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A customer has a warranty concern with his vehicle and takes it to the dealership. The dealer service writer takes digital photos of the vehicle including odometer general view and of course the area of concern. The dealer launches the Digital Imaging application via an internet browser.

As the camera is connected to the laptop with a USB cable, the dealer is prompted for the vehicle identification number “VIN”. The VIN is entered into the system and immediately validated by the server to output other vehicle information so the service writer can verify the VIN is correct for the corncern vehicle.

Once the VIN has been verified, the images are imported into the application. As each image is uploaded into the Digital Imaging application, the image is watermarked with the VIN and program name, allowing no opportunity for photo tampering. The service writer selects the appropriate photos and then adds comments to the claim requesting warranty repair authorization. The dealer may attach a file along with the claim. When finished entering the information, the send claim button is pushed.

The claim is transmitted to the manufacturers reviewer pool and is assigned automatically to the first available reviewer typically in 30 seconds or less.The reviewer examines the claim and may either approve, deny or ask for more information about the claim. The reviewer enters his comments on the claim form and pushes the send button.

The dealer receives the completed claim typically in under 7 minutes and relates the result to the customer. If approved a payment code is automatically generated.

The closed claim is then archived at the central location providing review capabilities for both the dealer and the manufacturer. Claim detail is sent to the manufacturers quality database.

Typically the manufacturer engineering and quality assurance staff will review the quality database in order to spot trends and to correct concerns in a timely fashion.

Central location

Equipment

• For each reviewer station :
  1. 233Mhz or better PC running Windows XP
  2. Large screen high resolution monitor
  3. Network connection (TCP/IP)
• Web server (running TOMCAT)
• Claim manager application on Windows 2003 Server
• Archiver
• Image storage system (depends on corporate standards)
• Management reporting system

ALL EQUIPMENT IS REDUNDANT

Specialized interface applications to:

• Corporate quality database
• Warranty Payment System
• Parts management system.