Patent ID: 7480937

Claim:
An agent device connected with one or more image-forming devices in a local network having a firewall provided therein, comprising: a command receiving unit inside the firewall starting connection with a management device outside the firewall, which carries out remote management of the one or more image-forming devices in the local network through the Internet, and receiving a management command from the management device via the firewall, the management command being sent by the management device in response to said connection, the management command including not only a management command sent to the agent device but also a management command sent to the one or more image forming devices; an image-forming-device communication unit receiving device-state information of a corresponding one of the image-forming devices for the management command received by the command receiving unit; and a command response transmitting unit inside the firewall transmitting the device-state information, received by the image-forming-device communication unit, to the management device outside the firewall through the Internet, wherein the image-forming-device communication unit transmits a device message to the corresponding image-forming device via the local network based on the received management command prior to the execution of the management command, and receives the device-state information from the corresponding image-forming device via the local network as a response to the device message after the execution of the management command, and the device-state information includes at least a setting of operation of the corresponding image-forming device.