Method for enhanced vehicle service
OwnerMatt McDermott, Larry Appleby +2inventors
InventorsMatt McDermott, Larry Appleby, Todd Oleno, Mike Ellis
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Abstract
A method according to the present invention may be used to convey information to enhance customer service for a wide variety of industries, and especially the automotive repair industry. Among other things, methods of the present invention allow a service provider to supply customers with information on services provided using one or more methods of distribution and in a manner that is fast, efficient, and easy for the customer to access. The information provided to customers can be distributed in a variety of formats and stored permanently for retrieval by the customer at any time.
Claims31
A method performed by a computer system, the method comprising:
- storing an electronic file on the computer system, the file comprising:
- an identifier for a vehicle;
- information regarding a service performed on the vehicle;
- and
- information regarding the service provider that performed the service on the vehicle;
- and
- creating an entry in a database, the entry comprising reference information pertaining to the file, the database entry to determine at least one of the following:
- information regarding creation of the file;
- information regarding the communication provided to the user;
- a service history for the vehicle;
- contact information for the customer;
- marketing information;
- a status of the service on the vehicle;
- and combinations thereof;
- and
- making the file remotely retrievable by (i) any authorized user using either a user identifier or the vehicle identifier, and (ii) a customer.
A method performed by a computer having a searchable database, the method for storing a file that has been received, the file including a vehicle identifier and a user identifier, and at least one of audio, video, text, and one or more still images, the method comprising:
- automatically storing a file into the searchable database as the file is being created, the file capable of being located in the database by searching one or more fields, the one or more fields selected from the group consisting of:
- a VIN of an automobile;
- a name of the person who created the file;
- a make, model and year of manufacture of the automobile;
- a name of an entity that created the file;
- a date the file was created;
- service invoice information;
- customer information concerning the vehicle;
- a date the file was stored in the searchable database;
- and
- a type of problem addressed in the file;
- wherein the file is remotely retrievable by (i) any authorized user using either the user identifier or the vehicle identifier, and (ii) a customer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.