Business to business computer system for communicating and processing rental car reservations using web services

• US 8,600,783 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2004
• Issued: 12/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: Smith, David Gary, Klopfenstein, Anita K., Dittmar, Russell E., Epperly, Carl E., Thomae, Gary K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, Allen J
• Application Number:
  US10/865,116
• Publication Number:
  US 20050091087A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,463 Days
• Field of Search: 705/5
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions

Abstract

An Internet-enabled automatic rental vehicle transaction system, the system comprising a web service connector in communication with a rental vehicle software program, the web service connector being configured to (1) receive, via a network, a document from a computer system of an authorized purchaser of rental vehicle services on behalf of another, the document comprising a web service rental vehicle reservation request, (2) process the received document in accordance with a web service specification document to create one or more data objects having a format supported by the rental vehicle software program, and (3) communicate the one or more data objects to the rental vehicle software program, and wherein the rental vehicle software program is configured to automatically process the one or more data objects for fulfillment of the reservation request.

Claims

1. An Internet-enabled automatic rental vehicle transaction system for managing a plurality of rental vehicle transactions for third party use placed by high volume customers, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory;

wherein the processor and the memory comprise parts of a rental vehicle reservation management computer system configured to create and manage a plurality of rental vehicle reservations in response to user input received from a plurality of business partner computer systems, wherein the processor is configured to interact with the memory to execute a rental vehicle software program and a web service connector, the web service connector for connection in network between the Internet and the rental vehicle software program to process a plurality of rental vehicle transaction requests, the rental vehicle transaction requests being formatted in a pre-determined web services format; and

wherein the web service connector comprises;

a first software module configured to identify a type of rental vehicle transaction from among a plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions for a received rental vehicle transaction request, the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least two selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation;

a web service specification document for defining a plurality of data and format requirements for the different types of rental vehicle transactions; and

a second software module configured to transform the received rental vehicle transaction request into a plurality of data objects having a format processable by the rental vehicle software program according to the defined requirements in the web service specification document; and

wherein the rental vehicle software program is further configured to receive the plurality of data objects and automatically perform an operation on the received data objects in accordance with the identified rental vehicle transaction type.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the web service connector is further configured to translate outgoing messages from the rental vehicle software program to a destination one of the business partner computer systems into a web service format associated with the destination business partner computer system.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the received rental vehicle transaction request comprises a variable length variable format request.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said variable length variable format request comprises an XML request.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to create a rental vehicle reservation.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation.

8. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation.

9. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation.

10. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled.

11. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation.

12. The system of claim 4 wherein the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation.

13. The system of claim 4 wherein one of the at least two types of rental vehicle transactions comprises a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the web service connector further comprises:

a translation guide for defining a translation between data having the web services format to a common format; and

a common format translator configured to (1) translate the received rental vehicle transaction request to the common format according to the defined translation in the translation guide and (2) communicate the translated rental vehicle transaction request to the first software module.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the rental vehicle reservation management computer system is configured for communication with a plurality of business partner computer systems, wherein at least a first business partner computer system is configured to generate rental vehicle transaction requests having a first format and wherein at least a second business partner computer system is configured to generate rental vehicle transaction requests having a second format, the second format being a different format than the first format, and wherein the translation guide comprises a first translation guide that defines a translation for rental vehicle transaction requests from the first business computer system to the common format and a second translation guide that defines a translation for rental vehicle transaction requests from the second business computer system to the common format.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the first and second translation guides comprise first and second XSLT style sheets.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the first and second business partner computer systems are configured with differing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) relative to each other for generating the rental vehicle transaction requests.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the reservation management computer system is configured for communication with a plurality of business partner computer systems, and wherein the first and second business partner computer systems are configured with differing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) relative to each other for generating the rental vehicle transaction requests.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the business partner computer system comprises a computer system of a repair facility at which a disabled vehicle is undergoing repairs, the disabled vehicle corresponding to a replacement rental vehicle that is a subject of at least one of the received rental vehicle transaction requests.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the received rental vehicle transaction request comprises an XML document.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the received rental vehicle transaction request further comprises a SOAP envelope within which the XML document is enclosed, the SOAP envelope comprising an action line that identifies the type of rental vehicle transaction for the received rental vehicle transaction request, and wherein the first software module is configured to identify the rental vehicle transaction type for the received rental vehicle transaction request based on referring to the action line.

22. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least three selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

23. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least four selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

24. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least five selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least six selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

26. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least seven selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

27. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least eight selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

28. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprise a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

29. The system of claim 1 wherein the rental vehicle reservation management computer system further comprises a web connector in network between the Internet and the rental vehicle software program, wherein the web service connector is configured to interact with a first subset of the business partner computer systems to receive input for creating and managing a plurality of the rental vehicle reservations, and wherein the web connector is configured to (1) provide a plurality of graphical user interface (GUI) screens to a second subset of the business partner computer systems for display thereon, the GUI screens configured to receive input from a plurality of users of the second subset of the business partner computer systems for creating and managing another plurality of rental vehicle reservations, and (2) interface the input received through the GUI screens with the rental vehicle software program to create and manage the another plurality of rental vehicle reservations in accordance with the user input received through the GUI screens.

30. The system of claim 20 wherein the web service specification document is further configured to (1) describe the types of rental vehicle transactions, and (2) define a plurality of data requirements for communicating with a plurality of web services corresponding to the types of rental vehicle transactions, the data requirements including a plurality of mappings from XML data for rental vehicle transactions corresponding to the different types of rental vehicle transaction to data that is processable by the rental vehicle software program, wherein the first software module is further configured to identify the type of rental vehicle transaction from among the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions for the received rental vehicle transaction request according to the described rental vehicle transaction types in the web service specification document, and wherein the second software module is further configured to transform XML data of the received rental vehicle transaction request into the plurality of data objects having the format processable by the rental vehicle software program according to the mappings in the web service specification document for the identified type of rental vehicle transaction for the received rental vehicle transaction request.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the mappings comprise a plurality of mappings from XML data for rental vehicle transactions corresponding to the different types of rental vehicle transaction to Java data objects that are processable by the rental vehicle software program, and wherein the second software module is further configured to transform XML data of the received rental vehicle transaction request into a plurality of Java data objects that are processable by the rental vehicle software program according to the mappings in the web service specification document for the identified type of rental vehicle transaction for the received rental vehicle transaction request.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein the web service specification document is further configured to describe where to find the web services corresponding to the types of rental vehicle transactions.

33. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein the plurality of processors comprise a first processor for executing the web service connector and a second processor for executing the rental vehicle software program.

35. A method for facilitating communications between an Internet-enabled automatic rental vehicle transaction system including a rental vehicle software program and a plurality of high volume customers, said communications comprising a plurality of rental vehicle transactions for third party use placed by said high volume customers, the method comprising:

creating and managing, by a rental vehicle reservation management computer system, a plurality of rental vehicle reservations in response to user input received from a plurality of business partner computer systems, the rental vehicle reservation management computer system comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the creating and managing step comprises the rental vehicle reservation management computer system executing a rental vehicle software program and executing a web service connector, the web service connector being in network between the Internet and the rental vehicle software program to process a plurality of rental vehicle transaction requests, the rental vehicle transaction requests being formatted in a pre-determined web services format, the web service connector comprising a first software module, a second software module, and a web service specification document;

wherein the web service connector executing step comprises;

identifying a type of rental vehicle transaction from among a plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions for a received rental vehicle transaction request, the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least two selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation, wherein the identifying step is performed by the web service connector using the first software module;

defining a plurality of data and format requirements for the different types of rental vehicle transactions, wherein the defining step is performed by the web service connector using the web service specification document; and

transforming the received rental vehicle transaction requests into a plurality of data objects having a format processable by the rental vehicle software program according to the defined requirements in the web service specification document, wherein the transforming step is performed by the web service connector using the second software module; and

wherein the rental vehicle software program executing step comprises;

receiving the plurality of data objects; and

automatically performing an operation on the received data objects in accordance with the identified rental vehicle transaction type.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising the web service connector translating outgoing messages from the rental vehicle software program to a destination one of the business partner computer systems into a web service format associated with the destination business partner computer system.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the received rental vehicle transaction request comprises a variable length variable format request.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said variable length variable format request comprises an XML request.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the plurality of rental vehicle transaction types comprise at least three selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

40. The method of claim 38 wherein the plurality of rental vehicle transaction types comprise at least four selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

41. The method of claim 38 wherein the plurality of rental vehicle transaction types comprise at least five selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

42. The method of claim 38 wherein the plurality of rental vehicle transaction types comprise at least six selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

43. The method of claim 38 wherein the plurality of rental vehicle transaction types comprise at least seven selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

44. The method of claim 35 wherein the web service connector further comprises a translation guide for defining a translation between data having the web services format to a common format and a common format translator, wherein the web service connector executing step further comprises (1) translating the received rental vehicle transaction request to the common format according to the defined translation in the translation guide, wherein the translating step is performed by the web service connector using the common translator and (2) communicating the translated rental vehicle transaction request to the first software module.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the rental vehicle reservation management computer system is configured for communication with a plurality of business partner computer systems, wherein at least a first business partner computer system is configured to generate rental vehicle transaction requests having a first format and wherein at least a second business partner computer system is configured to generate rental vehicle transaction requests having a second format, the second format being a different format than the first format, wherein the translation guide comprises a first translation guide that defines a translation for rental vehicle transaction requests from the first business computer system to the common format and a second translation guide that defines a translation for rental vehicle transaction requests from the second business computer system to the common format, and wherein the translating step further comprises the common format translator (1) translating a received rental vehicle transaction request from the first business partner computer system to the common format using the first translation guide, and (2) translating a received rental vehicle transaction request from the second business partner computer system to the common format using the second translation guide.

46. The method of claim 45 wherein the first and second translation guides comprise first and second XSLT style sheets.

47. The method of claim 45 wherein the first and second business partner computer systems are configured with differing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) relative to each other for generating the rental vehicle transaction requests.

48. The method of claim 35 wherein the rental vehicle reservation management computer system is configured for communication with a plurality of business partner computer systems, and wherein the first and second business partner computer systems are configured with differing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) relative to each other for generating the rental vehicle transaction requests.

49. The method of claim 35 wherein the business partner computer system comprises a computer system of a repair facility at which a disabled vehicle is undergoing repairs, the disabled vehicle corresponding to a replacement rental vehicle that is a subject of at least one of the received rental vehicle transaction requests.

50. The method of claim 35 wherein the received rental vehicle transaction request comprises an XML document.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the received rental vehicle transaction request further comprises a SOAP envelope within which the XML document is enclosed, the SOAP envelope comprising an action line that identifies the type of rental vehicle transaction for the received rental vehicle transaction request, and wherein identifying step further comprises the first software module identifying the rental vehicle transaction type for the received rental vehicle transaction request based on referring to the action line.

52. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least three selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

53. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least four selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

54. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least five selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

55. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least six selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

56. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least seven selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

57. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprising at least eight selected from the group consisting of a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

58. The method of claim 35 wherein the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions comprise a request to create a rental vehicle reservation, a request to modify a rental vehicle reservation, a request to extend a rental vehicle reservation, a request to cancel a rental vehicle reservation, a request to obtain a price rate for a rental vehicle reservation, a request to find a rental vehicle location at which a rental vehicle reservation for an insured or claimant is to be fulfilled, a request to retrieve stored data for an existing rental vehicle reservation, a request to terminate an existing rental vehicle reservation, and a request to return any error messages for a rental vehicle reservation.

59. The method of claim 35 wherein the rental vehicle reservation management computer system further comprises a web connector in network between the Internet and the rental vehicle software program, wherein the web service connector interacts with a first subset of the business partner computer systems to receive input for creating and managing a plurality of the rental vehicle reservations, the method further comprising:

providing a plurality of graphical user interface (GUI) screens to a second subset of the business partner computer systems for display thereon, the GUI screens configured to receive input from a plurality of users of the second subset of the business partner computer systems for creating and managing another plurality of rental vehicle reservations; and

interfacing the input received through the GUI screens with the rental vehicle software program to create and manage the another plurality of rental vehicle reservations in accordance with the user input received through the GUI screens; and

wherein the providing step and the interfacing step are performed by the rental vehicle reservation management computer system using the web connector.

60. The method of claim 50 wherein the web service specification document is further configured to (1) describe the types of rental vehicle transactions, and (2) define a plurality of data requirements for communicating with a plurality of web services corresponding to the types of rental vehicle transactions, the data requirements including a plurality of mappings from XML data for rental vehicle transactions corresponding to the different types of rental vehicle transaction to data that is processable by the rental vehicle software program, wherein the identifying step further comprises identifying the type of rental vehicle transaction from among the plurality of types of rental vehicle transactions for the received rental vehicle transaction request according to the described rental vehicle transaction types in the web service specification document, and wherein transforming step further comprises transforming XML data of the received rental vehicle transaction request into the plurality of data objects having the format processable by the rental vehicle software program according to the mappings in the web service specification document for the identified type of rental vehicle transaction for the received rental vehicle transaction request.

61. The method of claim 60 wherein the mappings comprise a plurality of mappings from XML data for rental vehicle transactions corresponding to the different types of rental vehicle transaction to Java data objects that are processable by the rental vehicle software program, and wherein the transforming step further comprises transforming XML data of the received rental vehicle transaction request into a plurality of Java data objects that are processable by the rental vehicle software program according to the mappings in the web service specification document for the identified type of rental vehicle transaction for the received rental vehicle transaction request.

62. The method of claim 60 wherein the web service specification document is further configured to describe where to find the web services corresponding to the types of rental vehicle transactions.

63. The method of claim 35 wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors.

64. The method of claim 63 wherein the plurality of processors comprise a first processor executing the web service connector and a second processor executing the rental vehicle software program.