EP0986029B1 - Method for controlling the consumption of franking machines - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to the field of treatment of mail and more particularly it relates to a process for controlling consumption of franking machines.

Prior art

We know that a control of the consumption of franking machines is essential, both on the part of the user client, who must answer the value of the ascending or descending counter (called also billing index) in order to fill in a consumption slip usually sent monthly to the Postal Administration, that from an agent of this administration who must travel to check the veracity of this index against the slips received.

However, this statement becomes particularly delicate when it comes to manage a large fleet of postage meters.

It is known in particular from patent EP 0 208 231 to delete these manual readings by connecting the franking machine, through the network telephone, to a specialized computer server managed by the Administration Post office or the dealer of this franking machine. So, the administration or the concessionaire being constantly informed of the indexes different machines, the user client no longer needs to fill in daily consumption slips and only one agent of this administration moves to check its accuracy. In in addition, this permanent connection generally allows recharging at distance from the authorized postage amount.

However, this connection to a server does not allow the user to have a global or even local overview of the management of its fleet and in particular it is not possible for him to know, at a given instant, the state indexes of the different machines without reading these at the level of each machine as the state of the corresponding statistics. Furthermore, such external connection to a remote server is only possible with machines electronic postage meter. Out, it exists today on the only French territory over 100,000 electromechanical franking machines which do not have this possibility of connection to a remote computer server. It is known from the application EP O 475 780 to interpose a microcomputer between the telephone network and the franking machines. However, such an installation requires a software modification of all connected franking machines.

Object and definition of the invention

Also, the essential object of the present invention is a method of control of the consumption of franking machines in particular suitable for the management of a motley fleet of machines and which does not require direct link with a computer server. An object of the invention is to propose a process for controlling the consumption of a fleet of machines franking that is both flexible and easy to use while allowing consistent management for the user client. Another object of the invention is secure the exchange of information with postal administration. Yet another object of the invention is to allow to the Postal Administration more precise monitoring and control of operations postage made by the user client.

These goals are achieved by a consumption control process a plurality of franking machines connected directly to a network communication audience itself connected to a remote management server, minus an autonomous franking machine not being connected to this network, characterized in that first of all, by means of at least one terminal supervision directly connected to the communication network regardless of any other connection to the at least one machine autonomous franking or to the so-called connected franking machines, we establishes a connection with the management server through the public network remote according to a determined communication protocol, and then we performs a data exchange between the terminal and the server during from which the user enters a current index of billing relating to the at least one self-contained franking machine and receives in return a postage authorization code to validate the subsequent postage from the at least one postage meter autonomous. The communication protocol used to establish a connection with the remote server is either a Videotex protocol, for example the teletel protocol, ie a TCP / IP type protocol.

Thus, by this single user dialogue with a Videotext server or the Internet of the Postal Administration or the dealer, without going by the franking machine, it is possible to ensure management perfectly consistent and simple from a fleet of postage meters totally heterogeneous; stricter surveillance of postal traffic including more rigorous control of the index entered by the user is in addition obtained, as well as a better security of the exchanges of information data.

The data exchange step includes a data entry step the user of an identifier including at least one password or personal identification number and a display step, at the terminal supervision, on the one hand, of a list of printheads associated with said plurality of user franking machines, and on the other hand, for each print head, a last billing index validated by the server.

Advantageously, the postage authorization code contains information relating to a maximum amount of credit or consumption and a postage period authorized. It is further obtained by calculation notably from said current billing index and / or the serial number of a printhead, which provides control easy and automatic index entered by the user, making unnecessary the travel of a representative from the postal administration to the site control.

Brief description of the drawings

• la figure 1 illustre un exemple de configuration d'un parc de machines à affranchir,
• la figure 2 explicite le procédé selon l'invention régissant les échanges entre un terminal et un serveur distant, et
• la figure 3 montre une machine à affranchir permettant la mise en oeuvre du procédé de la figure 2.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the following description, given by way of non-limiting illustration, with reference to the appended drawings in which

• FIG. 1 illustrates an example of configuration of a fleet of franking machines,
• FIG. 2 explains the method according to the invention governing the exchanges between a terminal and a remote server, and
• FIG. 3 shows a franking machine enabling the method of FIG. 2 to be implemented.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

An example of configuration of a franking machine fleet of a user is shown in figure 1. This park is located for example on two different production sites. On a first site S1 is available a single electronic franking machine 10 connected by a modem 12 to a public communications network, for example the network dial-up telephone or digital network (PSTN / ISDN 40). On a second S2 site, separate from the first, five machines are available postage, three electronic type and two traditional machines electromechanical. The electronic machines 20, 22, 24 are for example connected to an internal network 26 which has common access to the network public 40 by a modem 28 while the two traditional machines 30, 32, on the contrary, are isolated from this network and operate autonomous.

The user's different franking machines are under the monitoring of a computer server responsible for managing the fleet of franking machines and located remotely from these production sites in the premises A of the Postal Administration or at the dealer of machines. This server 50 is conventionally connected by a means of communication to a network (of the PSTN / ISDN / X25 type), for example by a modem 52 to the public network 40.

According to the invention, at least one supervision terminal 60 is provided. connected to the public network by a modem 62 (which is preferably integrated into the terminal) and providing the user with input and visualization of information necessary for the management of its fleet of overcome. This terminal is advantageously located on a site of production near traditional machines without connection to public network. Of course, several terminals having access to the same information can be arranged on the same site or on sites different according to the needs of the user. The terminal is connected with the server by means of a videotex protocol (for example the protocol known as “Teletel”) or a so-called TCP / IP protocol through an Internet browser using a specific process which will now be explained with reference to FIG. 2 and which shows the different stages of connecting terminal 60 to the park user franking machines with server 50 of the Postal Administration (or dealer of these machines).

After making the connection with the server (connection to “Minitel” service or on the server's website), a home page appears on the terminal screen. In a first step 100, the user is prompted to enter their terminal identifier on the terminal keyboard, which may consist of a customer name and password or personal identification number (PINE). If these references are correct, the server displays at the terminal, in a next step 110, the complete list of printheads (electronic and traditional) in possession of the user (on all of these sites or possibly on a given site if the user made the request) with for each of them at the same time the last index of billing previously validated by the server and the current index (entry previous) with its corresponding entry date. Otherwise the user is invited to renew his identification (note that in the event of repeated failures the connection to the server is automatically broken and a call to the Service After Sale is then necessary to restore the service). Step 110 can also optionally include a display step at the terminal supervision, a selectable plurality of tables and / or statistical graphical representations related to this top list printing.

In a step 120, the user selects a first head traditional print which he wishes to update the index and enters terminal keyboard the new current index. The server checks that this index is greater than the last validated index, i.e. the last index taken into account account to establish billing by the postal administration (failing this a error message is issued) and then displays, in a new step 130, the new current index with its modification date and time as well as a first postage authorization number associated with the head selected printout. This authorization number is obtained conventionally by a calculation from data known as by example, without this data being limiting, the serial number of the print head and the current billing index. The number postage authorization can still be obtained by calculation from in particular from the current date and / or from information in particular relating to a maximum amount of credit or consumption authorized and / or to an authorized postage period.

The user can then, in a step 140, renew the previous operations for a second selected print head, the server sending a second postage authorization code for this second head in a final step 150. In the absence of another selection, the exchange is complete and the user can then stop the link. The different postage authorization codes can then be entered manually by the user at the level of the franking provided with the corresponding printing heads.

Unlike the establishment of consumption slips which required readings every day, the connection with the server does not have to be daily but only according to a periodicity defined in prior with the Postal administration. Indeed, during the establishment a service contract between the administration (or the franking machines) and the user on the management of his fleet at means of supervision terminals it is attached to this user both a predetermined financial limit (for example between 1,000 and 50,000 Frs) variable according to its foreseeable or possibly known solvency or his seriousness for example in the payment of his previous invoices and a time limit (selected for example from the periods following: fifteen days, one month, three months and six months) variable in depending in particular on the total postage envisaged and at the end of which the user must have connected to the server at least once. These two limits which can be modified during the contract, for example on simple decision of the postal administration are then communicated with the postage authorization code which they may constitute by example the last three characters (two characters can correspond at the maximum authorized postage amount, from 1 to 99, one character being associated with the authorized postage period) and thus be in able to be communicated to the postage meter.

It will have been noted that entering the indexes is of course only valid for traditional machines, the indexes of the other heads not being subject to change. But, by displaying the indexes of all the heads it is possible to give the user a complete view of its fleet of franking machines and therefore being able to inform it at all moment of the state of these, the previous and current indexes of the machines electronic being sent in a known manner once a day directly to the server by the existing permanent links between the postage machines and the server.

The structure of the franking machine allowing the implementation of the process according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. It also comprises conventional devices not shown relating to entry, transport and positioning of mail items for printing the postal imprint, a print head 70 responsible for ensuring this printing under the control of a central processing unit 72 conventionally comprising means for memorizing programs and of data. A non-volatile memory 74 is further provided for receiving postal data and in particular the content of the bottom-up counters and descendant which are preferably stored according to data from dates (and times) provided by a 76 calendar clock. An interface user 78 provided with a keyboard and a display, for example with crystals liquids, is also available at the franking machine for allow the entry of various data necessary for postage (by example nature of carrier or category of shipment and possibly weight of the mail item in the absence of automatic weighing) and display of multiple information for the user (verification of entered for example) and in particular the billing index.

According to the invention, there is added to each franking machine a specific module 80, which can be software and then integrated into memory of processing unit programs, intended to calculate the code postage authorization according to a calculation process similar to the one followed by the server and blocking the franking machine when, on the one hand, this calculated code is different from that provided by the server and then communicated manually by the user to the machine to frank (through its user interface) and, on the other hand, when the user has not respected certain operating conditions imposed by the Postal Administration and in particular when it has exceeded authorizations granted by this administration as to the amount or the authorized postage period (note that the period control can be provided very simply using the clock-calendar).

By this system, the user is forced to dialogue regularly with the server to avoid blocking his machines. In in addition, as after each connection, a code is calculated postage authorization including in particular the current index entered by the user, fraud on this index is deleted because when entering of this code on the franking machine any error will cause the blocking of the machine. Tighter monitoring of postal traffic is also obtained from even better security of information exchanges.

If the franking machine fleet only includes machines connected to the network, entering the identifier including at least one word of password or personal identification number will appear on the screen display of the supervision terminal used, a menu allowing the user, to enter new billing indexes relating to all of these machines, or consult the status of all machines in the fleet with the latest respective indexes validated by the server as the status of the various configurable statistical data defining this park, locally or global, in the form of tables and graphical representations in particular.

The usual reports relating to valid heads, incidents and consumption of all machines on a site can be as well easily produced.

The invention thus covers a method of controlling consumption a plurality of franking machines through a public network of communication, in which first of all, by means of at least one terminal independent supervision of this plurality of machines, through the public network, a link with a management server according to a communication protocol determined and then we proceed to an exchange data between the terminal and the server during which the user enters at the supervision terminal, an identifier including at least one password pass or personal identification number, and receives in return the possibility to choose in a display menu of said terminal, the entry of new index or display of the latest indexes validated by the server as statistical data relating to said plurality of postage meters.

A variant of the method according to the invention consists in connecting to the server via a telephone with integrated display and a Text-to-speech telephone communication line.

Claims (11)

1. Process for monitoring the consumptions of a plurality of franking machines that are directly connected to a public communication network (40) which is itself connected to a remote management server (50), the process being characterised in that first of all, by means of at least one supervision terminal (60) connected directly to a public communication network independently of any other direct link with this plurality of franking machines, a link is established with the remote management server (50) through said public communication network in accordance with a determined protocol of communication, and then data are exchanged between the supervision terminal and the remote management server during which the user acquires at the supervision terminal an identifier including at least one password or personal identification number and in return receives a list of the printing heads associated with the user's plurality of franking machines along with the possibility of selecting in a display menu of said terminal, determined statistical data relating to said plurality of franking machines.
2. The process according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one off-line franking machine (30, 32) is not connected to the public communication network and in that during the data exchange between the terminal and the server, the user acquires at the supervision terminal a current invoicing index relative to the at least one off-line franking machine and in return receives a code of authorization to frank in order to validate the subsequent frankings of the at least one off-line franking machine.
3. The process according to claim 2, characterised in that said step of data exchange comprises a step of display, at the supervision terminal, for each printing head associated with said plurality of franking machines connected or not connected to the public communication network, of a last invoicing index validated by the server.
4. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said protocol of communication used for establishing a link with the remote server is a Videotex protocol, such as the teletel protocol.
5. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said protocol of communication used for establishing a link with the remote server is a protocol of TCP/IP type.
6. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said step of displaying statistical data comprises a step of display, at the supervision terminal, of a selectable plurality of tables and/or of statistics in graph form relating to said list of printing heads.
7. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said code of authorization to frank comprises information relative to an authorized maximum amount of credit or consumption and period of franking.
8. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said code of authorization to frank is obtained by calculation from in particular said current invoicing index and/or the serial number of a printing head.
9. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said code of authorization to frank is obtained by calculation from in particular the current date.
10. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said code of authorization to frank is obtained by calculation from in particular information relative to a maximum amount of credit or consumption authorized and/or to a period of franking authorised.
11. The process according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that said protocol of communication used for establishing a link with the remote server is a protocol of telephonic communication of the vocal synthesis type.

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