Patent ID: 6847994

Claim:
An error informing apparatus included in an Internet facsimile apparatus, the Internet facsimile apparatus connected to a mail server via a LAN, the Internet facsimile apparatus not having an ability to analyze an “Echo reply” packet, the “Echo reply” packet being a response to an “Echo request” packet, the error informing apparatus comprising: a controller configured to transmit a command for an Internet transmission to the mail server, to detect whether a response to the command is received from the mail server, to generate an IP packet including an error message one of when the response to the command is not received for a predetermined time and or when the response to the command is incorrect, and to transmit the IP packet including the error message to a predetermined communication apparatus configured to receive the IP packet, the predetermined communication apparatus being connected to the error informing apparatus via the LAN, the IP packet being the “Echo request” packet which requests the predetermined communication apparatus to transmit the “Echo reply” packet back to the error informing apparatus; the controller being further configured to receive the “Echo reply” packet from the predetermined communication apparatus, the “Echo reply” packet being captured for subsequent analysis by a LAN monitoring analyzing apparatus connected to the error informing apparatus via the LAN.