Patent ID: 8190791

Claim:
An image forming apparatus that is connected to a device managing apparatus via a network, the image forming apparatus comprising: a storing unit to store at least one status of the image forming apparatus; a status acquiring unit to acquire a current status of the image forming apparatus; a status estimating unit to estimate an estimated status that is a status of the image forming apparatus after expiration of a time interval from the current status of the image forming apparatus, the estimated status based on the current status and a status stored in the storing unit prior to the current status; and a status transmitting unit to transmit, to the device managing apparatus, the current status, the estimated status, a failed estimated status, and the time interval, wherein the storing unit is configured to store status change data in which a plurality of different current statuses, estimated statuses, failed estimated statuses, and time intervals are associated with each other, and the status estimating unit is configured to estimate the estimated status and the failed estimated status based on the current status and the status change data.