CA2827096A1

CA2827096A1 - Photo sharing network for business

Info

Publication number: CA2827096A1
Application number: CA 2827096
Authority: CA
Inventors: Daniel R. Casler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-09-18
Filing date: 2013-09-18
Publication date: 2015-03-18

Abstract

A photo sharing network for business which includes computer storage on the internet where a business user can electronically store digital photos, with each digital photo being allocated to a digital file identified by a business file number. A
collaboration access profile is provided for each digital file, wherein the business user identifies collaborating users who have permitted access to the digital file. A collaboration portal is provided on the internet through which permitted collaborating users may gain access to the digital file for the purpose of viewing the digital file.

Description

TITLE
[0001] Photo Sharing Network For Business FIELD

[0002] There is described a photo sharing network for business and method of use of the same.
BACKGROUND

[0003] Instagram and Flickr are examples of photo sharing networks that allow persons to share photographs with friends and family. A user is able to link his or her account to another user's account. Every time the user uploads photos, the linked users are able to see the uploaded photos. They are many instances in which businesses could benefit from photo sharing. Existing photo sharing networks are not suited to the needs of business. What is required is a photo sharing network that is suited to the needs of business.
SUMMARY

[0004] There is provided a photo sharing network for business which includes computer storage on the internet where a business user can electronically store digital photos, with each digital photo being allocated to a digital file identified by a business file number. A
collaboration access profile is provided for each digital file, wherein the business user identifies collaborating users who have permitted access to the digital file.
A collaboration portal on the internet enables permitted collaborating users to gain access to the digital file for the purpose of viewing the digital file.

[0005] As will hereinafter be further described, the photo sharing network described above enables a business users to organize digital photos and restrict access to those digital photos to only selected collaborating users.

[0006] Although beneficial results may be obtained through the use of the photo sharing network described above, even more beneficial results may be obtained by including an electronic notification system, whereby computer generated electronic notifications are automatically sent to all collaborating users when a new digital photo is stored in the digital file.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein:

[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a photo sharing network for business.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] A photo sharing network will now be described with reference to FIG.
1.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:

[0010] A business user registers and builds a list of collaboration contacts. The system allows the business user to select a unique identifier (such as a file number) for a single or batch of photographs stored in a digital file and inputs basic identification data. Once the identification data has been in-putted, a user creates a collaboration user profile for the digital file by selecting from the list of collaboration contacts, those of the collaboration contacts the business user wishes to have access to the photographs for the purpose of this particular collaboration. Once the photos are transferred to computer storage in the "Cloud" on the interne, an email as well as system notifications are sent to the collaborating users advising them that new photographs have been assigned to them. Collaborating users access the digital file containing the photographs through a secure collaboration portal in the form of a web interface. The whole process is safe, secure and confidential. Only authorized users ever have access to assigned photographs.

[0011] When photos are assigned to first time collaboration users, the first time collaboration users are prompted to create a user account (register) in order to view the assigned photos. This ensures there is no anonymous access to user assigned photos.
Examples of Applications:

Medical [0012] Currently, patients have to wait 15-months or more to see a dermatologist on a referral from their general practitioner. Doctors estimate that 80%-90% of dermatology related referrals could be done remotely using pictures. Within the medical industry photos are rarely used and they are almost never used for collaborative purposes. The reason being is, there is no safe, secure and confidential method of sharing photographs. In addition, doctors who are general practitioners see a lot of patients. The average doctor sees between 30 and 50 patients per day, which equates to thousands of photographs per month. It would be extremely time consuming for a physician to sort and organize that many photographs per month. The proposed photo sharing network enables general practitioners in the medical professional to efficiently use photographs as tool for collaboration with specialists.
Construction [0013] It is good practise to document construction projects using photographs from start to finish. This creates a record of construction progress, clearly showing what work was done and when. There is also a need to share selected photos with sub-trades working on completion of specific aspects of the projects, especially relating to deficiencies. The proposed photo sharing network enables the efficient use photographs as a collaboration tool with sub-trades working on construction projects.
Automotive Collision Repair [0014] Currently, automotive collision repair centers document vehicle damage using photographs for insurance companies. Photographs are a method of visually communicating to insurance companies during the estimation process, what the extent of damage is to vehicle.
Automotive collision repair centers also need to provide photographs as method of proving what work was done when repairing a vehicle in order to receiving payment from the insurance company.

[0015] One of the largest losses of revenue within the automotive collision industry is parts that are orders that when delivered, are the incorrect part. This happens every day in automotive collision repair centers throughout North America and can cost thousands of dollars a month in lost revenue as well as affecting the a shops cycle time with insurance companies. When a wrong part shows up, the vehicle cannot be repaired. In many cases a vehicle could be on a hoist, which could mean the vehicle has to now wait for one to two days before the repair process can continue. This effect all other vehicles in the repair queue. It also effects rental car costs and other costs associated with delay. Many parts are near identical expect for minor differences. When a part is supplier which is incorrect, it is due to problems accurately communicating a description of the part between an automotive collision repair center and a parts supplier. Most of the time this can be avoided if a photograph is involved. A photograph can clearly communicates what the part looks like.

[0016] Currently, automotive repair collision repair centers can take photo graphs and email them to suppliers. This is time consuming and inefficient. Because of this, most automotive collision repair centers do not use photographs when ordering parts. A busy shop could need to take hundreds and in some cases thousands of photographs per week. If collision repair centers could communicate/collaborate using photographs on the majority of vehicle repairs, quickly and easily, a tremendous amount of money could be saved by the automotive collision repair center as well as by the suppliers. The proposed photo sharing network enables the efficient use photographs as a collaboration tool with part supplies to the automotive repair industry.

[0017] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

[0018] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrated embodiments set forth as examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with a purposive construction of the claims in view of the description as a whole.

Claims

What is Claimed is:

1. A photo sharing network for business, comprising:
computer storage on the internet where a business user can electronically store digital photos, with each digital photo being allocated to a digital file identified by a business file number;
a collaboration access profile for each digital file, wherein the business user identifies collaborating users who have permitted access to the digital file; and a collaboration portal on the internet through which permitted collaborating users may gain access to the digital file for the purpose of viewing the digital file.

2. The photo sharing network of Claim 1, further including an electronic notification system, whereby computer generated electronic notifications are automatically sent to all collaborating users when a new digital photo is stored in the digital file.