METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF POINT-OF-SALE AND ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

• US 20050171853A1
• Filed: 02/02/2004
• Published: 08/04/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Information Solutions Cooperative Incorporated
• Original Assignee: National Information Solutions Cooperative Incorporated
• Inventors: Fettig, Brian K., Schlenker, Jay N., Momerak, Mark O., Kumar, Varsha A., Fitterer, Paul F.
• Granted Patent: US 7,571,113 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A system and method for providing integrated customer care, managing complex data relating to services and presenting information for selection and interaction by end users. The present invention delivers, tracks, presents and manages various aspects of customer care using a customer centric paradigm. An integrated macro-framework is utilized to provide a consistent and efficient single-point of entry GUI tool for accessing and navigating through various displays relating to the processing of data, reports, billing, work-flows, service orders and other aspects of customer care.

Claims

1. a system for providing an a/r pos graphical user interface comprising:

a computing system having an integrated group of data repositories which define element of a graphical interface and a function of the element where the element relates to a customer care information system;

an ABS Legacy System having ABS accounting data relating to the customer care information system;

utility customer care application for managing utility customer account data for the customer care information system; and

a POS application residing on the computing system communicably linked with the ABS Legacy System and the utility customer care application and said POS application operable to access said integrated group of data repositories for generating a graphical user interface operable to present said ABS accounting data and utility customer care data while keeping the customer in view and operable to receive inputs for updating Legacy system data and customer care application account data.

2. The system for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface as recited in claim 1 where the data repositories comprises;

a user interface (UI) repository containing attributes which define data binding data, handling, how data is displayed and data types; and

a screen repository containing attributes which define the hierarchial structure of the navigation tree and operable to determine the JAVA class construct to be executed when a screen selection is made by a user.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 where the elements of the graphical interface include elements that have hyperlink functionality.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 where said ABS accounting data and customer care account data, includes counter sale related data, order tracking related data and billing data.

5. The system for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface as recited in claim 1 where the POS application is further operable to do divisionalized accounting due-to and due-from along with multiple Accounts Receivables per order/invoice where products relating to different agreement types can appear on the same order/invoice and be separated by the A/R General Ledger Number.

6. A system for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface comprising:

a customer care computing system having an executable AR/POS application operably stored thereon where said AR/POS application is operable to control the computing system to access customer care data relating to general customer data and AR/POS customer data from the ABS legacy systems and generate a graphical user interface presenting the customer care data;

a collection of internet browser application functions including hyperlinks, push buttons, page forward and page backward functions included in said AR/POS application; and

where said AR/POS application of said customer care computing system provides the graphical user interface operable to handle counter sales, orders, order tracking, and billing.

7. The system for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface as recited in claim 6 where the legacy systems include an accounts payable system, a general ledger system, and a material inventory system.

8. The system as recited in claim 6 where the billing handling function is operable to structure a consolidated bill having multiple invoices and agreements per financial account.

9. The system as recited in claim 6 where the ordering and counter sale handling functions are operable to handle returns, refund credit balances, and sales under reports.

10. A system for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface comprising:

a customer care computing system having an executable AR/POS application operably stored thereon where said AR/POS application is operable to control the computing system to access customer care data relating to general customer data and AR/POS customer data from the ABS legacy systems and generate a graphical user interface having a navigation scheme operable to provide a single point of entry user interface where customer information and account information is continuously in view.

11. The system for providing an AR/POS user interface as recited in claim 10 where the ABS legacy systems include an accounts payable system, a general ledge system, and a material inventory system, a purchase order system, a payroll system and a work order system.

12. The system as recited in claim 10 where the navigation scheme includes a main navigation tree, hyperlinks, push buttons, and browser-like page forward/page backward functionality.

13. A method for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface comprising the steps of:

executing an AR/POS application on a customer care computing system where when executed generates a graphical user interface single point of entry for accessing customer care data relating to general customer data and AR/POS customer data from the ABS legacy systems communicable with the customer care computing system;

receiving a screen request initiated from a user input;

navigating to a screen based on the user input and displaying the screen having user interface elements relating to general customer data and customer AR/POS data, including order processing, order tracking, counter sales, and billing; and

maintaining a customer centric interface environment where the AR/POS application provides retrieval schemes, display schemes and grouping of information schemes related to a customer in view.

14. The method for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface as recited in claim 13 further comprising the steps of:

accessing an integrated group of data repositories which define the elements of the graphical user interface and the elements functions.

15. The method as recited in claim 13 where the graphical user interface is operable to access the ABS legacy systems including accounts payable systems, general ledger systems, material inventory systems, purchase order systems, payroll systems, and work order systems.

16. The method as recited in claim 13 where receiving a screen request initiated from a user input includes inputs relating to hyperlinks and browser-like page forward and page backward functions.

17. A method for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface comprising the steps of:

executing an AR/POS application on a customer care computing system where when executed generates a graphical user interface single point of entry for accessing customer care data relating to general customer data and AR/POS customer data from the ABS legacy systems communicable with the customer care computing system;

providing with the executing AR/POS application a collection of internet browser application functions including hyperlinks, push buttons, page forward and page backward;

receiving a screen request initiated from one of the internet browser application functions; and

maintaining a customer centric interface environment where the AR/POS application provides retrieval schemes, display schemes and grouping of information schemes related to a customer in view.

18. The method for providing an AR/POS graphical user interface as recited in claim 17, where maintaining a customer centric interface environment includes maintaining the customer continuously in view and providing direct access to all information and accounts relating to a given customer.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, where executing the AR/POS application operable for accessing the ABS legacy systems includes accessing Accounts Payables Legacy systems, General Ledger Legacy systems, Material Inventory Legacy Systems, Purchase Order Systems, Payroll Systems, and Work Order Systems.

20. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

providing with the executing AR/POS application a work product set aside function.

21. A method for providing a computing system for presenting an AR/POS graphical user interface comprising the steps of:

presenting a customer care graphical user interface screen having a navigation tree, a plurality of fields relating to AR/POS customer data originating from the ABS legacy systems, and a collection of internet browser-like application functions selectable by a user including hyperlink, page forward, page backward and push buttons functions;

presenting a new customer care graphical user interface screen with updated fields relating to AR/POS customer data responsive to a user input; and

presenting the customer care AR/POS customer data in a customer centric manner providing selections for customer related information including selections for all customer accounts for a customer in view.

22. The method for providing a computing system for presenting an AR/POS graphical user interface as recited in claim 21, further comprising:

presenting a customer care graphical user interface screen having a notepad and alert function.