System and Method for Automated Vehicle Tracking

• US 20090024423A1
• Filed: 07/18/2008
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Crystalnet, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Crystalnet, Inc.
• Inventors: Brown, Kenneth, Hay, John
• Application Number:
  US12/175,937
• Publication Number:
  US 20090024423A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/30 Transportation; Communications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083

Abstract

A system and method for enhancing revenue of vehicle dealerships by increasing both the number of service appointments made by customers at the dealership as well as the number of those appointments which are kept by customers. A computer automated, Internet-based method is provided for supervising the appointment making and the service providing process at vehicle service locations. Service department activity at multiple service locations maintained by a single dealership or by multiple dealerships can be monitored so that material and labor resources can be efficiently allocated and managed between the multiple locations.

Claims

1. A computer automated, Internet-based method for tracking and increasing the volume of made and kept vehicle service appointments at vehicle service locations by owners of vehicles, the method being used by at least one vehicle dealership having at least one service location at which at least one service team works wherein each location of each dealership is connected through a local area network to every other location of that dealership, to a server and to the Internet and wherein further a remote server is further connected to each local area network over the Internet, said remote server having access to stored databases containing data specific to each location comprising:

accessing the remote server from a particular service location;

retrieving and displaying an appointment grid with data specific to at least one service location;

deciding first whether to edit labels displayed in the appointment grid;

if so, making changes to data appearing in the appointment grid and storing those changes in the appropriate database at the remote server;

otherwise, selecting one function to be performed from the group consisting of configuring the appointment grid, selecting a date, calculating an appointment date, establishing an appointment reminder date and generating reports;

performing the selected function and storing data entered during such performance in the appropriate database at the remote server;

continuously updating and displaying the appointment grid as data from the selected function is entered;

deciding whether to perform a new function;

if so, returning to selecting;

otherwise, exiting the method.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the databases are a customer history database, a