System for managing service access in a multifunctional printing system

In a multifunctional printing system including a printing machine for producing prints from an electronic document stored therewith, the printing system including an Internet server, the printing multifunctional printing system including a network and a memory having a dialog stored therein, the printing machine including a first document processing service and a second document processing service, the first document processing service including a first set of one or more document processing operations with each of the first set of one or more document processing operations being performable relative to the electronic document, the second document processing service including a second set of one or more document processing operations with each of the second set of one or more document processing operations being performable relative to the electronic document, an authorization system for controlling a manner in which users of the multifunctional printing system can access the first and second sets of one or more document processing operations, comprising:

• a programmable authorization subsystem communicating with said printing machine for setting a first access rights level with respect to the first set of one or more document processing operations and a second access rights level with respect to the second set of one or more document processing operations, said programmable authorization subsystem including a user interface with a display screen, said user interface communicating with said programmable authorization subsystem, said user interface being used to set both the first access rights level and the second access rights levels with the dialog displayed on the display screen;
• a browser using the network to communicate with the memory, the Internet server and said user interface;
• and
• wherein, in response to setting the first and second access rights levels with said programmable authorization subsystem, a first set of users accesses the first set of one or more document processing operations and a second set of user accesses the second set of one or more document processing operations, and wherein said browser functions cooperatively with the Internet server for retrieving the dialog from the memory and displaying the dialog on the display screen for facilitating said setting.

In a multifunctional printing system including a printing machine for producing prints from an electronic document stored therewith, the printing machine including a first document processing service and a second document processing service, the first document processing service including a first set of one or more document processing operations with each of the first set of one or more document processing operations being performable relative to the electronic document, the second document processing service including a second set of one or more document processing operations with each of the second set of one or more document processing operations being performable relative to the electronic document, a method for controlling a manner in which users of the multifunctional printing system can access the first and second sets of one or more document processing operations, comprising:

• using a programmable authorization subsystem to set a first access rights level with respect to the first set of one or more document processing operations and a second access rights level with respect to the second set of one or more document processing operations;
• and
• in response to said setting the first and second access rights levels with said programmable authorization subsystem, a first set of users accesses the first set of one or more document processing operations and a second set of user selectively accesses the second set of one or more document processing operations;
• granting a special user the power to alter the number of users in either the first set of users or the second set of users;
• and
• prohibiting the second set of users from accessing the second set of one or more document processing operations for one or more selected time intervals.