Patent ID: 7043393

Claim:
A method for configuring a measurement device, comprising: a server computer receiving one or more requirements for a measurement task to be performed by a measurement system over a wide area network (WAN), wherein the one or more requirements are provided in response to input from a user; the server computer determining one or more measurement devices in response to said one or more requirements, wherein the one or more measurement devices are operable to perform the measurement task; the server computer determining one or more software products in response to said one or more requirements, wherein the determined one or more software products are usable in performing at least a portion of the measurement task; determining if the user does not have at least one of the determined one or more measurement devices by: determining installed measurement devices in the measurement system; comparing the determined installed measurement devices to the determined one or more measurement devices to determine if the at least one measurement device is not installed in the measurement system; if the user does not have the at least one measurement device: providing information indicating the at least one measurement device of said one or more measurement devices and at least one software product of said one or more software products to a manufacturer in response to said determining; the manufacturer configuring the at least one measurement device with the at least one software product to produce at least one configured measurement device, wherein the at least one configured measurement device is operable to perform at least a portion of the measurement task; and the manufacturer sending the configured at least one measurement device to the user.