Methods and systems for inventorying personal property and business equipment

• US 9,092,753 B1
• Filed: 05/09/2013
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Protectovision, LLC
• Original Assignee: Protectovision, LLC
• Inventors: Fanelli, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Zare, Scott
• Application Number:
  US13/890,803
• Time in Patent Office: 810 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

Methods and systems for documenting an inventory of items by accessing an inventory algorithm for creating an inventory list, adding multiple items to the inventory list, adding details about one or more of the items in the inventory list, identifying one or more real properties containing items in the inventory list, and linking one or more images and documents with one or more of the items in the inventory list. The user can schedule a future event reminder to automatically receive an email message corresponding to the scheduled event. The inventory can be created by providing a user with an access code to access the inventory list corresponding to the user, providing a Reseller with access to the inventory algorithm for setting up a new user account and the user authorizing an Authorized Inventory Professional with access to the inventory algorithm for creating the inventory list for the client user.

Claims

1. An inventory system comprising:

a program server for storing and executing a primary algorithm as a set of inventory instructions stored in memory connected with the program server to display inventory screens to a user and to save user entered data;

a data server interfaced with the program server for storing user data in a user database, the user database corresponding to a user;

a graphical interface at the program server to allow the user to generate a user inventory list storable in the user database at the data server, to allow a software reseller to sell access to the program server for generating the user inventory list and storing the user inventory list on the data server, and to allow an authorized inventory professional to access the program server to sell use of the primary algorithm and to access the primary algorithm to create the user inventory list for a fee;

a properties screen for the user to list and identify one or more properties each separately identifiable by a different postal address corresponding to one of a residential property postal address and a business property postal address, the one or more properties stored in the user database on the data server;

an inventory screen for adding plural items to the user inventory list, the inventory screen allowing the user to add an individual item to the user inventory list or to add multiple items selected from an all item list of pre-programmed items sorted by property room location, the primary algorithm stored on the program server recognizing the user inventory list entered by the user and storing the entered user inventory list in the user database on the data server;

an add multiple inventory item screen for the user to select one of the one or more properties and a room location within the selected property, the primary algorithm stored on the program server recognizing the selected property and room, and in response, generating a quick pick list of items at the program server corresponding to the room selected, and a certified field to allow the authorized inventory professional to check a certified box showing that a specified item in the user inventory list has been observed to exist, an add items to inventory button to add the selected items from the quick pick item list and the all items list to the inventory list, the added items identified with a text color that is different from the text color of unselected items, the primary algorithm stored on the program server recognizing the item selection entered by the user and storing the entered list in the user database on the data server;

an item detail screen for the user to enter details about each one of the plural items including the residential or business property postal address and the room location within the property where the inventory item is found, the item detail including one or more of an image, a video and an audio exported from a transmitting device including a camera, a scanner, and a smart phone, the primary algorithm stored on the program server recognizing the item detail entered by the user and storing the entered item details in the user database on the data server;

an administrative screen and sub-screen for an administrator to select the items that correspond to the items in the quick pick list for each room location, the primary algorithm stored on the program server recognizing the administrative selection entered by the user and storing the entered details in the user database on the data server;

a reminder screen to allow the user to set up a reminder of a user defined future event corresponding to a selected inventory item to automatically send an email reminder of the event to the user on user selected schedule, the schedule including repeat frequency, number of times repeated, and a priority level for the reminder, the primary algorithm stored on the program server recognizing the reminder selection entered by the user and generating a reminder list from the entered reminder details in the user database on the data server; and

a reminder list screen to allow the user to see all reminders that have been sent or are scheduled to be sent in the future, and to set up another reminder of a different user defined future event not corresponding to a selected inventory item to automatically transmit the email reminder of the different user defined future event from the program server on user selected schedule, the schedule including repeat frequency, number of times repeated, and a priority level for the reminder.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the item detail screen comprises:

an item name field;

a property field to identify the one or more properties corresponding to the user;

a location field to identify a room or area location within the one or more properties where the item is found; and

one or more items detail fields selected from a list consisting of category, brand, model number, serial number, condition, purchase price, purchase date, and replacement cost.

3. The inventory system of claim 2 wherein the item detail screen further comprises:

a selectable list of categories generated at the program server, the items in the pre-programmed inventory item list stored at the data server linked with one or more of the categories in the selectable list of categories.

4. The inventory system of claim 3 wherein the item detail screen further comprises:

a remember field for the user to select one or more of the property, location and category fields to pre-populate for entering a next inventory item.

5. The inventory system of claim 2 further comprising:

a photo and video recognition analyzer at the program server to automatically recognize and enter the image and the video of one of the inventory items and populate the item detail field;

a document upload receiving interface at the program server to allow the user to upload one or more documents into the user inventory list linking the one or more uploaded documents with a selected item in the user inventory list; and

an image upload interface to allow the user to upload one or more images into the user inventory list and link the one or more uploaded image with a selected item in the user inventory list.

6. The inventory system of claim 1 wherein the reminder screen comprises:

a reminder description field to identify the reminder; and

a date field to enter a date for the automatic email reminder.

7. The inventory system of claim 6 wherein the reminder screen further comprises:

a priority field for the user to assign a priority to the reminder; and

a repeat times field to select a number of times for automatically sending the email reminder.

8. The inventory system of claim 6 wherein the reminder screen allows the user to link the reminder with an item in the user inventory list.

9. The inventory system of claim 1 further comprising:

an administration access into the inventory system to modify the all item list and to link one or more items in the all item list with one or more categories to automatically display the quick pick list of items linked with a selected location and a selected category.

10. The inventory system of claim 1 wherein the program server further comprises:

a barcode, a scan code and symbol recognition to identify inventory items for data entry.

11. The inventory system of claim 10, wherein the program server further comprises:

a voice recognition option to allow the user to respond to inventory screens displayed by the server with voice commands.