Patent ID: 9104344
Filing Date: 2015-08-11
Classification: B41J,G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of monitoring printer consumable usage, comprising: receiving at a cloud-based printing service a print job from a user for a target printer, the target printer also usable for printing by other users of the service; providing the print job from the service to the printer for printing; receiving at the service job data indicative of consumable consumption for the print job; calculating, at the service, cumulative consumable usage data associated with the user but not the other users from the job data and prior consumable usage data; and pushing, in near-real-time responsive to the completion of the printing, an instant message having the cumulative consumable usage data from the service to a client application via a preexisting chat session established responsive to a request from the client application to become an instant message friend of the service.