Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

[Madnhain]

I saw this software mentioned in another thread, we are toying with the idea of using this to support our customers.
I'm looking for opinions on this Remote Email Diagnostic program.
Is it worth using?
Is it a waste of time?
What is involved in setting machines up to be managed remotely?

The only information I can seem to find on this is the Brochure and a few brief mentions on the Sharp site, nothing really detailing its features or capabilities.

Thanks!

[ruben]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

It is used to read the data files sent from the standard Email Diag. which can be set up on all machines that have access to an SMTP server. (Email Diag. is free, so I register it for all of my machines. I have no idea if it makes any difference.)

I have only used it once for a fault find and to see if I could get some coverage information.

[Akitu]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

It's not worth using until Sharp cleans up the interface. The only thing you'll really care about from it are possibly some error codes, but otherwise it's a lot less hassle and requires no special software to decode the data submitted by the E-mail Alert and Status page of the copier. Assuming that all you're looking for is the meter readings, don't bother with RED, use what the copier provides already and you'll have smooth sailing.

[ZOOTECH]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

It's not worth using until Sharp cleans up the interface. The only thing you'll really care about from it are possibly some error codes, but otherwise it's a lot less hassle and requires no special software to decode the data submitted by the E-mail Alert and Status page of the copier. Assuming that all you're looking for is the meter readings, don't bother with RED, use what the copier provides already and you'll have smooth sailing.

I was totally confused by the RED function (product key required) and the E-mail Alert and Status function; I thought they were one of the same. I thought that for the Alert and Status to work, the product key for RED had to be enabled. BOY, what a wake up call. I've always set up RED and E-mail Alert and Status before delivery - I haven't really seen the RED program work, is that a download from Sharp ( not that I would use it after the comments posted)?

[Akitu]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

I was totally confused by the RED function (product key required) and the E-mail Alert and Status function; I thought they were one of the same. I thought that for the Alert and Status to work, the product key for RED had to be enabled. BOY, what a wake up call. I've always set up RED and E-mail Alert and Status before delivery - I haven't really seen the RED program work, is that a download from Sharp ( not that I would use it after the comments posted)?

It can still be downloaded from the old Sharpnet site if you have access to it, it sends you about 8 email attachments and it's up to you to comb through them to figure out which one(s) are the one(s) you need. Some will show toner values, others will show reported errors, one will show jams, one will show meters. None of the files can be opened without the RED reader or else it's scrambled with random characters/encrypted. Last I heard from the Sharp gang, it has been neatened up ever so slightly, and the 8 email attachments have been condensed to 4.

As long as your MFP can pass email to an external source, with the E-mail Alert and Status function, meter readings can be emailed right to your office. If you're technically inclined and have permission from the customer, you can set it up to accept VNC connections from your office as well, all you have to know is that copier's external IP address (not a 192.168 address, external IPs can be viewed on a site such as ipchicken.com)

[ZOOTECH]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

It can still be downloaded from the old Sharpnet site if you have access to it, it sends you about 8 email attachments and it's up to you to comb through them to figure out which one(s) are the one(s) you need. Some will show toner values, others will show reported errors, one will show jams, one will show meters. None of the files can be opened without the RED reader or else it's scrambled with random characters/encrypted. Last I heard from the Sharp gang, it has been neatened up ever so slightly, and the 8 email attachments have been condensed to 4.

As long as your MFP can pass email to an external source, with the E-mail Alert and Status function, meter readings can be emailed right to your office. If you're technically inclined and have permission from the customer, you can set it up to accept VNC connections from your office as well, all you have to know is that copier's external IP address (not a 192.168 address, external IPs can be viewed on a site such as ipchicken.com)

Thanks for the explanation Akitu; we are not using the RED Reader and the meters are coming in just fine, as you said with the Email Alert and Status set up.

[Madnhain]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

Thanks for the info guys! Basically what we are looking for is to automatically receive counts and maintenance information from hundreds of customers, I was thinking that maybe this was something that would ease the process a bit more than the automated emails. The problem we've run into is that assuming a customer has email set up on their mfp, a lot of the time their network doesn't allow the emails to pass through.
Looks like this RED is just something that reads those emails for you.

[Akitu]

Re: Remote Email Diagnostic (R.E.D.)

Thanks for the info guys! Basically what we are looking for is to automatically receive counts and maintenance information from hundreds of customers, I was thinking that maybe this was something that would ease the process a bit more than the automated emails. The problem we've run into is that assuming a customer has email set up on their mfp, a lot of the time their network doesn't allow the emails to pass through.
Looks like this RED is just something that reads those emails for you.

Not necessarily. RED is Sharp's equivalent of Ricoh's @remote feature. The meter reads in the above mentioned web page are the most simplistic data, RED actually gives a lot more information than the web page emails. I would advise against its use for hundreds of customers, and it falls under the same restrictions as the EA&S page, if they can't send email out, they can't send RED pages out. The reason being for advising against use in large amounts is the sheer amount of data it sends, compared to what is needed.

If your customers aren't allowing emails to be sent from the machine, find someone in the office with the capability to send them outside, and have that user set up a rule to forward their meter emails to your office. Else set them up with a gmail/windows live/whatever email account and go that way.