US-12621399-B2 - Information processing apparatus and method, information processing system, and non-transitory computer readable medium

US12621399B2US 12621399 B2US12621399 B2US 12621399B2US-12621399-B2

Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to: receive an instruction to execute sequential processing, the sequential processing being processing for sequentially executing multiple preset operations which are related to each other; present plural options for an operation included in the sequential processing, fees for the plural options being different from each other; and calculate a fee for an option selected from the plural options and present the calculated fee before executing the sequential processing.

Inventors

Kensaku MASUDA
Keiichi Hotta
Haruko KAWANO

Assignees

FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230303
Priority Date: 20220922

Claims (8)

1 . An information processing apparatus comprising: a processor configured to: receive an instruction to execute sequential processing, the sequential processing being processing for sequentially executing a plurality of preset operations which are related to each other; present a plurality of options for an operation included in the sequential processing, fees for the plurality of options being different from each other; calculate a fee for an option selected from the plurality of options and present the calculated fee before executing the sequential processing; present a standard option which is preset by an administrator as a standard setting for a corresponding operation included in the sequential processing; and recommend an option of the plurality of options whose fee is lower than a fee for the standard setting or provide an instruction to accept the recommended option if a remaining budget is lower than or equal to a predetermined limit value.
2 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to present, as the plurality of options, options for which predetermined fees are set in accordance with at least one of performance of an operation and a time required to execute the operation.
3 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to change the option to be presented in accordance with a remaining budget.
4 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to provide information on completion of the sequential processing after the sequential processing has finished.
5 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to provide the information as push notification to an information processing terminal linked with a user.
6 . An information processing system comprising: the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ; and an image forming apparatus that makes it possible to perform an operation for selecting the sequential processing and providing an instruction to execute the sequential processing.
7 . An information processing method comprising: receiving an instruction to execute sequential processing, the sequential processing being processing for sequentially executing a plurality of preset operations which are related to each other; presenting a plurality of options for an operation included in the sequential processing, fees for the plurality of options being different from each other; calculating a fee for an option selected from the plurality of options and presenting the calculated fee before executing the sequential processing; presenting a standard option which is preset by an administrator as a standard setting for a corresponding operation included in the sequential processing; and recommending an option of the plurality of options whose fee is lower than a fee for the standard setting or providing an instruction to accept the recommended option if a remaining budget is lower than or equal to a predetermined limit value.
8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process, the process comprising: receiving an instruction to execute sequential processing, the sequential processing being processing for sequentially executing a plurality of preset operations which are related to each other; presenting a plurality of options for an operation included in the sequential processing, fees for the plurality of options being different from each other; calculating a fee for an option selected from the plurality of options and presenting the calculated fee before executing the sequential processing, wherein: presenting a standard option which is preset by an administrator as a standard setting for a corresponding operation included in the sequential processing; and recommending an option of a plurality of options whose fee is lower than a fee for the standard setting or providing an instruction to accept the recommended option if a remaining budget is lower than or equal to a predetermined limit value.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-151755 filed Sep. 22, 2022. BACKGROUND (i) Technical Field The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus and method, an information processing system, and a non-transitory computer readable medium. (ii) Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-195893 discloses the following job flow service system. A job flow service device creates an instruction, generates charging information based on the amount of input money, and sends the charging information to a multifunction device. The multifunction device performs scanning processing in accordance with the instruction, subtracts the amount of money for the scanning processing from the amount indicated by the charging information, sends scan data, the instruction, and the charging information to an image processing device. A file management device stores a PDF file in accordance with the instruction and subtracts the amount of money for the storage of the PDF file from the amount indicated by the charging information, and sends the charging information, together with notification that the job flow has finished, to the job flow service device. The job flow service device checks from the charging information whether there is any change to be returned, and if any, it sends information on the presence of change to a PC. SUMMARY When a user is charged for the execution of sequential processing, which is processing for sequentially executing multiple preset operations related to each other, a fee is simply calculated from the content of the operations and is charged to the user after the sequential processing is executed. Hence, it is not possible to set sequential processing by taking a fee into account before the execution of the sequential processing. Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an information processing apparatus and method, an information processing system, and a non-transitory computer readable medium that make it possible to set sequential processing by taking a fee into account before the execution of the sequential processing and then to execute the sequential processing. Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing apparatus including a processor configured to: receive an instruction to execute sequential processing, the sequential processing being processing for sequentially executing multiple preset operations which are related to each other; present plural options for an operation included in the sequential processing, fees for the plural options being different from each other; and calculate a fee for an option selected from the plural options and present the calculated fee before executing the sequential processing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an information processing system according to the exemplary embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating major parts of the electrical configuration of an image forming apparatus in the information processing system according to the exemplary embodiment; FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating major parts of the electrical configuration of a cloud server in the information processing system according to the exemplary embodiment; FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a job flow; FIG. 5 illustrates a job flow service provided by an example of a known charging system; FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a job flow service in which multiple options with different fees are provided for some of the operations in a job flow; FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of processing executed by a cloud server, which functions as a job flow management mechanism of the information processing system according to the exemplary embodiment; FIG. 8 illustrates a display example of a default job flow preset by an administrator, together with the unit prices of individual operations, and also illustrates a display example of selectable options for OCR processing together with the individual unit prices; FIG. 9 illustrates a display example of a job flow with limitations preset by an administrator; FIG. 10 illustrates an example of options for which fees are set in accordance with the operation performance; and FIG. 11 illustrates an example of options for which fees are set in accorda