1. An image forming apparatus monitoring system configured to monitor at least one image forming apparatus, comprising:
a reception unit configured to receive first operation information and second operation information concerning the image forming apparatus;
a storage unit configured to store the first operation information and the second operation information received by the reception unit;
a first detection unit configured to detect a frequent occurrence of failures in the image forming apparatus based on the first operation information;
a second detection unit configured to detect a resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures based on the second operation information as a trigger of detecting the resolution; and
an output unit configured to output information that explicitly indicates the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
2. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein first operation information and second operation information are notified from the image forming apparatus or from a station monitoring apparatus adapted to intermediate between the image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus monitoring system.
3. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the output unit includes a notification unit configured to notify the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures through a communication line, in a case where the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures is detected by the second detection unit.
4. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, which further comprises:
a third detection unit configured to detect a component replaced in the image forming apparatus according to third information;
a storage control unit configured to cause a database to store information about the replaced component in an explicit form according to detection thereof by the third detection unit.
5. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the third detection unit detects the component replaced in the image forming apparatus in a frequent failure occurrence time.
6. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the output unit also outputs information about component replacement in response to the detection of the component replacement by the third detection unit in the frequent failure occurrence time.
7. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit configured to set a detection sensitivity of the first detection unit which detects the frequent occurrence of failures, or to set a detection sensitivity of the second detection unit which detects the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
8. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the first operation information relates to a failure of the image forming apparatus, and wherein the second operation information relates to an operating amount of the image forming apparatus.
9. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the second operation information concerns the number of sheets printed in the image forming apparatus, or the number of print pages.
10. The image forming apparatus monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the third operation information represents a component counter value.
11. A method to monitor at least one image forming apparatus, comprising:
receiving first operation information and second operation information concerning the image forming apparatus;
storing the first operation information and the second operation information received;
detecting a frequent occurrence of failures in the image forming apparatus based on the first operation information;
detecting a resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures based on the second operation information as a trigger of detecting the resolution; and
outputting information that explicitly indicates the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first operation information and the second operation information are received from the image forming apparatus or from a station monitoring apparatus in communication with the image forming apparatus.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the outputting comprises:
notifying the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures through a communication line in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures.
14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:
detecting a component replaced in the image forming apparatus according to third information;
causing a database to store information about the replaced component in an explicit form in response to the detection of the replaced component.
15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:
detecting a frequent failure occurrence time associated with the replaced component.
16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising:
outputting information explicitly indicating the detection of the replaced component and the frequent failure occurrence time associated with the replaced component.
17. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:
setting a detection sensitivity at which the frequent occurrence of failures is detected; and
setting a detection sensitivity at which the resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures is detected.
18. The method according to claim 11,
wherein the first operation information relates to a failure of the image forming apparatus, and
wherein the second operation information relates to an operating amount of the image forming apparatus.
19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second operation information concerns the number of sheets printed in the image forming apparatus, or the number of print pages.
20. The method according to claim 14, wherein the third operation information represents a component counter value.
21. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:
receiving first operation information and second operation information concerning an image forming apparatus;
storing the first operation information and the second operation information;
detecting a frequent failure occurrence condition in the image forming apparatus based on the first operation information;
detecting a resolution of the frequent occurrence of failures based on the second operation information as a trigger of detecting the resolution; and
outputting information that explicitly indicates the resolution of the frequent failure occurrence condition in response to the detection of the resolution of the frequent failure occurrence condition.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for incenting a radio frequency identification (RFID) transaction at a merchant system comprising:
receiving a transaction account number from an RFID transaction device;
identifying a transaction account number marker associated with said transaction account number; and
providing an incentive in accordance with said transaction account number marker.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
comparing said transaction account number to a plurality of distinct transaction account numbers stored on a merchant database;
retrieving a transaction history related to said transaction account number, wherein said transaction account number correlates to at least one of said plurality of distinct transaction account numbers;
providing said incentive in accordance with said transaction history; and
storing a record of said incentive in said transaction history.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
assigning a transaction history data file to said transaction account number, said transaction history data file being stored on a merchant system database; and
storing a record of said incentive in said transaction history data file.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
processing a transaction request in accordance with said incentive.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing an incentive comprises providing an incentive based upon at least one of prior transaction history, frequency of RFID device usage, amount of purchases using said RFID device, total amount of purchases in a given time period, geographical location of said merchant system, type of merchant, user profile, user data, user account data, merchant data, product data and service data.
6. A method for providing an incentive for completing a transaction using an RFID transaction device at a merchant system, said method comprising:
receiving a transaction account number, at a merchant system, from said RFID transaction device;
identifying said transaction account number as corresponding to said RFID transaction device; and
providing said incentive from said merchant system based on said transaction account number.
7. A merchant system for providing an incentive to an RFID transaction device user comprising:
a host configured to receive a transaction request, process said transaction request in accordance with an incentive wherein said incentive is received from a merchant database, and forward said transaction request to a transaction account issuer; and,
said merchant database configured to store a transaction history, a loyalty file corresponding to a transaction account number, and an incentive file for storing a plurality of incentives to be provided to said RFID transaction device user.
8. A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions for a general purpose compute, the computer readable medium configured for:
receiving a transaction account number from an RFID transaction device;
identifying a transaction account number marker associated with said transaction account number; and
providing an incentive in accordance with said transaction account number marker.