Information providing system and control method of information providing system

Abstract

To support determining a sequence of respective measures for a plurality of devices on the basis of contents of measures necessary for the respective devices or types of the devices being objects of the measures.SOLUTION: An information providing system comprises: determination means which determines a priority of a measure specified from information as a measure necessary for a device so that the priority is higher in the case that the measure is a restoration measure for recovering a fault occurring in the device than in the case that the measure is a measure for preventing the occurrence of a fault in the device; measure classification means which classifies individual measures specified for a plurality of devices according to contents of the measures or types of the devices; and display means which causes the system to display a proposal screen which proposes measures for the respective devices based on a sequence according to priorities determined by the determination means and a result of classification in the measure classification means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing system and a control method for an information providing system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are known techniques for managing actions required for devices such as printers, such as actions to prevent device failures and actions to recover from device failures. Patent Document 1 discloses that when there are multiple scheduled maintenances for an image forming device, the multiple maintenance schedules are aggregated onto the same day, etc., depending on the required time for each maintenance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-093119 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Here, when a treatment is required for each of a plurality of devices, the administrator who manages the devices must determine the order in which to treat each device. In this case, if the order in which to treat each device is determined based only on the time required to treat the device, as in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the treatment in the determined order may not be appropriate depending on the content of the treatment or the type of device to be treated. The present invention aims to support the determination of the order of treatments for each of a plurality of devices, taking into account the content of treatments required for each of the devices or the types of devices that are the targets of the treatments. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problem, the information providing system of the present invention is an information providing system comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring information regarding the status of equipment; a determination means for determining a priority of an action identified from the information as an action required for the equipment so that the action has a higher priority if the action is a recovery action for recovering from a failure that has occurred in the equipment than if the action is an action for preventing a failure from occurring in the equipment; a treatment classification means for classifying each of the actions identified for multiple equipment according to the content of the action or the type of the equipment; and a display means for displaying a proposal screen that proposes the actions for each equipment in an order according to the priority determined by the determination means and the result of classification by the treatment classification means. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to assist in determining the order of treatments for each of a plurality of devices, taking into account the content of treatments required for each of the devices or the types of devices that are the targets of the treatments. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an information providing system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an information providing system. [Figure 4] FIG. 10A is a diagram showing the contents of a priority relationship table, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing the contents of a similarity relationship table. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the contents of a device management table. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are flowcharts showing the flow of the proposal process. [Figure 7] FIG. 5 shows a proposal screen 500. [Figure 8] FIG. 5 shows a proposal screen 500. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the contents of a location management table. [Figure 10] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a proposal screen 500 according to the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 illustrates the contents of a device management table according to the third embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a proposal screen 500 according to the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] (First embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an information provision system 1 according to a first embodiment. The information provision system 1 is a system that identifies actions required for each of a plurality of devices and provides information for proposing the identified actions along with the order in which each action should be taken. The information provision system 1 includes a action management server 101, a plurality of devices 102, a PC (Personal Computer) 103, an error management server 104, and an operation management server 105. The action management server 101, the devices 102, the PC 103, the error management server 104, and the operation management server 105 are all connected via a network. The network is a so-called communications network realized by a LAN such as the Internet, a WAN, a telephone line, or the like. The network may be any network that allows data to be sent and received.

[0009] The treatment management server 101 manages treatments required for the device 102. The treatment management server 101 acquires information about the occurrence of an error in the device 102 and information about the operation of the device 102 from the device 102 via the error management server 104 and the operation management server 105. The occurrence of an error in the device 102 means the occurrence of a failure in the device 102 that prevents normal processing. A state in which an error has occurred in the device 102 can also be interpreted as a state in which the device 102 is unable to operate. The treatment management server 101 determines the priority of treatments for each device 102 based on the acquired information. Furthermore, the treatment management server 101 categorizes the treatments for each device 102 for which the priority has been determined so that similar treatments belong to the same category. The treatment management server 101 then displays on the PC 103 the determined priority and information for proposing treatments for each device 102 in an order based on the categorization results.

[0010] The error management server 104 manages errors that occur in the device 102. When the error management server 104 acquires information about the occurrence of an error in the device 102 from the device 102, the error management server 104 identifies, based on the acquired information, a component of the device 102 that may be the cause of the error. The error management server 104 also transmits information indicating the identified component to the treatment management server 101. The operation management server 105 manages the operation of the device 102. When the operation management server 105 acquires information related to the operation of the device 102 from the device 102, the operation management server 105 identifies the operation frequency and wear rate of the device 102 for each part in the device 102 based on the acquired information. The operation management server 105 then transmits information indicating the identification results to the treatment management server 101.

[0011] The treatment management server 101, the error management server 104, and the operation management server 105 may each be configured as a single computer or may be realized by distributed processing using multiple computers. The treatment management server 101, the error management server 104, and the operation management server 105 may each be configured as a single computer. The treatment management server 101, the error management server 104, and the operation management server 105 may each be realized on virtual hardware provided by cloud computing, or may be an on-premise system configuration using a physical server.

[0012] The device 102, as an example of a device, is an image forming device such as a printer or MFP, and has functions such as printing, faxing, copying, and scanning. However, the device 102 may be a device other than an image forming device. When the device 102 detects the occurrence of an error, it transmits information identifying the type of the detected error to the error management server 104, along with information identifying the device 102 in which the error occurred. The number of devices 102 provided in the information providing system 1 may be any number as long as there is more than one. The PC 103 is an example of an information processing device, and is a computer on which a predetermined OS (not shown) is installed. In response to an operation by an administrator of the device 102, the PC 103 requests the treatment management server 101 to propose a treatment required for the device 102. Then, upon acquiring the requested information from the treatment management server 101, the PC 103 displays the acquired information.

[0013] 2(A) is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the treatment management server 101, the error management server 104, the operation management server 105, and the PC 103. The treatment management server 101, the error management server 104, the operation management server 105, and the PC 103 each have a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, a HDD 204, an input device 205, an output device 206, and an I / F 207. The CPU 201, the ROM 202, the RAM 203, the HDD 204, the input device 205, the output device 206, and the I / F 207 are each connected via an internal bus.

[0014] The CPU 201 controls the entire device. The ROM 202 stores the BIOS. The RAM 203 is used as a work area for the CPU 201 and as temporary storage for loading software modules for implementing various processes. The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 204 is a storage device that stores the OS, which is basic software, and software modules. Note that instead of an HDD, an SSD (Solid State Drive) may be provided as the storage device. The input device 205 is a device such as a keyboard or pointing device used by the user to input information. The output device 206 is a device such as a display used to output information. The I / F 207 is an interface used for communication with external devices. In the treatment management server 101, the error management server 104, the operation management server 105, and the PC 103, the CPU 201 loads a program from the ROM 202 or the HDD 204 into the RAM 203 and executes it, thereby realizing each process described below.

[0015] 2(B) is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the device 102. The device 102 includes a CPU 231, a ROM 232, a RAM 233, an NC (Network Controller) 234, a DKC 235, a raster controller 237, a print engine 238, an operation panel 239, a storage device 240, and a device I / F 241. The CPU 231, ROM 232, RAM 233, NC 234, DKC 235, raster controller 237, print engine 238, operation panel 239, storage device 240, and device I / F 241 are each connected via an internal bus.

[0016] The CPU 231 controls the entire device 102. This control is based on a control program stored in the ROM 232, a control program stored in the external memory 236 connected via the DKC 235, resource data (resource information), and the like. The ROM 232 stores the control program. The RAM 233 functions as the CPU 231's main memory, work area, and the like. The RAM 233 may be configured so that its memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The storage device 240 is an external storage unit that functions as a large-capacity memory. The operation panel 239 displays a screen and accepts user operations via the screen. In addition to the operation panel 239, buttons for accepting operations such as setting the operation mode of the device 102, displaying the operation status of the device 102, and specifying content data to be printed may be provided, or a display unit such as an LCD panel may be provided. The NC 234 is, for example, a network interface card (NIC) and transmits and receives information to and from external devices. The raster controller 237 is, for example, a controller that converts print data written in a PDL language into image data. The print engine 238 uses known printing technology to form an image on a sheet based on image data input from the raster controller 237. Examples of the print engine 238 include electrophotographic (laser beam) type, inkjet type, and dye sublimation (thermal transfer) type print engines. The device I / F 241 is an interface used for communication with external devices connectable via USB or the like.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the information providing system 1. As shown in FIG. The device 102 includes an execution unit 301 , a detection unit 302 , and a transmission unit 303 . The execution unit 301 executes a job in response to an instruction input to the device 102. For example, when a print job is input, the execution unit 301 executes printing. The detection unit 302 manages the state of the device 102 by detecting the state of the device 102. When the detection unit 302 detects an error that has occurred in the device 102, the detection unit 302 transmits information identifying the type of the detected error together with information identifying the device 102 to the error management server 104 via the transmission unit 303. The information identifying the type of error that has occurred in the device 102 may be referred to as error identification information hereinafter. The error identification information is an example of information regarding the state of the device 102. The information identifying the device 102 may be referred to as device identification information hereinafter. When the detection unit 302 detects the operating state of each component in the device 102, the detection unit 302 transmits information indicating the detected operating state together with the device identification information to the operation management server 105 via the transmission unit 303. The information indicating the operating state of the device 102 may be referred to as operation information hereinafter. The operation information is an example of information relating to the state of the device 102. The operation information can also be regarded as information relating to the operation of the device 102. Examples of information indicating the operation state of the device 102 include information indicating the number of pages printed by the device 102 as an image forming apparatus, and information indicating the operation time of the device 102. The detection unit 302 may detect the operation state of the device 102 at predetermined time intervals. The predetermined time may be any time, but is, for example, one hour. The transmission unit 303 transmits the information generated by the detection unit 302 to the error management server 104 and the operation management server 105.

[0018] When the device 102 transmits error identification information and device identification information to the error management server 104, it does not transmit information about the device 102 to the operation management server 105. When the device 102 transmits operation information and device identification information to the operation management server 105, it does not transmit information about the device 102 to the error management server 104.

[0019] The error management server 104 includes a receiving unit 311 and an error management unit 312 . The receiving unit 311, which is an example of an acquisition unit, receives error identification information and device identification information from the device 102. The error management unit 312 manages errors that have occurred in the device 102. Based on the error identification information, the error management unit 312 calculates the probability that each component in the device 102 identified from the device identification information is the cause of the error. The error management unit 312 then identifies the component with the highest calculated probability of being the cause of the error as the component that caused the error. The error management unit 312 also identifies measures required to recover from the error. Note that measures required to recover from the error may be referred to as recovery measures hereinafter. Recovery measures may also be considered as repairs to the device 102 in which the error occurred. The error management unit 312 transmits information identifying the component identified as the cause of the error to the action management server 101, along with information identifying the recovery measures, the error identification information, and the device identification information. Note that information identifying the recovery measures may be referred to as recovery measure information hereinafter. The recovery measure information is an example of information regarding the status of the device 102. Furthermore, information for identifying the component identified by the error management unit 312 as the cause of the error may be referred to as causal component information hereinafter.

[0020] The operation management server 105 includes a receiving unit 321 , a consumption management unit 323 , and an operation management unit 322 . The receiving unit 321, which is an example of an acquisition unit, receives operation information and device identification information from the device 102. The wear management unit 323 manages wear of parts of the device 102 for each device 102. The wear management unit 323 identifies the degree of wear for each component of a device 102 based on the operation information. The wear management unit 323 then designates the component with the greatest degree of wear as the target for managing wear for the device 102 that owns this component. Note that components managed by the wear management unit 323 may be referred to as "consumable components" hereinafter. The wear management unit 323 also identifies measures to prevent errors in the device 102 caused by the consumable components. Note that measures to prevent errors in the device 102 may be referred to as "preventive measures" hereinafter. Preventive measures can also be considered as maintenance for the device 102. The state of the device 102 for which preventive measures have been identified can also be considered as a state in which wear of the component of the device 102 is progressing and maintenance of the device 102 will be required in the future. The wear management unit 323 transmits information indicating the degree of wear of the consumable components to the treatment management server 101, along with information identifying the preventive measures and information identifying the consumable components. Note that, hereinafter, information indicating the degree of wear of a consumable part may be referred to as wear information. Also, hereinafter, information identifying preventive measures may be referred to as preventive measure information. Both wear information and preventive measure information are examples of information regarding the state of the device 102. Also, wear information can be considered as information regarding the operation of the device 102. Also, hereinafter, information identifying a consumable part may be referred to as consumable part information.

[0021] The operation management unit 322 manages the operation status of each device 102. The operation management unit 322 identifies the operation frequency of the consumable part based on the operation information. The operation management unit 322 then transmits information indicating the identified operation frequency to the treatment management server 101, along with the operation information and consumable part information about the consumable part. Note that, hereinafter, information indicating the operation frequency of the consumable part identified by the operation management unit 322 may be referred to as operation frequency information. The operation frequency information is an example of information about the state of the device 102. The operation frequency information can also be regarded as information about the operation of the device 102. As described above, information about a device 102 in which an error has occurred is not transmitted from this device 102 to the operation management server 105. Therefore, the operation management server 105 does not identify the degree of wear or the frequency of operation of the device 102 in which an error has occurred.

[0022] The treatment management server 101 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 331 , a storage unit 332 , a priority determination unit 333 , a classification unit 334 , a control unit 335 , and a communication unit 336 . The transmitting / receiving unit 331, which is an example of an acquisition unit, transmits and receives information. The transmitting / receiving unit 331 receives causative part information, recovery action information, error identification information, and device identification information from the error management server 104. The transmitting / receiving unit 331 also receives wear information, preventive action information, operation frequency information, operation information, consumable part information, and device identification information from the operation management server 105. The storage unit 332 stores information. The information stored in the storage unit 332 will be described in detail later.

[0023] The priority determination unit 333, which is an example of a determination means, determines the priority of the measures identified by the error management server 104 or the operation management server 105 as being necessary for the device 102. The priority determination unit 333 determines the priority of each measure so that recovery measures have a higher priority than preventive measures. The priority determination unit 333 also determines the priority of the preventive measures based on the frequency of operation of the parts that are the target of the preventive measures. Note that the parts that are the target of the preventive measures are consumable parts. The classification unit 334, which is an example of a treatment classification means, classifies each treatment whose priority has been determined by the priority determination unit 333. The classification unit 334 of this embodiment extracts similar treatments according to the content of the treatment and the type of device 102 that is the target of the treatment, and classifies each treatment so that the treatments extracted as similar belong to the same category. Furthermore, the classification unit 334 specifies the degree of similarity between the treatments for each category.

[0024] When the control unit 335, which is an example of a display means, is requested by the PC 103 to propose measures that are necessary for the device 102, the control unit 335 causes the priority determination unit 333 to determine the priority of the measures and causes the classification unit 334 to classify the measures. Then, the control unit 335 causes the PC 103 to display information for proposing measures that are necessary for the device 102 to the administrator of the device 102. In this case, the control unit 335 creates information to be displayed on the PC 103 so that the measures are in an order that corresponds to the priority determined by the priority determination unit 333, the result of classification by the classification unit 334, etc. The communication unit 336 communicates with the PC 103 to transmit requests from the PC 103 to the control unit 335 and transmit information created by the control unit 335 to the PC 103 .

[0025] The PC 103 includes a browser 341 and a monitor 342 . The browser 341 is software for requesting information from the treatment management server 101 and receiving information transmitted from the treatment management server 101. The monitor 342 is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for displaying information. The monitor 342 displays information transmitted from the treatment management server 101 and received by the PC 103 via the browser 341.

[0026] 4(A) is a diagram showing the contents of the priority relationship table. The priority relationship table is a table showing the relationship between the priority of the action required for the device 102 and the conditions for determining the priority by the priority determination unit 333. The priority relationship table is stored in the storage unit 332. The priority relationship table shows "priority" and "conditions." The "priority" in the priority relationship table is the priority of the action required for the device 102. In the illustrated example, "high," "medium," and "low" are shown as "priority." Here, "medium" means that the action has a higher priority than "low." Also, "high" means that the action has a higher priority than "medium."

[0027] The "conditions" in the priority relationship table are conditions for determining the priority by the priority determination unit 333. The "condition" "recovery action" associated with the "high" "priority" means that the priority determination unit 333 determines a priority of "high" on the condition that the action required for the device 102 is a recovery action. The "conditions" associated with the "medium" priority, "preventive action" and "operation frequency: high or medium," mean two conditions. The first of the two conditions means that the action required for the device 102 is preventive action. The second of the two conditions means that the operation frequency identified by the operation management unit 322 for the consumable part that is the target of preventive action is "high" or "medium." If these two conditions are met, the priority determination unit 333 determines the priority to be "medium." The "conditions" associated with the "priority" of "low" are "preventive action" and "operation frequency: low." The first of the two conditions means that the action required for the device 102 is preventive action. The second of the two conditions means that the operation frequency identified by the operation management unit 322 for the consumable part that is the target of preventive action is "low." If these two conditions are met, the priority determination unit 333 determines the priority to be "low."

[0028] The priority determination unit 333 identifies the corresponding "condition" in the priority relationship table from the recovery action information, preventive action information, operation frequency information, and the like. Of the operation frequencies "high," "medium," and "low" specified by the operation management unit 322, "high" indicates the highest operation frequency and "low" indicates the lowest operation frequency.

[0029] 4(B) is a diagram showing the contents of the similarity relationship table. The similarity relationship table is a table showing the relationship between the degree of similarity between the actions of multiple devices 102 and the conditions for determining the degree of similarity by the classification unit 334. The similarity relationship table is stored in the storage unit 332. The similarity relationship table shows "similarity" and "conditions." The "similarity" in the similarity relationship table is an index showing the degree of similarity between multiple procedures belonging to one category divided in the category section 334. In the illustrated example, "similarity" is shown as "3," "2," and "1." Here, "2" means a higher degree of similarity than "1." Also, "3" means a higher degree of similarity than "2."

[0030] The "conditions" in the similarity relationship table are conditions for the classification unit 334 to determine the similarity. For the "similarity" of "3," the "conditions" are "part: same" and "model: same." This condition is that there are multiple actions in which the part to be treated and the model of the device 102 to be treated are the same. The classification unit 334 determines the "similarity" of the classification to which the multiple actions that satisfy this condition belong to as "3." For "similarity" "2," "parts: same" and "models: different" are shown as "conditions." This condition is that there are multiple treatments in which the parts that are the targets of the treatments are the same and the models of the devices 102 that are the targets of the treatments are different. The classification unit 334 determines the "similarity" of the classification to which the multiple treatments that satisfy this condition belong to as "2." For "similarity" of "1," "parts: different" and "model: same" are shown as "conditions." This condition is that there are multiple treatments in which the parts that are the targets of the treatments are different and the models of the devices 102 that are the targets of the treatments are the same. The classification unit 334 determines the "similarity" of the classification to which the multiple treatments that satisfy this condition belong to as "1." The classification unit 334 identifies the corresponding condition in the similarity relationship table from the causative part information, recovery action information, preventive action information, consumable part information, device identification information, and the like.

[0031] 5 is a diagram showing the contents of the device management table. The device management table is a table for managing information related to the device 102. The device management table is stored in the storage unit 332. The device management table indicates "device," "model," "error identification information," "operation frequency," "wear rate," "treatment," "target part," "priority," "classification," and "similarity." "Device" indicates device identification information. "Model" indicates information that identifies the model of the device 102. In this embodiment, for example, the device identification information may be information that includes information that identifies the model of the device 102. "Error identification information" indicates error identification information. "Operation frequency" indicates operation frequency information. "Consumption rate" indicates consumption information. Note that the larger the consumption rate indicated as consumption information, the greater the degree of consumption.

[0032] "Action" indicates the type of action required for the device 102. "Recovery" indicated in "Action" means recovery action. "Prevention" indicated in "Action" means preventive action. "Target part" indicates information about the part causing the problem or information about the consumable part. "Priority" indicates the priority of the action determined by the priority determination unit 333. "Category" indicates the category to which the procedure classified in the category section 334 belongs. "D" indicated in "Category" means that the procedure belongs to a category in which no similar procedure exists. Also, "C" indicated in "Category" means that the procedure belongs to a category in which a similar procedure exists. In the illustrated example, multiple procedures with the same numerical value indicated with "C" as the "Category" mean that the procedures are similar to each other. As an example, the procedures of "D2" and "D3", which are devices 102 with a "Category" of "C1", belong to the same category and are similar to each other. In the "Similarity" column, the similarity of the division determined by the division unit 334 is shown.

[0033] A device management table may be provided for each administrator of the device 102. In this case, a device management table indicating information for a different device 102 for each administrator is stored in the storage unit 332. Also, information for all devices 102, including devices 102 with different administrators, may be indicated in a single device management table.

[0034] 6(A) and 6(B) are flowcharts showing the flow of the proposal process. The proposal process is a process in which the treatment management server 101 proposes treatments required for each of the multiple devices 102, along with the order of treatments for each device 102. In this embodiment, the proposal process is started when the treatment management server 101 is requested by the PC 103 to propose treatments required for the devices 102. The control unit 335 of the treatment management server 101 selects one device 102 for which the treatment priority has not been determined by the priority determination unit 333 in this proposal process, from among the devices 102 that are targets of management by the administrator who is the requester of the treatment proposal (S101). Note that the one device 102 selected by the control unit 335 in step 101 may be referred to as the selected device 102 hereinafter.

[0035] The control unit 335 requests information related to the selected device 102 from the error management server 104 via the transmitting / receiving unit 331. Then, the control unit 335 determines whether the transmitting / receiving unit 331 has acquired information including recovery action information from the error management server 104 as information related to the selected device 102 (S102). If an error has occurred in the selected device 102, the error management server 104 has created recovery action information based on the error identification information received from the selected device 102, and therefore transmits information including the created recovery action information to the transmitting / receiving unit 331. On the other hand, if no error has occurred in the selected device 102, the error management server 104 has not received information such as the error identification information from the selected device 102, and therefore does not create recovery action information or transmit the recovery action information to the transmitting / receiving unit 331. Furthermore, the information including recovery action information specifically refers to recovery action information, causative component information, error identification information, and device identification information related to the selected device 102.

[0036] If the transmitting / receiving unit 331 has not acquired recovery action information (No in S102), the control unit 335 requests information related to the selected device 102 from the operation management server 105. Then, the transmitting / receiving unit 331 acquires information including preventive action information from the operation management server 105 as information related to the selected device 102 (S103). Note that the information including preventive action information specifically includes preventive action information, consumption information, operation frequency information, operation information, consumable part information, and device identification information related to the selected device 102.

[0037] If a positive result is obtained in step 102, or after step 103, the priority determination unit 333 determines whether the action required for the selected device 102 is a recovery action (S104). The priority determination unit 333 determines whether the action required for the selected device 102 is a recovery action based on whether the transmitting / receiving unit 331 has acquired recovery action information as information related to the selected device 102. If the action required for the selected device 102 is a recovery action (Yes in S104), the priority determination unit 333 determines the priority of the action required for the selected device 102 to be "high" (see FIG. 4(A)) (S105).

[0038] If the action required for the selected device 102 is not a recovery action (No in S104), it means that the action required for the selected device 102 is a preventive action. In this case, the priority determination unit 333 determines whether the operation frequency of the consumable part of the selected device 102 is "low" (see FIG. 4(A)) (S106). The priority determination unit 333 determines whether the operation frequency of the consumable part is "low" from the operation frequency information related to the selected device 102. If the operation frequency of the consumable part of the selected device 102 is not "low" (No in S106), it means that the operation frequency of the consumable part is "high" or "medium." In this case, the priority determination unit 333 determines the priority of the treatment required for the selected device 102 to be "medium" (S107).

[0039] If the operation frequency of the consumable part of the selected device 102 is "low" (Yes in S106), the priority determination unit 333 determines the priority of the treatment required for the selected device 102 to be "low" (S108). The control unit 335 determines whether the priority determination unit 333 has determined the treatment priorities of all devices 102 that are the targets of management by the administrator (S109). If the treatment priorities of all devices 102 have not been determined (No in S109), the processing is repeated from step 101. As a result, the treatment management server 101 obtains information related to the device 102 and determines the treatment priorities of the device 102 for each device 102 until the treatment priorities of all devices 102 have been determined.

[0040] When the priorities of the actions of all devices 102 have been determined (Yes in S109), the classification unit 334 determines whether there are any actions that have not been classified in this proposed process and have the same priority as that determined by the priority determination unit 333 (S110). If there are actions with the same priority (Yes in S110), the classification unit 334 determines whether there are actions with the same priority that have the same target part or the same model of the device 102 that is the target of the action (S111). The classification unit 334 makes the determination in step 111 by referring to the "target part" and "model" for each of the actions with the same priority in the device management table (see FIG. 5).

[0041] If a positive result is obtained in step 111, the classification unit 334 extracts actions for which either the part to be treated or the model of the device 102 to be treated is the same. The actions extracted by the classification unit 334 at this time may be referred to as extracted actions hereinafter. The classification unit 334 determines whether or not there is an action among the extracted actions for which both the part to be treated and the model of the device 102 to be treated are the same (S112). If a positive result is obtained in step 112, the classification unit 334 classifies all treatments in which both the part to be treated and the model of the device 102 to be treated are the same into one classification with a similarity of "3" (S113).

[0042] If a negative result is obtained in step 112, the classification unit 334 determines whether or not there is any action among the extracted actions that targets the same part (S114). If a positive result is obtained in step 114, the classification unit 334 classifies all of the extracted actions that target the same part into one category with a similarity of "2" (S115). If a negative result is obtained in step 114, it means that there are extracted actions in which the parts to be treated are different and the model of the device 102 to be treated is the same. In this case, the classification unit 334 classifies all of the actions in which the parts to be treated are different and the model of the device 102 to be treated is the same into one classification with a similarity of "1" (S116).

[0043] Furthermore, if there is no action with the same priority determined by the priority determination unit 333 (No in S110), the classification unit 334 classifies actions that have not been classified in the current proposed process into a category for which no similar actions exist (S117). Furthermore, if a negative result is obtained in step 111, the classification unit 334 classifies actions that are different in both the part that is the target of the treatment and the model of the device 102 that is the target of the treatment into a category for which no similar actions exist (S117). The classification unit 334 determines whether all of the actions whose priorities have been determined by the priority determination unit 333 have been classified (S118). If classification of the actions by the classification unit 334 has not been completed (No in S118), the processing from step 110 onwards is repeated. As a result, the classification unit 334 classifies the actions until all of the actions whose priorities have been determined have been classified.

[0044] When all of the actions for which priorities have been determined have been classified (Yes in S118), the control unit 335 creates a proposal screen according to the priorities of the actions determined by the priority determination unit 333 and the results of the classification of the actions by the classification unit 334. The control unit 335 also transmits the created proposal screen to the PC 103 via the communication unit 336, thereby causing it to be displayed on the monitor 342 of the PC 103 (S119). The proposal screen will be described in detail later. In this embodiment, the proposal process is executed, and information is entered into each item in the device management table.

[0045] 7 is a diagram showing a proposal screen 500. The proposal screen 500 is an image used by the treatment management server 101 to propose treatments required for each of a plurality of devices 102, along with the order of treatments for each device 102. The proposal screen 500 is created in the proposal process (see step 119 in FIG. 6(B)), and is displayed on the monitor 342 of the PC 103. The proposal screen 500 displays a user display section 501, a similarity reception section 502, a priority reception section 601, and a list image 602.

[0046] The user display section 501 displays information identifying the user of the device 102 that is the target of the proposal on the proposal screen 500. The similarity reception section 502, as an example of a treatment reception image, is an image that receives a proposal for the order of treatments for the device 102 for each category in which the treatments are similar. The priority reception section 601 is an image that receives a proposal for the order of treatments according to the priority of the treatments determined by the priority determination section 333. On the proposal screen 500, either the similarity reception section 502 or the priority reception section 601 can be selected, and in the example shown, the priority reception section 601 is selected by the user pressing it. The list image 602 displays a list of treatments for the device 102 in a format that corresponds to the selected image of the similarity reception section 502 or the priority reception section 601. In the example shown, the list image 602 displays a list of treatments for the device 102 in an order according to the priority of the treatments determined by the priority determination section 333. Therefore, the priority receiving unit 601 can also be regarded as an image that receives the display of treatments in the order according to the treatment priorities determined by the priority determining unit 333. In addition, the list image 602 displays, for each treatment, a treatment display unit 504, a device display unit 505, a product name display unit 506, a part display unit 507, a method display unit 508, an error display unit 509, a consumption display unit 511, and a details display unit 510.

[0047] The action display section 504 displays information identifying whether the action taken on the device 102 is a recovery action or a preventive action. The text "repair" displayed in the action display section 504 means that the action taken on the device 102 is a recovery action. In addition, if an error occurs in the device 102, a component needs to be repaired to recover from the error, and therefore the text "repair" is displayed in the action display section 504. Furthermore, the text "prevention" displayed in the action display section 504 means that the action taken on the device 102 is a preventive action. The device display section 505 shows device identification information. The product name display section 506 shows the name of the device 102 as a product. The part display section 507 shows information identifying the part that is the target of the treatment. If the treatment for the device 102 is a recovery treatment, the part display section 507 shows information about the part that caused the problem. If the treatment for the device 102 is a preventive treatment, the part display section 507 shows information about consumable parts.

[0048] The method display unit 508 displays the method of treatment required for the device 102. The method of treatment displayed in the method display unit 508 may be determined by the error management unit 312 of the error management server 104 or the consumption management unit 323 of the operation management server 105, or may be determined by the control unit 335 of the treatment management server 101. In the illustrated example, the method of treatment is displayed only in the method display unit 508 corresponding to the recovery treatment, but the method of treatment may also be displayed in the method display unit 508 corresponding to the preventive treatment. The error display section 509 displays error identification information. The consumption display section 511 displays consumption information for consumable parts. The details display section 510 accepts the display of detailed information related to the action. When the details display section 510 related to the recovery action is selected, information managed by the error management server 104 is displayed on the monitor 342 of the PC 103 as detailed information related to the recovery action. When the details display section 510 related to the preventive action is selected, information managed by the operation management server 105 is displayed on the monitor 342 of the PC 103 as detailed information related to the preventive action.

[0049] Here, when the user of PC 103 presses the similarity receiving section 502 on the proposal screen 500 shown in Fig. 7, the similarity receiving section 502 is selected, and the proposal screen 500 shown in Fig. 8 is displayed. In a list image 602 of this proposal screen 500, a list of measures for the device 102 is displayed in a manner corresponding to the selection of the similarity receiving section 502. More specifically, in the list image 602, the measures for the device 102 are displayed for each category divided by the division section 334. In addition, in the list image 602, a category identification section 503 is displayed for each category divided by the division section 334.

[0050] The division identification section 503 is information that identifies the division divided in the division display section 334. Four division identification sections 503 are displayed in the list image 602. The topmost division identification section 503 of the four division identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Same parts and model," indicating that the division divided in the division identification section 503 is "C1" (see FIG. 5). The second division identification section 503 from the top of the four division identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Same parts," indicating that the division divided in the division identification section 503 is "C3." The third division identification section 503 from the top of the four division identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Same model," indicating that the division divided in the division identification section 503 is "C2." Of the four division identification sections 503, the lowest division identification section 503 in the drawing displays the text "No similar work," indicating that the division classified in the division identification section 503 is "D." In this way, procedures classified into categories with higher similarity are displayed higher in the list image 602. Also, in the list image 602, procedures that belong to a category with similar procedures are displayed higher in the list image 602 than procedures that belong to a category with no similar procedures.

[0051] As described above, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 that proposes treatments for each device 102 in an order according to the priority determined by the priority determination unit 333 and the classification result by the classification unit 334. In this case, it is possible to assist in determining the order of treatments for each device 102 based on the content of treatments required for each of the multiple devices 102 or the types of devices 102 that are the targets of treatments.

[0052] Furthermore, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 so that the treatment with the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit 333 is placed at the top of the order (see FIG. 7). In this case, it is possible to prompt the user to start treatment from the treatment with the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit 333 among the treatments required for each of the multiple devices 102.

[0053] Furthermore, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 in response to a user's operation on the similar receiving unit 502 so that the order of the multiple treatments classified into the same category by the classification unit 334 is consecutive (see FIG. 8). In this case, compared to a configuration in which the proposal screen 500 is displayed so that the multiple treatments classified into the same category are not consecutive, it is possible to support the efficient execution of the multiple treatments classified into the same category. In particular, each of the plurality of consecutively ordered actions that are classified into the same category by the classification unit 334 is a action that has the same priority determined by the priority determination unit 333. In this case, compared to a case where each of the consecutively ordered actions on the proposal screen 500 has a different priority, it is possible to prevent actions from being proposed for each device 102 in the order according to the priority.

[0054] Furthermore, there are cases where recovery measures are included in the measures proposed on the proposal screen 500. In this case, the control unit 335 causes information indicating the part identified as having the highest probability of being the cause of the failure, among multiple parts provided in the device 102 that is the target of the recovery measures, to be displayed on the proposal screen 500. Examples of information indicating the part identified as having the highest probability of being the cause of the failure include information displayed in the part display unit 507. In this case, it is possible to assist in determining the part that is the target of the restoration procedure.

[0055] Furthermore, the priority determination unit 333 determines the priority according to the indicators related to the operation of the device 102 identified from the operation information and the content of the treatment. The indicators related to the operation of the device 102 include the frequency of operation of consumable parts. In this case, it is possible to assist in determining the order of treatments for each of the multiple devices 102 based on the content of the treatments required for each of the devices 102 and the operation of the devices 102.

[0056] Furthermore, an index according to the content of the classification is set for each of the classifications made by the classification unit 334. Then, the control unit 335 displays a proposal screen 500 that proposes a treatment for each device 102 in the order of the classifications according to the index (see FIG. 8). An example of an index according to the content of the classification is similarity. In this case, it is possible to assist in determining the order of treatment for each device 102 based on the classification by the classification unit 334.

[0057] In particular, the division section 334 divides the devices 102 according to the type of the devices 102 to be treated, and the division to which the treatments of the multiple devices 102 belong is set to the first division. Also, the division section 334 divides the devices 102 according to the parts to be treated, and the division to which the treatments of the multiple devices 102 belong is set to the second division. Then, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 so that the treatments divided into the second division are placed earlier in the order than the treatments divided into the first division. An example of the first division is a division with a similarity of "1". An example of the second division is a division with a similarity of "2" or "3". In this case, it is possible to encourage the treatments classified according to the parts of the device 102 to be treated to be performed earlier than the treatments classified according to the type of device 102 to be treated.

[0058] In the present embodiment, the devices 102 that are the targets of proposals on the proposal screen 500 are described as devices 102 that are managed by the administrator, but this is not limited to this. The devices 102 that are the targets of proposals on the proposal screen 500 may be devices 102 owned by the same user. In other words, the person that is the target of proposals on the proposal screen 500 may be the user of the device 102. In this case, a device management table (see FIG. 5) may be provided for each user who owns a device 102.

[0059] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the condition for sorting into the sorting section 334 as similar treatments is that the model of the device 102 that is the target of treatment is the same, but this is not limiting. For example, if the two devices 102 to be treated are a newest device 102 and an outdated device 102, the treatments for these two devices 102 may be classified as similar treatments by the classification unit 334. The classification by the classification unit 334 of the treatment for the newest device 102 and the treatment for the outdated device 102 as similar treatments can be regarded as an example of classification according to the type of device 102.

[0060] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the condition for sorting into the sorting section 334 as similar treatments is that the parts of the device 102 that are the target of treatment are identical, but this is not limiting. For example, when the parts of two devices 102 to be treated are a latest model part and an outdated model part, the treatments for the two devices 102 may be classified as similar treatments by the classification unit 334. Note that the classification by the classification unit 334 of the treatment for the latest model part and the treatment for the outdated model part as similar treatments can be regarded as an example of classification according to the content of the treatment.

[0061] Furthermore, the consumption display section 511 of the proposal screen 500 displays consumption information for consumable parts, but is not limited to this. The consumption display section 511 may display an index specified by the consumption management section 323 of the operation management server 105 as an index indicating the lifespan of the consumable part. Examples of the index indicating the lifespan of the consumable part include the number of days remaining in which the consumable part can be used.

[0062] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the proposed process is started, the treatment management server 101 requests information from the error management server 104 and the operation management server 105, but the present invention is not limited to this. Each time the error management server 104 creates recovery action information and causative part information, it may send the created information together with error identification information and device identification information to the action management server 101. Also, each time the operation management server 105 creates preventive action information, wear information, operation frequency information, and consumable part information, it may send the created information together with operation information and device identification information to the action management server 101. In this case, the proposal process is performed without the action management server 101 requesting information from the error management server 104 or the operation management server 105.

[0063] (Second embodiment) Next, the configuration of the information providing system 1 of the second embodiment will be described. Note that in the second embodiment, configurations different from those of the information providing system 1 of the first embodiment will be described, and descriptions of the same configurations as those of the information providing system 1 of the first embodiment may be omitted. 9 is a diagram showing the contents of the location management table. The location management table is a table for managing the locations where the devices 102 are installed. The location management table is stored in the memory unit 332 of the treatment management server 101. The location management table also shows "devices" and "addresses."

[0064] "Device" indicates device identification information. "Address" indicates the address corresponding to the location where the device 102 is installed. In the illustrated example, devices 102 "D1", "D2", "D3", "D4", and "D5" are installed at the same address. Furthermore, devices 102 "D6", "D7", and "D8" are installed at the same address. The classification unit 334 of this embodiment classifies actions for the devices 102 according to the locations where the devices 102 are installed. More specifically, the classification unit 334 classifies each action so that actions for devices 102 that have the same address where the devices 102 are installed belong to the same category. Therefore, the classification unit 334 can also be considered as location classification means that classifies the multiple devices 102 according to the locations where the devices 102 are installed.

[0065] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a proposal screen 500 of this embodiment. The proposal screen 500 shown in FIG. 10 displays a location acceptance section 701. The location acceptance section 701, which is an example of a location acceptance image, is an image that accepts a proposal for the order of treatments for the device 102 for each address where the device 102 is installed. In the example shown, the location acceptance section 701 is selected when the user presses the location acceptance section 701. Also, in the example shown, the similar acceptance section 502 is selected. In this case, the list image 602 displays a list of treatments for the device 102 in a manner corresponding to the location where the device 102 is installed and the category of treatments for the device 102 that are similar.

[0066] Five category identification sections 503 are displayed in the list image 602 of the proposal screen 500. The topmost category identification section 503 of the five category identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Same parts and model (XX city, XX ZZ building, 2nd floor)." This text means that the device 102 labeled "D2" and the device 102 labeled "D3" displayed in association with this category identification section 503 are in the category "C1" (see FIG. 5) as classified by the category identification section 503, and are installed at the same address. The second division identification section 503 from the top of the five division identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Same model (XX city, XX ZZ building, 2nd floor)." This text means that the device 102 "D4" and the device 102 "D5" displayed in association with this division identification section 503 are in the "C2" division as classified by the division identification section 503 and are installed at the same address.

[0067] Of the five category identification units 503, the third category identification unit 503 from the top in the figure displays the text "No similar work" indicating that the category classified in the category identification unit 503 is "D", and the text "(XX City, XX ZZ Building, 2nd Floor)". The fourth division identification section 503 from the top of the figure among the five division identification sections 503 displays the text "Same parts (XX city YY XX building 5th floor)." This text means that the device 102 "D7" and the device 102 "D8" displayed in association with this division identification section 503 are in the "C3" division as classified by the division identification section 503 and are installed at the same address. Of the five category identification units 503, the lowest category identification unit 503 in the figure displays the text "No similar work," indicating that the category classified in category identification unit 503 is "D," and the text "(XX City, YY, XX Building, 5th floor)."

[0068] In this way, in the list image 602, the actions for devices 102 that are located at the same address as the device 102 that is the target of the action with the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit 333 are displayed higher in the drawing. Also, in the list image 602, the actions for devices 102 that are located in greater numbers at the same address are displayed higher in the drawing. 10, the similarity receiving unit 502 is selected. Therefore, in the list image 602, actions for the devices 102 of "D2" and "D3" that belong to categories in which similar actions exist are displayed at the top of the drawing, rather than actions for the device 102 of "D1" that has the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit 333. On the other hand, when the priority receiving unit 601 is selected, actions for the device 102 of "D1" that has the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit 333 are displayed at the top of the drawing in the list image 602.

[0069] As described above, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 in response to a user operation on the location receiving unit 701 so that the order of actions for the multiple devices 102 that have been divided into the same category by the dividing unit 334 is consecutive. In this case, compared to a configuration in which the proposal screen 500 is displayed so that the multiple actions divided into the same category are not consecutive, it is possible to support the efficient execution of the multiple actions divided into the same category.

[0070] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the condition for sorting into the sorting section 334 as similar treatments is that the addresses of the devices 102 that are the targets of treatments are the same, but this is not limiting. For example, a condition for classification by classification unit 334 as a similar treatment may be that the distance between the locations where two devices 102 to be treated are installed is equal to or less than a predetermined distance. Classification by classification unit 334 according to the distance between the locations where two devices 102 are installed can be considered as an example of classification according to the locations where the devices 102 are installed.

[0071] (Third embodiment) Next, the configuration of the information providing system 1 of the third embodiment will be described. Note that in the third embodiment, configurations different from those of the information providing system 1 of the first and second embodiments will be described, and descriptions of the same configurations as those of the information providing system 1 of the first or second embodiment may be omitted.

[0072] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the contents of a device management table according to this embodiment. In the device management table illustrated in FIG. 11, the “action” associated with the “devices” “D1,” “D4,” and “D7” is indicated as “recovery.” Furthermore, the “action” associated with the “devices” “D2,” “D3,” “D5,” “D6,” and “D8” is indicated as “prevention.” That is, in this embodiment, the action required for the devices 102 “D1,” “D4,” and “D7” is recovery action, and the action required for the devices 102 “D2,” “D3,” “D5,” “D6,” and “D8” is preventive action. In this case, the sorting unit 334 categorizes the actions required for the devices 102 “D1,” “D4,” and “D7” into the same category as similar actions. Furthermore, the sorting unit 334 categorizes the actions required for the devices 102 “D2,” “D3,” “D5,” “D6,” and “D8” into the same category as similar actions. Then, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 so that a treatment for each device 102 is proposed for each category divided by the division unit 334 .

[0073] 12 is a diagram showing a proposal screen 500 of this embodiment. A list image 602 of this proposal screen 500 displays a list of actions for the device 102, separated into recovery actions and preventive actions. The list image 602 also displays two category identification sections 503. The upper category identification section 503 of the two category identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Recovery Action," indicating that the action for the device 102 is a recovery action. The lower category identification section 503 of the two category identification sections 503 in the drawing displays the text "Preventive Action," indicating that the action for the device 102 is a preventive action.

[0074] As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 335 displays the proposal screen 500 that separates a plurality of preventive measures from a plurality of recovery measures and proposes measures for each device 102. Even in this case, it is possible to assist in determining the order of measures for each device 102 based on the content of the measures required for each of the plurality of devices 102.

[0075] 12, recovery measures are displayed higher than preventive measures, but this is not limiting. As long as each recovery measure and each preventive measure are displayed separately in the list image 602, the preventive measures may be displayed higher than the recovery measures. In other words, in the list image 602 of the proposal screen 500 shown in FIG. 12, the measures for each device 102 do not have to be displayed in order of priority.

[0076] The configuration of each embodiment has been described above. The present invention also includes a case where a software program that realizes the functions of each of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device having a computer that can execute the program directly from a recording medium or via wired or wireless communication, and the program is executed. Therefore, the program code itself, supplied to and installed on a computer to implement the functional processes described above, also embodies the present invention. In other words, the computer program itself for implementing the functional processes of the present invention is also included in the present invention. In this case, the program may take any form, such as object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to an OS, as long as it has the program's functionality. Recording media for providing the program may include, for example, a hard disk, a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape, an optical / magneto-optical storage medium, or a non-volatile semiconductor memory. Another possible method for providing the program is to store the computer program forming the present invention on a server on a computer network, and then download the computer program to a connected client computer. Furthermore, an operating system or the like running on a computer may perform some or all of the actual processing based on instructions in the program code, and the functions of each of the above-described embodiments may be realized by this processing. Furthermore, program code read from a storage medium may be written to memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Then, a CPU or the like provided on the function expansion board or function expansion unit may perform some or all of the actual processing based on instructions in the program code. Even in this case, the functions of each of the above-described embodiments may be realized.

[0077] The disclosure of each of the above-described embodiments includes the following configurations. (Configuration 1) an acquisition means for acquiring information about the state of the device; a determining means for determining the priority such that a higher priority is given to an action identified from the information as an action required for the device when the action is a recovery action for recovering from a failure that has occurred in the device than to an action for preventing a failure from occurring in the device; a treatment classification means for classifying each of the treatments specified for a plurality of devices according to the content of the treatment or the type of the device; a display means for displaying a proposal screen that proposes the treatment for each device in an order according to the priority determined by the determination means and the classification result by the treatment classification means; An information provision system equipped with: (Configuration 2) 2. The information providing system according to configuration 1, wherein the display unit displays the proposal screen so that the order of the action with the highest priority determined by the determination unit is at the top. (Configuration 3) The information provision system described in configuration 1 or 2, wherein the display means displays a treatment reception image that accepts the display of the proposal screen according to the classification result by the treatment classification means, and displays the proposal screen so that the order of multiple treatments classified into the same classification by the treatment classification means is continuous according to a user's operation on the treatment reception image. (Configuration 4) 4. The information providing system according to configuration 3, wherein each of the plurality of procedures classified into the same classification by the procedure classification means and having consecutive orders is a procedure having the same priority determined by the determination means. (Configuration 5) further comprising location classification means for classifying the plurality of devices according to the locations where the devices are installed; The information provision system described in any one of configurations 1 to 4, wherein the display means displays a location reception image that accepts the display of the proposal screen according to the result of classification by the location classification means, and displays the proposal screen so that the order of the treatments for multiple devices classified into the same classification by the location classification means is continuous according to a user's operation on the location reception image. (Configuration 6) The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 5, wherein, when the recovery action is included in the action that is the subject of the proposal on the proposal screen, the display means displays, on the proposal screen, information indicating the part that is identified as having the highest probability of being the cause of the failure, among multiple parts installed in the equipment that is the subject of the recovery action. (Configuration 7) The information includes operation information regarding the operation of the device, The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, wherein the determination means determines the priority based on an indicator related to the operation of the equipment identified from the operation information and the content of the treatment. (Configuration 8) An index according to the content of the classification is set for the classification divided by the treatment classification means, 8. The information providing system according to any one of configurations 1 to 7, wherein the display means displays the proposal screen that proposes the treatment for each device in the order of the classification according to the index. (Configuration 9) The treatment classification means classifies the treatments of the plurality of devices according to the type of the device to be treated, and the classification to which the treatments of the plurality of devices belong is set to a first classification; The treatment classification means classifies the treatments of the devices according to the parts to be treated, and the treatment classification means classifies the treatments of the devices according to the parts to be treated. The ... The information providing system of configuration 8, wherein the display means displays the proposal screen so that the actions classified into the second category are placed earlier in the order than the actions classified into the first category.

[0078] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 1...information providing system, 101...treatment management server, 102...device, 331...transmitting / receiving unit, 332...storage unit, 333...priority determination unit, 334...classifying unit, 335...control unit, 336...communication unit

Claims

1. an acquisition means for acquiring information about the state of the device; a determining means for determining the priority such that a higher priority is given to an action identified from the information as an action required for the device when the action is a recovery action for recovering from a failure that has occurred in the device than to an action for preventing a failure from occurring in the device; a treatment classification means for classifying each of the treatments specified for a plurality of devices according to the content of the treatment or the type of the device; a display means for displaying a proposal screen that proposes the treatment for each device in an order according to the priority determined by the determination means and the classification result by the treatment classification means; An information provision system equipped with:

2. 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the proposal screen so that the order of the treatment with the highest priority determined by the determination unit is at the top.

3. The information provision system of claim 1, wherein the display means displays a treatment reception image that accepts the display of the proposal screen according to the classification result by the treatment classification means, and displays the proposal screen so that the order of multiple treatments classified into the same classification by the treatment classification means is continuous according to user operation on the treatment reception image.

4. 4. The information providing system according to claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of procedures classified into the same classification by the procedure classification means and having consecutive orders has the same priority determined by the determination means.

5. further comprising location classification means for classifying the plurality of devices according to the locations where the devices are installed; 2. The information provision system of claim 1, wherein the display means displays a location reception image that accepts the display of the proposal screen according to the result of classification by the location classification means, and displays the proposal screen so that the order of the treatments for multiple devices classified into the same classification by the location classification means is continuous according to user operation on the location reception image.

6. 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein, when the recovery action is included in the actions that are the subject of the proposal on the proposal screen, the display means displays, on the proposal screen, information indicating the part that is identified as having the highest probability of being the cause of the failure, out of multiple parts installed in the device that is the subject of the recovery action.

7. The information includes operation information regarding the operation of the device, The information providing system according to claim 1 , wherein the determining unit determines the priority in accordance with an index relating to the operation of the device identified from the operation information and the content of the treatment.

8. An index according to the content of the classification is set for the classification divided by the treatment classification means, The information providing system according to claim 1 , wherein the display unit displays the proposal screen that proposes the treatment for each device in the order of the categories according to the index.

9. The treatment classification means classifies the treatments of the plurality of devices according to the type of the device to be treated, and a classification to which the treatments of the plurality of devices belong is set to a first classification; a second classification is set as a classification to which the treatments of the plurality of devices belong, the classification being classified into the treatment classification means according to the parts of the devices that are the targets of the treatments; 9. The information providing system according to claim 8, wherein the display means displays the proposal screen so that the procedure classified into the second category is earlier in the order than the procedure classified into the first category.

10. an acquisition means for acquiring information about the state of the device; a display means for displaying a proposal screen that, when preventive measures for preventing occurrence of a failure in a device are all identified from the information related to a plurality of devices and recovery measures for recovering from a failure that has occurred in the device are all identified from the information related to a plurality of devices as measures required for the device, distinguishing between the plurality of identified preventive measures and the plurality of identified recovery measures and proposing the measures for each device; An information provision system equipped with:

11. A control method for an information providing system that provides information, comprising: obtaining information about the state of the device; determining the priority so that the action identified from the information as the action required for the device is a recovery action for recovering from a failure that has occurred in the device has a higher priority than the action identified from the information as the action required for preventing a failure from occurring in the device; categorizing each of the procedures identified for a plurality of devices according to the content of the procedure or the type of the device; displaying a proposal screen that proposes the treatment for each device in an order according to the determined priority and the result of the classification; A control method for an information providing system comprising:

12. A control method for an information providing system that provides information, comprising: obtaining information about the state of the device; when preventive measures for preventing occurrence of a failure in the device are all identified from each of the pieces of information related to the plurality of devices and recovery measures for recovering from a failure that has occurred in the device are all identified from each of the pieces of information related to the plurality of devices as measures required for the device, displaying a proposal screen that distinguishes between the plurality of identified preventive measures and the plurality of identified recovery measures and proposes the measures for each device; A control method for an information providing system comprising:

Images