Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Keiji Nagai

Masato Takahashi

Yutaka Nakamura

Koji Dan

Yuuki Inoue

Fujio Takahashi

Yoshiaki Murata

Shogo Hyakutake

Kenichi Takeda

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.

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

A host apparatus used in a printing system includes the host apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus receives print data and authentication information from the host apparatus so as to perform authentication operation referring to the authentication information. The host apparatus includes: an authentication information obtaining unit configured to obtain login authentication information from an operating system of the host apparatus as the authentication information, wherein the login authentication information obtained from the operating system is one entered when a user logs in to the host apparatus or to a network domain; and an authentication information sending unit configured to send the login authentication information to the image forming apparatus as the authentication information.

Printing system and host apparatus

In a disclosed order support system, devices connected to a communication network are searched for and device information is acquired from each of the found devices. Specified information used for extracting devices to be monitor target candidates is obtained, which is specified according to a predetermined attribute in the device information. Based on the obtained information, devices to be monitor target candidates are extracted from among the found devices. A list of the extracted devices is displayed, and devices to be monitor targets are selected. Status information of a consumable element in each monitor target device is acquired and sent to an order-support apparatus. The order-support apparatus creates an e-mail including a URL of a website used for ordering the consumable element detected as being deficient according to the received status information, and sends the e-mail to an e-mail address associated with the device with the deficient consumable element.

Order support system, device monitoring method, and program product

An order supporting system includes a machine monitoring apparatus including an obtaining part for repetitively obtaining status data of plural supplies of plural machines connected to a network, a storing part for storing the status data obtained by the obtaining part, a detecting part for detecting change in the status of the supply by comparing the status data stored in the storing part and new status data that is newly obtained by the obtaining part, and a transmitting part for transmitting status data corresponding to the supply of the machine from which status change is detected by the detecting part, and an order supporting apparatus for receiving the status data transmitted from the transmitting part via the network and transmitting an electronic mail to a mail address associated to the machine corresponding to the transmitted status data in accordance with the received status data.

Order supporting system, order supporting method, and recording medium

A disclosed information processing apparatus includes an information processing unit configured to operate as a daemon process; an information displaying unit configured to operate as a process different from the daemon process and display a screen relevant to the information processing unit; a first ending unit configured to end the information displaying unit due to a first factor; and a second ending unit configured to end the information displaying unit due to a second factor different from the first factor. The information displaying unit ends the information processing unit in the event of receiving a request to end from the first ending unit and the information displaying unit does not end the information processing unit in the event of receiving a request to end from the second ending unit.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Keiji Nagai