Management device, network apparatus, and management method

Abstract

A terminal management device manages the sharing by at the least one business entity of costs related to distributed terminal devices. In a case that a new business entity, which uses the terminal devices and provides services after the terminal devices have been distributed, the terminal management device computes and totals the differences of shared costs of each business entity, which will change in accordance with the addition thereof. Thus, by managing the changes of a plurality of business entities bearing the costs related to terminal devices, changes in the shares of the costs thereof can be adjusted easily even-in a case that business entities using the terminal devices thereof and providing services change after the terminal devices have been distributed to subscribers: Therefore, the present invention facilitates the participation of a new service business entity in the provision of services using terminal devices subsequent to the terminal devices being distributed.

1 . A terminal management device for managing costs related to terminal devices, said terminal management device comprising: 
 a storing unit to store management information for classifying each terminal device in a combination type of at least one business entity bearing the costs related to the terminal device; and    a managing unit to manage sharing of the costs related to each terminal device based on said combination type.    
   
   
       2 . The terminal management device according to  claim 1 , wherein said management information includes a shared cost or a proportional share of the at least one business entity in each combination type, and when said combination type of a terminal device is changed, said managing unit computes a difference between a cost related to the terminal device supported by the at least one business entity prior to changing the combination type, and a cost supported by the at least one business entity after changing the combination type.  
   
   
       3 . The terminal management device according to  claim 2 , wherein, when said combination type is changed to a new combination type relative to one or more terminal devices, 
 the combination type of the one or more terminal devices stored in said management information is updated to the corresponding new combination type, and    said managing unit computes sharing of the costs related to the one or more terminal devices based on said new combination type.    
   
   
       4 . The terminal management device according  claim 1 , wherein each terminal device is connectable to a network.  
   
   
       5 . The terminal management device according to  claim 2 , wherein each terminal device is connectable to a network, and 
 said terminal management device further comprises a communicating unit receiving via a network a network connection request from each terminal device, and,    when said combination type is changed to a new combination type relative to one or more terminal devices, the combination type of the one or more terminal devices stored in said management information is updated to the corresponding new combination type, and said managing unit computes sharing of the costs related to the one or more terminal devices based on said new combination type.    
   
   
       6 . The terminal management device according to  claim 1 , wherein the costs related to each terminal device include purchasing costs of said terminal device.  
   
   
       7 . A terminal device connectable to a network, said terminal device comprising: 
 a storing unit storing a combination type of at least one business entity bearing costs related to the terminal device; and    a communicating unit sending the combination type stored in said storing unit with a network connection request to a predetermined server on the network.    
   
   
       8 . The terminal device according to  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 an overwriting unit which overwrites the combination type stored in said storing unit with a received combination type when said communicating unit receives the received combination type from said server.    
   
   
       9 . The terminal device according to  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 an overwriting unit which compares the combination type stored in said storing unit with a received combination type when said communicating unit receives the received combination type from said server, and overwrites the combination type stored in said storing unit with said received combination type when the stored combination type and the received combination type are different.    
   
   
       10 . The terminal device according to  claim 7 , wherein, when a predetermined combination type is read from a removable storage medium located in the terminal device, said communicating unit sends the combination type read from said removable storage medium instead of an combination type stored in said storing unit with a network connection request to a predetermined server on the network.  
   
   
       11 . A management method for managing costs related to a terminal device, comprising: 
 classifying each terminal device in accordance with a combination type of at least one business entity bearing the costs related to said terminal device; and    managing a share of the costs related to each terminal device based on said combination type.    
   
   
       12 . A computer readable storage medium storing an executable program which makes a computer execute a method comprising: 
 classifying each terminal device connected to a network in accordance with a combination type of at least one business entity bearing costs related to the terminal device; and    managing the costs related to each terminal device shared by the at least one business entity based on said combination type.    
   
   
       13 . A computer readable storage medium storing: 
 data of a combination type of at least one business entity bearing costs related to each terminal device connected to a network, and    a program which when executed on a terminal device sends said combination type with a network connection request to a predetermined server on the network.    
   
   
       14 . A terminal management method for managing cost of a terminal device usable to supply an additional service provided by a business entity, comprising: 
 sharing the cost of the terminal device between at least one business entity providing at least one existing service, and the business entity providing the additional service, when the additional service is added.