Process for monitoring the consumptions of franking machines

• US 8,626,885 B2
• Filed: 03/03/2003
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neopost Industrie
• Original Assignee: Neopost Industrie
• Inventors: Deslandes, Thierry, Lecarpentier, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAW, PELING ANDREW
• Application Number:
  US10/376,226
• Publication Number:
  US 20030131103A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,963 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/227, 709/229, 713/201, 713/153, 713/155, 713/184, 705/401, 705/403, 705/60, 705/61, 705/62
• US Class Current: 709/223
• 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 inputs 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 franking system, comprising:

a plurality of franking machines capable of communicating through a public communications network, with a management server, to send invoice indexes, each franking machine of said plurality of franking machines sending an invoice index indicative of franking performed by itself; and

a supervision terminal adapted to communicate, through the public communications network, with the management server, the supervision terminal being never in communication with the plurality of franking machines;

wherein;

the supervision terminal is adapted to send at least one of a password and a personal identification number, through the public communications network to the management server; and

the supervision terminal is adapted to receive statistical data from the management server, through the public communications network, said statistical data comprising at least invoicing indexes indicative of franking performed by all of the plurality of franking machines and previously sent to the management server by each of the plurality of franking machines.

2. The franking system of claim 1, wherein the supervision terminal outputs the statistical data to a display.