| US 7,340,501 B2 | ||
| System, method, apparatus and program for collecting and providing information | ||
| Tetsuya Miida, Tokyo (Japan); Yayoi Katagiri, Saitama (Japan); Hiroshi Nishida, Kanagawa (Japan); Takehiro Nishiura, Tokyo (Japan); Eiji Shinohara, Kanagawa (Japan); Tatsuto Torikai, Kanagawa (Japan); Hiroshi Hosoda, Kanagawa (Japan); Keisuke Kataoka, Kanagawa (Japan); Sachiko Misumi, Tokyo (Japan); and Atsushi Hanai, Kanagawa (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Oct. 24, 2001, as Appl. No. 9/983,532. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2002/0049839 A1, Apr. 25, 2002 | ||
| Int. Cl. G06F 17/30 (2006.01); G06F 15/16 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 709—203 [709/224; 709/228; 707/1; 707/3; 711/212] | 6 Claims |
| 1. An information apparatus, comprising:
a connector configured to connect the apparatus to a communications network,
a first storage unit configured to store customer information, the customer information comprising information regarding a
customer and information regarding a product used by the customer,
a second storage unit configured to store product suggestion information,
a first receiver configured to control the connector and receive product status information, the product status information
representing a past or present state of the product used by the customer,
a third storage unit configured to store the product status information received by the first receiver,
a second receiver configured to control the connector and receive a request signal for requesting product suggestion information,
a customer-authentication unit configured to identify a customer sending the request signal received by the second receiver
based on customer information stored in the first storage unit,
a status analyzer configured to retrieve from the third storage unit product status information of the product used by the
customer specified by the customer-authentication unit and to analyze the retrieved product status information,
a selector configured to select from the second storage unit product suggestion information relating to a future use of the
product based on the analysis performed by the status analyzer, and
a transmitter configured to control the connector and transmit to the customer the product suggestion information selected
by the selector, wherein
the product is configured to perform a plurality of functions,
the product status information comprises usage frequency information indicating the frequency with which at least one of the
functions is performed,
the status analyzer analyzes status of functions having a relatively higher usage frequency, and
the selector selects product suggestion information suggesting a product that is configured to optimally perform functions
having a relatively higher usage frequency.
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