Abstract: The communications module (1) associated with the equipment (2) to be inspected reads operating data concerning the equipment (2) to be inspected and forwards the data to a remote server (3, 5a, 5b, . . . , 5n), and the remote server (3, 5a, 5b, . . . , 5n) makes a diagnosis on the basis of the received operating data. An intermediate server (3) can determine which from among a plurality of specialized assistance server (5a, 5b, . . . , 5n) is the server appropriate for the equipment (2) and can put the communications module (1) and the specialized assistance server (5a, 5b, . . . , 5n) appropriate for the equipment (2) into communication so that the communications module (1) can transmit the operating data concerning the equipment (2) thereto.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for establishing half-duplex communication between a first unit and a second unit over a telephone line. The first unit may transmit a first matching signal stream, the first matching signal stream including a first conditioning segment and a first unmodulated carrier signal having a first characteristic carrier frequency, the first characteristic carrier frequency representing a given transmission mode, the given transmission mode being in half-duplex. The second unit may analyze the first characteristic carrier frequency to recognize the given transmission mode.