Patent ID: 7225168

Claim:
A method of providing a customer with a service by a service provider, comprising: providing a plurality of technical devices, the plurality of technical devices configured to be interconnected to form at least part of a technical installation; enabling the plurality of technical devices to acquire operating data of the technical installation; enabling at least one of the plurality of technical devices to be accessed remotely; providing the customer with the plurality of technical devices; setting up and interconnecting the plurality of technical devices; operating the technical installation including the plurality of technical devices; acquiring the operating data of the technical installation by the plurality of technical devices during operation of the technical installation; encrypting the acquired operating data and storing the encrypted operating data in an operation database assigned to at least one of the plurality of technical devices, wherein only the service provider has exclusive access to the stored encrypted operating data by applying a decryption key for decrypting the stored encrypted operating data; requesting a service activity related to at least one component of the technical installation by the customer; setting up a remote connection between a service center to the at least one of the plurality of technical device enabled to be accessed remotely, retrieving at least part of the encrypted operating data from the operation database; decrypting the retrieved operating data by the service provider using the decryption key, and providing the customer with the service activity based on the decrypted operating data.