Installation of a marking machine or other business device is only the first step in the majority of its lifecycle. Most devices are involved in ongoing business processes between the product owners (users), the manufacturer of the product, and/or third party suppliers. Companies that manufacture marking devices typically include products and services in support of users' documents and hope the users will use and live with the offerings for quite a while. This post-sale period presents an opportunity for building a strong and mutually beneficial, long-term relationship between the manufacturer and the users. The post-sale relationship can be defined not only by what the devices do for users, but how they do it, how manufacturers support them, how manufacturers treats the users, and how easy it is to own and use the devices overall. Understanding this, embodiments addresses users' complementary needs to receive services in support of the devices they use: post-sale lifecycles, break-fix needs, and integrated business processes are addressed in various embodiments. These processes range from break-fix service (repairs), to ongoing supply of consumables and supplies, to product upgrades, enhancements, and integration into solutions and other offerings. Traditionally, these post-sale processes were manual in nature and required the device owner/user to play an active role in relaying limited information to manufacturers and suppliers at the time of need.
Many electroreprographic marking machines, facsimile machines, scanning devices, multifunction devices, and the like provide services to assist with such processes that users must learn how to use or to avoid. Some devices also require meter reads and other types of maintenance that tend to irritate users. In the case of meter reads, users may have to read the meter on a monthly basis and communicate the results to a supplier via, for example, fax or phone. Additionally, users must manually check supplies of paper, toner, and other materials and place orders for new materials. Sometimes the number of services offered by a device can bewilder a user, leading the user to believe that the device is too complex to learn. Further, to avoid down time and other inconveniences, users often would rather make their own small repairs than call for a repair and wait for service to arrive and repair their device.
With the advent of modems, high-end products in user or user sites were connected back to manufacturers via phone lines changing this interaction model. The arrival of ubiquitous Internet connectivity and the proliferation of network connected products presents new opportunities to bring a more flexible and powerful approach to the integration of devices with post sale business processes. While network connectivity removes some of the drawbacks of phone line connectivity, systems described to date still carry many of the limitations that were associated with the interaction models developed for these early systems.
Disadvantages of current systems include tight coupling of communication method and system architecture, one-size fits all deployment and integration strategies, and typically no support for devices already deployed. Systems that do offer support for devices already deployed typically are inconsistent between how already deployed devices and new devices are handled. Additionally, systems typically do not include an ability for rapid upgrade, extension, customization, and evolution of features, processes, and workflows and are often limited to basic business processes, failing to provide external services and solutions APIs in a consistent fashion. Generally, and almost across the board, systems treat the device as a simple repository of information, rather than an active participant in the services enabled. Devices must continue to have their mainline feature sets enhanced to stay competitive. In document systems, for example, speeds, feeds, image quality, and document workflows are typically characteristics that are enhanced to render devices competitive. However, increased post-sale interaction between devices, users, and suppliers, and the ability to integrate products into solutions and services and vice versa are becoming points of distinction between devices in the marketplace. In the near future, devices' success and value will likely be measured by the ability of devices to actively participate in their post-sale lifecycles, their ability to seamlessly integrate with solutions offerings, and their capacity for customization and extension based on user needs and requirements. The results of such device abilities are improved ease of use for the user, more effective support from manufacturers, and better overall user satisfaction
A general industry trend for several years has been to take advantage of the increasing embedded computation and connectivity found in marking devices by offering remote services to increase user satisfaction and reduce operating expenses. This trend towards connected intelligent products started with remote services implementations on servers and other mission critical information technology (IT) related hardware and has become increasing prevalent in a variety of other industries, including marking devices. These remote services provide a win-win value proposition for both manufacturers and users. When implemented properly, these services allow for large cost reductions for the manufacturer, as well as a richer post sale experience for the user.
This transition will be driven by several coincident factors and needs. Competitive pressures and the need for improved internal business processes will require new ways of interacting with products in the field, as well as a shift in where responsibility for service and support resides. Manufacturers and users alike will prefer to be able to configure and add new features/services to products rapidly to solve immediate problems and to rapidly deploy new features. Simplifying and speeding this process will prolong the lives and enhance the value of deployed devices and will help keep users happy and productive. Manufacturers need to be able to provide these capabilities for new devices and those already deployed, but manufacturers cannot afford to be best in breed to everyone; devices must be able to easily incorporate third party or competitive elements. One size does not fit all, and multiple deployment configurations are necessary that give the manufacturer the ability to configure an appropriate solution for an individual user's needs. The manufacturer must also be able to make solutions behave consistently across multiple configurations so that they are manageable and supportable, and so the user remains in control.
Studies centered on determining user preference and need for these types of services conclusively point toward the need for new capabilities in offerings that will enhance the way users live with marking devices, billing systems, and supply chain. The studies also indicate that users desire these services and are willing to work with manufacturers to overcome security hurdles to implement them. In particular, the studies found that for nearly one third of users, these remote services would be likely to make users more loyal to a given machine brand at the time of next purchase. Most users would be willing to pay to acquire remote services capabilities on their machines are very or somewhat comfortable with sending data to services providers via the Internet, as long as they had some level of control over the data shared, and showed particular interest in directed self-repair, automated downloading of software, and remote supplies/services analyses and predictions.
In addition, an analysis of remote solutions state of the art shows that all major players in the marking device manufacture and remote solutions market offer some degree of remote service functionality and are placing increased emphasis on expanding these capabilities. In the offset printing market, integrating remote services into presses and peripherals is considered a cost of doing business.
Services offered to users prior to the instant system were assembled and managed end-to-end within specific product families. This required product teams to invest in developing, not only the product itself, but also the infrastructure, services, and back-office connections necessary to get the job done. This effort was often very difficult to sustain long-term and was often duplicated across product families.
Users' experiences can be greatly enhanced by simplifying the users' relationships with devices, such as, for example, marking devices. Embodiments can automate current, manually-performed and/or non-uniform business processes, as well as providing new workflows to address evolving user requirements. This will be accomplished by, for example, employing embodiments to enable devices to be active participants in their life cycles and value added services while keeping the users in control. Embodiments do this using standards architecture, such as Distributed Management Task Force and Common Information Model (CIM) based standards, to allow services to be written once for all devices employing and/or compatible with embodiments and to enable easy modular additions of new services on a product by product basis.
To achieve these ends, embodiments provide a common service model, services that work with a multitude of disparate devices, and flexibility in physical, logical, and operational configurations. Devices take on an active role in providing users with enhanced post sale experiences. Embodiments can enjoy seamless integration into back-office processes of both users and manufacturers.
More particularly, embodiments comprise a flexible end-to-end system for connecting devices to solutions offerings. Many deployment options in various physical locations and configurations are possible to allow broadest device coverage and rapid deployment of capability for both machines in field and new products, while insulating device changes from back-office changes.
The system of embodiments can be reused across all compatible platforms, freeing individual platforms from the need to reinvent all back-office systems. Each platform team need only enable their product through one of the ways mentioned above and contemplated by embodiments, such as by embedding the DMA of embodiments and/or by complying with specific services transactions protocols.
An agent software component embedded into devices, add-on modules, and device proxies provides a common device model, common information management (CIM) application programming interface (API), and an environment in which device services can run. A common abstraction of a communication mechanism allows the system to be independent of the physical transport linking nodes. A service model supports services that run close to the device and their lifecycle, which includes the methods and processes for effective management and customization of services and solutions. As a result, services that are once written to the agent are capable of running on any device, add-on module, or proxy that includes the agent. This yields a system that enables devices and device proxies to be deployed and work together seamlessly from the point of view of the services, as well as policy-based provisioning for device-based services with both user and supplier inputs. The embedded service agent takes an active roll in solutions offerings and works in coordination with distributed solutions and/or a network-accessible server to provide required functionality. The server provides a clearing house for messages that must traverse the system and provides management functionality necessary to connect and customize distributed services at multiple levels of granularity.
In addition to increased user satisfaction and loyalty, embodiments can create financial benefits. Embodiments can provide cost savings from reduced service engineer usage through increased user self-help, remote diagnostics, and prognostics. In embodiments including automated meter reads, reduced collection process infrastructure, better contract enforcement, and reduced reserves against inaccuracies can provide additional cost savings. Further, embodiments participating in automated supplies ordering can enable decreased inventories through increased accuracy of tracking consumables at user sites, in part due to more timely, accurate, and applicable measures. Additional cost savings could be realized in terms of eliminated phone time due to fewer call-in orders and disputes. Finally, embodiments can contribute to an increase in revenue from new services since so many users would be willing to pay a fee for the services offered by embodiments.
Embodiments respond to user need and interest by including, for example, a new class of remote services. These services will capitalize on the increased connectivity of devices in the user environment, and utilize embedded computations within the devices themselves to make devices active participants in simplifying user work processes. The platform enables a standards-based solution that can be used to modularly implement remote service offerings in a cross-platform manner that all use a common back-office integration and work processes. Specific examples of the types of services that can be offered in embodiments include: automated meter reads, automated supplies ordering, productivity reporting, software download, assisted user self-help, remote diagnostics, and prognostics.
Embodiments include a class of services that exist in support of the devices (printers, scanners, repositories, and even other services and solutions) and their lifecycles making them easier to own, use, support, purchase, and upgrade. Market research has shown that these services increase the value of devices to users and can potentially also increase their user satisfaction over the life of the product. This in turn should translate into higher user loyalty and consideration from our users when making new purchases.
These services, in embodiments, make use of new device capabilities including embedded device intelligence, take advantage of the increasing networked population, and exploit information technology advances enabling devices to take a more active role in their post-sale life cycles enabling automated and expanded feature sets.
Embodiments provide the underlying set of components and their interconnections that enable suppliers to deliver these types of post sale services to users in an effective and efficient manner. The high-level goals defined for the platform have been used to drive the architecture and development of initial components and services. The detailed attributes of each support the four major goals for the platform. The major components of this system all work together behind the scenes to make the services offered behave seamlessly for users.
Embodiments provide for automated reporting of meter reads via phone, fax, or computer network. Additionally, embodiments automatically monitor supplies, warning users when supplies are low and allowing automated ordering of supplies then and in subsequent similar situations. Additionally, the services a device offers can be tailored to the users' particular needs, but can later be augmented or reduced as required by the user via automated service subscription, downloading, and installation offered by embodiments. Further, embodiments walk users through any operation they wish to perform, including small repairs and replacements of user replaceable units. An additional advantage of embodiments is the ability to manage assets of multiple devices from a central application.
There does not appear to be a record of the printing industry developing a provisioning solution. HP developed of a Java language clone called Chai, then developed a Chai based server, client, and embeddable platform for it. A few low end products were shipped with Chai embedded. However, HP has recently abandoned Chai to “open source.”
There are some activities relevant to DCS. For example, Axeda, Embrace Networks, Questra, and Imaging Portals have been active on the services front. An example of their technological implementations is Embrace Networks' patent application, PreGrant Publication No. 2002-0133581 A1, which is incorporated by reference. However, the prior art lacks provisioning aspects, and there does not appear to be any consequential support for provisioning.
While several companies, such as 4th pass, sell general purpose provisioning software, none of the prior art appears to encompass the aspects of the instant invention. For reference, Sun has a general listing of such provisioning software at http://java.sun.com/j2ee/provisioning/industry.html. Further, all appear to be pursuing the cellular industry as their target market.
As mentioned above, global telecommunications companies are starting to deliver services over cell phones. To accomplish this, all use a Java standard called CLDC. This released standard describes how Java programs can be run on a small device such as a cellular phone and more importantly how modular programs called Midlets can be added at runtime to a CLDC Java environment.
Although the standard defines the unit of provisioning and how it is to be accepted and integrated on the device side, it says nothing about the server aspects. Because of this, telecoms have either created their own provisioning server solution or purchased one from the provisioning vendors listed above. There is no way to inspect them for alternate solutions because of the competitive environment in this area.
A second relevant standard is called OSGi. OSGi is a Java based, released standard which allows a collection of local, network connected devices to communicate with remote servers and download and run modular services. Compared to CLDC/Midlets, this standard has received much less support in industry.
OSGi also sidesteps the server aspects of provisioning.
A third standard is SyncML Device Management. SyncML is a released standard focused on the details of keeping mobile devices in synch with some server based sources. The focus in this standard is on things like calendars and appointments. In the last year, this synchronization protocol was extended with the Device Management effort to explicitly support the ability to change service settings on a mobile device and to be able to download services to it. SynchML sidesteps the server side of provisioning.
A last standard is unnamed but is commonly referred to as JSR-124. In short, Java programmers use the Java Community Process (JCP) to create and standardize Java Specification Requests (JSRs) as additions and extensions to the Java language. JSR-124 is the J2EE Client Provisioning Specification. J2EE is a standard for using Java in high end, transaction processing. A large and growing market has been growing up around it. Effectively, JSR-124 tries to define a framework within which to express provisioning systems in. Almost all the provisioning startups and many of the telecom companies are members of the JSP. It tries to be common enough so that all provisioning systems can interact with a J2EE system in a standard way but loose enough so that vendors can create alternate, competitive solutions. The standard is in the public draft review stage.
Embodiments contemplate new integrated compute, communications, and services infrastructure called Device Centric Services™ (DCS™). DCS is composed of 3 primary components: code & architecture for adding DCS capabilities to machines; servers local to the user's environment that can interact with user machines and/or act as a proxy for those machines to a services supplier; and a supplier based server called the edge host that provides multiple capabilities to the infrastructure, including interacting with user machines and servers, as well as interacting with a services supplier services provisioning system. DCS can distribute and run arbitrary services on any DCS enabled machine connected to the Internet directly or via a proxy. The edge host also distributes and manages services on machines as required by business conditions.
Embodiments in particular contemplate the innovations are there in the edge host and/or supplier services provisioning server. Provisioning is a term originally used in the telecommunications industry and refers to the complicated set of human and technical work processes required to configure telecommunications networks to users' requirements, e.g. reconfiguring an existing general purpose fiber network to support an additional large user. The term has recently begun to be used in the mobile and embedded device markets to refer to the ability to distribute and manage modular services. These services can be downloaded and/or enabled by communications with a central server. Common implementations include Sprint's PCS Vision product and Nextel's unbranded product. Embodiments apply the term to novel methods and structures for provisioning device centric services to user marking machines and other devices, such as, for example, printers, copiers, fax machines, scanners, and multifunction devices. However, none of the prior art disclose the provisioning system of embodiments.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds