said user; and

a formatting device configured to format said document from said application service provider into a standardized format regardless of which application service provider of said plurality of application service providers is selected.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a providing device configured to provide said user with said document from said application service provider.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said providing device comprises:

a delivering device configured to deliver a print out of said document to said user; and

a device configured to provide said user with a URL of said document.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein said providing device comprises a transmitting device configured to transmit said document to a user storage device.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein said providing device comprises a transmitting device configured to transmit said document to a user display device.

17. The system of claim 12, further comprising a searching device configured to search for said document in said application service provider.

18. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a retrieving device configured to retrieve said document;

a requested formatting device configured to format said document into a format requested by said user; and

a providing device configured to provide said user with said document formatted by said requested formatting device.

19. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a bill generating device configured to generate a unified bill from bills received from application service providers; and

a transmitting device configured to transmit said unified bill to said user.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein said information receiving device comprises a billing information receiving device configured to receive a billing information.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein said information receiving device comprises a document receiving device configured to receive the document.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein said information receiving device comprises a device configured to receive a URL for said document.

23. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to manage documents over a computer network, the computer program code mechanism comprising;

a first computer code device configured to receive a request from a user;

a second computer code device configured to select an application service provider from a plurality of application service providers based on said request;

a third computer code device configured to forward said request to said application service provider together with a user access level corresponding to said user, wherein said user access level includes at least first, second and third sections, each section indicating a different hierarchical level of access;

a fourth computer code device configured to receive information from said application service provider indicating information of a document provided from said application service provider to said user based on a comparison between an access level of said document and each of said different hierarchical levels of access indicated by said at least first, second and third sections included in said user access level corresponding to said user; and

a fifth computer code configured to format said document from said application service provider into a standardized format regardless of which application service provider of said plurality of application service providers is selected.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising a sixth computer code device configured to provide said user with said document from said application service provider.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the sixth computer code device comprises:

a seventh computer code device configured to deliver a print out of said document to said user; and

an eighth computer code device configured to provide said user with a URL of said document.

26. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the sixth computer code device comprises a seventh computer code device configured to transmit said document to a user storage device.

27. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the sixth computer code device comprises a seventh computer code device configured to transmit said document to a user display device.

28. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising a sixth computer code device configured to search for said document in said application service provider.

29. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

a sixth computer code device configured to retrieve said document;

a seventh computer code device configured to format said document into a format requested by said user; and

an eighth computer code device configured to provide said user with said document formatted in said formatting step.

30. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

a sixth computer code device configured to generate a unified bill from bills received from application service providers; and

a seventh computer code device configured to transmit said unified bill to said user.

31. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the fourth computer code device is configured to receive a billing information.

32. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the fourth computer code device is configured to receive the document.

33. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the fourth computer code device is configured to receive a URL for said document.

34. A method for managing documents, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request from a user;

receiving a document and storage information from said user;

selecting an application service provider from a plurality of application service providers based on said storage information;

transmitting said document and at least part of said storage information to a storage device of said application service provider together with a user access level corresponding to said document, wherein said user access level includes at least first, second and third sections, each section indicating a different hierarchical level of access, and access to said document is based on a comparison between a user access level and each of said different hierarchical levels of access indicated by said at least first, second and third sections included in said document access level corresponding to said document; and

formatting said document from said application service provider into a standardized format regardless of which application service provider of said plurality of application service providers is selected.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of receiving said document and storage information is performed after a storage time period associated with said document.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of selecting said application service provider is performed based on a document type for said document.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising the steps of:

generating a unified bill from bills received from application service providers; and

transmitting said unified bill to said user.

38. A system for managing documents, comprising

a request receiving device configured to receive a request from a user;

a receiving device configured to receive a document and storage information from said user;

a selecting device configured to select an application service provider from a plurality of application service providers based on said storage information;

a transmitting device configured to transmit said document and at least part of said storage information to a storage device of said application service provider together with a user access level corresponding to said document, wherein said user access level includes at least first, second and third sections, each section indicating a different hierarchical level of access, and access to said document is based on a comparison between a user access level and each of said different hierarchical levels of access indicated by said at least first, second and third sections included in said document access level corresponding to said document; and

a formatting device configured to format said documents from said application service provider into a standardized format regardless of which application service provider of said plurality of application service providers is selected.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein said receiving device configured to receive said document and said storage information is configured to receive said document and said storage information after a storage time period associated with said document.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein said selecting device is configured to select based on a document type for said document.

41. The system of claim 38, further comprising:

a bill generating device configured to generate a unified bill from bills received from application service providers; and

a bill transmitting device configured to transmit said unified bill to said user.

42. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to manage documents over a computer network, the computer program code mechanism comprising;

a first computer code device configured to receive a request from a user;

a second computer code device configured to receive a document and storage information from said user;

a third computer code device configured to select an application service provider from a plurality of application service providers based on said storage information;

a fourth computer code device configured to transmit said document and at least part of said storage information to a storage device of said application service provider together with a user access level corresponding to said document, wherein said user access level includes at least first, second and third sections, each section indicating a different hierarchical level of access, and access to said document is based on a comparison between a user access level and each of said different hierarchical levels of access indicated by said at least first, second and third sections included in said document access level corresponding to said document; and

a fifth computer code configured to format said document from said application service provider into a standardized format regardless of which application service provider of said plurality of application service providers is selected.

43. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the second computer code device is configured to receive said document and storage information after a storage time period associated with said document.

44. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the third computer code device is configured to select said application service provider based on a document type for said document.

45. The computer program product of claim 42, further comprising:

a sixth computer code device configured to generate a unified bill from bills received from application service providers; and

a seventh computer code device configured to transmit said unified bill to said user.