in fig1 , a plurality of measuring devices 10 a , . . . 10 i are coupled to a network 20 . a plurality of external ( with respect to the measuring devices 10 i ) application interfaces 30 a , . . . , 30 j are further coupled to the network 20 , which can be any kind of network e . g . using wired and / or wireless transmission . each measuring device 10 comprises at least one measuring unit 35 each for executing a respective measurement function , an application control unit 40 for controlling access of one or more application interfaces , and a connection unit 50 for connecting to the network 20 . each external application interface 30 also comprises an application connection unit 60 for connecting to the network 20 . in the example of fig1 , the measuring device 10 a further comprises a local application interface 70 a having a display 80 a and control unit 90 a . while the control unit 90 a allows controlling measurement functions provided by each measuring unit 35 a , the display 80 a allows displaying measurement information such as measuring results provided by each measuring unit 35 a . in contrast to the measuring device 10 a , the measuring device 10 i does not comprise an own local application interface . in the example of fig1 , the external application interface 30 a comprises a display 100 a and a control unit 110 a just in accordance with the functions of the display 80 a and the control unit 90 a . the external application interface 30 j in the example of fig1 is embodied as a general data processing unit having a monitor 100 j and a control unit 110 j comprised of a standard processing unit with a terminal . each device coupled to the network 20 is provided with a unique address within the network 20 . in the example as shown here , the application interfaces substantially represent user interfaces each allowing a user interaction . however , other type of application interfaces with or without option for user invention can be applied accordingly , or example for periodically and / or automatically executing measuring functions and / or to periodically and / or automatically requesting measuring results ( e . g . for graphical representation or storing ). in operation , each measuring unit 35 of each measuring device 10 can be controlled by one or more of the ( local or external ) application interfaces ( 70 / 30 ). in an example wherein the measuring device 10 a is to be controlled by its local application interface 70 a as well by the external application interface 30 a , the application control unit 40 a will control each access of the local application interface 70 a as well as of the external application interface 30 a onto the measuring unit 35 a . in case that the application control unit 40 a detects competing processes requested by both application interfaces 70 a and 30 a , the application control unit 40 a will administer such competing processes and provides control to either one of the application interfaces 70 a and 30 a , dependent on pre - given information such as access priorities etc . in an example , wherein the local application interface 70 a presently controls a measurement executed by the measurement unit 35 a , and the external application interface 30 a requests the measurement unit 35 a to execute a different measurement , the application control unit 40 a will — dependent on its setting — either refuse the request from the external application interface 30 a , pause the current measurement requested from the local application interface 70 a , or wait with an execution of the request from the external application interface 30 a until the currently measurement controlled by the local application interface 70 a has been terminated . in an example wherein the measuring unit 35 a presently executes a measurement requested and controlled by the external application interface 30 a , and the local application interface 70 a requests a modification of the current measurement , the application control unit 40 a determines the priority of the application interfaces 70 a and 30 a and will assign control of the measuring unit 35 a to either one of the external application interfaces 30 a or 70 a dependent which one has the higher priority . in case that the external application interface 30 a has higher priority , the application control unit 40 a might reject the request from the local application interface 70 a . in case that the priority of the local application interface 70 a is higher than the priority of the external application interface 30 a , the application control unit 40 a might allow the request to modify the measurement . in case that plural application interfaces 30 request control over one of the measuring units 35 , the corresponding application control unit 40 will handle such request accordingly . as seen from the example of fig1 , the measuring device 10 i can also be provided without local application interface and might be controlled by any one or plural of the external application interfaces 30 or even by the local application interface 70 a of a different measuring device 10 a .