Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Navigation
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-28
2004-03-09
Beaulieu, Yonel (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Navigation
Reexamination Certificate
active
06704644
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a system for supporting consultation business to handle inquiries from customers, and more specifically to a consultation business support system capable of quickly responding to inquiries from the customers to a customer center of a casualty insurance company as to a car accident, trouble or other problems.
BACKGROUND ART
Casualty insurance companies dealing with, for example, automobile insurance give advisory information to a customer or policyholder as to measures for acting on a car accident at once upon reception of a report of a traffic accident or the like from the customer during an insurance contract term. Similarly, the insurance companies offer the advisory information about appropriate measures for coping with automobile trouble on the road.
However, the consultation affairs known hitherto have been conducted as individuals by an operator or adviser who receives the incident report from the customer by telephone, referring to a management manual or other references. Therefore, the consulting system managed by the insurance advisers is required to be standardized uniformly.
In a case of inquiry from the policyholder, the insurance adviser first ascertains whether an inquirer is insured with the processing insurance company asking about the policyholder's name, number of insurance policy certificate, insurance company's name, and telephone number. Upon confirming that the inquirer is one of the policyholders of the processing insurance company, the insurance adviser gives the policyholder the relevant information in question. In furnishing the information with the policyholder in the case of a car accident, it is necessary to identify the type of a vehicle having the car accident or trouble, location of the car accident, contract basis with road service, number of occupants in the vehicle, state of notifying the police, and others and arrange to promptly move the vehicle running into trouble.
However, the conventional consultation system requires some time to identify the policyholder concerned and to make a search for an appropriate road service agent in the relevant area.
In such a case, an inexperienced adviser may not provide appropriate or formulary information for the policyholder's level of proficiency. The information offered by the inexperienced adviser may deviate from the standard information provided by the insurance company.
The consultation business includes a large variety of jobs including not only the providing of advisory information for the policyholder who informs the insurance company of a car accident on the road, but also handling of complaints and inquiries as to insurance contracts. Thus, an appropriate consulting system capable of handling various inquiries in a quick and efficient manner has been much awaited.
The present invention was made in the light of the problems as described above and has as an object to provide a consultation business support system capable of providing appropriate information in response to various inquiries from customers or policyholders in a quick and efficient manner.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided a consultation business support system for providing information in conformity with contents of inquiries from customers, which comprises means for selecting optional information items in accordance with the contents of inquiry from the customers, processing means for sequentially providing the information items selected respectively to the customer, processing means for sequentially providing the information items selected respectively to the customer item by item, selecting an agent for coping with an accident or trouble, and carrying on a tripartite conversation among an operator, the customer concerned and road service agent, and location searching means which is actuated in searching for the location at which a car trouble or accident, and serves to search out the road service agent or wrecker agent and calculate approximate time required for the road service agent or wrecker agent to arrive at the accident location.
According to the consultation business support system noted above, required consultation service can be fulfilled by sequentially providing the information items selected in accordance with the contents of the inquiries from the customers. Furthermore, the consultation service can be carried out swiftly since it enables the tripartite conversation.
The consultation business support system according to the invention may further include vehicle positioning means which is activated in identifying the current position at which a vehicle trouble or accident occurs to register the current position of the vehicle in question, in addition to the means for selecting optional information items in accordance with the contents of inquiries from the customers and the processing means for sequentially providing the information items selected respectively to the customers. The processing means has further functions of selecting an agent for coping with an accident or trouble, and carrying on a tripartite conversation among an operator, the customer concerned and road service agent. According to the vehicle positioning means, the customer involved in the car accident or trouble can be identified quickly, and appropriate advisory information can be given to the customer by use of the procedure guiding means. When providing the advisory information, the vehicle positioning means determines the current position of the vehicle in question, so that adequate directions for moving the vehicle can be provided for the customer concerned.
The aforementioned vehicle positioning means has functions of detecting the current position of a disabled vehicle, researching a garage destination to which the disabled vehicle is transported, and calculating the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the vehicle garage destination on the basis of geographical information of a digital map. Thus, advisory information about the directions for moving the vehicle and the vehicle garage destination can be promptly provided.
The consultation service standardized by the procedure guiding means may further comprise statistical work means for statistically processing the consultative matter with respect of each of statistics. With this statistical work means, issues raised by the customer when running into trouble can be statistically analyzed to take advantage of the result of the analysis after the fact.
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Nikkei Jouhou Strategy, Mar. 1998, (Japan), Nikkei BP K.K. (Mar. 1, 1998), pp. 206-208.
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Ishibashi Masasuke
Kobayashi Shusuke
Aioi Insurance Co., Ltd.
Beaulieu Yonel
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
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