Protocol Data and Problem Reporting of Shared Systems
A cheap and reliable solution to control the state of embedded systems is the automatic and apparent dispatch of pre-formatted emails. An embedded email software is integrated into the device. Its purpose is e.g. to collect data for a predefined time and to send the information to a mail server. The receiver may either be a machine or a human.
Advantages
existing software (mail clients)
in case the receiver is a machine the content can be evaluated easily by common scripting languages or interpreters like Perl or PHP
gateways for voice output or SMS (Short Message Service) notification are available
low cost as the device is only a short time online
Disadvantages
no confirmation whether the email has been received within a certain time
