JP2001306729A - System and method for supporting maintenance and server for maintenance support - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support the contents judgement of maintenance by a client. SOLUTION: A client terminal 2 is connected through the Internet 3 to a server 1 having a home page. On the basis of the identification information of the client inputted from the client terminal, the server 1 extracts an article used by the client from a database DB1 for client management, further, extracts standard maintenance contents for each article from a database DB2 for article management and displays them on the client terminal 2. When the client selects an article desired to maintain in the client terminal 2, the present conditions of the article are examined by interview and suitable maintenance contents are presented. Besides, in the server 1, a trader is selected corresponding to the contents or significance of maintenance and the client terminal 2 is connected to the home page of the selected trader. At such a time, the article desired to maintain and one part of client information are transferred from the server 1 to the trader.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of housing equipment,
The present invention relates to a maintenance support method and a maintenance support server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, maintenance of housing equipment often means repair after a lapse of a free warranty period by a contractor or a house maker of the housing equipment, and usually a customer finds a defect in the housing equipment. Occasionally, the customer calls the contractor or house maker, or searches for a contractor who can repair the target housing equipment using a telephone directory etc. and makes a telephone call. The customer gives an explanation, asks the customer to come to a preview, and then asks for an estimated price. If the customer is satisfied with the estimated price, they will follow a procedure of requesting maintenance.

[0003]

As described above, when requesting repair of housing equipment, it is necessary to make several communications between the customer and the contractor or house maker. Then, it is difficult for the customer to judge whether the contents of the maintenance (including the price and the construction period) are appropriate or not, and the present situation is that the maintenance is normally requested at the mercy of the first telephone contact.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a maintenance auxiliary system, a maintenance auxiliary method, and a maintenance auxiliary server for assisting a customer in determining the contents of maintenance.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems Claims 1 to 1
The second invention relates to a maintenance assistance system.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, the product specifying means for specifying a product desired by the customer for maintenance and a use period of the product, Inquiry means for inquiring the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, and estimating the appropriate maintenance content from the product specified by the product specifying means, the service period of the product, and the result of the medical inquiry by the questioning means. It is provided with an estimating means and a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, comprising a plurality of computers connected to a computer network, at least one of the computers. A server as a server, and at least one of the computers as a customer terminal capable of interactively accessing the server, wherein the server has an identification of the customer through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal. Customer information acquiring means for prompting the user to input information; a customer management database in which the identification information is associated with a sold product and a sale date; and a standard maintenance time and a standard maintenance content associated with the sold product. Product management database and customer information acquisition means By comparing the obtained customer identification information with the customer management database, the product used by the customer registered in the customer management database and the use period of the product are obtained, and the obtained product and use period are determined by the customer. A product identification means that is presented to the customer through the terminal and allows the customer to select a product that the customer wants to maintain;
Inquiry means for asking the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, and standard maintenance contents obtained by collating the product specified by the product specifying means and the use period of the product with the product management database An estimating means for estimating an appropriate maintenance content in consideration of an inquiry result by the inquiry means, and a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through a customer terminal.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the commodity specifying means presents a list of all commodities used by the customer through the customer terminal, and the customer performs maintenance from the list display. This allows the user to select a desired product.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, comprising a plurality of computers connected to a computer network, wherein at least one of the computers is provided. The server is a server, and at least one other of the computers is a customer terminal that can interactively access the server, and the server includes, in the identifier of a previously sold product, A product management database in which a maintenance time is associated with a standard maintenance content, and when accessed from a customer terminal, the customer inputs an identification name of a product desired to be maintained and a use period of the product through the customer terminal. The product information acquisition method that prompts and the identifier of the product A commodity specifying means for presenting to the customer a product corresponding to the identification name entered by matching the product management database through the customer terminal when it is,
Inquiry means for asking the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, and standard maintenance contents obtained by collating the product specified by the product specifying means and the use period of the product with the product management database An estimating means for estimating an appropriate maintenance content in consideration of an inquiry result by the inquiry means, and a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through a customer terminal.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided customer information acquiring means for causing the server to input at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and a contact address through the customer terminal as customer information. And a customer management database for storing the specified customer information in association with the product specified by the product specifying means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, when the product and the use period of the product are specified by the product specifying means, the product is compared with a product management database. Standard maintenance contents presenting means for presenting standard maintenance contents prepared in advance to the customer is added, and the inquiry means has a function of presenting an inquiry table after the standard maintenance contents are presented by the standard maintenance contents presenting means. The estimating means has a function of modifying the standard maintenance content according to the current situation of the product obtained by the customer answering the inquiry table, and the modified maintenance content is regarded as an appropriate maintenance content. It is presented to the content presentation means.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the commodity is house equipment, and the commodity specifying means allows the customer to select a place in the house, and then selects a place in the house. This allows the user to select housing equipment within the house.

[0013] The invention according to claim 8 is a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of commodities used by customers, comprising a plurality of computers connected to a computer network, wherein at least one of the computers is provided. The server is a server, and at least one other of the computers is a customer terminal that is interactively accessible to the server and has a removable storage medium. The product management data that associates the product sale date, standard maintenance time, and standard maintenance content with the product that is being used, and the product usage period calculated from the product sale date and the current date are described in the product management data. Standards prepared in advance for products by checking against standard maintenance times A standard maintenance content presentation module for presenting maintenance content to the customer, a product identification module for allowing the customer to select a product desired to be maintained, an inquiry module for asking the customer about the current situation of the product selected through the product identification module, and a product A program having a transfer module for transferring the identification name and usage period input through the specific module and the result of the inquiry by the inquiry module together with the identification information of the customer to the server is stored, and the server has the transfer module through the transfer module. Estimating means for estimating appropriate maintenance content from the identifier transferred from the customer terminal, the use period, and the inquiry result, and maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal are provided. It is something.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the eighth aspect, the server has a customer management database in which customer information including at least a customer name, a residence area, and a contact address is associated with the identification information. When the identification information of the customer is transferred to the server, the server is provided with a customer specifying means for extracting the customer information by collating it with the customer management database.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the second or fifth or ninth aspect of the invention, the server comprises a product, a company capable of maintaining the product, a business area of the company, and a homepage of the company. And a request to perform maintenance when the maintenance content presenting means presents appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal to the customer to determine whether or not maintenance is required. A vendor selection means for selecting a vendor capable of maintenance based on the maintenance content and customer information from the vendor management database when the customer name, the customer's name, the customer's residence area, and the contact information as customer information for the selected vendor. Notifying means for notifying, and the customer's information In which and a communication control means for connecting.

In the invention according to claim 11, in the invention according to claim 10, when a plurality of selected traders are selected, the trader selects one trader by presenting the cost and the construction period for each trader. It is to let.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the second, eighth, or ninth aspect, the customer's e-mail address is registered in the customer management database, and the product registered in the customer management database. When the elapsed time from the sales date of the product is a predetermined period before the maintenance time of the product registered in the customer management database, a maintenance guide is transmitted to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database. The server includes a mail transmission unit.

The inventions of claims 13 to 20 relate to a maintenance assisting method.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting method for assisting maintenance related to a product used by a customer, wherein a customer management database in which a sold product and a sale date are stored in association with customer identification information. A server having a product management database in which standard maintenance times and standard maintenance contents are associated with sold products and a customer terminal that can access the server interactively via a computer network. When the server is accessed from the terminal, the customer is prompted to enter the customer's identification information through the customer terminal, and the customer's identification information obtained by the customer information acquisition means is compared with the customer management database to create the customer management database. Products and products used by the registered customer Obtain the use period of the product, present the obtained product and the use period to the customer through the customer terminal, and show the customer the standard maintenance contents that are previously associated with the product and the use period in the product management database. After selecting a product for which maintenance is desired, the customer is asked about the current status of the selected product, the standard maintenance content is corrected based on the result of the inquiry, and presented as appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal. And

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the thirteenth aspect, the commodity specifying means presents a list of all commodities used by the customer through the customer terminal, and allows the customer to perform maintenance from the list display. It is characterized in that a desired product is selected.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting method for assisting the maintenance of a product used by a customer. A server having a product management database in which the server is associated with a customer terminal that can interactively access the server is connected via a computer network, and when the server is accessed from the customer terminal, the customer Prompts the user to enter the identifier of the product for which maintenance is desired and the period of use of the product, and when the identifier of the product is entered from the customer terminal, matches the identifier to the database for product management and corresponds to the entered identifier Product to be presented to the customer through the customer terminal and stored in the product management database. After presenting to the customer the standard maintenance details associated with the product and the usage period in advance, the customer is consulted about the current status of the specified product, and the standard maintenance details are corrected based on the results of the inquiry to ensure proper maintenance. Is presented to the customer terminal.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fifteenth aspect, at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and contact information are input as customer information through the customer terminal, and the input customer information is associated with a product. And stored in a customer management database provided in the server.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the thirteenth to sixteenth aspects, the commodity is house equipment, and after a customer selects a place in the house, he / she wants maintenance within the range of the place. It is characterized by allowing the user to select housing equipment to be used.

In the invention of claim 18, in the invention of claims 13 to 16, the server associates the merchandise, the trader capable of maintaining the merchandise, the business area of the trader, and the address of the homepage of the trader. Providing a database for managing the company stored with the customer terminal, and prompting the customer to determine the necessity of maintenance when presenting the appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal, and the maintenance content and customer information when the selection to request maintenance is made Based on the information, select a vendor that can be maintained from the vendor management database, notify the selected vendor of the customer's name, customer's residence area and contact information as customer information,
It is characterized in that the customer terminal is connected to the homepage of the company that has notified the customer information.

A nineteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the invention of the eighteenth aspect, when a plurality of the traders are selected, the cost and the construction period for each trader are presented to allow the customer to select one trader.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the thirteenth or sixteenth aspect, the customer's e-mail address is registered in the customer management database and the sales date of the product registered in the customer management database is changed. When the elapsed time of the product is a predetermined period before the maintenance time of the product registered in the customer management database, a maintenance guide is transmitted to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database. I do.

[0027] The invention of claims 21 to 29 relates to a server for maintenance assistance.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server connected to a customer terminal via a computer network and interactively accessed from the customer terminal, wherein when accessed from the customer terminal, identification information of the customer is input through the customer terminal. A customer information obtaining means for prompting the user to perform the sales, a customer management database in which the sold information and the sale date are associated with the identification information, and a product management in which the standard maintenance time and the standard maintenance content are associated with the sold goods. By comparing the database and the customer identification information obtained by the customer information acquisition means with the customer management database, the product used by the customer registered in the customer management database and the use period of the product are obtained. , And to provide the customer with the requested product and the period of use through the customer terminal. A product specifying means for allowing a customer to select a product for which maintenance is desired, an inquiry means for inquiring a customer about the status of the product specified by the product specifying means, a product specified by the product specifying means, and a period of use of the product. Means for estimating the appropriate maintenance contents by adding the results of the inquiry by the inquiry means to the standard maintenance contents obtained by collating the information with the product management database, and the maintenance contents obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal. And a maintenance content presenting means for presenting.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first aspect, the product specifying means causes a list of all products used by the customer to be presented on the customer terminal, and the customer performs maintenance from the list display. This allows the user to select a desired product.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server connected to a customer terminal via a computer network and interactively accessed from the customer terminal. A product management database in which standard maintenance contents are associated with each other, and product information prompting a customer to input an identification name of a product desired to be maintained and a use period of the product through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal. Acquisition means, product identification means for presenting a product corresponding to the entered identification name to the customer through the customer terminal by checking the product management database when the product identification name is input from the customer terminal, and product identification Inquiry means for inquiring the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the means, and product specifying means Estimating means for estimating appropriate maintenance contents by adding the specified maintenance contents obtained by collating the specified products and the service period of the products with the database for product management to the results of the inquiry by the inquiry means; And a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the means through a customer terminal.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided customer information obtaining means for inputting at least a customer name, a customer's residence area and contact information through the customer terminal as customer information, Is stored in association with the product specified by the product specifying means.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first to twenty-fourth aspects, when a product and a use period of the product are specified by the product specifying means, the product is compared with a product management database. The standard maintenance content presentation means for presenting the standard maintenance content prepared in advance to the customer is added.
The inquiry means has a function of presenting an inquiry table after the standard maintenance content is presented by the standard maintenance content presentation means, and the estimating means responds to the current situation of the product obtained by the customer answering the inquiry table. And corrects the standard maintenance content, and the corrected maintenance content is presented to the maintenance content presenting means as proper maintenance content.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first to twenty-fifth aspects, the commodity is house equipment, and the commodity specifying means allows the customer to select a place in the house, and then selects a place within the house. This allows the user to select housing equipment.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first to twenty-fourth aspects, the merchandise, a trader capable of maintaining the merchandise, a business area of the trader, and an address of a homepage of the trader are stored in association with each other. A supplier management database, and the maintenance content presenting means, when presenting appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal, allowing the customer to select whether or not maintenance is required, and when the maintenance request is made, maintenance content and customer information are selected. Selecting means for selecting a supplier capable of maintenance based on the above, from a supplier management database, notifying means for notifying the selected supplier of the customer's name, customer's residence area and contact information as customer information, and notifying means Communication control means for connecting a customer terminal to the homepage of the company that notified the customer information by using It is those with a.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-seventh aspect, when a plurality of traders are selected by the trader selecting means, the cost and the construction period for each trader are presented to the customer terminal to give one to the customer. One of the three companies is selected.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-first aspect, an e-mail address of a customer is registered in the customer management database, and an elapsed period from a sale date of a product registered in the customer management database is determined. The server is provided with mail transmitting means for transmitting a maintenance guide to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database when a predetermined period of time has passed before the maintenance time of the product registered in the customer management database. Things.

[0037]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a server 1 composed of a computer and a customer terminal 2 composed of a computer are connected to the Internet 3 which is a computer network. The following description will be made on the assumption that the customer terminal 2 can interactively access the server 1. Further, it is assumed that the Internet is also connected to a company server 4 constructed by a company or maker capable of performing maintenance. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a product to be maintained is house equipment, and the house equipment includes floor material, wallpaper, outer wall material, and the like in addition to a system kitchen, a system bath, and a toilet. In short, the house equipment in the present embodiment refers to the elements of the house that are installed and constructed by the house builder. A homepage for maintenance is established on the server 1, and the customer terminal 2 can use the functions described below by accessing the homepage. The customer terminal 2 is a terminal operated by a customer who wants to maintain an existing product. The customer terminal 2 includes at least an input device such as a keyboard and a display device capable of browsing a homepage, and a browsing program (browser) can operate. I have.

The server 1 has a customer management database D
B1, a product management database DB2, and a trader management database DB3 are provided. The customer management database DB1 includes (identification information, name, address (address 1, address 2), contact information (phone number, fax number, e-mail address), existing products (identification name, installation location), floor plan, Data is stored with a set of (sale date) as one record. “Identification information” is a code assigned to each customer to identify the customer, and is notified to each customer.
"Name" is the customer's name, "Address" is the customer's address, and "Contact" is an electronic means (telephone, facsimile, e-mail)
Means contacting customers. In the “address”, “address 1” and “address 2” are set, and in “address 1”, the name of the prefecture and the municipal name representing the residence area among the customer addresses are registered. Is registered in the customer's address at a lower level than the municipal name. The “existing product” is a housing facility installed and constructed at the time of selling the house or selling the housing equipment, and is specified by the “identification name” and the “installation place”. Use the product name or model number as the "identifier"
The “installation place” is represented as a place name indicating a room or place where the product is actually installed. Further, since the floor plan of the house of the customer can be known at the time of installation and construction of the product, the location of the product is indicated in the floor plan of the house and registered as a "floor plan". The date of installation and construction is registered in the “sale date”.

On the other hand, the merchandise management database DB2 includes (identification name, merchandise category, merchandise content (description, merchandise diagram), standard maintenance content, standard maintenance time).
Is stored as one record. The “identification name” is a product name or a model number, and has a relation between the customer management database DB1 and the product management database DB2 using the “identification name” as a key. In short, the customer management database DB1 and the product management database DB2 constitute a relation database. The “commodity classification” is a classification by product type. For example, there are a large classification that divides the handling division of the contractor such as a plumbing product, an outer wall material, an interior material, and a middle classification (for further subdividing the large classification). For example, for plumbing products, system kitchens, system baths, toilet bowls, etc., and small classifications for more specific intermediate classifications (for example, wood, cushions, carpets, cork, flooring materials) And so on). "Product content" is auxiliary information for specifically specifying the product corresponding to the "identifier name", "description" indicating the product specification, etc., and a photograph indicating the appearance and partial shape of the product And “commercial drawing” composed of drawings. The “standard maintenance contents” and “standard maintenance time” store the contents of the maintenance modeled as a standard and the time when the maintenance is required (the period from the start of use of the product). Here, the content of the maintenance depends on the specific processing (for example,
Surface painting, parts replacement, product replacement, etc.), the cost required for the processing, and the construction period required for the processing. All products sold in the past are registered in the product management database DB2.

The business management database DB3 contains (business name, URL, business area, address, contact information (telephone number, F
Data is stored with a set of an AX number, an e-mail address) and a product category being handled as one record. “URL” is the address of a homepage provided on the vendor server 4 of the vendor capable of performing the maintenance specified by “trader name”. In the “business area”, the area in which the trader operates is registered with the name of the prefecture and the name of the municipality. "Address" means the address of the trader and "Contact" means the contact information to the trader by electronic means (telephone, facsimile, e-mail). Further, as the "product category", the content corresponding to at least the major category of the "product category" of the product management database DB2 is registered, and the "product category" and the "product category" are used as keys. Thus, a relation is provided between the commodity management database DB2 and the trader management database DB3.

The server 1 of the present embodiment includes the customer management database DB1 and the product management database D described above.
In addition to B2 and the business management database DB3, the following units realized by a computer device are provided. One means provided in the server 1 is a customer information acquisition means 11 for prompting the user to input customer identification information when a maintenance homepage opened in the server 1 is accessed from the customer terminal 2. Thus, the customer information acquiring means 11 can acquire the identification information of the customer in the server 1 through the customer terminal 2. The server 1 is provided with a product specifying unit 12.
In addition, when the identification information code is given at the time of installation of the product and the customer can input the identification information from the customer terminal 2, the inputted customer information is collated with the "customer information" of the customer management database DB1. Then, a record in which the "customer information" matches is stored in the customer management database DB.
Extract from 1. Since the existing product used by the customer and the sales date can be known from the record extracted in this manner, the product used by the customer is checked by comparing the identification name of the existing product with the product management database DB2. Is presented to the customer through the customer terminal 2. The screen at this time is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. In the illustrated example, a list of product names of the products sold to the customer is displayed, and a check box CB is displayed for each product name. On the customer side, if the mouse cursor is placed on the check box CB corresponding to the product name of the product desired to be maintained and clicked (here, a mouse is assumed as a means for selecting the check box CB, but a tab key on the keyboard is used). The check box CB is sequentially selected each time the button is pressed,
An operation of pressing a return key while a desired check box CB is selected may be employed. In any case, any operation may be used as long as the user selects the check box CB corresponding to the product for which maintenance is desired and determines the selected state. After the customer terminal 2 determines the product for which maintenance is desired, the customer can notify the server 1 of the product for which maintenance is desired by selecting and clicking the transmission button B1 displayed on the screen with the mouse.

On the other hand, since the customer may not have the identification information or may have lost the identification information, it is impossible to input the identification information using the screen displayed on the customer terminal 2 by the customer information acquisition means 11. Is notified to the server 1, the customer information obtaining means 11 causes the customer terminal 2, the customer's name, the customer's residence area and the contact information to be input as customer information. The information thus obtained is stored in the customer management database DB1. Then, customer information acquisition means 1
From 1, the process shifts to the product information obtaining means 13, and a screen prompting the user to input the identification name of the product desired to be maintained and the usage period of the product is displayed on the customer terminal 2.
The product identification name is described on a label attached to the existing product. When the identification name written on the label is input from the customer terminal 2, the identification name is transferred to the product specification means 12 provided in the server 1, and the product specification means 12 compares the identification name with the product management database DB2, thereby identifying the product. The “product content” corresponding to the name is presented to the customer terminal 2. By presenting the “product details” to the customer terminal 2 in this way, the customer can confirm whether or not the product is a product that he / she wants to maintain. When the presented “product details” match the desired product, the customer terminal 2 Click the confirmation button (not shown) displayed on the screen of (1).

In some cases, the identification name cannot be known because the label attached to the product is peeled off or the label becomes dirty, so that the product information acquisition means 13 uses not only the product identification name but also the product classification. Can be specified. In other words, the types of products sold in the past are listed on the customer terminal 2 in the middle category of the "product category" in the product management database DB2, and after the customer selects the product type from the middle category, The sub-classification is displayed on the customer terminal 2 and the type of the product is selected. At this stage, the type of product that the customer wants to maintain is specified, so the “product content” with the same minor classification
Is displayed on the customer terminal 2 and the customer selects a product that matches the product that the customer wants to maintain. By such a procedure, even when the identification name cannot be known, it is possible to specify a product for which maintenance is desired. In this case as well, it is a matter of course that the user is prompted to input the use period of the product. Further, the use period of the product does not necessarily have to be accurate, and it is sufficient that an approximate number of years of use be input.

As described above, the customer information obtaining means 11
By using the product identification means 12 or the commodity information acquisition means 13 and the commodity identification means 12, the server 1 can acquire information on the commodity that the customer wants to maintain and the period of use thereof. Here, when the identification information of the customer is input from the customer terminal 2, the difference between the “sale date” and the current date is determined as the product use period. If the product for which maintenance is desired and the use period are known, the standard maintenance content presenting means 14 provided in the server 1 compares the "standard maintenance time" of each product registered in the product management database DB2 with the use period. The “standard maintenance contents” during the usage period are extracted. The extracted “standard maintenance contents” are presented to the customer through the customer terminal 2.

For example, FIG. 3 shows the contents of maintenance related to the electric floor heating panel of the flooring specification. In the case of this product, there are three types of maintenance target items: a wax for surface protection, a heater, and a surface decorative material, and the time when maintenance is required for each target item is shown in a graph. That is, in the illustrated example, the time axis is set on the horizontal axis, and both end arrows are shown along the time axis direction for each target item, and the right end of the both end arrows indicates the point at which maintenance is required. For example,
The surface protection wax is represented by a double-ended arrow having a length corresponding to five years, so that it can be seen that maintenance is required every five years.

If it is assumed that about five years have passed since the installation and construction of this product, "current" is displayed at a position indicating the point at which about five years have passed on the graph,
Specific processing of maintenance registered as "standard maintenance contents" will be described. In the illustrated example, a message indicating that the surface protection wax needs to be repainted is shown.

Incidentally, the maintenance contents presented by the standard maintenance content presentation means 14 are uniformly defined as standard, and the current state of the product by the customer (parts and symptoms requiring maintenance).
There is a difference in the need for maintenance. In addition, when maintenance is requested from a customer, it is considered that repair is more often requested than when information regarding maintenance is requested. Therefore, the server 1 is provided with the inquiry means 15, and by clicking the advance button B 2 displayed as “next” on the screen of the customer terminal 2 with the maintenance content presented to the customer terminal 2, Inquiry means 15
Is displayed as shown in FIG. The questionnaire table is set in association with each product in the product management database DB2. In the example shown in FIG.
In addition to displaying questions about the current state of the product by the customer on the screen of the customer terminal 2, a check box CB is provided for each question. After selecting and clicking the check box CB of the question corresponding to the current status, the customer can notify the server 1 of the current status of the product by clicking the send button B3.

When the current state of the product is input from the customer terminal 2, the server 1 adds the standard maintenance contents to the standard maintenance contents and the consultation result, and makes corrections to the standard maintenance as necessary. In this way, the maintenance contents taking into account the results of the inquiry are presented to the customer terminal 2 through the maintenance content presenting means 17 provided in the server 1 as shown in FIG. Further, the maintenance content presenting means 17 estimates the cost in consideration of the result of the inquiry based on the cost in the standard maintenance content, and presents it on the screen of the customer terminal 2 as a standard estimate. This screen is also provided with a selection button B4 for allowing the customer to select whether maintenance is necessary or not. The customer who wants the maintenance will click the selection button B4.

When the selection button B4 is clicked, the server 1
Is activated. The trader selecting means 18 compares the product to be maintained with the “handling product category” of the trader management database DB3, and extracts a trader who can perform maintenance work on the product to be maintained. With
According to the urgency of maintenance and the required technical level based on the result of the interview, the user selects whether to request maintenance from a normal contractor or maintenance from a manufacturer or a material maker. For example, if there is a high degree of urgency but no special technology is required, such as water leakage or damage to window glass, and maintenance can be performed by a general contractor, the contractor will be selected from those whose sales area is the customer's residence area. Select On the other hand, if the degree of urgency is low but a special technique is required, such as maintaining the gloss of the door, and maintenance is difficult for a general contractor, a manufacturer or material maker having the maintenance technique is selected.

FIG. 9 summarizes the procedure of the inquiry. That is, when a maintenance target product is selected, a list of question items (question items regarding defects) is displayed on the customer terminal 2 (S1). When the customer selects the item of the failure with respect to the list displayed as an inquiry and returns it to the server 1 (S2), the server 1 evaluates the current state of the product and presents the maintenance contents to the customer terminal 2 (S3). here,
Depending on the technical level required for maintenance (S4),
Select either a general manufacturer and a manufacturer or material maker. When a general contractor is selected, an estimate at the time of carrying out the maintenance and the effect of the maintenance are displayed on the customer terminal 2 (S5), and whether or not the maintenance is carried out is confirmed (S6). When the maintenance is selected, the process proceeds to the stage of selecting a trader (S7).
If the level of technology required for maintenance is high (that is, if it cannot be dealt with unless it is a manufacturer or a material manufacturer), the manufacturer or the material manufacturer is notified (S8).

To select a general trader, the name of the prefecture and the municipalities in the customer information are checked against the “business area” in the trade management database DB3 to determine the trader whose customer's residence area is the business area. Extract. Since a plurality of contractors are likely to be extracted in an urban area, when a plurality of contractors are extracted, a list of the contractor name, the construction period, and the cost is displayed as shown in FIG. In addition, since a construction period changes every day according to the schedule of a contractor, and a cost also changes suitably, the server 1 is connected to a terminal of a contractor, and when displaying a list of contractor names, information on the contraction period and cost is displayed from the terminal of the contractor. Read and display. That is, it is necessary for the trader to input such information into the terminal. In the screen shown in FIG. 6, the trader name is linked to the homepage of each trader.
Therefore, the customer selects a trader who satisfies the desired conditions for the construction period and cost, and moves the mouse cursor to the trader name and clicks on the trader name.
Thus, the customer terminal 2 is connected to the trader's homepage. In addition, when selecting a manufacturer or a material maker as a trader, there is no particular comparison of “business area”.
The construction period and cost are estimated on the server 1 side according to the results of the interview.

By the way, the server 1 is also informed of which trader the customer has selected, and the notifying means 20 provided in the server 1
Then, the name of the customer and the residence area (“address 1”) of the customer in the customer information are notified to the selected trader. Here, a standard screen as shown in FIG. 7 is set on the homepage of the linked company, and the name of the customer and the residence area of the customer notified from the server 1 are applied to the screen and displayed. It has become. Also, the maintenance estimate is displayed on the screen. In the illustrated example, the names and residence areas are applied to the areas D1 and D2, respectively, and the estimate is shown in the area D3. This screen is provided with a field F1 for inputting the rest of the customer's address, a field F2 for inputting the telephone number of the customer's contact, and a field F3 for inputting the desired date and time of maintenance. These fields F
If necessary items are input to 1 to F3 and the transmission button B5 is clicked, the name, address, contact information, and desired date and time of the customer are notified to the trader. The trader confirms and arranges maintenance based on the information obtained from the customer, and thereafter, the maintenance is performed by directly negotiating between the customer and the trader.

As shown in FIG. 10, the supplier selection means 18 determines the level of the maintenance contents and
If the maintenance can be performed by the provider of (S
1) The provider of the server 1 itself becomes a trader and receives a maintenance request from a customer (S2). If the provider of the server 1 cannot execute the process, the required data such as the maintenance content is transferred to the maintenance server set by requesting the general contractor (contractor) (S
3). In the server of the trader, a department, an estimate and a construction period which can be dealt with according to the maintenance contents passed from the server 1 are extracted and presented to the customer (S4). When the information on the trader side is obtained in this way, the screen shown in FIG. 6 can be displayed on the customer terminal 2, and here, the user is prompted to select whether or not to perform maintenance (S5). If there is a maintenance request, the server 1 accepts the maintenance request (S6), and passes the customer information to the trader's server (S7). This makes it possible to present the screen shown in FIG.

As described above, a customer is introduced to a customer according to a product for which maintenance is desired, and a customer who wants maintenance is introduced to the customer. As a result, for the customer, the maintenance company is introduced through the builder of the server 1, and the reliability of the company is higher than when the customer selects the company individually.

[0055] The contractor is required to input customer information to the server 1 after maintenance is performed, and the contents of the customer management database DB1 provided in the server 1 are updated. This makes it possible to propose appropriate maintenance when the same customer next accesses the server 1.

FIG. 8 shows an outline of the procedure described above. FIG. 8 illustrates a case where the customer has the identification information. That is, when a customer who wants to perform maintenance accesses the homepage (S1), the customer information acquiring means 11 in the server 1 causes the customer terminal 2
The identification information is taken in from (S2). When the identification information is input, the information is collated with the customer management database DB1 to extract the customer information (S3), and based on the customer information, the product management database DB2 is queried for the aging of existing products (S4). Here, the server 1 determines the specific contents of the maintenance by inquiring about the current status of the product that the customer wants to maintain (S5). Once the specific contents of the maintenance are determined in this way, extract the contractor,
The customer terminal 2 is connected to the trader's homepage (S6).
Further, the customer information is updated after the maintenance is performed (S7).

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, after accessing the server 1 from the customer terminal 2, the customer specifies the product he / she wants to maintain, and presents the standard maintenance contents for the product. In the present embodiment, the process up to the inquiry is performed at the customer terminal 2 without connecting to the server 1, and after the inquiry result is obtained, the server 1 is accessed from the customer terminal 2. It is like that. If the technology of the present embodiment is adopted, it is not necessary to perform data transmission between the server 1 and the customer terminal 2 in the processing up to the inquiry, so that an increase in the traffic on the Internet 3 is suppressed, There is a possibility that the waiting time for the screen display on the customer terminal 2 can be reduced as compared with the case where data is exchanged with the server 1 via the Internet 3 in the processing of (1).

That is, in the present embodiment, the customer terminal 2 having a detachable storage medium is used. In this storage medium, a product that the customer wants to maintain can be specified. The necessary programs and data are provided so that the contents of maintenance of the product can be presented, an inquiry about the current state of the product can be made, and the specified product and the result of the inquiry can be transferred to the server 1. Is stored. At present, a CD-ROM may be used as a storage medium. C
The R-ROM can be used in most personal computers used as the customer terminals 2, and is small in volume, easy to distribute, and high in storage. However, since data cannot be updated after maintenance is performed on a CD-ROM, if a rewritable storage medium (CD-RW, DVD-RW, etc.) becomes widespread in the future and the storability is improved, this data will not be updated. It is desirable to use some type of storage medium. However, even in the case of a non-rewritable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, most of the information may be extracted from the storage medium, and only the information that is insufficient with the information on the storage medium may be extracted from the server 1.

Further, different contents are registered in the storage medium for each customer, thereby reducing the data on the merchandise. In other words, only the products used by customers are registered as product management data by associating the identifiers of existing products with installation locations, sales dates, product identifiers, standard maintenance times, and standard maintenance contents. The data amount can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where these data are registered in the storage medium for all the products handled. In addition, as the data amount decreases, the time required to select a product for which maintenance is desired also decreases.

In the storage medium, in addition to the product management data described above, the service period of the product calculated from the sale date of the product and the current date is compared with the standard maintenance time of the product management data. A standard maintenance content presentation module that presents to the customer the standard maintenance content prepared in advance for the product, a product identification module that allows the customer to select the product that the customer wants to maintain, and the current status of the product selected through the product identification module. A program is stored which includes an inquiry module for asking the customer, and a transfer module for transferring the identification name and usage period input through the product identification module and the result of the inquiry by the inquiry module to the server 1 together with the identification information of the customer. Further, the identification information of the customer is registered in the storage medium in advance, and the identification information is automatically transferred to the server 1 when the customer terminal 2 accesses the server 1.

In short, in the present embodiment, the customer terminal 2 uses the data and the program stored in the storage medium to specify the product that the customer wants to maintain and to answer the inquiry about the current status of the product. After the product is specified and the result of the inquiry is obtained, the server 1 is accessed from the customer terminal 2. Therefore, since there is no data transmission with the server 1 until the inquiry, the Internet 3 Is suppressed, and the load on the server 1 is reduced as compared with the first embodiment.

The server 1 is accessed from the customer terminal 2,
When the identification information of the customer, the product for which maintenance is desired, and the result of the inquiry are delivered to the server 1, the server 1 estimates the maintenance content by the estimating means 16 as in the first embodiment, and the maintenance content presenting means 17 The contents of the maintenance are presented to the customer terminal 2, the company is selected by the company selection means 18, the customer terminal 2 is connected to the homepage of the company, and a part of the customer information is delivered to the company through the notification means 20. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 summarizes the procedure in this embodiment. That is, when the customer terminal 2 starts the program using the storage medium (CR-ROM) (S
1) The secular change (standard maintenance contents) of the product stored in the storage medium is displayed on the customer terminal 2 (S)
2). That is, the use period of the product is calculated by comparing the sale date of the product with the date and time by the internal clock of the customer terminal 2, and by comparing this use period with the product management data, the standard of each product at that time is obtained. Extract maintenance details. By looking at the standard maintenance contents, the customer selects a product desired to be maintained from the products used (S3). In addition, an inquiry about the current state of the product selected by the inquiry module is performed. After the inquiry result is obtained, the transfer module is activated to access the server 1, and the customer identification information registered in the storage medium is delivered to the server 1 (S4). Server 1
Then, based on the information obtained from the customer terminal 2 (maintenance desired product, inquiry result, etc.), the actual required maintenance content is estimated, a vendor is selected based on the estimated maintenance content, and the customer terminal is displayed on the homepage of the selected vendor. 2 (S5). When the maintenance is performed by the trader, the customer information registered in the server 1 is updated (S6), and a storage medium in which the updated data is registered is created (S7) and distributed to the customer.

It is preferable that the storage medium provided to the customer also stores an instruction manual for the product used by the customer. This eliminates the need for a thick manual and makes it easier for customers to store the manual, and also makes it easier for customers to work on maintenance when referring to the manual when necessary. Become.

In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, when a product for which maintenance is desired is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. It is possible to make customers aware of the time. In addition, it is possible to move the position of the cursor indicating “present” on the time axis at the customer terminal 2 and to present the standard maintenance contents at the future standard maintenance time to the customer terminal 2. .

(Third Embodiment) In the above-described embodiment, a case where a product used by a customer is displayed in a list and a product desired to be maintained is selected from the list is mainly exemplified. When a product is used, it may be difficult to display a list on one screen. Also, the same product may be used in different rooms, such as flooring. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as a method for selecting a product, first, the user selects the location of the product, and then lists each product within the range of the installation location, thereby facilitating the work of specifying the product. Here is an example.

Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the server 1 is provided with the product management database DB2 as in the first embodiment. That is, as shown in FIG.
Before extracting the standard maintenance content, an icon indicating a place in the house where the product is installed (for example, a room unit such as a toilet or a kitchen) is displayed on the screen of the customer terminal 2, and the product is installed using the icon. A place is selected (S1). Here, the place name where the sold product is not installed is not displayed on the screen. When the customer selects the installation location of the product for which maintenance is desired, a list of products included in the installation location is displayed on the screen (S2). If a product desired to be maintained is selected at this stage, the standard maintenance content corresponding to the product is extracted from the product management database DB2 (S3). Here, the past maintenance history is stored in the customer management database DB.
If it is registered in 1, it is also extracted. Further, when the same type of product is installed in another location, the same location is extracted even in a different location, thereby preventing leakage of maintenance. The maintenance content thus extracted is presented to the customer terminal 2 (S4). After that, a questionnaire is asked about the current status of the product, and the first
In the same manner as in the embodiment, the trader is selected, and the customer terminal 2 is connected to the trader's homepage. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

As described above, since the customer management database DB1 is provided in the server 1, when the e-mail address of the customer is registered, the e-mail is transmitted a certain period before the maintenance time. Then, the customer may be prompted for maintenance.

In the above embodiment, the server 1, the customer terminal 2, and the Internet 3 are connected.
The function of the server 1 and the function of the customer terminal 2 may be integrated to present the contents of maintenance in a stand-alone manner.

[0070]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, wherein a product specifying means for specifying a product desired by the customer for maintenance and a use period of the product. When,
Inquiry means for inquiring the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, and estimating the appropriate maintenance content from the product specified by the product specifying means, the service period of the product and the result of the medical inquiry by the questioning means. It is provided with an estimating means and a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means,
For a product that the customer wants to maintain, appropriate maintenance content can be suggested according to the usage period of the product and the current situation, and motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, comprising a plurality of computers connected to a computer network, wherein at least one of the computers is provided. A computer as a server, and at least one of the computers as a customer terminal capable of interactively accessing the server, wherein the server has an identification of the customer through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal. Customer information acquiring means for prompting the user to input information; a customer management database in which the identification information is associated with a sold product and a sale date; and a standard maintenance time and standard maintenance content are associated with the sold product. Product management database and customer information acquisition means By comparing the obtained customer identification information with the customer management database, the product used by the customer registered in the customer management database and the use period of the product are obtained, and the obtained product and use period are determined by the customer. A product identification means that is presented to the customer through the terminal and allows the customer to select a product that the customer wants to maintain;
Standard maintenance content obtained by checking the customer's inquiry about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying unit with the product specified by the product specifying unit and the period of use of the product in the product management database To
Estimating means for estimating the appropriate maintenance content by taking into account the results of the inquiry by the inquiry means, and maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through a customer terminal. Can be suggested for the product desired in accordance with the service period and the current state of the product, and motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the commodity specifying means presents a list of all commodities used by the customer through the customer terminal, and allows the customer to perform maintenance from the list display. This is to let you select the product you want, and you will select the product you want to maintain within the range of products that your customers are using,
There is no need to present unnecessary products to the customer, which makes it easier for the customer to select a product.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, comprising a plurality of computers connected to a computer network, wherein at least one of the computers is provided. The server is a server, and at least one of the computers is a customer terminal that can interactively access the server, and the server includes an identifier of a previously sold product and a standard A product management database in which a maintenance time is associated with a standard maintenance content, and when accessed from a customer terminal, a customer enters an identification name of a product desired to be maintained and a use period of the product through the customer terminal. The product information acquisition method that prompts and the identifier of the product A commodity specifying means for presenting to the customer a product corresponding to the identification name entered by matching the product management database through the customer terminal when it is,
Inquiry means for asking the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, and standard maintenance contents obtained by collating the product specified by the product specifying means and the use period of the product with the product management database , An estimating means for estimating an appropriate maintenance content in consideration of an inquiry result by the inquiring means, and a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating device through a customer terminal. Even if the identification information is lost, it is possible to specify the product for which maintenance is desired from the product identification name. Also,
For a product that the customer wants to maintain, appropriate maintenance content can be suggested according to the usage period of the product and the current situation, and motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a customer information acquiring means for causing the server to enter at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and a contact address through the customer terminal as customer information. A customer management database that stores the identified customer information in association with the product specified by the product specifying means, and obtains the customer information in the server even if the customer has lost the identification information. Becomes possible.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, when a product and a use period of the product are specified by the product specifying means, the product is compared with a product management database. Standard maintenance contents presenting means for presenting the standard maintenance contents prepared in advance to the customer is added, and the inquiry means has a function of presenting an inquiry table after the standard maintenance contents are presented by the standard maintenance contents presenting means. The estimating means has a function of modifying the standard maintenance content according to the current situation of the product obtained by the customer answering the inquiry table, and the modified maintenance content is regarded as an appropriate maintenance content. It is presented on the content presentation means and presents standard maintenance contents. By, it is possible to notify the need for maintenance to the customer, moreover, to modify the contents of maintenance in accordance with the current state of the commodity, it is possible to suggest a better maintenance content to customers.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the commodity is house equipment, and the commodity specifying means allows the customer to select a place in the house, and then selects a place within the house. To select housing equipment within
Since the location of the product can be narrowed down from the location in the house, even if the number of products installed in the house is large, it is easy for the customer to specify the product that the customer wants to maintain.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is a maintenance assisting system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, comprising a plurality of computers connected to a computer network, at least one of the computers. The server is a server, and at least one of the computers is a customer terminal that is interactively accessible to the server and has a removable storage medium. The product management data in which the product sales date, standard maintenance time, and standard maintenance content are associated with the product, and the product usage period calculated from the product sales date and the current date are described in the product management data. Standards prepared in advance for products by checking against standard maintenance times A standard maintenance content presentation module for presenting maintenance content to the customer, a product identification module for allowing the customer to select a product desired to be maintained, an inquiry module for asking the customer about the current situation of the product selected through the product identification module, and a product A program having a transfer module for transferring the identification name and use period input through the specific module and the result of the inquiry by the inquiry module to the server together with the identification information of the customer is stored, and the server has the transfer module through the transfer module. Estimating means for estimating proper maintenance content from the identifier transferred from the customer terminal, the use period, and the inquiry result, and maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal are provided. The customer Since performing up interview by a storage medium provided in the terminal, it is possible to reduce the transfer times of data between the server and the customer terminal, it is possible to suppress an increase in traffic in a computer network. In addition, since the customer terminal can perform the processing up to the inquiry without exchanging data with the server, the processing can be performed with a good response. In addition, for a product that the customer wants to maintain, appropriate maintenance contents can be suggested according to the use period and the current state of the product, and motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the eighth aspect, the customer management database in which the server associates customer information including at least a customer's name, residence area, and contact information with the identification information, Customer identification means for extracting customer information by comparing it with a customer management database when the customer identification information is transferred to the server, and receiving the customer identification information stored in the storage medium by the server. Then, it becomes possible to automatically extract customer information. That is, the customer can extract the customer information of the server only by attaching the storage medium to the customer terminal without being conscious of the identification information.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the second or fifth or ninth aspect of the invention, the server comprises a product, a company capable of maintaining the product, a business area of the company, and a homepage of the company. And a request for maintenance when the maintenance content presenting means presents appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal, and the customer selects whether or not maintenance is required. A vendor selection means for selecting a vendor capable of maintenance based on the maintenance content and the customer information from the vendor management database when the customer name, the customer's name, the customer's residence area, and the contact information for the selected vendor as customer information Notifying means for notifying, and the homepage of the company that notified the customer information by the notifying means It is intended and a communication control means for connecting, because skilled in the art in accordance with the contents of maintenance is automatically selected, supplier selection is easy for the customer. In addition, since the service provider is introduced by the server provider, the customer can have the same level of reliability as the server provider, and can request maintenance with confidence.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the tenth aspect, when the number of selected traders is plural, the trader selecting means presents the cost and construction period for each trader and selects one trader as a customer. This makes it possible for the customer to choose between giving priority to the cost and the period of construction, which makes it easier to request maintenance.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the second, eighth, or ninth aspect of the present invention, the customer's e-mail address is registered in the customer management database, and the merchandise registered in the customer management database is registered. When the elapsed time from the sale date of the product is a predetermined period before the maintenance time of the product registered in the customer management database, a maintenance guide is transmitted to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database. The server includes the mail transmission means, and a notification for urging the customer to perform maintenance can be made by e-mail, and the opportunity for the customer to consider maintenance can be increased.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting method for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, wherein the customer management database stores the sold product and the sale date in association with the customer identification information. A server having a product management database in which standard maintenance times and standard maintenance contents are associated with sold products and a customer terminal that can access the server interactively via a computer network. When the server is accessed from the terminal, the customer is prompted to enter the customer's identification information through the customer terminal, and the customer's identification information obtained by the customer information acquisition means is compared with the customer management database to create the customer management database. Products and products used by the registered customer Obtain the use period of the product, present the obtained product and the use period to the customer through the customer terminal, and show the customer the standard maintenance contents that are previously associated with the product and the use period in the product management database. After selecting a product for which maintenance is desired, the customer is asked about the current status of the selected product, the standard maintenance content is corrected based on the result of the inquiry, and presented as appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal. Thus, for a product that the customer wants to maintain, appropriate maintenance content can be suggested according to the usage period of the product and the current situation, and motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a fourteenth aspect, in the thirteenth aspect, the product specifying means presents a list of all products used by the customer through the customer terminal, and the customer performs maintenance from the list display. It is characterized by selecting the desired product and selecting the product that requires maintenance within the range of the product used by the customer, so there is no need to present unnecessary products to the customer, Makes it easier to select products.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a maintenance assisting method for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, wherein an identification name of a product sold in the past, the product, standard maintenance time, and standard maintenance contents are added. A server having a product management database in which the server is associated with a customer terminal that can interactively access the server is connected via a computer network, and when the server is accessed from the customer terminal, the customer Prompts the user to enter the identifier of the product for which maintenance is desired and the period of use of the product, and when the identifier of the product is entered from the customer terminal, matches the identifier to the database for product management. Product to be presented to the customer through the customer terminal and stored in the product management database. After presenting to the customer the standard maintenance details associated with the product and the usage period in advance, the customer is consulted about the current status of the specified product, and the standard maintenance details are corrected based on the results of the inquiry to ensure proper maintenance. It is characterized in that it is presented to the customer terminal as the content of the product, and even if the customer has lost the identification information, it is possible to specify the product desired to be maintained from the product identification name. In addition, for a product that the customer wants to maintain, appropriate maintenance contents can be suggested according to the use period and the current state of the product, and motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fifteenth aspect, at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and contact information are entered as customer information through the customer terminal, and the entered customer information is associated with a product. This is characterized in that the information is stored in a customer management database provided in the server, and even if the customer has lost the identification information, the server can obtain the customer information.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the thirteenth to sixteenth aspects, the commodity is house equipment, and after the customer selects a place in the house, he / she wants maintenance within the range of the place. It is characterized by selecting the housing equipment to be installed, and it is possible to narrow down the installation location of the product from the location in the home, so even if the number of products installed in the home is large, Identification becomes easy.

The invention of claim 18 is the invention according to claim 13 to claim 16, wherein the server associates a product, a company capable of maintaining the product, a business area of the company, and an address of a homepage of the company. Providing a vendor management database that is attached and stored, and allows the customer to select the necessity of maintenance when presenting appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal, and when the maintenance request is selected, the maintenance content and customer information Based on the information, select a vendor that can be maintained from the vendor management database, notify the selected vendor of the customer's name, customer's residence area and contact information as customer information,
It is characterized in that the customer terminal is connected to the homepage of the trader who has notified the customer information, and the trader is automatically selected according to the maintenance content, so that the customer can easily select the trader. In addition, since the service provider is introduced by the server provider, the customer can have the same level of reliability as the server provider, and can request maintenance with confidence.

The invention of claim 19 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 18, when a plurality of the traders are selected, the cost and the construction period for each trader are presented, and the customer is made to select one trader. For the customer, it is possible to select whether to prioritize the cost or the construction period, and it becomes easier to request maintenance.

A twentieth aspect of the present invention is based on the thirteenth or sixteenth aspect, wherein the customer's e-mail address is registered in the customer management database and the sales date of the product registered in the customer management database is changed. When the elapsed time is a predetermined period before the maintenance time of the product registered in the customer management database, a maintenance guidance is transmitted to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database. In addition, it is possible to notify a customer of maintenance by e-mail, and it is possible to increase opportunities for the customer to consider maintenance.

The invention according to claim 21 is a server connected to a customer terminal via a computer network and interactively accessed from the customer terminal, wherein when accessed from the customer terminal, the identification information of the customer is input through the customer terminal. A customer information acquisition means for prompting the user to perform the sale, a customer management database in which the sold information and the sale date are associated with the identification information, and a product management in which the standard maintenance time and the standard maintenance content are associated with the sold product. By comparing the database and the customer identification information obtained by the customer information acquisition means with the customer management database, the product used by the customer registered in the customer management database and the period of use of the product are obtained. , And to provide the customer with the requested product and the period of use through the customer terminal. A product specifying means for allowing a customer to select a product for which maintenance is desired, an inquiry means for inquiring a customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, a product specified by the product specifying means, and a use period of the product. Estimating means for estimating the appropriate maintenance contents by adding the results of the inquiry by the inquiry means to the standard maintenance contents obtained by collating the information with the product management database, and the maintenance contents obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal. Means for presenting maintenance content to be presented, and for a product that the customer wants to maintain, it is possible to suggest appropriate maintenance content according to the usage period of the product and the current situation, and motivation for maintenance is provided. You.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-first aspect of the present invention, the product specifying means causes the customer terminal to present a list of all products used by the customer, and allows the customer to perform maintenance from the list display. This is to let you select the product you want, and you will select the product you want to maintain within the range of products that your customers are using,
There is no need to present unnecessary products to the customer, which makes it easier for the customer to select a product.

The invention according to claim 23 is a server which is connected to a customer terminal via a computer network and is accessed interactively from the customer terminal, wherein the identification name of a product sold in the past and the standard maintenance time and the product are provided. A product management database in which standard maintenance contents are associated with each other, and product information prompting a customer to input an identification name of a product desired to be maintained and a use period of the product through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal. Acquisition means, product identification means for presenting a product corresponding to the entered identification name to the customer through the customer terminal by checking the product management database when the product identification name is input from the customer terminal, and product identification Inquiry means for inquiring the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the means, and product specifying means Estimating means for estimating appropriate maintenance contents by adding the specified product and the service period of the product to the product management database and adding the standard maintenance content obtained by consulting the inquiry result by the consulting means, And a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the means through the customer terminal. Even when the customer has lost the identification information, the customer can specify the product desired to be maintained from the product identification name. Becomes possible. In addition, for a product that the customer wants to maintain, it is possible to suggest appropriate maintenance content according to the usage period of the product and the current situation,
Motivation for maintenance is provided.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided customer information acquiring means for inputting at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and a contact address through the customer terminal as customer information, And a customer management database for storing the customer information in association with the product specified by the product specifying means. Even if the customer has lost the identification information, the server can obtain the customer information. .

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first to twenty-fourth aspects, when a product and a period of use of the product are specified by the product specifying means, the product is compared with a product management database. A standard maintenance content presentation means for presenting standard maintenance content prepared in advance to customers to customers is added,
The inquiry means has a function of presenting an inquiry table after the standard maintenance content is presented by the standard maintenance content presentation means, and the estimating means responds to the current situation of the product obtained by the customer answering the inquiry table. Has the function of correcting the standard maintenance contents, and the corrected maintenance contents are presented to the maintenance content presenting means as appropriate maintenance contents. It is possible to inform the customer of the nature of the product and, by modifying the maintenance content according to the current state of the product, it is possible to suggest better maintenance content to the customer.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first to twenty-fifth aspects, the commodity is house equipment, and the commodity specifying means allows a customer to select a place in the house, and then selects a place in the house. This allows the customer to select the equipment to be installed in the house, and to narrow down the installation location of the product from the location in the home, so even if the number of products installed in the home is large, specify the product that the customer wants to maintain Becomes easier.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first to twenty-fourth aspects, the merchandise, a trader capable of maintaining the merchandise, a business area of the trader, and an address of a homepage of the trader are stored in association with each other. And a maintenance management database, and when the maintenance content presenting means presents appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal, the customer selects whether or not maintenance is required, and when the selection to request maintenance is performed, the maintenance content and customer information are selected. Selecting means for selecting a supplier capable of maintenance based on the above, from a supplier management database, notifying means for notifying the selected supplier of the customer's name, customer's residence area and contact information as customer information, and notifying means Control means to connect customer terminal to the homepage of the company that notified customer information Are those comprising, because skilled in the art in accordance with the contents of maintenance is automatically selected, supplier selection is easy for the customer. In addition, since the service provider is introduced by the server provider, the customer can have the same level of reliability as the server provider, and can request maintenance with confidence.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the twenty-seventh aspect, when the number of the selected traders is plural, the trader selecting means presents the cost and the construction period for each trader to the customer terminal to provide the customer with one. One of the three vendors,
For the customer, it is possible to select whether to prioritize the cost or the construction period, and it becomes easy to request maintenance.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twenty-first aspect, an e-mail address of a customer is registered in the customer management database, and an elapsed period from a sale date of a product registered in the customer management database is changed. The server is provided with mail transmitting means for transmitting a maintenance guide to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database when a predetermined period of time has passed before the maintenance time of the product registered in the customer management database. This makes it possible to notify a customer of maintenance by e-mail, thereby increasing opportunities for the customer to consider maintenance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen example of a customer terminal in the above.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the customer terminal in the above.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the customer terminal in the above.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the customer terminal in the above.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the customer terminal in the above.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the customer terminal in the above.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view of the above.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the above.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory view of the above.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Server 2 Customer Terminal 3 Internet 11 Customer Information Acquisition Means 12 Product Identification Means 13 Product Information Acquisition Means 14 Standard Maintenance Contents Presentation Means 15 Inquiry Means 16 Estimation Means 17 Maintenance Contents Presentation Means 18 Contractor Selection Means 19 Communication Control Means 20 Notification Means Customer management database DB2 Product management database DB3 Trader management database

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Tsukamoto 1048 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. Terms (reference) 5B049 BB05 BB11 CC02 CC08 DD01 DD05 EE12 FF03 FF04 FF09 GG04 GG07

Claims (29)

[Claims] 1. A maintenance assistance system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer,
A product specifying means for specifying a product that the customer wants to maintain and a use period of the product; an inquiry means for asking the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means; Maintenance assistance characterized by comprising an estimating means for estimating an appropriate maintenance content from a use period of the product and an inquiry result by the inquiry means, and a maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means. system. 2. A maintenance assistance system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer,
A plurality of computers connected to a computer network, at least one of the computers
A server as a server, and at least one of the computers as a customer terminal capable of interactively accessing the server, wherein the server has an identification of the customer through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal. Customer information acquiring means for prompting the user to input information; a customer management database in which the identification information is associated with a sold product and a sale date; and a standard maintenance time and a standard maintenance content associated with the sold product. The merchandise used by the customer and the use of the merchandise registered in the customer management database by comparing the merchandise management database and the customer identification information obtained by the customer information acquisition means with the customer management database. Request the period, and present the requested product and the period of use to the customer through the customer terminal Both, a product specifying means for allowing a customer to select a product for which maintenance is desired, an inquiry means for inquiring a customer about the status of the product specified by the product specifying means, a product specified by the product specifying means, and a use period of the product. Means for estimating the appropriate maintenance contents by adding the results of the inquiry by the inquiry means to the standard maintenance contents obtained by collating the information with the product management database, and the maintenance contents obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal. A maintenance assisting system comprising a maintenance content presenting means for presenting. 3. The product specifying means presents a list of all products used by the customer through the customer terminal, and allows the customer to select a product desired for maintenance from the list display. Item 2. The maintenance auxiliary system according to Item 2. 4. A maintenance assistance system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer,
A plurality of computers connected to a computer network, at least one of the computers
The server is a server, and at least one other of the computers is a customer terminal that can interactively access the server, and the server includes, in the identifier of a previously sold product, A product management database in which a maintenance time is associated with a standard maintenance content, and when accessed from a customer terminal, the customer inputs an identification name of a product desired to be maintained and a use period of the product through the customer terminal. Product information obtaining means for prompting; and product specifying means for presenting to the customer, through the customer terminal, a product corresponding to the input identification name by matching the product identification database with the product management database when the product identification name is input from the customer terminal. Inquiry means for asking customers about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means, and product specifying Estimating means for estimating the appropriate maintenance content by taking into account the inquiry result by the inquiry means, in addition to the standard maintenance content obtained by collating the product identified by the step and the use period of the product with the product management database, A maintenance content presenting means for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through a customer terminal; 5. The server, wherein the server is configured to input at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and a contact address as customer information through the customer terminal, and the input customer information is specified by a product specifying unit. 5. The maintenance assistance system according to claim 4, further comprising a customer management database stored in association with the product. 6. A standard for presenting to a customer standard maintenance contents prepared in advance for a product by comparing the product and a use period of the product with the product management database when the product specifying means specifies the product. A maintenance content presenting means is added, and the inquiry means has a function of presenting an inquiry table after the standard maintenance content is presented by the standard maintenance content presenting means, and the estimating means is such that a customer answers the inquiry table. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function of correcting a standard maintenance content according to an obtained current state of the product, wherein the corrected maintenance content is presented to the maintenance content presentation unit as an appropriate maintenance content. The maintenance assistance system according to claim 5. 7. The product according to claim 1, wherein the product is a housing facility, and the product specifying means allows the customer to select a place in the house and then selects a house facility within the range of the place. The maintenance assistance system according to claim 6. 8. A maintenance assistance system for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer,
A plurality of computers connected to a computer network, at least one of the computers
The server is a server, and at least one other of the computers is a customer terminal that is interactively accessible to the server and has a removable storage medium. The product management data in which the product sales date, standard maintenance time, and standard maintenance content are associated with the product, and the product usage period calculated from the product sales date and the current date are described in the product management data. A standard maintenance content presentation module that presents standard maintenance contents prepared in advance for a product to a customer by checking against a standard maintenance time, a product identification module that allows the customer to select a product that the customer wants to maintain, and a product identification module Inquiry module to ask customers about the current status of the product selected through And a transfer module for transferring the identification name and the period of use entered through the product identification module and the result of the inquiry by the inquiry module to the server together with the identification information of the customer. Estimating means for estimating proper maintenance content from the identifier, usage period, and inquiry result transferred from the customer terminal through the transfer module, and maintenance content presentation for presenting the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal. And a maintenance assisting system. 9. The customer management database in which customer information including at least a customer's name, residence area, and contact information is associated with the identification information. 9. The maintenance assisting system according to claim 8, further comprising customer identification means for extracting customer information by collating with a management database. 10. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server stores a merchandise management database in which a merchandise, a merchant capable of maintaining the merchandise, a business area of the merchant, and an address of a homepage of the merchant are stored in association with each other. When a proper maintenance content is presented through the customer terminal, the customer selects whether or not maintenance is required, and when a selection to request maintenance is made, a vendor capable of performing maintenance based on the maintenance content and the customer information is managed. Means for selecting from the business database, notification means for notifying the selected trader of the customer's name, customer's area of residence and contact information as customer information, and a customer terminal on the homepage of the trader having notified the customer information by the notification means And a communication control means for connecting the communication means. The maintenance auxiliary system according to claim 5 or claim 9. 11. The maintenance according to claim 10, wherein said supplier selecting means presents a cost and a work period for each supplier when a plurality of suppliers are selected, and prompts the customer to select one supplier. Auxiliary system. 12. The customer's e-mail address is registered in the customer management database, and the elapsed time from the sale date of the product registered in the customer management database is stored in the customer management database. 9. The server according to claim 2, wherein the server is provided with a mail transmitting means for transmitting a maintenance guide to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database when a predetermined period has passed before the maintenance time. Alternatively, the maintenance assisting system according to claim 9. 13. A maintenance assisting method for assisting maintenance of a product used by a customer, comprising: a customer management database storing a sold product and a sales date in association with customer identification information; A server that has a product management database that associates standard maintenance times and standard maintenance contents with a customer terminal that can access the server interactively via a computer network, and the server accesses from the customer terminal Prompts the customer to input the customer's identification information through the customer terminal, and checks the customer's identification information obtained by the customer information acquisition means against the customer management database to register the customer's identification information in the customer management database. Products used by customers and the period of use of the products Between the customer and the requested product and the period of use are presented to the customer through the customer terminal, and the standard maintenance content that is previously associated with the product and the period of use in the product management database is shown to the customer, and the product for which maintenance is desired After having the customer select the item, the customer is asked about the current status of the selected product, the standard maintenance content is corrected based on the result of the inquiry, and presented as appropriate maintenance content through the customer terminal. Method. 14. The product specifying means presents a list of all products used by the customer through the customer terminal, and allows the customer to select a product desired for maintenance from the list display. Item 14. The maintenance assisting method according to Item 13. 15. A maintenance assisting method for assisting maintenance related to a product used by a customer, wherein an identification name of a product sold in the past is associated with the product, a standard maintenance time, and a standard maintenance content. A server provided with a product management database and a customer terminal that can interactively access the server are connected via a computer network, and when the server is accessed from the customer terminal, a product that the customer wants to maintain through the customer terminal And prompts the user to enter the product's identifier and the period of use of the product. When the product's identifier is entered from the customer terminal, the product is compared with the product management database and the product corresponding to the entered identifier is entered into the customer terminal. To the customer through the product management database and the product After providing the customer with the standard maintenance content that has been previously associated with the customer, the customer is consulted about the current status of the specified product, A maintenance assisting method characterized by presenting to a terminal. 16. The customer terminal is used to input at least a customer name, a customer's residence area, and a contact address as customer information, and the entered customer information is stored in a customer management database provided in the server in association with a product. The maintenance assisting method according to claim 15, wherein the maintenance is performed. 17. The method according to claim 13, wherein the commodity is a housing facility, and after the customer selects a place in the house, the customer selects a house facility desired to be maintained within the range of the place. Item 17. The maintenance assisting method according to any one of items 16. 18. A merchant management database in which the server stores merchandise, a merchant capable of maintaining the merchandise, a business area of the merchant, and an address of a homepage of the merchant, and stores the database through the customer terminal. When the maintenance is presented, the customer selects whether or not maintenance is required, and when a maintenance request is made, a vendor capable of maintenance is selected from the vendor management database based on the maintenance content and the customer information. 13. The customer's name, the customer's residence area and contact information are notified as customer information to the selected company, and the customer terminal is connected to a homepage of the company that notified the customer information. 16. The maintenance assisting method according to item 16. 19. The maintenance assisting method according to claim 18, wherein when a plurality of said traders are selected, the cost and the construction period for each trader are presented, and the customer is allowed to select one trader. 20. An e-mail address of a customer is registered in the customer management database, and an elapsed time from a sale date of the product registered in the customer management database is stored in the customer management database. 14. A maintenance guide is transmitted to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database when a predetermined period comes before the maintenance time.
Alternatively, the maintenance assisting method according to claim 16. 21. A server connected to a customer terminal via a computer network and interactively accessed from the customer terminal, the customer prompting to input customer identification information through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal. Information acquisition means, a customer management database in which the identification information is associated with a sold product and a sale date; a product management database in which the sold product is associated with a standard maintenance time and a standard maintenance content; By comparing the customer identification information obtained by the acquisition means with the customer management database, the product used by the customer registered in the customer management database and the use period of the product are obtained, and the obtained product and The usage period is presented to the customer through the customer terminal and the customer Product identification means for selecting products for which the customer wants a license, inquiry means for inquiring the customer about the current status of the product identified by the product identification means, and product management of the product identified by the product identification means and the period of use of the product Estimating means for estimating the appropriate maintenance contents by adding the results of the inquiry by the inquiry means to the standard maintenance contents obtained by collating with the database for maintenance, and providing the maintenance contents obtained by the estimating means through the customer terminal. A maintenance assisting server comprising: a content presentation unit. 22. The merchandise specifying means causes a list of all merchandise used by the customer to be presented on the customer terminal, and allows the customer to select a merchandise desired for maintenance from the list display. Item 22. A maintenance auxiliary server according to item 21. 23. A server connected to a customer terminal via a computer network and interactively accessed from the customer terminal, wherein an identification name of a product sold in the past, the product, a standard maintenance time, a standard maintenance content, A product management database in which
Product information acquisition means for prompting the customer to enter the identification name of the product desired to be maintained and the use period of the product through the customer terminal when accessed from the customer terminal, and the identification name of the product from the customer terminal A product specifying means for presenting to the customer a product corresponding to the identification name inputted by collating the product management database with the customer terminal at times, and a medical inquiry for asking the customer about the current situation of the product specified by the product specifying means. Estimate the appropriate maintenance content by adding the means specified by the product specifying means and the period of use of the product to the database for product management, and adding the results of the medical inquiry by the medical inquiry means Estimating means for performing the maintenance and the maintenance content obtained by the estimating means through a customer terminal Maintenance auxiliary server, characterized in that it comprises a volume indicating means. 24. A customer information obtaining means for inputting at least a customer name, a customer's residence area and a contact address as customer information through the customer terminal, and associating the input customer information with a product specified by the product specifying means. 24. The maintenance assistant server according to claim 23, further comprising a customer management database for storing the information. 25. A standard for presenting standard maintenance contents prepared in advance for a product to a customer by collating the product and a use period of the product with the product management database when the product specifying means specifies the product. A maintenance content presenting means is added, and the inquiry means has a function of presenting an inquiry table after the standard maintenance content is presented by the standard maintenance content presenting means, and the estimating means is such that a customer answers the inquiry table. 22. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a function of correcting a standard maintenance content according to an obtained current state of the product, wherein the corrected maintenance content is presented to the maintenance content presentation unit as an appropriate maintenance content. The maintenance auxiliary server according to claim 24. 26. The method according to claim 21, wherein the article is a house facility, and the article specifying means causes the customer to select a place in the house and then selects a house facility within the range of the place. The maintenance auxiliary server according to claim 25. 27. A merchandise management database storing a merchandise, a merchant capable of maintaining the merchandise, a business area of the merchant, and an address of a homepage of the merchant, and the customer terminal by the maintenance content presenting means. The customer selects the necessity of maintenance when presenting the appropriate maintenance content through the service, and when the user selects to request maintenance, selects a vendor that can perform maintenance based on the maintenance content and the customer information from the vendor management database. Means for selecting a supplier, notification means for notifying the selected trader of the customer's name, customer's area of residence and contact information as customer information, and communication for connecting the customer terminal to the homepage of the supplier who notified the customer information by the notification means 25. The control device according to claim 21, further comprising a control unit. Server for maintenance assistance. 28. The system according to claim 28, wherein when there are a plurality of selected traders, the trader selecting means presents the cost and the construction period for each trader to the customer terminal and prompts the customer to select one trader. 28. The maintenance assistant server according to 27. 29. An e-mail address of a customer is registered in the customer management database, and the elapsed time from the sale date of the product registered in the customer management database is stored in the customer management database. 22. The maintenance assistant according to claim 21, wherein the server is provided with a mail transmitting unit that transmits a maintenance guide to an e-mail address registered in the customer management database when a predetermined period is reached before the maintenance time. Server.