Information processing device, computer program product, and recording medium

Abstract

The present invention provides an information processing device, a computer program product and a recording medium. The subject of the present invention is to prevent operation interference caused by multiple users when a user with a certain device operation authority entrusts other users to operate the device on his behalf. The control unit (23) controls in the following manner: when a customer user with a certain device operation authority entrusts other users such as CE, i.e., maintenance engineers, to operate the device on his behalf, when the customer user operates the device, a message indicating that the customer user's operation cannot be accepted will be displayed on the operation screen of the customer user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device and a recording medium. Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a network system including: a device management apparatus that manages at least one device via a network; and devices managed by the device management apparatus; and reduces the user's workload of setting operating conditions for devices connected to the network.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses a device management system that, when a new application is installed on a multifunction machine, manages new setting information of the installed application through a device management device or a central management device.

[0004] Patent document 3 discloses an image forming device. When, among the setting items of this device, there are setting items that are the same as the setting items contained in the setting information set in other image forming devices, the setting items are set based on the setting information obtained from the other image forming devices, and other setting items are set using action history information. The action history information represents the history of actions including printing or copying performed in the other image forming devices, so that the image forming device can operate appropriately according to the user's usage at the initial stage of setting.

[0005] Prior art literature

[0006] Patent Literature

[0007] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 4858271

[0008] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 5434174

[0009] Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent No. 5896768 Summary of the invention

[0010] [Problems to be solved by the invention]

[0011] The object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device and program, which can prevent operation interference caused by multiple users when a user who has the right to operate a certain device entrusts other users to operate the device on his behalf.

[0012] [Methods to solve the problem]

[0013] [Information processing device]

[0014] The present invention according to claim 1 is an information processing device comprising a memory and a processor.

[0015] The processor controls in the following manner: when a first user having a device operation right entrusts a second user to operate the device on behalf of the first user, when the first user operates the device, a message indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

[0016] According to the information processing device of item 1, in the present invention of item 2,

[0017] The processor controls so that, when the first user operates the device, a message is displayed on the operation screen of the first user indicating that the operation has been requested to the second user and therefore the operation of the first user cannot be accepted.

[0018] According to the information processing device of item 2, in the present invention of item 3, the memory registers information of the operator and the proxy operator for each device to be operated,

[0019] The processor controls so that, when information of a substitute operator is registered in the device to be operated by the first user, a message indicating that an operation by the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

[0020] According to the information processing device of item 1, in the present invention of item 4,

[0021] The processor controls so that, when the first user operates the device, a message is displayed on the operation screen of the first user indicating that the second user is currently operating and thus the operation of the first user cannot be accepted.

[0022] According to the information processing device of item 4, in the present invention of item 5,

[0023] The processor controls in the following manner: if there is an operation history of the second user within a preset time from the time when the first user operates the device, a message indicating that the second user is operating and therefore the operation of the first user cannot be accepted will be displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

[0024] According to the information processing device of item 1, in the present invention of item 6,

[0025] The processor controls so that, when the first user attempts to perform an operation of storing data in the device, a message indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

[0026] According to the information processing device of item 6, in the present invention of item 7,

[0027] The processor controls in such a manner that, when the first user attempts to operate the device to restore the saved setting information, a message indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

[0028] [program]

[0029] The present invention of Item 8 is a recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute steps of controlling in the following manner, namely, when a first user having the authority to operate a certain device entrusts a second user to operate the device on his behalf, when the first user operates the device, a message indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

[0030] [Effects of the invention]

[0031] According to the present invention of claim 1, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus capable of preventing interference in operations caused by multiple users when a user having authority to operate a certain device delegates another user to operate the device on his behalf.

[0032] According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus in which the first user can understand that the reason why the operation cannot be accepted is that the operation has been requested to the second user.

[0033] According to the present invention of claim 3, there can be provided an information processing apparatus capable of preventing interference in operations caused by multiple users when a user having authority to operate a certain device authorizes another user to operate the device on his behalf and logs in as a proxy operator.

[0034] According to the present invention as claimed in claim 4, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus in which a first user can understand that the reason why an operation cannot be accepted is that the second user is currently operating.

[0035] According to the present invention of item 5, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that can prevent operational interference caused by multiple users when a user having authority to operate a certain device entrusts another user to operate the device on his behalf and the device is being operated.

[0036] According to the present invention of item 6, an information processing apparatus can be provided, which can prevent operation interference caused by multiple users when a user with operation authority for a certain device entrusts another user to perform an operation of storing data in the device on his behalf.

[0037] According to the present invention of item 7, an information processing apparatus can be provided, which can prevent operation interference caused by multiple users when a user with operation authority for a certain device authorizes other users to perform the operation of restoring the saved setting information of the device.

[0038] According to the present invention of item 8, it is possible to provide a program that can prevent operational interference caused by multiple users when a user who has the authority to operate a certain device entrusts another user to operate the device on his behalf. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Figure 1 This is a system diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the management server 20 in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 3 This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the management server 20 in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 4 2 is a diagram showing an example of the device information management table stored in the device information management table storage unit 24 .

[0043] Figure 5 2 is a diagram showing an example of the restricted operation information management table stored in the restricted operation information management table storage unit 25 .

[0044] Figure 6 2 is a diagram showing an example of a backup data management table stored in the backup data management table storage unit 26 .

[0045] Figure 7 This is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a customer user selects a device to be restored on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40 or the terminal device 10 .

[0046] Figure 8 FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when selecting backup data to be restored in the image forming apparatus 40 .

[0047] Fig. 9 This is a diagram showing an example of a final confirmation screen of a restore instruction displayed when the backup data to be restored is selected.

[0048] Fig.10 This figure shows an example of an error screen when a customer user starts the restoration process but an agent operator has not logged in to execute the restoration process.

[0049] Fig.11 It is used to illustrate Fig.10 The error screen shown is a diagram of an example when it is displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40.

[0050] Fig.12 It is used to illustrate Fig.10 The error screen shown is a diagram of an example when it is displayed on the display of the terminal device 10.

[0051] Fig.13 This is a sequence diagram used to illustrate the information sending and receiving when performing a device login action.

[0052] Fig.14 This is a sequence diagram for explaining a case where the result of the process of requesting restoration to the management server 20 is an error.

[0053] Fig.15 This is a sequence diagram for explaining a case where the result of the process of requesting restoration to the management server 20 is normal.

[0054] Description of Figure Numbers

[0055] 10, 50: terminal device;

[0056] 11: CPU;

[0057] 12: Memory;

[0058] 13: storage device;

[0059] 14: Communication interface;

[0060] 15: user interface device;

[0061] 16: Control bus;

[0062] 20: Management server;

[0063] 21: backup data storage unit;

[0064] 22: Data transceiver unit;

[0065] 23: Control Department;

[0066] 24: device information management table storage unit;

[0067] 25: restricted operation information management table storage unit;

[0068] 26: backup data management table storage unit;

[0069] 30: Internet;

[0070] 40: Image forming device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0072] Figure 1 This is a system diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0073] like Figure 1As shown, the information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured by an image forming apparatus 40 , a terminal device 10 , and a management server 20 connected to each other via the Internet 30 .

[0074] The image forming device 40 is a device having multiple functions such as a printing function, a scanning function, a copying function, and a fax function, and is called a so-called multifunction machine.

[0075] Furthermore, the management server 20 is an information processing device that provides a so-called cloud service, which is a service that saves setting information as backup data and restores the saved setting information upon request. Specifically, the management server 20 receives setting information uploaded from the image forming device 40 and saves it as backup data. Figure 1 In order to simplify the description, only one image forming apparatus 40 is illustrated for description, but the management server 20 stores setting information of a large number of image forming apparatuses as backup data.

[0076] As described above, the setting information of the image forming apparatus 40 is stored as backup data in the management server 20 so that the original setting contents can be restored when the setting information is accidentally deleted in any apparatus, or the same setting contents as before can be continuously used in the replaced apparatus when the apparatus is replaced, or the same contents as those of the already imported apparatus can be set in the newly imported apparatus. Hereinafter, such a process of performing settings using the stored setting information is referred to as restoration.

[0077] Here, the setting information includes various information such as scanning resolution when performing scanning processing, color mode when performing copying processing, setting values ​​for each setting item, and address table information used in fax transmission.

[0078] Furthermore, the terminal device 10 is installed with backup management software for backing up and restoring the setting information of the image forming device. The terminal device 10 uses the backup management software to perform the following processing: the setting information of the image forming device 40 is acquired and sent to the management server 20 for backup, or the setting information backed up in the management server 20 is acquired and restored to the image forming device 40.

[0079] Here, such backup of the setting information of the image forming apparatus 40 is often performed by a machine manager of a customer user who installed the image forming apparatus 40. However, there may be a case where there are many installed image forming apparatuses or the machine manager is not familiar with the operation, and therefore, there may be a case where such backup or restoration operation is delegated to a maintenance engineer (customer engineer) (hereinafter referred to as CE), who is a maintenance personnel of the manufacturer of the image forming apparatus 40.

[0080] exist Figure 1 FIG. 4 shows a case where such a CE uses the terminal device 50 to obtain the backup data for the image forming apparatus 40 or a restoration operation of the backup data.

[0081] Here, the management server 20 is a multi-tenant system used by multiple authenticated users, and the customer user who sets the image forming apparatus 40 is logged in as a tenant with tenant ID "A00002". In addition, the CE who uses the terminal device 50 to perform proxy operations is logged in as a tenant with tenant ID "B00002". Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 40 is logged in as a device with device ID "10003".

[0082] Furthermore, although the customer user who installed the image forming apparatus 40 has the authority to operate the image forming apparatus 40, when the agent for the restore operation of the backup data as described above is delegated to the CE, if the machine administrator of the customer user forgets to delegate the operation and performs the restore operation from the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40, or performs the restore operation of the backup data using the backup management software of the terminal device 10, the operations caused by multiple users may interfere with each other in the image forming apparatus 40. Furthermore, when the operations caused by multiple users interfere with each other, there is a possibility that the restore process of the backup data cannot be normally performed.

[0083] Therefore, in the management server 20 of the present embodiment, by performing the following processing, even when a user having the authority to operate a certain device delegates another user to operate the device on his behalf, operation interference by multiple users is prevented.

[0084] Next, the hardware configuration of the management server 20 in the information processing system of this embodiment is shown in FIG. Figure 2 middle.

[0085] like Figure 2 As shown, the management server 20 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a memory 12, a storage device 13 such as a hard disk drive, a communication interface (abbreviated as IF) 14 for transmitting and receiving data between external devices and the like via the Internet 30, and a user interface (abbreviated as UI) device 15 including a touch panel or a liquid crystal display and a keyboard. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 16.

[0086] The CPU 11 executes predetermined processing based on the control program stored in the memory 12 or the storage device 13 to control the operation of the management server 20. In addition, in the present embodiment, the CPU 11 reads and executes the control program stored in the memory 12 or the storage device 13, but the program may be stored in a storage medium such as a compact disc (CD-ROM) and provided to the CPU 11.

[0087] Figure 3 This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the management server 20 realized by executing the control program.

[0088] like Figure 3 As shown, the management server 20 of this embodiment includes a backup data storage unit 21, a data transceiver unit 22, a control unit 23, a device information management table storage unit 24, a restricted operation information management table storage unit 25, and a backup data management table storage unit 26.

[0089] The backup data storage unit 21 stores various setting information of the image forming apparatus 40 etc. as backup data. The backup data storage unit 21 stores not only one backup data for one device but multiple backup data for one device for each logged-in user or each logged-in date.

[0090] The data transceiver 22 transmits and receives data between the image forming device 40 or the terminal device 10, 50, etc. via the Internet 30. Specifically, the data transceiver 22 performs the following processing: receiving the backup data uploaded from the image forming device 40 or the terminal device 10, 50, or downloading the backup data stored in the image forming device 40 or the terminal device 10, 50.

[0091] The control unit 23 performs the following processing: controls the overall operation of the management server 20, stores the backup data received by the data transceiver unit 22 from the image forming device 40 or the terminal device 10, 50 in the backup data storage unit 21; or sends the backup data stored in the backup data storage unit 21 to the image forming device 40 or the terminal device 10, 50 via the data transceiver unit 22.

[0092] The device information management table storage unit 24 stores a device information management table for registering information of operators and proxy operators for each device to be operated. An example of the device information management table stored in the device information management table storage unit 24 is shown in FIG. Figure 4 .

[0093] exist Figure 4In the device information management table shown, a device ID for identifying a device to be operated, a customer tenant ID for identifying an operator, and an agent tenant ID for identifying an agent operator are stored in pairs.

[0094] For example, in Figure 4 In the device information management table example, a customer user with customer tenant ID “A00001” is logged in as an operator in the device with device ID “10001”.

[0095] In addition, Figure 4 In the device information management table example, Figure 1 The image forming apparatus 40 with the device ID “ 10003 ” shown has a customer user with the customer tenant ID “ A00002 ” registered as an operator, and has a CE with the agent tenant ID “ B00002 ” registered as a proxy operator.

[0096] The restricted operation information management table storage unit 25 stores a restricted operation information management table for setting which operation of the agent operator and the customer user is given priority for each operation type of each device to be operated. An example of the restricted operation information management table stored in the restricted operation information management table storage unit 25 is shown in FIG. Figure 5 middle.

[0097] exist Figure 5 In the restricted operation information management table shown, for each combination of device ID and operation category, it is set which of the proxy operator and the customer user has priority. Here, the so-called priority refers to the right to operate preferentially to other users when operations are interfered by multiple users, and the operation of users who do not set priority is restricted.

[0098] However, when a customer user entrusts a proxy operation to CE or the like, generally speaking, the proxy operator's operation is often prioritized. Therefore, such a setting may be omitted and the proxy operator's operation may always be prioritized.

[0099] In addition, relative to Figure 1 The image forming apparatus 40 with the device ID “10003” shown is set to give priority to operations by a proxy operator in all operation categories.

[0100] In addition, Figure 5 The so-called remote restoration in the above description refers to the restoration operation of the backup data on the image forming device 40 based on the operation from the terminal device 10 or 50. In addition, the so-called local restoration refers to the restoration operation of the backup data by directly operating the operation panel of the image forming device 40. Furthermore, the so-called time-specified restoration refers to the restoration operation of automatically performing the restoration process by setting the time for performing the restoration process in advance at the time.

[0101] The backup data management table storage unit 26 stores a backup data management table for managing the backup data stored in the backup data storage unit 21. An example of the backup data management table stored in the backup data management table storage unit 26 is shown in FIG. Figure 6 middle.

[0102] exist Figure 6 In the backup data management table shown, for each combination of a device ID and a tenant ID for identifying a user who performs a backup data storage operation, a backup ID set for each uploaded backup data is stored in pair.

[0103] If you refer to this Figure 6 , it can be seen that multiple backup data are saved for the same device.

[0104] Furthermore, the control unit 23 controls so that, when a customer user who has the authority to operate a certain device entrusts another user such as CE to operate the device on his behalf, a message indicating that the customer user's operation cannot be accepted is displayed on the customer user's operation screen when the customer user operates the device.

[0105] In addition, since the present embodiment uses the case where the device to be operated is the image forming device 40 for explanation, the control unit 23 controls in the following manner: when a customer user who has the operating authority of the image forming device 40 entrusts the CE agent to operate the image forming device 40, when the customer user operates the image forming device 40, a message indicating that the customer user's operation cannot be accepted will be displayed on the customer user's operation screen.

[0106] Here, the so-called proxy refers to a user who has the right to operate a certain device and entrusts another user who does not have the right to operate the device to perform the operation. In addition, the so-called proxy case refers to the case where the proxy operator accepts the proxy entrustment and issues the entrustment number, or the case where the CE entrusting the agent registers its own tenant ID in the device information management table as the proxy operator.

[0107] Furthermore, the control unit 23 controls so that, when the customer user operates the image forming apparatus 40 , a message is displayed on the customer user's operation screen indicating that the operation has been delegated to the CE as a proxy operator and that the customer user's operation cannot be accepted.

[0108] Furthermore, the control unit 23 refers to the device information management table stored in the device information management table storage unit 24 when determining whether the customer user has entrusted the CE or the like with a proxy operation.

[0109] Specifically, control unit 23 controls so that, when operator information, namely, a proxy tenant ID, is registered in image forming apparatus 40 to be operated by a customer user, a message indicating that the customer user's operation cannot be accepted is displayed on the customer user's operation screen.

[0110] That is, in this case, determination is not made based on whether the CE who is actually the proxy operator operates the image forming apparatus 40 , but based on whether the information of the proxy operator is registered in the image forming apparatus 40 to be determined.

[0111] Furthermore, when the restore operation of the backup data entrusted to the proxy operator is completed, the proxy tenant ID registered in the device information management table is deleted. Therefore, even in this case, the operation of the customer user is restricted based on whether the proxy operator is logged in, and the period of restricting the operation of the customer user does not become unnecessarily long.

[0112] Furthermore, when the customer user operates the image forming apparatus 40 , the control unit 23 may display on the customer user's operation screen a message that the CE as a substitute operator is currently operating and therefore the customer user's operation cannot be accepted.

[0113] Furthermore, the control unit 23 may also control in the following manner: instead of restricting the customer user's operation based solely on the agent operator's login to the device information management table, the control unit 23 refers to the operation log information (or operation history information) of the image forming device 40, and when there is an operation history record of the agent operator within a preset time, for example, within 5 minutes, from the time when the customer user operated the image forming device 40, information is displayed that the agent operator is in operation and therefore the customer user's operation cannot be accepted.

[0114] In addition, problems may arise when multiple users repeat operations, especially when performing operations to store certain data in the image forming device 40. Specifically, when restoring backup data stored externally to the image forming device 40, there is a high possibility that a problem may occur due to repeated restoration operations.

[0115] Therefore, the control unit 23 controls in the following manner: when a customer user wants to perform an operation to store data on the image forming device 40, for example, when an operation is performed on the image forming device 40 to restore setting information such as backup data stored externally, a message indicating that the customer user's operation cannot be accepted will be displayed on the customer user's operation screen.

[0116] Next, the operation of the management server 20 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0117] First, an example of a display screen when a customer user selects a device to be restored on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40 or the terminal device 10 is shown. Figure 7 middle.

[0118] exist Figure 7 , a case where a device with a product name of "ABCD III (888745)" is selected as a device to be restored is shown.

[0119] Next, an example of an operation screen when selecting backup data to be restored to the image forming apparatus 40 from the backup data stored in the management server 20 on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40 or the terminal device 10 is shown. Figure 8 middle.

[0120] If reference Figure 8 , it indicates a situation where one backup data is selected from a plurality of backup data stored in the management server 20 and restoration is performed by referring to the data name, the date and time of generation, the content of the memo, and the like.

[0121] Moreover, in the Figure 8 The example of the operation screen shown in the figure shows an example of the final confirmation screen of the restore instruction displayed when selecting the backup data to be restored. Fig. 9 middle.

[0122] exist Fig. 9 , an example of an operation screen for final confirmation of a restoration instruction by the user is shown. When the user refers to this operation screen and operates a send button, the restoration process starts.

[0123] Next, an example of an error screen when the restoration process is started by the customer user but the restoration process is not executed by the agent operator login is shown. Fig.10 middle.

[0124] exist Fig.10 In the display, it can be seen that "the specified device is being processed by the following entrustment number agent, so the operation cannot be performed", and the customer user is notified of the information and the reason why the instructed recovery processing cannot be performed.

[0125] In addition, if Fig.10 When the customer user issues a restoration instruction on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40, the error screen shown in FIG. Fig.11 The display is shown on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40 .

[0126] In addition, when the customer user issues a restoration instruction from the terminal device 10, Fig.10 The error screen shown is as follows Fig.12 The display is shown on the display of the terminal device 10.

[0127] Next, refer to Figure 13 to Figure 15 The sequence diagram of FIG. 1 will describe information transmission and reception between the management server 20 and the image forming apparatus 40 , and the terminal devices 10 and 50 .

[0128] First, refer to Fig.13 The sequence diagram illustrates the sending and receiving of information when performing a device login action.

[0129] First, in step S101, a device login request is made to the management server 20 from the image forming device 40 or via the terminal device 10 or 50. Then, in step S102, the management server 20 performs an operator determination process for identifying the user who has made the device login request. Here, since an authentication process is required when logging into the management server 20, the user who performs the process on the management server 20 can be easily identified.

[0130] Then, in step S103, the management server 20 registers the identified user in the device information management table as a customer user or a proxy operator.

[0131] Finally, in step S104 , the management server 20 replies with the device registration result.

[0132] Next, refer to Fig.14 The sequence diagram of FIG. 1 illustrates a case where the processing result of the restoration request to the management server 20 is an error. Fig.14 In the following, a case where a restoration operation is performed based on an operation on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 40 is described.

[0133] First, in step S201 , the image forming apparatus 40 sends a restoration request to the management server 20 specifying backup data.

[0134] Then, the management server 20 determines the operator in step S202, and obtains the device information of the device to be restored from the device information management table in step S203. Specifically, the control unit 23 of the management server 20 determines that the operator is a customer user with tenant ID "A00002", and Figure 4 The device information management table shown has customer tenant ID “A00002” and proxy tenant ID “B00002” registered for the device with device ID “10003”.

[0135] Furthermore, the control unit 23 of the management server 20 acquires the restriction information of the device with device ID "10003" from the restriction operation information management table in step S204. Here, the restriction information that gives priority to the operation of the proxy operator in all operation categories is acquired for the device with device ID "10003".

[0136] Therefore, the control unit 23 determines that the operation of the agent operator should be given priority over the operation of the customer user for the device with device ID "10003" logged in by the agent operator, and in step S205, the image forming device 40 responds with the processing result of the information that the restoration request from the customer user cannot be accepted as an error notification.

[0137] That is, the control unit 23 performs control so as not to accept a restoration operation from the customer user, based on the fact that the proxy operator is registered in the device information management data, regardless of whether the proxy operator is currently performing a restoration operation.

[0138] Next, refer to Fig.15 The sequence diagram of FIG. 1 illustrates the case where the result of the restoration request to the management server 20 is normal. Fig.15 In the following, a case where a restoration operation is performed based on an operation of the CE on the terminal device 50 is described.

[0139] First, in step S301 , the terminal device 50 sends a request to the management server 20 to restore designated backup data.

[0140] Then, the management server 20 determines the operator in step S302, and obtains the device information of the device to be restored from the device information management table in step S303. Specifically, the control unit 23 of the management server 20 is a proxy operator whose operator is the tenant ID "B00002", and Figure 4 The device information management table shown has customer tenant ID “A00002” and proxy tenant ID “B00002” registered for the device with device ID “10003”.

[0141] Furthermore, the control unit 23 of the management server 20 acquires the restriction information of the device with device ID “10003” from the restriction operation information management table in step S304. Here, the restriction information set to give priority to the operation of the proxy operator in all operation categories is acquired for the device with device ID “10003”.

[0142] Therefore, in step S305 , the control unit 23 accepts a restoration request from the substitute operator, and transmits the selected backup data to the image forming apparatus 40 to execute restoration processing.

[0143] Then, in step S306, the control unit 23 responds with a processing result from the terminal device 50 indicating that the restoration process has been completed normally.

[0144] [Modifications]

[0145] In the above embodiment, a case where a customer user delegates the restoration operation of the image forming device 40 to another user such as CE is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied if a user with a certain device operation authority delegates the operation to another user.

[0146] In each of the above embodiments, the so-called processor refers to a processor in a broad sense, including a general-purpose processor (such as a CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) or a dedicated processor (such as a graphics processing unit (Graphics Processing Unit, GPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), a programmable logic device, etc.).

[0147] In addition, the actions of the processors in the above-mentioned embodiments are not only performed by one processor, but also by multiple processors in physically separated positions. In addition, the order of the actions of the processors is not limited to the order described in the above-mentioned embodiments, and can also be appropriately changed.

Claims

1. An information processing device comprising a memory and a processor, The memory stores information about the logged-in operator and the proxy operator of the logged-in operator for each device of the operation target. The processor controls in the following manner: when a first user who has the authority to operate a certain device entrusts a second user who is a maintenance personnel of the device to operate the device on behalf of the second user and information that the second user is the proxy operator is registered in the device, when the first user operates the device, a message that the operation of the second user has been entrusted and therefore the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user, wherein the first user entrusting the second user with the agent comprises entrusting the second user to operate the device in place of the first user, wherein the operation performed on the device is to perform a setting process using the setting information stored in the device, From the time when the first user authorizes the second user to act as an agent until the second user completes the operation on the device, the first user cannot operate the device. After the operation on the device is completed, the processor deletes the information that the second user logged in to the device is the proxy operator, so that the second user cannot operate the device.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein The processor controls so that, when the first user operates the device, a message is displayed on the operation screen of the first user indicating that the second user is currently operating and thus the operation of the first user cannot be accepted.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein The processor controls in the following manner: if there is an operation history of the second user within a preset time from the time when the first user operates the device, a message will be displayed on the operation screen of the first user indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted because the second user is operating.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein The processor controls so that, when the first user attempts to perform an operation of storing data in the device, a message indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein The processor controls in such a manner that, when the first user attempts to operate the device to restore the saved setting information, a message indicating that the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user.

6. A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a step of controlling the computer to execute the following control steps: for each device to be operated, information of a logged-in operator and a proxy operator of the logged-in operator, when a first user having a certain device operation authority entrusts a second user who is a maintenance personnel of the device to operate the device on behalf of the second user and information of the second user as the proxy operator is logged in to the device, when the first user operates the device, information indicating that the operation of the second user has been entrusted and therefore the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user; wherein the first user entrusting the second user with the agent comprises entrusting the second user to operate the device in place of the first user, wherein the operation performed on the device is to perform a setting process using the setting information stored in the device, From the time when the first user authorizes the second user to act as an agent until the second user completes the operation on the device, the first user cannot operate the device. After the operation on the device is completed, the information that the second user logged in to the device is the proxy operator will be deleted, so that the second user cannot operate the device.

7. A computer program product, comprising steps for causing a computer to execute control in the following manner, namely, for each device to be operated, information of a logged-in operator and a proxy operator of the logged-in operator, when a first user having a certain device operation authority entrusts a second user who is a maintenance personnel of the device to operate the device on behalf of the second user and information of the second user as the proxy operator is logged in to the device, when the first user operates the device, information indicating that the operation of the second user has been entrusted to the second user and therefore the operation of the first user cannot be accepted is displayed on the operation screen of the first user, wherein the first user entrusting the second user with the agent comprises entrusting the second user to operate the device in place of the first user, wherein the operation performed on the device is to perform a setting process using the setting information stored in the device, From the time when the first user authorizes the second user to act as an agent until the second user completes the operation on the device, the first user cannot operate the device. After the operation on the device is completed, the information that the second user logged in to the device is the proxy operator will be deleted, so that the second user cannot operate the device.

Images