Limiting access to asset management information

• US 20080086323A1
• Filed: 05/07/2007
• Published: 04/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trimble Inc.
• Inventors: Wallace, Daniel John, Petrie, Rob
• Granted Patent: US 9,747,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system and method for limiting access to asset management information is disclosed. According to one embodiment, information is received from a first reporting source about an asset. Information from a second reporting source about the asset is also recited. The information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source is stored in a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database. A first entity is enabled to access a first subset of the information stored in the database while a second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database.

Claims

1. A method for limiting access to asset management information, said method comprising:

receiving information from a first reporting source about an asset;

receiving information from a second reporting source about the asset;

storing the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source into a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database; and

enabling a first entity to access a first subset of the information stored in the database while a second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database.

2. The method as recited by claim 1, wherein the enabling of the first entity to access the first subset of the information stored in the database while the second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database further comprises:

enabling a first entity selected from a group consisting of a rental company and a first construction company to access the first subset; and

charging the first entity for accessing the first subset of the information.

4. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

enabling the second entity to access a second subset of the information stored in the database.

5. The method as recited by claim 1, further comprising:

enabling a rental company to access any of the information stored in the database.

6. The method as recited by claim 1, wherein the receiving of the information from the first reporting source about the asset further comprises:

receiving information from the first reporting source about an asset selected from a group consisting of demolition equipment, excavating equipment, vehicles, and geo-fences.

7. The method as recited by claim 1, wherein the receiving of the information from the first reporting source about the asset further comprises:

receiving information from the first reporting source about an asset selected from a group consisting of an asset owned by a rental company and an asset owned by a construction company.

8. The method as recited by claim 1, wherein the enabling of the first entity to access a first subset of the information stored in the database while the second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database further comprises:

enabling a rental company to provide maintenance for the asset; and

charging a construction company that uses the asset for maintaining the asset.

3. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. An asset management system comprising:

an information storer for storing information from a first reporting source about an asset and information from a second reporting source about the asset in a database; and

a selective information access provider comprising a permission module configured to enable a first entity to access a first subset of the information stored in the database while not allowing a second entity to access the first subset of the information stored in the database, wherein the selective information access provider is coupled to the information storer.

12. The asset management system of claim 11, wherein the permission module uses permissions to enable the first entity to access the first subset while not allowing the second entity to access the first subset.

13. The asset management system of claim 12, wherein associations between control fields and data fields are used to implement the permissions and wherein the data fields include the stored information about the assets.

14. The asset management system of claim 13, wherein control fields for the first entity and the second entity include unique passwords.

15. The asset management system of claim 11, wherein the selective information access provider uses user preferences to determine what subset of the stored information will be accessed.

30. The asset management system of claim 11, wherein said first subset of stored information comprises a plurality of asset data fields associated with an access preference, said access preference establishing an access limit for an entity which has been permitted by said permission module to access said first subset of stored information.

31. The asset management system of claim 11, wherein a database data field associated with an asset is further associated with an access preference, such that an entity permitted by said permission module to access said data field has access to said data field as limited by said preference.

16. A computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to perform a method of limiting access to asset management information, the method comprising:

receiving information from a first reporting source about an asset;

receiving information from a second reporting source about the asset;

storing the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source into a database such that the information from the first reporting source and the information from the second reporting source can be accessed from the database; and

enabling a first entity to access a first subset of the information stored in the database while a second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database.

17. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the enabling of the first entity to access the first subset of the information stored in the database while the second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database further comprises:

enabling a first entity selected from a group consisting of a rental company and a first construction company to access the first subset.

19. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

enabling the second entity to access a second subset of the information stored in the database.

20. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

enabling a rental company to access any of the information stored in the database.

21. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the receiving of the information from the first reporting source about the asset further comprises:

receiving information from the first reporting source about an asset selected from a group consisting of demolition equipment, excavating equipment, vehicles, and geo-fences.

22. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the receiving of the information from the first reporting source about the asset further comprises:

receiving information from the first reporting source about an asset selected from a group consisting of an asset owned by a rental company and an asset owned by a construction company.

23. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the enabling of the first entity to access a first subset of the information stored in the database while the second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database further comprises:

enabling a rental company to provide maintenance for the asset at the construction site.

26. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

using permissions to enable the first entity to access the first subset while not allowing the second entity to access the first subset.

27. The computer-usable medium of claim 26, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the method further comprises:

using associations between control fields and data fields to implement the permissions and wherein the data fields include the stored information about the assets.

28. The computer-usable medium of claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the control fields for the first entity and the second entity include unique passwords.

29. The computer-usable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program code embodied therein causes a computer system to perform the method, and wherein the enabling of the first entity to access the first subset of the information stored in the database while the second entity is not allowed to access the first subset of the information stored in the database further comprises:

using user preferences to determine what subset of the stored information will be accessed.

18. (canceled)

24. (canceled)

25. (canceled)