Patent ID: 7321867

Claim:
A method for providing users with potential supplier information for obtaining supplies for image forming equipment, to facilitate an informed choice for ordering supplies, said method comprising: (a) storing in a computer database supplier information regarding potential suppliers, the supplier information for each potential supplier including information indicative of supplies available from the supplier, and for each of said available supplies, suitable equipment information indicative of specific image forming equipment that can use the available supply; (b) receiving at a service center computer transmitted status information of user-side image forming equipment, said status information including information identifying the user-side image forming equipment and information indicative of status of selected supplies for the user-side image forming equipment; (c) automatically analyzing, without request by a user, through the service center computer, when the status information regarding the user-side image forming equipment is received at the service center computer, (i) the status information regarding the user-side image forming equipment and the selected supplies for the user-side image forming equipment and (ii) the supplier information including available supplies information and suitable equipment information retrieved from the database, to identify one or more appropriate ones of the potential suppliers, the service center computer utilizing the available supplies information and suitable equipment information to determine that a supplier is appropriate if the supplies needed by the user-side image forming equipment are available from the appropriate supplier; and (d) transmitting to the user side, contact information of the appropriate suppliers and information regarding price for specific supplies available from the appropriate suppliers, said contact information and price information being retrieved from said computer database.