An agent device is connected with one or more image-forming devices in a local network having a firewall provided therein. A management device carries out remote management of the image-forming devices in the local network through the Internet. The agent device includes a command receiving unit which starts connection with the management device and receives a management command from the management device via the firewall, the command being sent by the management device in response to the connection. An image-forming-device communication unit receives device-state information of a corresponding one of the image-forming devices according to the management command. A command response transmitting unit transmits the device-state information to the management device through the Internet.

An information processing apparatus includes a user interface unit configured to receive a function execution request for processes, the function execution request containing designations of an input function and an output function; a search and linkage unit configured to acquire pieces of specifications information indicating functions of an input device and an output device from the respective devices, and generate, based on the pieces of specifications information, a linkage flow indicating an execution sequence and a combination of an input device and an output device which respectively have an input function and an output function designated in the function execution request, the devices executing the functions, respectively, in linkage with each other; and a flow executing unit configured to send process requests to the input device and the output device designated in the linkage flow, respectively.

A server apparatus includes a memory to store internal information of each of a plurality of image forming apparatuses and a job received from a first information terminal in association with identification information of the first information terminal, and circuitry to receive, from one image forming apparatus, identification information of a second information terminal that is brought close to the one image forming apparatus, determine whether the identification information of the first information terminal and the second information terminal match with each other, based on a determination that the identification information of the first information terminal matches the identification information of the second information terminal, select an image forming apparatus that is to execute the job from among the plurality of image forming apparatuses that belong to a same group to which the one image forming apparatus belongs, and instruct the selected image forming apparatus to execute the job.

An information processing apparatus includes a display control unit, a generation unit, and a notification unit. The display control unit displays a device for executing a particular function on a display device. The displayed device includes separate webpages and the separate webpages include a webpage for setting to make the particular function usable. In response to a user selecting the device displayed on the display device, the generation unit generates a uniform resource locator (URL). The generated URL represents the webpage for setting to make the particular function usable. The notification unit notifies the URL generated by the generation unit to a web browser included in the information processing apparatus.

A control point includes a communication interface to search for one or more image forming apparatuses using digital living network alliance (DLNA), a user interface unit through which at least one piece of content is selected for printing using a user interface of the control point, and through which an image forming apparatus is selected from among the searched image forming apparatuses to perform printing, a DLNA stack unit to set a connection policy regarding connection to the selected image forming apparatus, and to selectively control the DLNA connection status to the selected image forming apparatus according to the connection policy, and a controller to control the communication interface to transmit print data corresponding to the selected content-for-printing and the connection policy to the selected image forming apparatus.

An information processing apparatus includes a user interface unit configured to receive a function execution request for processes, the function execution request containing designations of an input function and an output function; a search and linkage unit configured to acquire pieces of specifications information indicating functions of an input device and an output device from the respective devices, and generate, based on the pieces of specifications information, a linkage flow indicating an execution sequence and a combination of an input device and an output device which respectively have an input function and an output function designated in the function execution request, the devices executing the functions, respectively, in linkage with each other; and a flow executing unit configured to send process requests to the input device and the output device designated in the linkage flow, respectively.

An information processing apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores therein an information processing program. When the processor executes the information processing program, the processor operates to: detect an operation performed by a user; determine the posture of the information processing apparatus observed when the operation is performed; and determine one of a plurality of image forming apparatuses to be selected as a destination to which an image forming instruction is transmitted, the image forming apparatus to be selected varying depending on the posture of the information processing apparatus observed when the operation is performed.

An image forming apparatus that executes information sharing among a plurality of image forming apparatuses includes a communication circuit, a set value management circuit, a storage circuit, and a distribution hold list management circuit. The communication circuit ensures communication with another image forming apparatus of the plurality of the image forming apparatuses. The set value management circuit distributes, based on a master authority as an authority for distributing a changed set value to the other image forming apparatus, the changed set value to the other image forming apparatus. The storage circuit, when the distribution fails, stores a distribution hold list that includes a combination of: an identifier of another image forming apparatus where the distribution has failed, and an item name and value of a set value where the distribution has failed. The distribution hold list management circuit manages the stored distribution hold list.

A power-saving mode deactivation apparatus for performing communication via a communication network with specific processing apparatuses for particular processing is provided. The power-saving mode deactivation apparatus includes a storage portion for storing therein a deactivation method for deactivating a power-saving mode of each of the specific processing apparatuses; a detection portion for detecting that particular processing data for the particular processing is not delivered to, among the specific processing apparatuses, a destination specific processing apparatus of the particular processing data, and a deactivation portion for performing, when the detection portion detects that the particular processing data is not delivered to the destination specific processing apparatus, deactivation processing for deactivating a power-saving mode of the destination specific processing apparatus based on the deactivation method, stored in the storage portion, for the destination specific processing apparatus.

A non-transitory recording medium storing a computer-readable program that, when executed by an information terminal in communication with a conference information processing device, causes the information terminal to function as a reception unit receiving an instruction to select an input device and an output device registered in the conference information processing device; an input process requesting unit sending, to the conference information processing device, a request to execute an input process by the input device selected; a determination unit determining whether the conference information processing device receives data generated upon the execution of the input process by the input device; and an output process requesting unit sending, to the conference information processing device, a request to execute an output process by the output device selected in response to the determination that the conference information processing device receives the data.