FACILITIES MANAGEMENT FOR AN AUTOMATED INTERACTIVE CUSTOMER INTERFACE FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE FACILITY
First Claim
1. An automotive facility having an after hours exterior management system, comprising:
- a building which is occupiable by personnel for the purposes of conducting at least one of sales, leasing, servicing, and repairing automobiles;
exterior grounds disposed proximate the building;
an interactive interface operable by a customer to initiate an automotive related commercial transaction located on the exterior grounds;
at least one lighting fixture disposed to illuminate the exterior grounds;
at least one speaker disposed to project sound to the exterior grounds;
at least one intrusion sensor disposed to sense presence and absence of a person entering onto the exterior grounds;
an illumination control system disposed to adjust exterior illumination lighting levels of the lighting fixture at the automotive facility responsive to the intrusion sensor sensing presence and absence of persons entering onto the exterior grounds; and
a customer recognition system disposed to interact with a person who has been sensed by the intrusion sensor, wherein the customer recognition system is disposed to issue at least one audible message by the speaker, which audible message is directed to the person who has been sensed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for managing exterior lighting levels and for communicating with intruders and potential customers after hours at an automotive sales and/or service facility. The system has sensors for monitoring the premises for human activity after hours. Lighting levels may be raised and lowered responsively to sensed intrusions. A speaker may warn intruders of consequences, and identify and assist customers who wish to conduct after hours activities at an automated interactive interface device. The interactive interface device may accept manually input data to initiate purchase and service transactions, and may establish live connection to remote security service personnel.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. An automotive facility having an after hours exterior management system, comprising:
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a building which is occupiable by personnel for the purposes of conducting at least one of sales, leasing, servicing, and repairing automobiles; exterior grounds disposed proximate the building; an interactive interface operable by a customer to initiate an automotive related commercial transaction located on the exterior grounds; at least one lighting fixture disposed to illuminate the exterior grounds; at least one speaker disposed to project sound to the exterior grounds; at least one intrusion sensor disposed to sense presence and absence of a person entering onto the exterior grounds; an illumination control system disposed to adjust exterior illumination lighting levels of the lighting fixture at the automotive facility responsive to the intrusion sensor sensing presence and absence of persons entering onto the exterior grounds; and a customer recognition system disposed to interact with a person who has been sensed by the intrusion sensor, wherein the customer recognition system is disposed to issue at least one audible message by the speaker, which audible message is directed to the person who has been sensed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of managing the exterior of an automotive facility at times when operating personnel of the automotive facility are not on the premises, comprising the steps of:
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providing an intrusion sensor at the automotive facility; providing exterior lighting sources at the automotive facility; establishing a default lighting level at which the exterior lighting sources are operated; increasing illumination levels of the exterior lighting sources responsively to detecting intrusion by the intrusion sensor after hours; and reducing illumination levels of the exterior lighting sources after hours responsively to not detecting intrusion by the intrusion sensor. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification