JP2005267401A - Aftersales service supporting system, its method, and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily acquire software necessary for aftersales services of a computer product completed including parts which a user has designated. <P>SOLUTION: When a server system 10 obtains a serial number of a product to be maintained together with a request of onsite maintenance from a user, it acquires parts specific information corresponding to the serial number from an order DB 39a and transfers software or the like in accordance with the acquired parts specific information from a soft DB 39b to a flash memory 62 of a service base terminal 60. Thus, a service engineer can easily obtain the flash memory 62 which stores the software necessary for the onsite maintenance of the personal computer and go to perform onsite maintenance, carrying the flash memory 62 with him or herself. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an after-service support system, a method thereof, and a program thereof, and more particularly, to an after-service support system, a method thereof, and a program thereof for supporting after-sales service of a computer product that is completed including parts designated by a user.

In recent years, various websites have been known where users can order computer products online. For example, Patent Document 1 provides a service called BTO (build to order) that allows a user to freely select various components such as a CPU, a memory, and an HDD on a website. (Hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) is disclosed.
JP 2003-296550 A

  However, when performing on-site maintenance (maintenance performed by a service engineer at the site where the product is installed) for such a personal computer, it is unclear what parts the personal computer is made of, so that It was necessary to prepare the software necessary for the after-sales service of all the parts that could be included in the personal computer and go to the site.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an after-service support system capable of easily obtaining software necessary for after-sales service of a computer product completed including parts designated by a user, It is an object to provide a method and a program thereof.

  The present invention adopts the following means in order to achieve at least one of the above objects.

The present invention is an after-sales service support system for supporting after-sales service of a computer product completed including parts specified by a user,
Component identification information storage means for storing component identification information for identifying a component designated by the user and call information for calling each component identification information in association with each other;
Software storage means for storing the component identification information and software required for after-sales service of each component;
When the call information is acquired together with a request for after-sales service from a user, the component specification information acquisition unit that acquires the component specification information corresponding to the call information from the component specification information storage unit;
Software transfer means for transferring software according to the component identification information acquired by the component identification information acquisition means from the software storage means to a predetermined memory device;
It is equipped with.

  In this after-service support system, when call information is acquired together with a request for after-service from a user, component specifying information corresponding to the call information is acquired from the component specifying information storage means, and software corresponding to the acquired component specifying information is obtained. The class is transferred from the software class storage means to a predetermined memory device. That is, when performing after-sales service for a computer product that includes a part specified by the user, software corresponding to the part specifying information for specifying the part included in the computer product is stored in a predetermined memory device. Therefore, the service engineer can easily obtain a memory device storing software necessary for the after service of the computer product, and can carry the memory device to go to the after service.

  In the after-sales service support system of the present invention, the predetermined memory device may be a bootable memory device. In this way, even if the computer product subject to after-sales service cannot be activated by itself, it can be activated by connecting this memory device to the computer product, and necessary software can be launched.

  In the after-sales service support system of the present invention, the software storage means may store an inspection tool for inspecting each part. Since there are many types of inspection tools (inspection software) for parts inspection, which vary from part to part and from part manufacturer to part manufacturer, transfer inspection tools suitable for computer products subject to after-sales service to the memory device. To do.

  In the after-sales service support system of the present invention, the software storage means may store software for returning to the factory default state. In this way, it is possible to easily cope with a request from the user to return to the factory-set state during after-sales service.

  In the after-sales service support system of the present invention, the software storage means may store the latest version of software. In this way, the latest version of the software can be installed at the time of after-sales service, so that the user does not have to do the work of version upgrade at a later date.

  The after-sales service support system according to the present invention stores the part specifying information for specifying the part specified by the user at the time of ordering the product by the user in association with the calling information for calling the part specifying information in the part specifying information storage means. And a component identification information storage control unit. Since a user often specifies a part when completing a product order and completes a computer product, it is preferable that the part specifying information and the call information are associated with each other and stored in the part specifying information storage unit when the product is ordered.

The present invention relates to component identification information storage means for storing component identification information for identifying a component designated by a user for a plurality of components constituting a computer product and call information for calling each component identification information, An after-service support method using computer software, which supports after-sales service of the computer product by using software storage means that stores part identification information and software necessary for after-sales service of each part in association with each other. There,
When the call information is acquired together with a request for after-sales service from a user, the component specifying information corresponding to the call information is acquired from the component specifying information storage unit, and the software corresponding to the acquired component specifying information is the software Transferring from the storage means to a predetermined memory device.

  In this after-sales service support method, when performing after-sales service for a computer product that includes a part specified by the user, software corresponding to the part specifying information for specifying the part included in the computer product is stored in a predetermined memory device. To store. Therefore, the service engineer can easily obtain a memory device storing software necessary for the after service of the computer product, and can carry the memory device to go to the after service.

In the after-service support method of the present invention, the predetermined memory device may be a bootable memory device. The software storage means may store an inspection tool for inspecting each part, may store software for returning to the state at the time of shipment, or stores the latest version of software. You may do it. The after-sales service support method of the present invention is further characterized in that the part specifying information storage means associates part specifying information for specifying a part specified by the user at the time of product ordering by the user with call information for calling the part specifying information. The method may include a step of storing in
.

  The present invention may be a computer program for causing a computer to execute the steps of the after-service support method described above. This program may be executed by a single computer, or may be shared and executed by a plurality of computers. This program may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium (for example, hard disk, ROM, FD, CD, DVD, etc.), or from a computer via a transmission medium (communication network such as the Internet or LAN). It may be distributed to another computer, or may be exchanged in any other form. When this program is executed by the computer, software corresponding to the part specifying information for specifying the part included in the completed computer product including the part specified by the user is stored in a predetermined memory device. Therefore, the service engineer can easily obtain a memory device storing software suitable for performing after-sales service of the computer product, and can carry the memory device and go to the after-sales service.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a server system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the server system 10 of this embodiment includes a web server 20 that provides a website for selling personal computers, and an information management server 30 that is connected to the web server 20 via a LAN 42 and manages various information. It has.

  The web server 20 includes a CPU 22 that executes various arithmetic processes and controls, a memory 24 that stores various data such as document data and program data, an HDD 26 that similarly stores various data, a network board 28 for connecting to a network, and the like. Although it is a server machine having a built-in web server function, it has an uninterruptible power supply and a data storage device (not shown). When the user purchases a personal computer online via the Internet 40 using the user computer 50, the web server 20 uses a CPU type, a memory manufacturer and capacity, a hard disk device manufacturer and capacity, an OS type, and an application. It provides a BTO (Build To Order) sales system website that allows users to specify and order software components and other types of components. Further, when receiving the order information by the BTO sales method, the web server 20 assigns a unique serial number (calling information) to each order information and transmits it to the information management server 30 via the LAN 42. The order information includes component identification information (also referred to as configuration information) such as the CPU type specified by the user for the personal computer, the manufacturer and capacity of the memory, the manufacturer and capacity of the hard disk device, the type of OS, and the type of application software. In addition, personal identification information such as the user's name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, and information related to the payment method of charges are included.

  The information management server 30 includes a CPU 32 that executes various arithmetic processes and controls, a memory 34 that stores various data such as document data and program data, an HDD 36 that also stores various data, a network board 38 for connecting to a network, and the like. Although not shown, the server machine is equipped with an uninterruptible power supply. Upon receiving the serial number and the order information associated with the serial number from the web server 20, the information management server 30 stores them in the order DB 39a of the information management storage device 39 connected via the communication line. Based on the order information received this time, the product assembly factory is instructed to assemble the personal computer and the assembly schedule is managed. In addition, when an inquiry about product progress information is made from the user computer 50 via the web server 20, the information management server 30 determines which assembly process is currently in progress based on the managed assembly schedule. It also has a function of transmitting to the user computer 50 via. Further, even after the personal computer is completed and shipped at the product assembly factory, the information management server 30 does not delete the serial number and the order information from the order DB 39a.

  The information management storage device 39 stores an order DB 39a in which the serial number assigned to each order information and the order information (part specific information, personal specific information, etc.) associated with the serial number are associated with each other in a database. ing. Therefore, if the order DB 39a is searched based on the serial number, the order information corresponding to the serial number can be extracted. FIG. 2 shows an example of the order DB 39a. The information management storage device 39 also stores a software DB 39b in which a plurality of parts that can be specified for completing a personal computer and software necessary for each part are associated with each other to form a database. For this reason, if software DB39b is searched based on components, the software required for the components can be extracted. FIG. 3 shows an example of the software DB 39b. As shown in FIG. 3, HDDs and memories are associated with different inspection tools for each manufacturer. The software DB 39b also stores the program itself corresponding to each software name.

  The user computer 50 is a well-known personal computer, and connects to a BTO sales-type website established by the web server 20 via the Internet 40. When purchasing a personal computer online, the user computer 50 can be selected from a plurality of types. You can specify and order. Further, the user computer 50 makes an inquiry about the progress of the product after ordering to the web server 20 or requests on-site maintenance, which is a type of after-sales service of the product, after the purchase.

  The service base terminal 60 is a computer installed at each service base for performing on-site maintenance of a personal computer sold on a website established by the web server 20, and a flash memory 62 is detachably attached to a USB terminal (not shown). It is connected. The service base terminal 60 receives a request for on-site maintenance from the user computer 50 via the web server 20.

  Next, operations of the server system 10 and the user computer 50 when a user orders a personal computer on a BTO sales website will be described. When the user computer 50 accesses a BTO sales-type website by a user operation, the web server 20 transmits to the user computer 50 an input screen for allowing the user to input items necessary for purchasing a personal computer. An example of this input screen is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, on the screen, there is a column of “main body essential specifications” for specifying, using a pull-down menu, essential items such as “OS”, “CPU”, “memory”, “HDD” and the like that must be specified. And an “option & service” field for specifying any item such as “display” or “application” using a pull-down menu. When a part is designated by a pull-down menu in each column, the price of the designated part is reflected in the “subtotal” column, the “consumption tax” column, and the “total” column. In addition, although “1” is set as a default value in the “quantity” column, when two or more units are desired to be purchased, the number is input. When the “Next” button is clicked after each item is entered, the screen proceeds to an input screen (not shown) for designating a payment method. When the payment method of the price is designated, the process further proceeds to an input screen (not shown) for inputting personal data such as the user's name and address. When the input of each information is completed and the order button is clicked, the order information input by the user via the Internet 40 is transmitted from the user computer 50 to the web server 20. When receiving the order information, the web server 20 assigns a serial number to the order information and outputs it to the information management server 30 through the LAN 42. When the order information is input, the information management server 30 registers the order information in the order DB 39a (see FIG. 2) of the information management storage device 39 in association with the assigned serial number. Further, the information management server 30 issues an instruction to the assembly factory to assemble the computer based on the order information, and picks up parts in accordance with the instruction at the assembly factory and performs the assembly work so that the personal computer as the product is Complete.

  Next, operations of the server system 10, the user computer 50, and the service base terminal 60 when a user requests on-site maintenance of a personal computer after purchase will be described. When a problem occurs in a personal computer after purchase, the user operates the user computer 50 to make a request for on-site maintenance to the web server 20 after inputting a serial number unique to the personal computer. Then, the web server 20 requests the information management server 30 for personal identification information corresponding to the current serial number. The information management server 30 searches the order DB 39a based on the serial number, extracts personal identification information corresponding to the serial number, and returns the extraction result to the web server 20. The web server 20 reads the address of the user from the personal identification information, extracts the nearest service base from the address from a service base DB (not shown) (a database in which the service base and the address are associated), and sends the service base to the service base. The service base terminal 60 installed is ordered to perform on-site maintenance via the Internet 40. At this time, the serial number received from the user is also transmitted from the web server 20 to the service base terminal 60. Then, the service engineer standing by at the service base 64 operates the service base terminal 60 to connect the service base terminal 60 to the web server 20 via the Internet 40 and inputs verification data. The verification data is composed of a service base name and a password distributed for authentication for each service base terminal 60 in advance, and is stored in the HDD 26 of the web server 20.

  The subsequent processing of the web server 20 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. The web server 20 acquires verification data from the service base terminal 60 (step S110), and determines whether the verification data is appropriate or inappropriate depending on whether or not the verification data matches the verification data stored in the HDD 26. (Step S120). When the verification data is inappropriate, an error message is displayed on the service base terminal 60 (step S150), and this program is terminated. On the other hand, when the verification data is appropriate, the system waits for the serial number to be input from the service base terminal 60 (step S130), and is associated with each component constituting the personal computer corresponding to the input serial number. The software is transferred to the flash memory 62 connected to the USB terminal of the service base terminal 60 (step S140), and this program ends. Here, step S140 will be described in detail. The web server 20 requests the information management server 30 for software associated with each component constituting the personal computer corresponding to the serial number. Then, the information management server 30 searches the order DB 39a of the information management storage device 39 based on the serial number, searches the software DB 39b based on the extracted component identification information, and stores the extracted software in the web server 20. To the flash memory 62 of the service base terminal 60. At this time, the extracted software includes, for example, an HDD inspection tool corresponding to the HDD manufacturer incorporated in the personal computer of this time, a memory inspection tool compatible with the memory manufacturer, and an OS installed on the personal computer of this time. As for the application software, a version of the OS and application software at the time of shipment of the personal computer, software after version upgrade for changing to the latest version, and the like are included. In order to transfer the software to the flash memory 62, the web server 20 may copy the software to the flash memory 62, or the software may be transferred to the flash memory 62 in response to a download request from the service base terminal 60. You may forward to.

  The service engineer contacts the user who requested on-site maintenance this time by telephone, fax or e-mail in advance and asks for the failure status. A component unit or the like) is carried along with the flash memory 62 to the site. Then, after arriving at the site, the service engineer inserts the flash memory 62 into the USB terminal of the personal computer to be maintained, and executes various inspection tools to identify the failure location. At this time, even if the personal computer cannot be activated by itself, the flash memory 62 can be booted because it can be booted. Then, after replacing the hardware at the failure location, when the user requests that the factory state be restored, the factory application software is reinstalled and the factory state is restored. If you want to change to, install the application software to change to the latest version.

  Here, the correspondence between the components of the present embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The server system 10 of this embodiment corresponds to the after-sales support system of the present invention, the order DB 39a of the information management storage device 39 corresponds to the part specifying information storage means, the serial number corresponds to the call information, and the information management storage device 39, the software DB 39b corresponds to the software storage unit, the web server 20 and the information management server 30 correspond to the component identification information acquisition unit, the component identification information storage control unit, and the software transfer unit, and the flash memory 62 corresponds to the memory device. To do. In the present embodiment, an example of the after-service support method of the present invention is also clarified by describing the operation of the server system 10.

  According to the server system 10 of the present embodiment described in detail above, when performing after-sales service for a personal computer that includes a part specified by the user, software corresponding to the part specifying information for specifying the part included in the personal computer Is transferred to the flash memory 62 of the service base terminal 60, so that the service engineer can easily obtain the flash memory 62 in which software necessary for on-site maintenance of the personal computer is stored. You can carry it with you for on-site maintenance.

  Even if the personal computer subject to on-site maintenance cannot be activated by itself, it can be activated by connecting the flash memory 62 to the product, and necessary software can be launched.

  Further, although the HDD inspection tool and the memory inspection tool may differ depending on the manufacturer of the HDD and the memory, in order to transfer the inspection tool suitable for the HDD and the memory of the personal computer subject to the on-site maintenance to the flash memory 62. Maintenance work can be performed appropriately.

  Furthermore, even if there is a request from the user to return the PC to be maintained to the factory default state during on-site maintenance, it is appropriate to install the latest version of the software. I can deal with it. In the latter case in particular, there is an advantage that the user does not have to do the work of upgrading the version later.

  In addition, when the user places an order for the personal computer, the part specifying information for specifying the part specified by the user and the serial number for calling the part specifying information are stored in the order DB 39a in association with each other. There is no need for the user to specify the parts included in the personal computer.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the embodiment described above, the service base terminal 60 accesses the web server 20 via the Internet 40, but the service base terminal 60 may access the web server 20 via the LAN 42. Alternatively, the service base terminal 60 may access the information management server 30 or the information management storage device 39 via the Internet 40 or the LAN 42. Alternatively, when the service base terminal 60 accesses the web server 20, the information management server 30 or the information management storage device 39 via the Internet 40, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the bootable flash memory 62 is used as the memory device. However, the flash memory 62 is not necessarily a flash memory, and may be an HDD of the service base terminal 60 or may not be bootable. Good.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the computer product completed including the parts specified by the user is a personal computer. However, the computer product is not particularly limited to a personal computer. For example, an AV device, a washing machine, and a refrigerator incorporating a computer are used. It may be a home appliance such as an air conditioner.

It is a block diagram which shows the outline of a structure of the server system of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of order DB of an information management storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of software DB of an information management storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the input screen of a BTO sales system. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the web server 20.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Server system, 20 ... Web server, 22 ... CPU, 24 ... Memory, 26 ... HDD, 28 ... Network board, 30 ... Information management server, 32 ... CPU, 34 ... Memory, 36 ... HDD, 38 ... Network board, 39 ... Information management storage device, 39a ... Order DB, 39b ... Software DB, 40 ... Internet, 42 ... LAN, 50 ... User computer, 60 ... Service base terminal, 62 ... Flash memory, 64 ... Service base.

Claims (8)

An after-service support system for supporting after-sales service of a computer product that includes a part specified by a user,
Component identification information storage means for storing component identification information for identifying a component designated by the user and call information for calling each component identification information in association with each other;
Software storage means for storing the component identification information and software required for after-sales service of each component;
When the call information is acquired together with a request for after-sales service from a user, component specific information acquisition means for acquiring component specific information corresponding to the call information from the component specific information storage means;
Software transfer means for transferring software corresponding to the component identification information acquired by the component identification information acquisition means from the software storage means to a predetermined memory device;
After-sales service support system.   The after-sales service support system according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined memory device is a bootable memory device.   The after-sales service support system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the software storage means stores an inspection tool for inspecting each part.   The after-sales service support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the software storage unit stores software for returning to a shipping state.   The after-sales support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the software storage means stores the latest version of software. The after-sales support system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Component identification information storage control means for associating and storing in the component identification information storage means component identification information for identifying a component designated by the user at the time of product ordering by the user and call information for calling the component identification information;
After-sales service support system. Component identification information storage means for storing component identification information for identifying a component designated by a user for a plurality of components constituting a computer product and call information for calling each component identification information, and the component identification information; A computer software after-sales support method for supporting after-sales service of the computer product using software storage means that stores the software necessary for the after-service of each component in association with each other,
When the computer obtains the call information together with a request for after-sales service from the user, the computer obtains the component identification information corresponding to the call information from the component identification information storage unit, and obtains the software corresponding to the acquired component identification information. Transferring from the software storage means to a predetermined memory device;
Including after-sales service support method.   A computer program for causing a computer to execute the steps of the after-service support method according to claim 7.

Images