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.