Patent ID: 7970838

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by a mail relay server, a command electronic message from a requestor, said command electronic message specifying an operation to be performed by a target printing device in order to service said target printing device; decoding, by said mail relay server, said command electronic message in order to produce and issue, to a service manager server, a command for performing said operation; checking, by said service manager server, that said requestor is authorized to issue said command for performing said operation to said target printing device without requiring said requestor to log on to said service manager server; when said requestor is authorized to issue said command for performing said operation to said target printing device, directing, by said service manager server, said command for performing said operation to a device manager server responsible for managing said target printing device; formatting, by said device manager server, said command for performing said operation to be compatible with said target printing device in order to produce and issue, to said target printing device, an instruction for performing said operation; and executing, by said target printing device, said instruction for performing said operation, said executing of said instruction comprising running, by said target printing device, at least one of a reboot sequence, a diagnostic sequence, and an internal parameter update sequence, wherein said mail relay server, said service manager server, and said target printing device perform said method in a fully automated process that is based solely on said command electronic message and is performed without additional input from users.