Patent ID: 7720758

Claim:
A method for managing bills issued from applications service providers (ASPs) at a document manager server remote from the ASPs, comprising: receiving a request to store a document from a remote user via a network interface at the document manager server; receiving said document, an access level corresponding to said document and a document type corresponding to said document from said remote user via said network interface at said document manager server; storing, at a memory of the document manager server, management information corresponding to the ASPs and said remote user, wherein said management information includes a table identifying a document type corresponding to each of said ASPs; automatically selecting, by said document manager server, an ASP to store said document based on said document type by consulting the table included in the stored management information corresponding to the ASPs and selecting an ASP identified in said table as corresponding to said document type; generating, by said document manager server, an ASP service request corresponding to said selected ASP; forwarding said ASP service request, said access level corresponding to said document and said document to said selected ASP via said network interface of said document manager server; receiving, at said network interface of said document manager server, a service bill from said ASP, said service bill including fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document; and incorporating, by said document manager server, said service bill into a unified bill corresponding to said remote user that includes charges incurred at other ASPs in addition to said fees assessed by said selected ASP corresponding to storing said document and issuing said unified bill to said remote user via said network interface of said document manager server.