When a fault is detected by a surveillance agent mounted in a user device,
fault information is reported to a maintenance center device by an
electronic mail through an internet. The user device is provided with a
connect confirmation unit to prepare and transmit connect confirmation
mails of a plurality of patterns different in mail content, and the
maintenance center device is provided with a diagnosis unit, which
diagnose a mail transmission environment of the user device from the
reception result of one or a plurality of connect confirmation mails
received within a fixed period of time and transmits a diagnosis result
to the user device by the electronic mail.