A method, system, and program product for communicating with machines and end
users
connected to a network. Information sent to or from the machines is transmitted
using electronic mail or a via a direct connection. The electronic mail may be
transmitted over the Internet to a service center or from a service center to a
resource administrator, but also may remain within a local or wide area network
for transmission between a machine and an end user or a resource administrator.
E-mail messages may be transmitted from a computer which is attached to a device
which is being monitored or controlled and include information regarding the status,
usage or capabilities of the attached device. The device may send status messages
and usage information of the device by an end user to either a resource administrator
or to a service center on the Internet through a firewall. The message may be sent
directly to the resource administrator station if an urgent need of the end user
is indicated, so that a communication may be sent either directly to the end user
or to a device driver so that the device driver may communicate the message to
the end user. For example, an end user may have exceeded a predetermined limit
of resource usage, and needs to be informed. For routine information, the service
center may manage all the resources on an intranet and may send predetermined types
of information such as summary information regarding usage of network resources
to the end user using e-mail.