KR20030096190A - Method for managing the warranty information of the goods via network and system thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for managing a warranty of an article over a network.

According to the present invention, in a method of receiving and managing information from a consumer through a network, a content including information about a consumer and information on a product to be managed by the consumer is input, and the received information is received according to a predetermined method. Database, and allowing access to the databaseed information to be used for post-services to users, including users who enter or provide post-services for the goods. For example, if a customer loses a document, such as a warranty for an item, the customer can receive appropriate after-sales service, and if a product is lost, the consumer can easily respond to it. It will provide an environment that can provide services.

Description

Method for managing the warranty information of the goods via network and system

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of using a network, such as the Internet, and to a method and system for managing a warranty for an article over a network.

In case of purchasing the goods, the warranty items (for example, providing free after-sales service within one year) may be included as separate documents. In the case of durable goods, it may be necessary to receive A / S according to the warranty within this warranty period.In order to obtain such a warranty, a receipt indicating the name of the goods, the store, and the date of sale may be used. The warranty card containing the retailer, the date of sale, and the serial number of the goods and the warranty details can be submitted to the goods retailer or the goods manufacturer to receive the necessary A / S according to the previously known warranty.

In such a case, if the receipt or warranty is lost or damaged, it will be different from the manufacturer of the item, but it is usually free from the point of view of the consumer who purchased the item because the warranty period is applied based on the date of production of the item, not the date of purchase. Even if A / S is available, there is a loss to pay.

If the loss of the warranty or receipt as described above is not only the warranty at the time of purchase of the goods but also if the warranty period is extended by a separate contract, such damage will be even greater.

Technical problem to be solved by the present invention, to solve the above problems, to manage the warranty items for the goods through the network to receive the service according to the warranty even if you lose the receipt or warranty received when purchasing the goods The present invention relates to a method and a system thereof.

Figure 1 illustrates the flow of a method of managing warranty items of an article through a network according to the invention.

2 shows an example of the configuration of a system for managing a warranty item of an article through a network.

According to the present invention for solving the technical problem, a method for managing the warranty items of the article through the network, a method for receiving and managing information from the consumer via the network, (a) information from the consumer to the consumer And receiving content including information on an item to be managed; (b) database the received information according to a predetermined method; And (c) allowing users to access the databased information for use in a post service, including users entering the post-service for the consumer or the item. Characterized in that.

According to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above technical problem, a system for managing an item of guarantee through a network is a system for receiving and managing information through a network from a networked consumer, wherein the network terminal means of the consumer An input connection unit for inputting contents including information about a consumer and information on an article to be managed from the user; A database engine for databaseting the received information according to a predetermined method; An information storage unit for storing information databased by the database engine; And a connection management unit allowing access to the information stored in the information storage unit to be used for the post service to users including the input consumer or the user providing a post service for the article. do.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates the flow of a method for managing warranty items of an article over a network in accordance with the present invention.

In this method of receiving and managing information from a consumer through a network, a content including information on the consumer and information on the item to be managed is received from the consumer (step 100), and the received information is stored in a database according to a predetermined method. (Step 110). Then, the user including the side providing the after-service for the entered consumer or article is allowed to use the post-service by accessing the database information (step 120).

In step 110, the database is basically required to make the fields input in step 100 into each field. Such a database can be implemented using a dedicated program or a commercial program. In the case of the database as described above, it is easy to retrieve the necessary information under various conditions or by combining various conditions when retrieving the information as needed in step 120, so that it becomes efficient to manage the information input by the consumer.

2 shows an example of the configuration of a system for managing warranty items of an article through a network according to the present invention.

The system 210 that receives and manages information through a network from a networked consumer receives information including information about the consumer and information about items to be managed from the consumer's network terminal means 200 and 260. The input connection unit 220, a database engine 230 for databaseting the received information according to a predetermined method, an information storage unit 240 for storing the information databased by the database engine and the input consumer or the article It includes a connection management unit 250 for allowing users including the side to provide a post-service for access to the information stored in the information storage unit 240 to use in the post-service.

The input connection unit 220 and the connection management unit 250 include an interface function with a network. The input connection unit 220 provides a menu or a screen for a user to input various types of information. The user is provided with a menu or screen for inputting information necessary for searching so that the user can easily retrieve the information required by the user.

The database engine 230 may be implemented through various methods described in operation 110, and configures information input through the input connection unit 220 as a database for each consumer. Of course, the information input for each consumer is composed of each information as a field, and if necessary, the information will be searched for each field to access the information.

The information storage unit 240 is a place where databased information is stored, and is implemented including a device such as a large capacity HDD. The information retrieval input through the access management unit 250 searches for the information stored in the information storage unit 240 and provides the necessary information to the user.

The system 210 according to the present invention has a function of connecting to a network such as the Internet or a mobile communication network, and can be implemented using a computer server including a large storage capacity and a predetermined database processing program. It is easy for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains with reference to the contents described in the detailed description.

When you buy an item, it is free of charge within a certain period of time (usually one year), especially for items that are durable and contain electronic components such as digital cameras and camcorders. It is necessary to provide services such as replacement and repair. Such warranties are often included in the packaging of the goods in separate documents. Or you can get this guarantee with the receipt you received when you purchased the item.

The same product may have different distribution channels, which may result in different or non-guaranteed warranties. In particular, even if the goods of the same brand are internationalized and distributed in the market at the same time, even if the goods of the same brand are distributed in the market at the same time, the warranty may or may not be applied to each item depending on the distribution channel. There may be cases. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the warranty certificate from the point of view of the consumer who purchased the goods.

The consumer who wants to manage the contents of the certificate received by the user accesses the system 210 according to the present invention through a network such as the Internet by using a terminal 200 such as a computer that can be connected to the network. In this case, if the Internet can be accessed, it may be connected using a mobile phone 260, which is a mobile communication terminal having an Internet access function. Alternatively, it may be connected to the system according to the present invention through a mobile communication network connected to a mobile communication terminal. In this case, the system according to the present invention should also provide a connection function through a mobile communication network.

First, the consumer may use the service according to the present invention after signing up as a member to use the service according to the present invention. In this case, the member ID and password may be determined, and information such as name, social security number, address, and telephone number may be input as personal information about the consumer.

Information about the article may include information such as the name of the article, the model name of the article, the serial number of the article and information such as the date of purchase of the article, the place of purchase, the warranty period described in the warranty, the receipt number, and the manufacturer.

The above information may be input through input means attached to the terminal apparatuses, and in order to facilitate the input, the system according to the present invention may provide an appropriate input menu and input according to the form. At this point, the input menu can be adjusted appropriately for the database.

In step 100, the additional information may be input in addition to the above information, or only a part of the above information may be input. However, it is desirable to include information on the article name, model name and article serial number of the article purchased by the consumer. This is because after providing the post-service of the goods, the minimum information, which is essential information for identifying the goods, must be entered. In particular, it is preferable that the input connection unit 220 provides an input screen for inputting the minimum information as described above or all the information described above on the input screen of the consumer so as to be easily input by the consumer. This makes it easy for consumers to enter information and prevents them from missing the required information input.

At this time, since the article serial number is assigned to one number per article, it may not be desirable to change it by the consumer after input once. Therefore, it is preferable that the article serial number included in the information on the article can be restricted so that it can not be modified once received from the consumer.

In addition, when the serial number of each item is entered in conjunction with the database of the company that manufactures or supplies the item, the serial number of the item may be referred to the database of the supplier to prevent the wrong serial number from being entered.

Since the present invention aims to manage the warranty for the article, it is preferable that the information on the article at step 100 allows the consumer to select an additional post-warranty period in addition to the basic post-warranty period for the article purchased by the consumer. Of course, if you choose an additional post-warranty period, it's only natural that you pay the costs. In this case, the payment method may use various methods such as credit card, bank transfer or mobile phone payment. In this case, the extension of the warranty period may need to be configured in conjunction with the post-warranty of the goods, that is, the corresponding service of the company (the selling company or the manufacturer) that will provide the after-service. In other words, after the user enters all of the relevant information, the contents will be recorded in association with the database of the server of the company that will provide the after-service, so that the consumer does not need to input separately.

The information on the goods input by the consumer in step 100 includes information on the goods manufacturing company or the company providing the post-service for the goods. In step 120, the company providing the post-service on the goods is the company itself. It is preferable that the user can access information on the goods providing the post-service only when it corresponds to the goods manufacturing company input by the consumer or the company providing the post-service on the item in step 100.

If the consumer buys the goods, the description of the manufacturer of the goods or the company providing the after-service will be described in the box or in the enclosed instructions or the box containing the goods. Enter information about the company or company that provides after-sales service for the item. In addition, the company providing the post-service of the goods can access the information on the goods described as the post-service provided by the company among the information on the goods entered by the consumer. In other words, other companies have no access to information about the goods they provide after-service. This is because the information about the consumer who bought the product becomes information that cannot be disclosed to other companies. Therefore, it may be possible to pay a fee for using the service according to the present invention from a company providing a post service to access the service according to the present invention.

The service according to the present invention, in particular the user who can access the information in step 120 will be mentioned again.

In step 100, the information on the consumer includes an e-mail address where the customer can be contacted.In step 110, a database is searched for each consumer, item name, model name, or serial number. If the provider notifies the specific post-service of the article including the content of the upgrade of the article, selecting the retrieved consumer, article name, model name or serial number will send the mail for the specific post-service to the consumer's e-mail address. It is desirable to be able to transmit.

For example, if a public recall of a sold item is required, a company that provides after-sales service can search for product serial numbers for a specific product or a product produced during a specific period of time. If the user selects the searched results and selects the searched results, the system according to the present invention can send the mail for the recall even if the electronic mail is not sent to each consumer separately.

In addition, if the registered product is operated by a program such as a mobile phone or a digital camera, the consumer may be informed that an upgradeable program is provided when the program is upgraded. In the system 210 for providing a service according to the present invention, information about a product may be input to guide the upgrade when a registered consumer accesses the product.

It is also preferred that the side providing post service using the present invention provides the instruction manual for the article to the consumer who will lose the instruction manual for the article. To this end, the side providing the post service for the goods in step 120 may provide information including a product description for the goods only to users who input the information about the goods for which they provide the post service in step 100. desirable.

In addition, through the service according to the present invention, it is desirable to be able to select insurance coverage in case of losing the goods when the consumer inputs information on the goods in step 100. In other words, it provides the function to purchase the loss insurance, and for users who have lost insurance, the information about users and goods is provided to the insurance company with the approval of the entered consumer and the consumer needs to input separately. You can make it impossible.

In addition to the above functions, in step 100 or 120, the consumer may input that the goods have been lost or stolen, and if there is access to the database for the items input as lost or stolen in step 120, the consumer and / Alternatively, it is desirable to be able to notify the approaching side by an alarm message.

If the lost or stolen consumer can enter information about the item, in particular the serial number of the item, the lost or stolen item is entered in step 100, or the information already entered in steps 100 and 110 is databased. If the item is lost or stolen after it has been made, the management process for the item can be registered in step 120. And when the database of the system according to the present invention is used for the article, for example, the person who stoles the article passes the article for sale to another person or the article is received for repair at a service center. In the event that the person is handed the goods or a service center, the system according to the present invention can be accessed by entering the item serial number and searching for the goods to be informed that the goods are stolen goods. And finding the item again can make it easier to find the original owner.

Therefore, the service according to the present invention, in particular, the management service provided through step 120, will be a very useful service not only to the consumer who purchased the goods, but also to the general consumer, used goods exchange, general store, goods manufacturing company, police or insurance company. .

In addition to inputting information about the goods, it would be desirable to be able to enter information on the appearance and warranty contents of the goods. For this purpose, the information on the goods includes a photo file taken as a digital picture of the goods, It may be desirable to include a file containing information about the warranty, which is stored as a graphic file, which is scanned by using a device such as a scanner and digital data.

In addition, a kind of prizes may be provided to consumers who input information necessary for the service according to the present invention in order to encourage and induce the use of the service according to the present invention. To this end, it is preferable to provide predetermined prizes to the consumer who inputs information in step 100 so that the consumer can select any one of the prizes.

It may be possible to introduce or recommend a customer's satisfaction with a product so that information about the recommended product of the consumer or a popular product may be introduced to other consumers accessing the system according to the present invention, or the system according to the present invention. For example, if there is a portal site affiliated with the portal site may provide a predetermined service, such as avatars or avatar costumes or games to consumers registered for the product.

In addition, the present invention can be used in fields requiring security. Information entered by the consumer may include content requiring security. To this end, when receiving information from the consumer in step 100, a portion of the information input by the consumer may be secured according to the consumer's choice so that only authorized users may access the information, and in step 110, the security is selected. The information may be databased to be secured according to a predetermined method, and the secured information may not be accessed by the consumer or authorized user who input the information in step 120.

If a consumer purchases something like an asset or securities that is intangible, the subject matter of the check is a check, a paper document, a negotiable deposit certificate, or a stock certificate. You need to be able to see this. In this case, you will need security for what the consumer enters. In this case, the contents of the certificate of purchase and the image file or the scanning file which convert the contents of the certificate into electronic digital data may be attached, all of which are selected for security and may be viewed by other unauthorized persons. It cannot be. If the consumer is to be secured, it may be possible to view the contents of the security by using the same password by granting a separate password. Alternatively, a separate password may be assigned to each content to distinguish the viewing of the content according to the scope of authority.

In addition to the above cases, the present invention can also be used when the disclosure and execution of the contents, such as a will, can be determined over time. To this end, when receiving information from the consumer in step 100, a certain portion of the information input by the consumer may be secured according to the consumer's choice, and the user may select to specify when the secured information is disclosed. The selected information may be databased to be secured according to a predetermined method, and the secured information may be accessed only at the designated disclosure in step 120.

In other words, it is possible to input the contents of a will and to make the contents public at an undefined time, such as when the inputter is made public after death. In this case, in order to limit the people who can view the contents, a separate password may be given to the user to enter the password after the public period to see the contents.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Examples included in the above description are introduced for the understanding of the present invention, and these examples do not limit the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, in the above description, the Internet is mainly used as an example of a communication network, but it is also possible to use a public telephone communication network such as a PSTN, and in addition to the above examples, various embodiments according to the present invention are possible. It will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in this technical field. The scope of the present invention is shown not in the above description but in the claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

In addition, it can be easily understood by those skilled in the art that each of the above steps according to the present invention can be variously implemented in software or hardware using a general programming technique.

And some steps of the invention may also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, CD-RW, magnetic tape, floppy disks, HDDs, optical disks, magneto-optical storage devices, and carrier wave (eg, Internet It also includes the implementation in the form of). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

According to the present invention, in a method of receiving and managing information from a consumer through a network, a content including information about a consumer and information on a product to be managed by the consumer is input, and the received information is received according to a predetermined method. Database, and allowing access to the databaseed information to be used for post-services to users, including users who enter or provide post-services for the goods. For example, if a customer loses a document, such as a warranty for an item, the customer can receive appropriate after-sales service, and if a product is lost, the consumer can easily respond to it. To provide an environment that can provide services for.

Claims (14)

In the method of receiving and managing information from the consumer through the network, (a) receiving content from the consumer, the content including information about the consumer and information on the item to be managed; (b) database the received information according to a predetermined method; And (c) allowing access to the databased information for use by the post-service to users including the input consumer or the side providing the post-service for the article; A method of managing a warranty of an article through a network, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, In the step (a), the information on the goods includes information on the item name, model name and product serial number of the goods purchased by the consumer, and the information on the goods is inputted by providing a predetermined input menu to the input consumer. A method of managing a warranty of a product through a network, characterized in that it can be received. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The article serial number included in the information on the article in the step (a) may be limited so that it can not be modified after receiving once from the consumer. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The information on the goods in the step (a) is a method for managing the warranty of the goods through the network, characterized in that the consumer can select additional post-warranty period in addition to the basic post-warranty period for the goods purchased by the consumer. The method according to claim 1 or 2, In step (a), the information on the goods includes information on the goods manufacturing company or the company that provides the post-service for the goods, In the step (c), the party providing the post-service for the goods is provided with the post-service only if it corresponds to the company providing the post-service for the goods manufacturing company or the goods entered by the consumer in the step (a). A method of managing a warranty of a product through a network, characterized in that it has access to information about the goods it provides. The method of claim 5, In the step (a), the information on the consumer includes an e-mail address to contact the consumer, In step (b), the database is searched for each consumer, item name, model name or serial number. In the step (c), if the post-providing side of the article notifies the specific post-service of the article including the content of the upgrade of the article, the searched consumer, article name, model name or serial number is selected. A method for managing a warranty of an article through a network, characterized in that a mail for a post service can be sent to said consumer's e-mail address. The method of claim 5, In the step (c), the side providing the post service for the goods may provide the information including the product description of the goods only to users who input information on the goods for which the post service is provided. How to manage the warranty of the goods through the network. The method of claim 1, In step (a), when the consumer enters the information on the product, the method of managing the warranty items through the network, characterized in that it is possible to select the insurance in case of loss. The method according to claim 1 or 8, In step (a) or step (c), the consumer may further input that the item is lost or stolen, Warranty of the goods through the network, characterized in that if there is access to the database for the article entered as lost or stolen in step (c), the alarm message to the consumer and / or accessing side. How to manage matters. The method of claim 1, In the step (a), the information about the article may include a file containing a photograph of the article, the warranty information, characterized in that the method for managing the warranty of the goods over a network. The method of claim 1, And providing predetermined prizes to the consumer who enters the information in step (a), so that the consumer can select any one of the prizes. The method of claim 1, When receiving information from the consumer in step (a), a certain portion of the information input by the consumer may be selected according to the consumer's choice so that only authorized users access the information. In step (b), the security-selected information is databased to be secured according to a predetermined method, And (c) preventing access to the secured information other than the consumer or authorized user who entered the information. The method according to claim 1 or 12, wherein In the step (a), when receiving information from the consumer, a portion of the information input by the consumer may be selected according to the consumer's choice, and designate when the secured information is disclosed. In step (b), the security-selected information is databased to be secured according to a predetermined method, And (c) accessing the secured information only when the designated disclosure is made in step (c). In the system that receives and manages information through a network from a networked consumer, An input connection unit for receiving contents from the network terminal means of the consumer, the contents including information on the consumer and information on the goods to be managed; A database engine for databaseting the received information according to a predetermined method; An information storage unit for storing information databased by the database engine; And And a connection management unit for allowing access to the information stored in the information storage unit to be used for the post service to users including the input consumer or the user who provides a post service for the item. A system for managing the warranty of goods through the network.