Patent ID: 7788712

Claim:
A method for accessing a document-processing device, comprising: receiving, at the document-processing device, a request to access the document-processing device; the document-processing device reading authentication data from an authentication token, wherein the authentication token is a portable physical object associated with a user that issued the request; the document-processing device determining, based on the authentication data, whether the user has sufficient user access privileges to perform the request by: sending, to an authorization server, a request for user access privileges for the user; in response to failing to receive within a specified time a reply to the request for user access privileges for the user, prompting the user to supply additional authentication information, and determining whether the additional authentication information indicates that the user has sufficient user access privileges to complete performance of the request; and upon determining that the user has sufficient user access privileges to perform of the request, the document-processing device performing the request.