Patent ID: 8825835

Claim:
A method for monitoring a plurality of printing devices associated with a local network, the method comprising: providing a removable storage device to a client processor associated with the local network; executing, with the client processor, a computer program stored at least partially on the removable storage device to acquire printer usage data including toner coverage data corresponding to the plurality of printing devices and to apply a scaling algorithm that converts raw value data into a percentage value to the printing device toner coverage data of a printing device that reports toner coverage data in raw value format to be included in the acquired printing device usage data, the acquired printing device usage data being stored on the removable storage device; and providing the removable storage device to a remote processor to analyze the acquired printing device usage data, the remote processor not being associated with the local network, wherein the computer program includes conducting a first audit and a second audit of the printing device usage data, comparing the first audit with the second audit, and flagging a printing device that was present in one audit and absent from the other audit.