Method and arrangement for securing user-definable data of a franking machine

A method for configuring a franking machine comprising the steps of:

• establishing a connection between a franking machine and a data center remote from the franking machine via a communication network;
• via the communication network, transmitting data stored in the franking machine, said data comprising user-definable configuration data for the franking machine that are definable by a user of the franking machine to configure the franking machine, to the data center as back-up data in a transmission step;
• storing the back-up data at the data center in a storage step;
• and
• from a franking machine to be configured, retrieving the back-up data stored at the data center as retrieved back-up data, and configuring said franking machine to be configured using the retrieved back-up data.

An arrangement for backing up data of a franking machine comprising:

• a franking machine comprising a franking machine processor, a franking machine memory containing stored data comprising user-definable configuration data for the franking machine that are definable by a user of the franking machine to configure the franking machine, and a franking machine communication module;
• a data center, remote from the franking machine, comprising a data center processor, a data center communication module, and a data center memory;
• said franking machine processor causing said franking machine communication module to establish a communication link with the data center communication module, and said franking machine processor thereafter executing a transmission step to cause said stored data, including said user-definable configuration data, to be transferred to the data center;
• and
• said data center processor being supplied with said stored data from the data center communication module and executing a storage step to store the stored data transmitted by said franking machine as back-up data in the data center memory.

An arrangement for backing up data of a franking machine comprising:

• a franking machine comprising a franking machine processor, a franking machine memory containing stored data comprising user-definable configuration data for the franking machine that are definable by a user of the franking machine to configure the franking machine, and a franking machine communication module;
• a data center, remote from the franking machine, comprising a data center processor, a data center communication module, and a data center memory;
• said franking machine processor causing said franking machine communication module to establish a communication link with the data center communication module, and said franking machine processor thereafter executing a transmission step to cause said stored data, including said user-definable configuration data, to be transferred to the data center;
• said data center processor being supplied with said stored data from the data center communication module and executing a storage step to store the stored data transmitted by said franking machine as back-up data in the data center memory;
• and
• said data center processor thereafter establishing a communication with a franking machine to be configured and allowing retrieval, as retrieved back-up data, of said back-up data stored in said data center memory by said franking machine to be configured, to configure said franking machine to be configured using the retrieved back-up data.