Extended Web enabled Business to Business Computer System for Rental Vehicles Services

Abstract

An Internet-enabled rental vehicle reservation management method and system are disclosed. Via the system and method, rental vehicle transactions corresponding to replacement rental vehicle reservations can be managed throughout their operational lives over the Internet and through a plurality of graphical user interface screens, whereby teams of users are organized into work groups to share in the management of the reservations.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A rental vehicle reservation management computer system for creating and managing a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider, the computer system comprising:
 a processor for communication with a plurality of remote business partner computers via the Internet regarding a replacement rental vehicle reservation, wherein the replacement rental vehicle reservation has a plurality of operational activity phases, the operational activity phases comprising a reservation phase, an open rental phase and a closed rental phase, and wherein the replacement rental vehicle reservation corresponds to a vehicle undergoing repair at a repair facility; and   memory;   wherein the processor and memory are configured to:
 create a rental vehicle transaction corresponding to the replacement rental vehicle reservation; 
 store data in the memory representative of the created rental vehicle transaction; 
 define a user work group, the user work group comprising a plurality of users who are authorized to share in management of the replacement rental vehicle reservation; 
 provide data via the Internet to a plurality of remote business partner computers that are associated with members of the user work group to populate a plurality of graphical user interface (GUI) screens for display on the remote business partner computers, the provided data pertaining to the replacement rental vehicle reservation; 
 accept reservation management input pertaining to the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the remote business partner computers over the Internet and through the GUI screens during each of the operational activity phases; 
 automatically perform a plurality of management actions on the rental vehicle transaction without human intervention by personnel of the rental vehicle service provider during each of the operational activity phases based at least in part on the accepted reservation management input; and 
 update the stored rental vehicle transaction data in the memory in response to the automatically performed management actions. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the processor and memory are further configured to provide a plurality of the GUI screens over the Internet to a plurality of the remote business partner computers for display thereon. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the processor and memory are further configured to (1) operate on a plurality of rental vehicle transactions corresponding to a plurality of the replacement rental vehicle reservations, and (2) define a plurality of user work groups, each of a plurality of the user work groups comprising at least one user who is authorized to share in management of at least one of the replacement rental vehicle reservations such that different user work groups are associated with different replacement rental vehicle reservations. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the processor and memory are further configured to (1) receive from a remote business partner computer via the Internet a selection of a competitive rental vehicle service provider for at least one of the replacement rental vehicle reservations from among a plurality of competitive rental vehicle service providers, and (2) automatically create the at least one rental vehicle transaction corresponding to the at least one replacement rental vehicle reservation with the selected competitive rental vehicle service provider without human intervention by personnel of the selected competitive rental vehicle service provider. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the processor and memory are further configured to change the users who are members of the user work group in response to input from an authorized user. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the users who are members of the user work group comprise a plurality of insurance adjusters. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the management actions include an extension for a replacement rental vehicle reservation that is in the open rental phase. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the management actions include (1) an authorization for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the reservation phase, (2) an authorization change for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the reservation phase, (3) an authorization change for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the open rental phase, (4) an extension for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the open rental phase, (5) an invoice approval/rejection for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the closed rental phase, and (6) an invoice remittance for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the closed rental phase. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the processor and memory are further configured to transition the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the reservation phase to the open rental phase in response to a notification that a rental contract has been opened for the replacement rental vehicle reservation. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 2  wherein the processor and memory are further configured to (1) transition the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the reservation phase to the open rental phase in response to a notification that a rental contract has been opened for the replacement rental vehicle reservation, and (2) transition the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the open rental phase to the closed rental phase in response to a notification that a rental contract has been closed for the replacement rental vehicle reservation. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processors, at least one of the processors being resident in an Internet web portal and at least one of the processors being resident in at least one mainframe;
 wherein the Internet web portal is configured to (1) provide a plurality of the GUI screens for display over the Internet to a plurality of the remote business partner computers for display thereon, and (2) accept the reservation management input over the Internet from the remote business partner computers to which the GUI screens were provided; 
 wherein the Internet web portal is in communication with the at least one mainframe to provide the accepted reservation management input thereto; and 
 wherein the at least one mainframe is configured to automatically perform the management actions on the rental vehicle transaction in response to the reservation management input. 
 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the Internet web portal is resident in a first computer network and wherein the at least one mainframe is resident in a second computer network. 
     
     
         13 . A method for creating and managing a rental vehicle reservation with a rental vehicle service provider, the method comprising:
 creating a rental vehicle transaction corresponding to a replacement rental vehicle reservation, wherein the replacement rental vehicle reservation has a plurality of operational activity phases, the operational activity phases comprising a reservation phase, an open rental phase and a closed rental phase, and wherein the replacement rental vehicle reservation corresponds to a vehicle undergoing repair at a repair facility;   storing data in a memory representative of the created rental vehicle transaction;   defining a user work group, the user work group comprising a plurality of users who are authorized to share in management of the replacement rental vehicle reservation;   providing data via the Internet to a plurality of remote business partner computers that are associated with members of the user work group via the Internet to populate a plurality of graphical user interface (GUI) screens for display on the remote business partner computers, the provided data pertaining to the replacement rental vehicle reservation;   accepting reservation management input pertaining to the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the remote business partner computers over the Internet and through the GUI screens during each of the operational activity phases;   automatically performing a plurality of management actions on the rental vehicle transaction without human intervention by personnel of the rental vehicle service provider during each of the operational activity phases based at least in part on the accepted reservation management input; and   updating the stored rental vehicle transaction data in response to the automatically performed management actions; and   wherein the method steps are performed by a rental vehicle reservation management computer system.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising the rental vehicle reservation management computer system providing a plurality of the GUI screens over the Internet to a plurality of the remote business partner computers for display thereon. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising the rental vehicle reservation management computer system (1) performing the method steps for a plurality of rental vehicle transactions corresponding to a plurality of the replacement rental vehicle reservations, and (2) defining a plurality of user work groups, each of a plurality of the user work groups comprising at least one user who is authorized to share in management of at least one of the replacement rental vehicle reservations such that different user work groups are associated with different replacement rental vehicle reservations. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising the rental vehicle reservation management computer system receiving from a remote business partner computer via the Internet a selection of a competitive rental vehicle service provider for at least one of the replacement rental vehicle reservations from among a plurality of competitive rental vehicle service providers, and wherein the creating step comprises the rental vehicle reservation management computer system automatically creating the at least one rental vehicle transaction corresponding to the at least one replacement rental vehicle reservation with the selected competitive rental vehicle service provider without human intervention by personnel of the selected competitive rental vehicle service provider. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising the rental vehicle reservation management computer system changing the users who are members of the user work group in response to input from an authorized user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the users who are members of the user work group comprise a plurality of insurance adjusters. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the management actions include an extension for a replacement rental vehicle reservation that is in the open rental phase. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the management actions include (1) an authorization for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the reservation phase, (2) an authorization change for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the reservation phase, (3) an authorization change for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the open rental phase, (4) an extension for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the open rental phase, (5) an invoice approval/rejection for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the closed rental phase, and (6) an invoice remittance for a replacement rental vehicle reservation during the closed rental phase. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising the rental vehicle reservation management computer system transitioning the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the reservation phase to the open rental phase in response to a notification that a rental contract has been opened for the replacement rental vehicle reservation. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising the rental vehicle reservation management computer system (1) transitioning the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the reservation phase to the open rental phase in response to a notification that a rental contract has been opened for the replacement rental vehicle reservation, and (2) transitioning the replacement rental vehicle reservation from the open rental phase to the closed rental phase in response to a notification that a rental contract has been closed for the replacement rental vehicle reservation. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the rental vehicle reservation management computer system comprises an Internet web portal and in at least one mainframe, the method further comprising
 the Internet web portal is configured to (1) providing a plurality of the GUI screens for display over the Internet to a plurality of the remote business partner computers for display thereon, (2) accepting the reservation management input over the Internet from the remote business partner computers to which the GUI screens were provided, and (3) communicating the data representative of the accepted reservation management input to the at least one mainframe; and 
 the at least one mainframe automatically performing the management actions on the rental vehicle transaction in response to the communicated data representative of the accepted reservation management input. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the Internet web portal is resident in a first computer network and wherein the at least one mainframe is resident in a second computer network.