Abstract:
A communication system including a communication device, and a plurality of information displaying devices capable of receiving status information of a communication device is provided. Each information displaying device includes a first judging unit to judge whether the received status information includes error settling information, a first display unit to display the error information and an operable image when the judgment is made that the received status information lacks the error settling information, a first transmitter to transmit error settling information to the communication device in response to an operation to the operable image, and a display restrictor to restrict the error information from being displayed when judgment is made that the received status information includes the error settling information. The communication device includes a second transmitter to transmit at least the error information, and additionally with the error setting information.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-219267, filed on Sep. 24, 2009, the entire subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The following description relates to one or more techniques for establishing a communication system, in which a plurality of information displaying devices share a communication device, the communication device, and computer readable storage media for the information displaying devices and for the communication device. 
     2. Related Art 
     2. A system has been known, in which a multi-function peripheral (MFP) device having multiple functions (e.g., a printer function and a facsimile function) is connected with a plurality of user terminal devices via a LAN, so as to be utilized in common amongst the user terminal devices. In the system, when an error occurs in the MFP, information concerning the error is distributed to each of the user terminal devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     When an error occurs in the MFP, the error can be settled by any one of users who commonly use the MFP. However, since each of the user terminal devices receives the information concerning the error, two or more users may come up to the MFP in order to handle the error. 
     Aspects of the present invention are advantageous to provide one or more improved techniques which can avoid the aforementioned redundant situation and settle an error in an efficient fashion. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, a communication system having a communication device, and a plurality of information displaying devices, each of which is connected with the communication device to communicate and capable of receiving status information of the communication device, is provided. Each of the information displaying devices includes a first judging unit to judge, when the status information transmitted from the communication device includes error information, which indicates an error condition in the communication device, as to whether the received status information includes error settling information associated with the error information, a first display unit to display the error information and an operable image representing an error-dealing button when the first judging unit judges that the received status information lacks the error settling information, a first transmitter to generate and transmit error settling information associated with the error information to the communication device in response to an operation to the operable image, and a display restrictor to restrict the error information from being displayed when the first judging unit judges that the received status information includes the error settling information. The communication device includes a storage unit to store the error settling information transmitted from the information displaying device to be associated with the error information, and a second transmitter to transmit at least the error information, and additionally with the error settling information when the error settling information is stored in the storage unit in association with the error information, to the plurality of information displaying devices. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions to control an information displaying device, which has a display unit and is connected with a communication device to communicate and receive status information of the communication device, is provided. The computer readable instructions control the information displaying device to execute steps of judging, when the status information transmitted from the communication device includes error information, which indicates an error condition in the communication device, as to whether the received status information includes error settling information associated with the error information, displaying the error information and an operable image representing an error-dealing button when judgment is made that the received status information lacks the error settling information, generating and transmitting error settling information associated with the error information to the communication device in response to an operation to the operable image, and restricting the error information from being displayed when the judgment is made that the received status information includes the error settling information. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a communication device connected with a plurality of information displaying devices to communicate and capable of transmitting status information to the information displaying devices is provided. The communication device includes a receiver unit to receive from one of the information displaying devices, when the status information transmitted to the information displaying devices includes error information indicating an error condition in the communication device, error settling information associated with the error information, a storage unit to store the error settling information received from the information displaying device to be associated with the error information, and a transmitter to transmit at least the error information, and additionally with the error setting information when the error settling information is stored in the storage unit in association with the error information, to the plurality of information displaying devices. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions to control a communication device, which is connected with a plurality of information displaying devices to communicate and capable of transmitting status information to the information displaying devices, is provided. The computer readable instructions control the communication device to execute steps of receiving from one of the information displaying devices, when the status information transmitted to the information displaying devices includes error information indicating an error condition in the communication device, error settling information associated with the error information, storing the error settling information received from the information displaying device in a storage unit to be associated with the error information, and transmitting at least the error information, and additionally with the error setting information when the error settling information is stored in the storage unit in association with the error information, to the plurality of information displaying devices. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  schematically shows a configuration of a multi-function peripheral (MFP) system in an embodiment according to one or more aspects of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart to illustrate behaviors of a personal computer (PC) to display status information of an MFP in the MFP system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart to illustrate behaviors of the MFP to be monitored by the PC in the MFP system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a table to define critical errors which can be caused in the MFP according to the embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a table of fixed comments to be displayed in the PCs on basis of error information generated in the MFP according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a table in which error information and error settling information are associated with each other in the MFP according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is an illustrative view of a dialog box to be displayed in a display unit of the PC prior to error-dealing announcement according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is an illustrative view of a dialog box to be displayed in the display unit of the PC after the error-dealing announcement for a less critical error in the MFP according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is an illustrative view of a dialog box to be displayed in the display unit of the PC after the error-dealing announcement for a critical error in the MFP according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     An overall configuration of a multi-function peripheral (MFP) system  2  according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 . The MFP system  2  includes MFPs  10   a ,  10   h ,  10   c , PCs  70   a ,  70   b ,  70   c , which are connected with one another through a LAN (local area network)  4  to communicate with one another. In the following description, the MFPs  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , may be represented by “the MFP  70 ,” and the PCs  70   a ,  70   b ,  70   c  may be represented by “the PC  70 .” 
     The MFPs  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  are in similar configuration, and description of those will be represented by that of the MFP  10   a . The MFP  10   a  includes a controller  12 , a touch panel  50 , a keypad  52 , a printing unit  54 , a facsimile (FAX) unit  58 , a network interface (I/F)  60 , a PSTN interface  62 , and a scanning unit  64 . The network I/F  60  is linked with the LAN  4 . The controller  12  includes a CPU  14 , a ROM  16 , a RAM  30 , and an NVRAM  40 . 
     The CPU  14  performs various operations in accordance with various programs that are stored on the ROM  16  and run on the RAM  30 . Basic-function programs  18 , stored on the ROM  16 , are programs for controlling basic operations of the MFP  10   a . For example, the basic-function programs  18  contain various control programs for storing time information and for controlling the printing unit  54 , the facsimile unit  58 , and the scanning unit  64 . 
     The CPU  14  monitors status and conditions of the MFP  10  in real time. The information concerning the status and conditions of the MFP  10  is stored in a predetermined area (not shown) in the RAM  30  and transmitted to the PC  70  as status information in response to a periodic inquiry from the PC  70 . The status information may include error information, which describes error conditions occurring in the MFP  10   a , and operation status information, which describes progress of an operation being conducted in the MFP  10   a . The error conditions to be indicated in the error information include, for example, a printing error concerning the printer unit  54 , a facsimile error concerning the facsimile unit  58 , and a scanning error concerning the scanning unit  64 . The error information may indicate conditions, which are, for example, paper running out, paper jam, and ink running out. Further, the error information may indicate conditions, in which the user&#39;s attention is required, such as when an amount of remaining ink is small and when a date for periodic maintenance is coming. In these examples, the error information describing the small amount of remaining ink indicates an urgent condition which is to be handled immediately in order for the MFP  10   a  to accomplish the function thereof. In the present embodiment, the error information describing urgent error condition, which is to be handled immediately, can be referred to as critical error information. Meanwhile, the error information describing a less critical error condition, which may require the user&#39;s attention but may not necessarily be handled urgently, can be referred to as less critical error information. 
     The RAM  30  has a number of storage areas, which include a basic-function work area  32  and an area for an MFP status table T 11 . In the basic-function work area  32 , various kinds of data created within the MFP  10  conducting operations according to the basic-function programs  18  is stored. 
     The status information includes contents indicating various types of status and conditions of operational events occurring in the MFP  10 . The contents in the status information indicate, for example, an error condition occurring in the MFP  10  and progress of an operation being conducted in the MFP  10 . 
     The MFP status table T 11  is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The MFP status table T 11  stores error settling information, which includes information concerning participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102 , error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;  103 , and additional comment  104  on basis of content of error information  101 . Each of the contents in the error information  101  corresponds to an error code provided by the MFP  10   a . The content of the error information  101  is described in a phrase including an error message, which corresponds to the error code. The phrases include, for example, “Out of paper” and “Ink will run out soon.” 
     The error settling information including the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102 , the error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;  103 , and additional comment  104  is transmitted from the PC  70  when error information generated in the MFP  10   a  is transmitted to the PCs  70   a ,  70   c , and the PC  70  responds to the error information. 
     The participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102  indicates an identifier of one of the PCs  70   a ,  70   b ,  70   c  which responded to the error information and announced to handle the error. For example, when the PC  70   a  announces that the user of the PC  70   a  will handle an error condition “out of paper,” an identifier of the PC  70   a  (i.e.,  70   a ) is entered in a field for the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt; 102 . When the PC  70   c  announces that the user of the PC  70   c  will handle an error condition “ink will run out soon,” an identifier of the PC  70   c  (i.e.,  70   c ) is entered in the field for the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102 . The error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;  103  indicates a date, on which the PC  70  announces to handle the error condition. For example, date and time (e.g., 2009/09/10 13:00) are entered in the field for the error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;. The date of the error-dealing announcement may be defined as timing which can be associated with the error-dealing announcement, e.g., a time on which the user of the PC  70  enters the announcement (i.e., when an error-dealing button  202 , which will be described later, is pressed), a time on which the PC  70  transmits the error settling information, and a time on which the MFP  10  receives the error settling information. The additional comment  104  indicates arbitrarily comment entered by the user of the PC  70  and received in the PC  70 . The user can enter a message and sentences for the additional comment via the operation unit  84  of the PC  70 . 
     In the present embodiment, character strings &lt;x 1 &gt; and &lt;x 2 &gt; in the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102  and the error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;  103  respectively represent variables for the participant ID and the error-dealing announcement date. As described below, when the variables &lt;x 1 &gt;, &lt;x 2 &gt; are included in prepared basic (fixed) comments, the variables are replaced with the contents of the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102 , the error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;  103  in the MFP status table T 11  to be displayed. 
     An overall configuration of the PC  70   a  will be described below. In the present embodiment, the PCs  70   b  and  70   c  are in similar configuration to that of the PC  70   a ; therefore, detailed description of the PCs  70   b  and  70   c  will be represented by that of the PC  70   a . The PC  70   a  includes an HDD (hard disk drive)  74 , a display unit  82 , an operation unit  84 , and a RAM  90 . The display unit  82  displays various kinds of information to be viewed by the user. The operation unit  84  includes a keyboard and a mouse, which are handled by the user to enter various kinds of instructions and information in the PC  70   a.    
     The HDD  74  has a number of storage areas including an area for basic programs. The basic programs  76  are programs for controlling basic operations of the PC  70   a . As an example of the basic programs  76 , a status monitor for the MFP  10  is cited. The status monitor is a program to inquire about operational status of the MFP  10  periodically to monitor the operational status and conditions of the MFP  10  to display in the display unit  82 . Thus, the status and the conditions in the MFP  10  are monitored by the PC  70   a  at all time. 
     The RAM  90  has an area to store a PC status table T 21  as illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a table defining error information to be determined as critical error information. Contents of the critical error information may include, for example, “out of paper,” “paper jam,” and “out of ink (toner).” In the present embodiment, error information which is not included in the PC status table T 21  is considered to be less critical error information. Contents of the less critical error information may include, for example, “ink will run out soon,” and “a date for periodic maintenance is coming.”  FIG. 5  illustrates a table containing fixed comments which are displayed in the display unit  82  of the PC  70  according to the error information. In the table shown in  FIG. 5 , the fixed comments to be displayed in the display unit  82  along with the content of the error information are prepared on basis of the content of the error information and on basis of an error-dealing action. For example, when an error condition is maintained untreated and no error-dealing action is taken, a fixed comment “Press error-dealing button for error settlement” may be displayed. When the error is handled by a participant and an error-dealing action has been taken, a fixed comment “Error is handled by &lt;x 1 &gt;” may be displayed. Alternatively, a fixed comment “Error-dealing button was pressed by &lt;x 2 &gt;. Please wait.” may be displayed. When these fixed comments are displayed, the variables &lt;x 1 &gt;, &lt;x 2 &gt; are replaced with the contents in the participant IC &lt;x 1 &gt;  102  and the error-dealing announcement date &lt;x 2 &gt;  103  in the error settling information (see  FIG. 6 ). 
     The table of fixed comments shown in  FIG. 5  may be alternatively stored in the MFP status table T 11  in place of the PC status table T 21 . 
     Behaviors of the PC  70  in the multi-function system  2  according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  illustrates a flow of behaviors of the status monitor to be run on the PC  70   a . The status monitor further monitors the behaviors of the MFP  10   a.    
     When activated, the status monitor resides in the memory (e.g., the RAM  90 ) in the PC  70   a  to monitor the behaviors of the MFP  10   a  by repeating the operation flow shown in  FIG. 2  until the PC  70   a  is powered off. When the flow starts, in  811 , the status monitor inquires the MFP  10   a  about the status information. In S 11 , when the multi-function system  2  has other MFP  10  than the MFP  10   a , the status monitor inquires all the MFPs  10  about the status information. Responses from the MFPs  10  are received in the PC  70   a . In S 12 , it is examined as to whether the received status information includes error information. When no error information is included (S 12 : NO), the flow proceeds to S 20 , in which the status monitor pauses until a predetermined time period elapses (S 20 : NO). 
     In S 12 , when the error information is included in the status information (S 12 : YES), in S 13 , the status monitor judges as to whether the error information is critical error information. The judgment in S 12  is made with reference to the table (see  FIG. 4 ) defining the critical error and stored in the PC status table T 21 . If the error information does not indicate a critical error condition (S 13 : NO), the flow proceeds to S 14 . If the error information indicates a critical error condition (S 13 : YES), the flow proceeds to S 15 . In S 14 , the status monitor judges as to whether error-dealing announcement for the error condition indicated in the error information has been made by any user of the PC  70 . In S 15 , the status monitor judges as to whether error-dealing announcement for the critical error condition indicated in the error information has been made by any user of the PC  70 . These judgments are made by examining as to whether the status information received from the MFP  10   a  in S 11  includes the error settling information associated with the current error information. If the error-dealing announcement has been made, the MFP  10   a  obtains the error settling information associated with the current error information from the table (see  FIG. 6 ) stored in the MFP status table T 11  containing the error information and the error settling information and transmits the error settling information along with the status information (S 42 , see  FIG. 3 ) to be received by the PC  70   a  in S 11 . In S 14 , when the error-dealing announcement for the error condition has been made (S 14 : YES), the flow proceeds to S 21 . In S 15 , when the error-dealing announcement for the critical error condition has been made (S 15 : YES), the flow proceeds to S 26 . 
     In S 14 , if no error-dealing announcement has been made (S 14 : NO), the flow proceeds to S 16 . In S 15 , if no error-dealing announcement has been made (S 15 : NO), the flow also proceeds to S 16 . In S 16 , the status monitor displays a dialog box  200  (see  FIG. 7 ) with the content of the error information and an error-dealing button. In the dialog box  200 , the content of the error information  201  (i.e., “Ink will run out soon.”) and the error-dealing button  202  are presented. The error-dealing button  202  is an operable image representing a button, which is presented to the user so that the user makes error-dealing announcement by operating the image (i.e., pressing the button). Further, the dialog box  200  presents a fixed comment  203 , which describes “Press error-dealing button when you participate to deal with the error.” The fixed comment is prepared preliminarily for the error information to be obtained from the table (see  FIG. 5 ) of the fixed comments, which is stored in the PC status table T 21 , and presented in the dialog box  200 . In addition, a comment entry box  204  to allow the user to enter additional comment  104  is presented in the dialog box  200 . Thus, the user is allowed to enter additional comment  104  in the comment entry box  204  in S 17 . In S 18 , the status monitor judges as to whether the error-dealing button  202  was pressed by the user regardless of the additional comment  104  having been entered in the comment entry box  204  or not. When the user presses the error-dealing button  202  (S 18 : YES), in S 19 , the status monitor generates and transmits error settling information to the MFP  10   a . The error settling information to be transmitted in S 19  includes information concerning the error-dealing announcement. In particular, for example, the error settling information includes an identifier (i.e., a participant ID  102 ) of the PC  70   a , in which the error-dealing button  202  was pressed by the user, time (i.e., error-dealing announcement date  103 ) on which the error-dealing button  202  was pressed, and the additional comment  104  entered in the in the comment entry box  204  (if any). 
     In S 13 , if the error information does not indicate a critical error condition (S 13 : NO), and in S 14 , if the error-dealing announcement has been made for the error condition (S 14 : YES), in  821 , the status monitor examines the error settling information received in  811  from the MFP  10   a  and judges as to whether the error-dealing announcement in the error settling information originates from by the PC  70   a  itself. In particular, for example, the status monitor examines the participant ID  102  included in the received error settling information coincides with the identifier of the PC  70   a  itself. If the two identifiers do not coincide (S 21 : NO), it is determined that the PC  70   a  has not made error-dealing announcement for the current error condition, and the error settling information received in S 11  originates from the other PC  70  than the PC  70   a  itself. Therefore, no information display to draw the user&#39;s attention, which prompts the user to complete dealing with the error to settle, is necessary. The flow proceeds to S 20 , in which the status monitor does not display any attention-drawing information but waits until the predetermined time period elapses. 
     In S 21 , if the two identifiers coincide (S 21 : YES), it is determined that the PC  70   a  is the origin which made the error-dealing announcement for the current error condition. In other words, display of the attention-drawing information in the display unit  82  of the PC  70   a  is effective for the user to settle the error. Therefore, in S 22 , the status monitor displays a dialog box  210  (see  FIG. 8 ) presenting the content of the current error information and the error settling information in the display unit  82 .  FIG. 8  illustrates the dialog box  210  including the error settling information, which was transmitted to the MFP  10   a  in S 19  in accordance with the information presented in the dialog box  200  (see  FIG. 7 ). The dialog box  210  presents the content “Ink will run out soon.” in the error information  211  and indication  212 , which describes that the error is being handled. Further, a fixed comment  213  describing “Error-dealing button was pressed on 2009/09/10 17:00. Please wait,” and an additional comment  214 A describing “I will be gone on business trip next week. I will replace the ink cartridges within this week” are displayed. The fixed comment  213  (“Error-dealing button was pressed on &lt;x 2 &gt;. Please wait”) is obtained from the table (see  FIG. 5 ) of the fixed comments, which is stored in the PC status table T 21 , and presented in the dialog box  210 . In this regard, upon display, the variable &lt;x 2 &gt; is replaced with the character string “2009/09/10 17:00,” which is the error-dealing announcement date  103  in the error settling information. Further, the additional comment  214 A is the content of the comment entered in the comment entry box  214  in S 17 . Furthermore, a comment entry box  21413  to enter additional comment  104  is presented so that the user is allowed to enter additional comment  104  in the comment entry box  214 B in S 23 . In S 24 , the status monitor judges as to whether allowance of entry of the additional comment  104  in the comment entry box  214 B is to be terminated. Regardless of the additional comment  104  having been entered in the comment entry box  204  or not, when the status monitor determines that the entry of the additional comment  104  is to be terminated (S 24 : YES), in S 25 , the status monitor terminates acceptance of the additional comment  104  and transmits the entered additional comment  104  (if any), which is to be included in the error settling information, to the MFP  10   a.    
     In S 13 , if the error information indicates a critical error condition (S 13 : YES), and in S 15 , if the error-dealing announcement has been made for the critical error condition (S 15 : YES), in S 26 , the status monitor the status monitor displays a dialog box  220  (see  FIG. 9 ) with the content of the error information and the error settling information in the display unit  82  of the PC  70   a . In the dialog box  220 , the content of the error information  221  (i.e., “Out of paper.”) and indication  222 , which describes that the error is being handled, are presented. Further, a fixed comment  223  describing “Error is handled by” and an additional comment  224 A describing “No paper in stock. I will fill the paper when arrives.” are displayed. The fixed comment  223  (“Error is handled by &lt;x 1 &gt;.”) is obtained from the table (see  FIG. 5 ) stored in the PC status table T 21  and presented with the variable &lt;x 1 &gt; being replaced with a name identified by the participant ID  102  in the error settling information. Furthermore, a comment entry box  224 B to enter additional comment  104  is presented so that the user is allowed to enter additional comment  104  in the comment entry box  224 B in S 27 . The additional comment  224 A is content of a comment entered in the comment entry box  214 B in S 27  in a preceding status-monitoring operation by a user having the participant ID  102  which appears in the fixed comment  223 . In S 28 , the status monitor judges as to whether allowance of entry of the additional comment  104  in the comment entry box  214 B is to be terminated. Regardless of the additional comment  104  having been entered in the comment entry box  204  or not, when the status monitor determines that the entry of the additional comment  104  is to be terminated (S 28 : YES), in S 25 , the status monitor terminates acceptance of the additional comment  104  and transmits the entered additional comment  104  (if any), which is to be included in the error settling information, to the MFP  10   a.    
     The dialog box  220  containing the critical error information is displayed in the display units  82  of all the PCs  70   a ,  70   b ,  70   c  in the multi-function system  2  in S 26 . Thus, updates of the error condition are distributed to all the users of the PCs  70   a ,  70   b ,  70   c  in the multi-function system  2 . Further, the comment entry box  224 B in the dialog box  220  provides the users with opportunities to announce error-dealing actions to the other users so that all the users are notified of the error-dealing actions having been taken effectively. 
     In the above operation flow, prior to the transmission of the additional comment  104  in S 25 , the status monitor may judge as to whether entry of the additional comment  104  is detected, so that the entered additional comment is transmitted to the MFP  10   a  when the entry is detected. When entry of the additional comment  104  is not detected, the transmitting behavior in S 25  may be omitted. 
     In S 20 , the status monitor activates a timer, and when a predetermined time period elapses ( 520 : YES), the flow returns to S 11  and repeats the status-monitoring behaviors. 
     Next, behaviors of the MFP  10   a  in the multi-function system  2  according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a flow of behaviors of the MFP  10   a  to be monitored by the status monitor in the PC  70   a.    
     When the operation flow starts, in S 41 , the MFP  10   a  judges as to whether an inquiry from the PC  70   a  is received. When the inquiry is received (S 41 : YES), in S 42 , the MFP  10   a  transmits status information to the PC  70   a . In  842 , when the status information includes error information, the MFP  10   a  transmits the error information as well. Further, when error settling information corresponding to the error information is stored in the MFP status table T 11 , the MFP  10   a  obtains the error settling information and transmits the error settling information as well. If the error settling information is not stored in the MFP status table T 11  (S 43 : NO), in S 44 , the MFP  10   a  waits for error settling information to be transmitted from the PC  70   a . When no error settling information is received (S 44 : NO), the MFP  10   a  repeats S 44 . When the error settling information is received (S 44 : YES), in S 45 , the MFP  10   a  stores the received error settling information in the table (see  FIG. 6 ) stored in the MFP status table T 11 , which contains the error information  101  and the error settling information to be associated with each other. In S 43 , if the MFP status table T 11  stores the error settling information corresponding to the status information transmitted to the PC  70   a  in S 42 , i.e., the status information transmitted to the PC  70   a  in S 42  included the error settling information (S 43 : YES), the flow proceeds to S 46 . In S 46 , the MFP  10   a  waits for the additional comment  104  to be transmitted from the PC  70   a . When no additional comment  104  is received (S 46 : NO), the flow repeats S 46 . When the additional comment  104  is received (S 46 : YES), in S 47 , the MFP  10   a  stores the received additional comment  104  in the table (see  FIG. 6 ) stored in the MFP status table T 11 , which contains the error information  101  and the error settling information to be associated with each other. Thus, the table in the MFP status table T 11  is updated. 
     The above flow assumes that either the error settling information is transmitted from the PC  70   a  (S 44 : YES) or the additional comment  104  is transmitted from the PC  70   a  (S 46 : YES). However, the MFP  10   a  may receive an inquiry from the PC  70   a  whilst the MFP  10   a  is waiting for the error settling information (S 44 : NO) or the additional comment  104  (S 46 : NO). In order to handle such situation, the judgment in S 41  may be made preferentially over the judgments in S 44  and S 46 . That is, when the MFP  10   a  receives an inquiry from the PC  70   a  (S 41 : YES) whilst the MFP  10   a  is waiting for the error settling information (S 44 : NO) or the additional comment  104  (S 46 : NO), the MFP  10   a  may abort the judgment in S 44  or S 46 , and the flow may proceed to S 42 . 
     When the MFP  10   a  recognizes the error is settled, the MFP  10   a  may remove the error information from the RAM  90  so that the error information describing the error condition having been settled is prevented from being included in the status information to be transmitted to the PC  70   a . Further, the error settling information associated with the error information describing the settled error condition may be removed from the table (see  FIG. 6 ) stored in the MFP status table T 11  so that the error settling information associated with the settled error can be prevented from being transmitted in S 42  (see  FIG. 3 ). 
     According to the operations in the above embodiment, when the error information indicating an untreated error condition is obtained, the dialog box  200  (see  FIG. 7 ) including the content of the error information  201  and the error-dealing button  202  is displayed so that the users viewing the dialog box  200  can participate in an error-dealing action and announce the participation in the error-dealing action. When the user presses the error-dealing button  202 , the error settling information being in association with the error information, representing the participant ID  102  and the error-dealing announcement date  103 , is transmitted to the MFP  10   a  to be stored in the MFP status table T 11 . Accordingly, the error conditions occurring in the MFPs  10  can be recognized on basis of the MFP  10 , and the PCs  70  dealing with the error conditions can be identified on basis of the MFP  10 . 
     When the error occurring in the MFP  10   a  is a less critical error, which does not necessarily require urgent error-dealing actions, and once error-dealing announcement is made, the subsequent error information is delivered solely to the PC  70   a  which announced the error-dealing action (S 21 : YES). As shown in the dialog box  210  (see  FIG. 8 ), which is presented solely to the PC  70   a  having made the error-dealing announcement, the error information and the error settling information subsequent from the error-dealing announcement are delivered solely to the user of the PC  70   a  having made the error-dealing announcement. Accordingly, the attention-drawing indication can be effectively delivered to the user who participated in the error-dealing action. 
     Meanwhile, when the error occurring in the MFP  10   a  is a critical error, which requires urgent error-dealing actions, the error information and the error settling information, including the subsequent error information and the error settling information, are delivered to all the PCs  70  in the multi-function system  2 . Accordingly, the attention-drawing indication for the urgent error-dealing actions can be effectively delivered to all the users. 
     According to the above embodiment, the fixed comments for the possible error conditions are prepared; therefore, effective messages can be delivered to the users along with the error information. Further, the PCs  70  can accept the additional arbitrary comments from the user so that the comments which may reflect personal circumstances of the users can be delivered to the other users. 
     Although an example of carrying out the invention has been described, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the a computer readable storage medium containing computer readable instructions, an information displaying device, and a communication device that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. It is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or act described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. 
     For example, the present invention may be similarly effectively applied to a communication system having solely one MFP  10 . 
     In the above embodiment, the status and conditions of the MFP  10  are monitored by the PC  70 ; however, the PC  70  may monitor status and conditions of, for example, a printer device, a facsimile machine, a scanner device, and other communication device capable of communicating with the PC  70 . 
     Further, in the above embodiment, communication within the multi-function system  2  is established on the basis of the LAN  4 . However, a topology of the communication may not necessarily the LAN  4 , as long as the devices within the multi-function system  2  are communicate with one another. 
     Furthermore, in the above embodiment, when one of the PCs  70  announces to handle the error condition in response to the error information, the identifier of the PC  70  is used as the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102  to be included in the error settling information. However, the user&#39;s personal ID may be used as the participant ID &lt;x 1 &gt;  102  when, for example, a plurality of users share a single PC  70 .