Patent Publication Number: US-2015066804-A1

Title: Method and system for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus

Description:
FIELD 
     This invention relates to a method and system for generating a customer satisfaction survey for an image forming apparatus. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The performance of image forming apparatuses including multifunctional printers (MFP) can occasionally be at less than desired. For example, the image forming apparatus can run slow including slow print speed, slow scanning speed, and/or slow warm-up speed. In addition, image forming apparatuses can jam at one or more locations, and/or print quality can include different colors from one print copy to another, collapsed images, extremely light colors on one or more sheets, and/or the image forming apparatus can easily run out of toner. 
     SUMMARY 
     In consideration of the above issues, it would be desirable to have an image forming apparatus, which periodically surveys the user&#39;s satisfaction of the image forming apparatus and adjusts and/or changes the settings of the image forming apparatus based on answers received from a customer satisfaction survey. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the results of the customer satisfaction surveys can be sent to a customer service department associated with the image forming apparatus and/or service vendor for further processing and/or handling. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a method for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus is disclosed, comprising: generating an e-mail on the image forming apparatus addressed to one or more customers, each of the one or more customers having sent at least one print job to the image forming apparatus; forwarding the generated e-mail to the one or more customers, wherein each of the one or more customers is requested to complete a customer satisfaction survey; receiving answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers; tabulating the answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers to determine if the image forming apparatus has one or more complaints associated therewith; selecting a temporary solution for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having a complaint ratio greater than a predetermined ratio; and implementing the temporary solution on the image forming apparatus for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having the complaint ratio greater than the predetermined ratio. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable code embodied therein for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus is disclosed, the computer readable program code configured to execute a process, which includes the steps of: generating an e-mail on the image forming apparatus addressed to one or more customers, each of the one or more customers having sent at least one print job to the image forming apparatus; forwarding the generated e-mail to the one or more customers, wherein each of the one or more customers is requested to complete a customer satisfaction survey; receiving answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers; tabulating the answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers to determine if the image forming apparatus has one or more complaints associated therewith; selecting a temporary solution for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having a complaint ratio greater than a predetermined ratio; and implementing the temporary solution on the image forming apparatus for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having the complaint ratio greater than the predetermined ratio. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, an image forming system is disclosed comprising: one or more client devices, which are operable by one or more customers; and an image forming apparatus connected to the one or more client devices, wherein the image forming apparatus perform the following steps: generating an e-mail on the image forming apparatus addressed to the one or more customers, each of the one or more customers having sent at least one print job to the image forming apparatus; forwarding the generated e-mail to the one or more customers, wherein each of the one or more customers is requested to complete a customer satisfaction survey; receiving answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers; tabulating the answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers to determine if the image forming apparatus has one or more complaints associated therewith; selecting a temporary solution for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having a complaint ratio greater than a predetermined ratio; and implementing the temporary solution on the image forming apparatus for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having the complaint ratio greater than the predetermined ratio. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of an image forming system for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is an illustration of a customer survey request in the form of an e-mail, which is sent from the image forming apparatus to a user in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIGS. 3A-3D  are illustrations of different scenarios for an image forming system in connection with generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is an illustration of an image forming system for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is an illustration of a customer satisfaction survey for an image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a process of sending a customer satisfaction survey from an image forming apparatus to one or more users and/or customers in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a chart illustrating customer and/or user complaints and a corresponding complaint ratio in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a chart illustrating customer and/or user complaints, temporary solutions of the image forming apparatus, and conflicts against other temporary solutions of the image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a chart illustrating customer and/or user complaints and recommendations to a customer service department, if a customer complaint ratio exceeds a predetermined ratio in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; and 
         FIGS. 10A-10H  are an illustration of a chart showing customer complaints, temporary solutions provided by the image forming apparatus, recommendations to a customer service department, conflicts against other temporary solutions of the image forming apparatus, complaint ratio, determination if a temporary solution should be performed or not, and solutions in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is an illustration of an image forming system  100  for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the system  100  includes an image forming apparatus  101 , one or more clients or client devices,  102 ,  103 ,  104 , one or more routers, networking devices and/or hubs  105 , a customer service server  120 , and a customer service client device  121 . The image forming apparatus  101 , the one or more clients  102 ,  103 ,  104 , the one or more routers, networking devices and/or hubs  105 , the customer service server  120 , and the customer service device  121  can be connected via an Internet or network connection  110 ,  111 , such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network). 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, each of the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  includes a processor or central processing unit (CPU), and one or more memories for storing software programs and data (such as files to be printed). The processor or CPU carries out the instructions of a computer program, which operates and/or controls at least a portion of the functionality of the client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104 . Each of the client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104 , also includes an operating system (OS), which manages the computer hardware and provides common services for efficient execution of various software programs. For example, the software programs can include application software and printer driver software. The printer driver software controls the image forming apparatus  101  connected with the client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  in which the printer driver software is installed. In certain embodiments, the printer driver software produces a print job and/or document based on an image and/or document data. In addition, the printer driver software can control transmission of the print job from the client device  102 ,  103 ,  104  to the image forming apparatus  101 . 
     Each of the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  can also include a display in the form of a graphical user interface. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the printer driver software generates a printer driver user interface or graphical user interface in which the user of the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  can provide instructions to the image forming apparatus  101 . In addition, each of the client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  can be configured to receive e-mails  200  ( FIG. 2 ), for example, from the image forming apparatus  101  via the network connection  110 ,  111  and/or wireless technology including but not limited to radio frequency (RF) and/or infrared (IR) transmission. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the users of the client device  102 ,  103 ,  104  receive the e-mails  200  generated by the image forming apparatus  101 , which can include a customer survey  500  ( FIG. 5 ) requesting information in connection with the performance of the image forming apparatus  101  as disclosed herein. Examples of client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  can include and are not limited to personal computers, routers, image forming apparatuses, and/or personal digital assistants (PDAs). 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus  101  is preferably in the form of an industrial image forming apparatus or multi-functional printer connected to the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104 . The one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  can be configured to submit print jobs to the image forming apparatus (printer or printing device)  101  by transmitting data representing the documents to be printed and information describing the print job. The image forming apparatus (for example, printer/printing device)  101  can include a printer controller (or firmware), a memory section preferably in the form of a hard disk drive (HDD), an image processing section (or data dispatcher), a print engine, and an input/output (I/O) section. 
     The controller of the image forming apparatus  101  can include a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), and a read only memory (ROM). The central processing unit can be configured to execute a sequence of stored instructions (e.g., a computer program). It can be appreciated that the controller also includes an operating system (OS), which acts as an intermediary between the software programs and hardware components within the image forming apparatus  101 . The operating system (OS) manages the computer hardware and provides common services for efficient execution of various application software. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the controller processes the data and job information received from the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  to generate a print image. 
     The image processing section carries out image processing under the control of the controller, and sends the processed print image data to the print engine. The image processing section is preferably capable of processing multiple print jobs or sub-jobs in parallel and independently. For instance, the image processing section can include a CPU that contains multiple cores therein to realize the multiple RIP modules explained in detail later. The CPU used constituting a part of the controller can be commonly used for the image processing section. The print engine forms an image on a recording sheet based on the image data sent from the image processing section. The I/O section performs data transfer with the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104 . The controller is programmed to process data and control various other components of the image forming apparatus or printer to carry out the various methods described herein. The hard disk drive (HDD) or storage device stores digital data and/or software programs for recall by the controller. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the digital data includes resources, which can include graphics/images, logos, form overlays, fonts, etc. 
     The input/output (I/O) port provides communications between the printer section and the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  and receives page descriptions (or print data) from the host for processing within the image forming apparatus  101 . In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the operation of printer section commences when it receives a page description from the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104  via I/O port in the form of a print job data stream. The page description may be any kind of page description languages (PDLs), such as PostScript® (PS), Printer Control Language (PCL), Portable Document Format (PDF), XML Paper Specification (XPS), and so on. 
     Examples of an image forming apparatus  101  consistent with exemplary embodiments include, but are not limited to, a laser beam printer (LBP), a multifunction peripherals (MFP), a multifunction laser beam printer including copy function, an ink jet printer (IJP), a thermal printer (e.g., a dye sublimation printer) and a silver halide printer. For example, the image forming apparatus can be a color printer or a black and white (B/W) printer. 
     Examples of the networks  110 ,  111  consistent with embodiments include, but are not limited to, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN). Alternatively, the Internet or network connection  110 ,  111 , which connects the image forming apparatus  101 , the one or more client devices  102 ,  103 ,  104 , the customer service server  120 , and the customer service device  121  can be a wire (or cable) and/or wireless technology including but not limited to radio frequency (RF) and/or infrared (IR) transmission. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, each of the customer service server  120  and the customer service device  121  include a processor or central processing unit (CPU), one or more memories for storing software programs and data (such as files to be printed). The processor or CPU carries out the instructions of a computer program, which operates and/or controls at least a portion of the functionality of the customer service server  120  and/or customer service device  121 . The customer service server  120  and customer service device  121  can also include an operating system (OS), which manages the computer hardware and provides common services for efficient execution of various software programs. 
       FIG. 2  is an illustration of a customer survey request in the form of an e-mail (or electronic mail)  200 , which is sent from the image forming apparatus  101  to at least one user in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The customer or user preferably receives the e-mail  200  on a hosted e-mail server, which can be read via an e-mail account on a client device  102 ,  103 ,  104 . The client device  102 ,  103 ,  104  is not limited to personal computers as shown, but can include personal computers and/or personal digital assistants (PDAs). In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus  101  preferably hosts within the image forming apparatus  101 , the e-mail addresses of user and/or customers. In addition, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus  101  preferably has an e-mail address of each of the users associated with print jobs. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the e-mail  200  can include a sender (e.g., e-mail address of sender)  201 , a recipient (e.g., e-mail address of recipient)  202 , an optional e-mail address for additional recipients (e.g., “cc”)  203 , a subject line  204 , and a body or text portion  205  of the e-mail  200 . The body or text portion  205  of the e-mail  200  can include a greeting (e.g., “Dear Sir and Madam”) and an invitation or request to the user and/or customer to complete a brief online customer satisfaction survey  206 . For example, the body of the e-mail  205  can include a request from the image forming apparatus  101  (or MFP), which reads “MFP #1 now invites you to complete a brief online customer satisfaction survey. The survey takes about 3 minutes to complete and the results are used in change of MFP setting to mitigate customer&#39;s patience, and our ongoing efforts to improve our products and services.” The body of the e-mail  205  can also include a due date  208 , the request  206 , for example, “Please click here to begin survey” having a click through  207  to the customer satisfaction survey, and a closing  209 , for example, “Thank you for your time and thoughts!” 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the click through  207  preferably connects the user and/or customer on a client device  102 ,  103 ,  104  or a personal digital assistant (not shown) to the image forming apparatus  101 , which hosts the customer satisfaction survey. It can be appreciated that the customer satisfaction survey can be hosted on the image forming apparatus  101 , the customer service server  120  and/or a remote server (not shown). In addition, the e-mail  200  can include a “HELP” link, which can answer questions for the customer and/or user in connection with the customer satisfaction survey and/or provide a link for customers and/or users to be removed from future survey requests. 
       FIGS. 3A-3D  are illustrations of different scenarios  300 ,  301 ,  302 ,  304  for an image forming system  100  in connection with generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus  101 . As shown in  FIG. 3A , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus  101  can be configured to send a survey request  300  via e-mail  200  to all users and/or customers of the image forming apparatus  101 . In  FIG. 3B , the image forming apparatus  101  can be configured to send the survey request  301  via e-mail  200  to some and/or portion but less than all of the users (or employees), which for example, can be selected at random. In  FIG. 3C , the image forming apparatus  101  sends the survey request  302  via e-mail  200  to only an administrator. In  FIG. 3D , the customer and/or the administrator can disable the survey function  304  on the image forming apparatus  101 . 
       FIG. 4  is an illustration of an image forming system  400  for generating a customer satisfaction survey for an image forming apparatus  101  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment as shown in  FIG. 4 , the image forming apparatus  101  manages a customer satisfaction survey web page  500  ( FIG. 5 ). The customer satisfaction survey web page  500  can be created and/or hosted by the image forming apparatus  101 . Alternatively, the customer satisfaction survey web page  500  can be hosted by the customer service server  120 , the customer service device  121 , and/or a remoter server (not shown). 
       FIG. 5  is an illustration of a customer satisfaction survey  500  for an image forming apparatus  101  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the customer satisfaction survey  500  can include one or more questions, regarding the performance of certain features of the image forming apparatus  101 . For example, the customer satisfaction survey  500  can include one or more of the following questions about the performance of the image forming apparatus: “Please choose your complaint about MFP#1 from the following features and/or components: (Multiple answers allowed)”, for example, the features and/or components can include (1) operation of the image forming apparatus is slow, which can be related to controller processing, engine processing, and/or alternatively, no problem  510 ; (2) paper jams including a touch screen to identifying one or more locations where the paper jams are occurring  520 ; (3) printing image problems, for example, color extremely different, color extremely light, image collapsed, and/or no problems with the printed images  530 ; (4) tonner running out easily including cyan/magenta/yellow toner, black toner and/or no problem  540 ; and (5) other  550 . The customer satisfaction survey  500  can also include an “ALL CLEAR” button  560  and/or “SUBMIT” button  570 . 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a process  600  of sending a customer satisfaction survey  500  from an image forming apparatus  101  to one or more users and/or customers  102 ,  103 ,  104  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 6 , in step  601 , the image forming apparatus  101  determines if it is time to perform a customer satisfaction survey. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the customer satisfaction survey can be sent periodically and/or randomly upon certain events occurring within the image forming apparatus  101 . For example, the image forming apparatus  101  can be configured to send the customer satisfaction survey after a certain number of print jobs, a certain number of printed pages, and/or a set time period since the last customer satisfaction survey was sent. If the answer is yes, i.e., it is time to perform and/or conduct the customer satisfaction survey, in step  602 , the image forming apparatus  101  checks the e-mail settings, and confirms the identity of each user and/or recipient to whom the image forming apparatus  101  should forward an e-mail with a request to conduct the customer satisfaction survey. If the answer is no, i.e., it is not time to conduct the periodic customer satisfaction survey, the process goes back to step  601  for another determination at a later date and/or time. In step  603 , the image forming apparatus generates a customer satisfaction survey e-mail and sends the request in the form of an e-mail to one or more customers and/or users. At the time the survey request is sent, a survey due date can be set by the image forming apparatus  101 , which is preferably a date in which answers to the survey are due back to the image forming apparatus  101 . 
     In step  604 , a determination is made if the due date has been reached, i.e., “is it the end of the due date of customer satisfaction survey?” If the answer to step  604  is yes, the process continues to step  607 , where the image forming apparatus  101  determines, if the number of customers who answered more than a certain number. If the answer to step  604  is no, in step  605 , the image forming apparatus determines if the image forming apparatus received any answers from customers via the web survey page. If the answer to step  605  is no, the process returns to step  604 . If the answer is yes, in step  606 , the image forming apparatus tallies or tabulates the number of customers whose complaints were received in response to each of the survey questions. 
     In step  607 , if the number of customers and/or users who answered the customer survey is greater than a predetermined number, the process continues onward to step  608 . If the number of customers and/or users who have answered the customer survey is less than a predetermined number, the process returns to step  601 . In step  608 , from the customer survey results, the image forming apparatus  101  tabulates based on the survey results (or items), which customer and/or user&#39;s complaints have been received in excess of a predetermined number and/or percentage of total complaints and/or a total number of surveys received with and without complaints. For example, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, any customer and/or user complaints greater than 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, or 30% can be identified as a customer complaint in which a temporary solution should be applied to the image forming apparatus  101 . In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the temporary solution can mitigate the complaint until a more permanent solution can be implemented on the image forming apparatus  101 . In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, for example, if the number of customer complaints exceeds a defined number of complaints, the image forming apparatus  101  can be configured to implement a temporary solution as disclosed herein. 
     In step  609 , the image forming apparatus  101  refers to a “temporary solution table”  830  ( FIG. 8 ), which is hosted on the image forming apparatus  101  and/or on the customer service server  120  for customer complaints in excess of a predetermined number, for example, 30%. The temporary solution table  830  preferably includes one or more temporary solutions for the one or more complaints identified by the answers to the customer satisfaction survey, and image forming apparatus  101  selects the temporary solution to be implemented on the image forming apparatus  101 . 
     In step  610 , the image forming apparatus  101 , checks to determine if there is any conflicts between the temporary solutions for the customer and/or user complaints, and the process proceeds to step  611 . In step  611 , the image forming apparatus  101  determines if there are any conflicts between the temporary solutions. If there are no conflicts between the temporary solutions, the process continues to step  613 , where the image forming apparatus  101  performs or implements the temporary solution as selected on the image forming apparatus, which the image forming apparatus has chosen from the temporary solution table. If there is a conflict between the temporary solutions, in step  612 , the image forming apparatus  101  implements the temporary solution which has the higher complaint ratio. 
     In step  614 , for complaints which temporary solutions have been implemented, the image forming apparatus  101  refers to the “recommendation table” and sends recommendation information to the customer service server  120  and/or customer service provider  121  associated with the image forming apparatus  101 . In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the recommendation information is based on the temporary solution, which was selected by the image forming apparatus  101  from the “temporary solution table”. The recommendation information can be sent upon implementation of any changes to the image forming apparatus  101  based on the customer and/or user&#39;s complaints, and/or the recommendation information can be send periodically at set times or intervals. In step  615 , the process returns to the start, step  601 . 
       FIG. 7  is a chart  700  illustrating customer and/or user complaints and a corresponding complaint ratio in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the customer complaints  710  can include: slowness associated with processing of print jobs associated with the image forming apparatus  712 , paper jams (i.e., “jam happens”)  714 , image problems  716 , toner running out easily  718 , and other (i.e., other problems)  720 . For example, the slowness of the image forming apparatus  101  can include problems associated with controller or processing speed associated with the processing of the print jobs and/or engine processing, for example, delays in the print engine becoming operational, for example, slowness in reaching an operational status, for example, from a sleep mode. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, jamming of the image forming apparatus (i.e., “jam happens”)  714  can include paper jams occurring within and/or associated with a multi-purpose tray, tray 1, tray 2, a duplex unit, and/or a fuser unit. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the image problems  716  can include color extremely different, image collapsed, and/or color extremely light. For example, the toner running out easily can include cyan/magenta/yellow toner and/or black toner. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the customer satisfaction survey results (and/or complaint ratios)  730  can be expressed as a percentage of total complaints. 
       FIG. 8  is a chart  800  illustrating customer and/or user complaints  810 , a temporary solution table  830  for the image forming apparatus, and conflicts against other temporary solutions  840  of the image forming apparatus in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the chart  800  includes customer and/or user&#39;s complaints  810 , a table of temporary solutions  830 , and a listing conflicts against other solutions  840  within the image forming apparatus. For example, for customer&#39;s complaints  810  for the image forming apparatus  101 , which complain that the image forming apparatus  101  is running slow  812 , the solutions related to the controller processing and engine processing can include changing image resolution to a lower resolution, changing process priority in image core technology from “quality” to “speed” (for example, from APPE to CPSI), and/or changing and/or disabling power save mode at a certain time. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, paper jams (or “jam happens”)  814 , for example, can occur within the multi-purpose tray, tray 1, tray 2, the duplex unit, and/or the fuser unit. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, solutions to paper jams can include slowing the paper feed speed, for example, in the multi-purpose tray, slowing the paper feed speed in tray 1, slowing the paper feed in tray 2, slowing the paper feed speed in the duplex unit and/or slowing the paper feed speed in the fuser unit. 
     The image problems  816  can include extremely different colors, images which are collapsed, and/or color extremely light colors on printed images and/or printed documents. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, solutions can include changing process priority in image core technology from “speed” to “quality”, for example, from CPSI to APPE; and/or changing color calibration frequency, for example, from 1 time per each 1000 sheets printed to 1 time per each 500 sheets printed; changing image compression method from high compression to low compression; and/or disabling a toner save mode. 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, for example, for the toner running out easily  818 , the solutions can include changing black paint method from “composite black” to “pure black”; and/or enabling a toner save mode. In addition, the customer complaints  810  can include “others”  820 , which are not identified in the list of complaints as identified on the customer satisfaction survey. 
       FIG. 9  is a chart  900  illustrating customer and/or user complaints  910  and recommendations to a customer service department, if customer complaint ratio exceeds a predetermined ratio  920  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the customer service department is associated with the image forming apparatus and/or a vendor contracted to provide service to the image forming apparatus  101 . In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, for example, if the customer complaint ratio exceeds a predetermined ratio, the recommendations  920  can include: (1) contacting the customer to check memory and HDD on controller board, and recommending the customer to add more memory  922 ; (2) contacting the customer to check if there is anything wrong in the fuser unit  924 ; (3) sending a service technician to the customer to check if paper feed rollers are worn out  926 ; (4) sending a service technician to the customer to check the fuser unit  928 ; (5) sending a service technician to the customer to determine the type or kind of image problems  930 ; and/or (6) contacting the customer to obtain what kind of toner problem the user is experiencing  932 . 
       FIG. 10  is an illustration of a chart  1000  showing customer complaints  1010 , temporary solutions provided by the image forming apparatus  1020 , recommendations to a customer service department  1030 , conflicts against other temporary solutions of the image forming apparatus  1040 , complaint ratio  1050 , determination if a temporary solution is performed or not  1060 , and solutions  1070  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the image forming apparatus  101  judges if the temporary solution should be performed (or not)  1060 , for example, complaint ratio greater than 30%, and a corresponding solution  1070 . 
     In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer readable code embodied therein for generating a customer survey for an image forming apparatus, the computer readable program code configured to execute a process, which includes the steps of: generating an e-mail on the image forming apparatus addressed to one or more customers, each of the one or more customers having sent at least one print job to the image forming apparatus; forwarding the generated e-mail to the one or more customers, wherein each of the one or more customers is requested to complete a customer satisfaction survey; receiving answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers; tabulating the answers to the customer satisfaction survey from the one or more customers to determine if the image forming apparatus has one or more complaints associated therewith; selecting a temporary solution for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having a complaint ratio greater than a predetermined ratio; and implementing a temporary solution on the image forming apparatus for each of the one or more complaints on the image forming apparatus having the complaint ratio greater than the predetermined ratio. 
     The non-transitory computer usable medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optic recording medium, or any other recording medium which will be developed in future, all of which can be considered applicable to the present invention in all the same way. Duplicates of such medium including primary and secondary duplicate products and others are considered equivalent to the above medium without doubt. Furthermore, even if an embodiment of the present invention is a combination of software and hardware, it does not deviate from the concept of the invention at all. The present invention may be implemented such that its software part has been written onto a recording medium in advance and will be read as required in operation. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variation can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.