Image forming apparatus granting access and authorization to client or server to perform remote support service according to list of operations selected by the image forming apparatus

1. A method of controlling an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

determining an occurrence of an error in the image forming apparatus;

in response to the determining of the occurrence of the error, requesting, by the image forming apparatus, a remote support service from a terminal or a server connected to the terminal, wherein the requesting of the remote support service includes transmitting status information regarding the image forming apparatus;

receiving, at the image forming apparatus, from the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, a list of operations of the image forming apparatus and a request for authorization to access one or more operations from the list of operations of the image forming apparatus, wherein the list of operations is determined by the terminal or the server connected to the terminal based on the transmitted status information regarding the image forming apparatus;

displaying, at the image forming apparatus, the received list of operations for selection of the one or more operations by a user;

receiving a user input selecting the one or more operations from the list of operations;

granting, by the image forming apparatus, the requested authorization to the terminal or the server connected to the terminal to access the one or more operations based on the user input;

receiving, at the image forming apparatus, from the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, a control command for the remote support service; and

executing the one or more operations corresponding to the control command according to the access authorization granted to the terminal or the server connected to the terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the list of operations comprises at least one of a list of operations that the terminal received from the server, a list of operations generated by editing the list of operations that the terminal received from the server, or a list of operations generated by the terminal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the executing of the one or more operations corresponding to the control command comprises:

determining a security level of the one or more operations corresponding to the control command; and

executing the one or more operations corresponding to the control command based on at least one of the security level or availability of the access authorization of the terminal.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the security level comprises at least one of a first level at which a corresponding operation is accessible without a time limit and without the access authorization, a second level at which the corresponding operation is accessible only with the access authorization, or a third level at which the corresponding operation is not accessible.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the granting of the requested authorization comprises:

transmitting an identification (ID) and a password (PW) of an account corresponding to the access authorization granted according to the user input to the terminal or the server.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the granting of the requested authorization comprises:

receiving a security token from the terminal; and

transmitting the security token to the server to get the security token verified,

wherein the security token is issued by the server with respect to the account and was received by the terminal from the server.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining, by the image forming apparatus, an expiration date of the remote support service; and when the expiration date of the remote support service has expired, terminating the remote support service.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting of the status information regarding the image forming apparatus comprises transmitting an error code corresponding to the error.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the list of operations is determined by the terminal or the server connected to the terminal based on the error code.

10. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a transceiver to communicate with an external device; and

at least one processor to:

determine an occurrence of an error in the image forming apparatus,

in response to the determining of the occurrence of the error, request, by the image forming apparatus, a remote support service from a terminal or a server connected to the terminal, wherein the requesting of the remote support service includes transmitting status information regarding the image forming apparatus,

receive, at the image forming apparatus, from the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, a list of operations of the image forming apparatus and a request for authorization to access one or more operations from the list of operations of the image forming apparatus, wherein the list of operations is determined by the terminal or the server connected to the terminal based on the transmitted status information regarding the image forming apparatus,

display, at the image forming apparatus, the received list of operations for selection of the one or more operations by a user,

receive a user input selecting the one or more operations from the list of operations,

grant, by the image forming apparatus, the requested authorization to the terminal or the server connected to the terminal to access the one or more operations based on the user input,

receive, at the image forming apparatus, from the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, a control command for the remote support service,

control the image forming apparatus to execute the one or more operations corresponding to the control command according to the access authorization granted to the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, and

perform an image forming operation.

11. The image forming apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the list of operations comprises at least one of a list of operations that the terminal received from the server, a list of operations generated by editing the list of operations that the terminal received from the server, or a list of operations generated by the terminal.

12. The image forming apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor:

determines a security level of the one or more operations corresponding to the control command, and

executes the one or more operations corresponding to the control command based on at least one of the security level or an availability of the access authorization of the terminal.

13. The image forming apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the security level comprises at least one of a first level at which a corresponding operation is accessible without a time limit and without the access authorization, a second level at which a corresponding operation is accessible only with the access authorization, or a third level at which a corresponding operation is not accessible.

14. The image forming apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor controls the transceiver to transmit an identification (ID) and a password (PW) of an account corresponding to the access authorization granted according to the user input to the terminal or the server.

15. The image forming apparatus of claim 14 ,

wherein the at least one processor controls the transceiver to receive a security token from the terminal and transmit the security token to the server to get the security token verified, and

wherein the security token is issued by the server with respect to the account and was received by the terminal from the server.

16. The image forming apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor:

determines an expiration date of the remote support service, and

when the expiration date of the remote support service has expired, terminates the remote support service.

17. The image forming apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the transmitting of the status information regarding the image forming apparatus comprises transmitting an error code corresponding to the error.

18. The image forming apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the list of operations is determined by the terminal or the server connected to the terminal based on the error code.

19. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having instructions recorded thereon for controlling an image forming apparatus, the computer readable recording medium comprising:

instructions to determine an occurrence of an error in the image forming apparatus;

instructions to, in response to the determining of the occurrence of the error, request, by the image forming apparatus, a remote support service from a terminal or a server connected to the terminal, wherein the instructions to request the remote support service include instructions to transmit status information regarding the image forming apparatus;

instructions to receive, at the image forming apparatus, from the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, a list of operations of the image forming apparatus and a request for authorization to access one or more operations from the list of operations of the image forming apparatus, wherein the list of operations is determined by the terminal or the server connected to the terminal based on the transmitted status information regarding the image forming apparatus;

instructions to display, at the image forming apparatus, the received list of operations for selection of the one or more operations by a user;

instructions to receive a user input selecting the one or more operations from the list of operations;

instructions to grant, by the image forming apparatus, the requested authorization to the terminal or the server connected to the terminal to access the one or more operations based on the user input;

instructions to receive, at the image forming apparatus, from the terminal or the server connected to the terminal, a control command for the remote support service; and

instructions to execute the one or more operations corresponding to the control command according to the access authorization granted to the terminal or the server connected to the terminal.

20. The computer readable recording medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions to transmit the status information regarding the image forming apparatus comprise instructions to transmit an error code corresponding to the error.