The present disclosure is generally related to servicing and maintaining printer output devices such as printers, copiers, facsimile machines and the like in networked printing environments where users submit print jobs to one of a number of printer devices connected to a network. Businesses, universities, government agencies and other large enterprises often network large numbers of personal computers and printers together, allowing users to print to different printer devices based on print job characteristics, printer device capabilities, proximity of a given user to certain printers, and other factors. Distributed computing and printing enterprise architectures provide economic advantages by allowing direction of individual print jobs to the suitable printer with the lowest cost while also maximizing printer device utilization. In addition, networked printer systems can provide redundancy for situations in which one or more printer devices are off-line for servicing or where a given printer is occupied by a very large print job. The costs associated with operating and maintaining large numbers of networked printers, however, can be large, and IT personnel or other staff are often confronted with multiple printer devices requiring servicing and/or maintenance at the same time. In the typical case, service personnel are given a list of printer devices that are in need of servicing or maintenance, based on reports of printer malfunctions provided through device status messages across the network and/or from user calls or emails indicating a printer is malfunctioning. The service list is generally not prioritized, or at best may include some anecdotal suggestions regarding which printer to service first. Many times, this ad hoc prioritization causes the initial service to be provided to the device that was reported earliest, the device for which the most complaints have been received, the device for which a complaint was received from the most senior or important staff member, or other arbitrary factors. As a result, a high volume printer may remain off-line for an extended period of time while a less important printer device is being serviced. Thus, there is a need for improved printer service and/or maintenance prioritization techniques and apparatus by which overall printer device support is provided in a networked printing environment while ensuring adequate timely maintenance and servicing of individual printer devices in an efficient manner and while producing the least user disruption due to unavailable printer output devices.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds