What is claimed is:
1. A method of tracking and disseminating vehicle repair record and service status information at a plurality of geographically remote service locations, comprising the steps of:
maintaining vehicle repair record and service status information for a plurality of vehicles at a local communications terminal using a vehicle status database, said vehicle status database operably coupled to at least one of said local communications terminals;
creating a service event notification pertaining to one of said vehicles using said local communications terminals;
collecting a plurality of said service event notifications into a vehicle service status file;
uploading said vehicle service status file from said local communications terminals to a regional communications terminal using an electronic network;
generating an availability prediction for each said vehicle contained in said vehicle status database based on the vehicle service status information contained in said vehicle status database;
collecting a plurality of said vehicle service status files into a vehicle service status report at each of said regional communications terminals;
transmitting said vehicle service status report from each of said regional communications terminals to a central equipment manager; and
transmitting said vehicle service status report from said central equipment manager to each of said local communications terminals and regional communications terminals, such that each local service location having said local communications terminal is provided with current vehicle repair record and service status information regardless of the geographic region in which the vehicle is located.
2. A method of tracking and disseminating vehicle repair record and service status information at a plurality of geographically remote service locations, comprising the steps of:
maintaining vehicle repair record and service status information for a plurality of vehicles at a local communications terminal using a vehicle status database, said vehicle status database operably coupled to each said local communications terminal;
providing a regional communications terminal in electronic communication with a plurality, of geographically remote local communications terminals;
providing a plurality of said regional communications terminals in electronic communication with a central equipment manager;
creating a service event notification pertaining to one of said vehicles using one of said local communications terminals;
generating an availability prediction for each said vehicle contained in said vehicle status database based on the vehicle service status information contained in said vehicle status database using said local communications terminal;
transmitting said availability prediction to a marketing communications terminal, said marketing communications terminal provided in electronic communication with said local communications terminal;
storing said service event notification at said local communications terminal using said vehicle status database;
collecting a plurality of said service event notifications into a vehicle service status file;
uploading said vehicle service status file from said local communications terminals to said regional communications terminal using an electronic network;
storing said vehicle service status file at said regional communications terminal using said vehicle status database;
collecting a plurality of said vehicle service status files into a vehicle service status report at each of said regional communications terminals; and
transmitting said vehicle service status report from each of said regional communications terminals to said central equipment manager.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
receiving at said regional communications terminal a repair history message transmitted by said central equipment manager, said repair history message listing the service event notifications associated with a particular vehicle;
determining at said regional communications terminal a condition in which the number of service event notifications contained in said repair history message has exceeded a predefined threshold; and
providing a warning notification at said regional communication terminal if the predefined threshold has been exceeded, said warning notification useful for prompting a user to take corrective action.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
comparing the estimated repair completion time to the current vehicle service status for each said vehicle contained in said vehicle status database using said regional communications terminal;
determining at said regional communications terminal a condition in which the actual repair completion has not occurred within a predefined period of elapsed time after the estimated repair completion time; and
providing a warning notification at said regional communication terminal if the predefined period of elapsed time has been exceeded, said warning notification useful for prompting a user to take corrective action.
5. The method of claim 1 in which said step of maintaining further comprises forming a control number for each said service event notification by appending an event sequence number to a date indicator, such that said control number conveys timeliness information upon visual inspection.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of receiving said service event notification at said local communications terminal from an external source via an electronic network.
7. A method of managing a fleet of vehicles comprising the steps of:
maintaining in an availability database information on availability of all of the vehicles in the fleet;
maintaining in a vehicle status database vehicle repair information for a plurality of vehicles in said fleet;
creating a service event notification in said vehicle status database pertaining to one of said plurality of vehicles in said fleet;
generating a predicted service completion date for said one vehicle based on said service event notification; and
automatically communicating said predicted service completion date for said one vehicle to said availability database.
8. A method of managing vehicle repair information comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of local communications terminals located in a plurality of geographically remote locations;
providing a shared communications terminal in electronic communication with said plurality of local communications terminals;
creating a vehicle service event notification pertaining to a service event for a vehicle using a first one of said local communications terminals, said vehicle located at the same geographic location as said first local communications terminal;
transmitting a first service message incorporating information contained in said vehicle service event notification from said first local communications terminal to said shared communications terminal; and
transmitting a second service message incorporating information contained in said first service message from said shared communications terminal to a second one of said local communications terminals;
wherein said shared communications terminal, said first local communications terminal, and said second local communications terminal are all geographically remote from each other.
9. A system for tracking and disseminating vehicle repair record and service status information at a plurality of geographically remote service locations comprising:
a plurality of non-collocated local communications terminals;
a plurality of non-collocated regional communications terminals, each one of said regional communications terminals provided in electronic communication with a subset of said local communication terminals within a particularly bounded geographic region;
each one of said local communications terminals and said regional communications terminals provided in electronic communication with at least one marketing communications terminal;
a vehicle status database operably coupled to each one of said local communications terminals and said regional communications terminals, said vehicle status database containing vehicle repair record and service status information for a plurality of vehicles;
said local communications terminals and said regional communications terminals capable of exchanging information with a central equipment manager using an electronic network;
said local communications terminal including means for generating an availability prediction for each said vehicle contained in said vehicle status database based on the vehicle service status information contained in said vehicle status database;
said local communications terminal including means for transmitting said availability prediction to said marketing communications terminal;
said local communications terminals including transmission means for uploading a vehicle service status file from one of said local communications terminals to said regional communications terminal using an electronic network; and
said regional communications terminals including means for collecting a plurality of vehicle service status files received from said local communications terminals and transmitting said plurality of vehicle service status files to said central equipment manager.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of operation of a navigation system comprising:
determining a route classification of a candidate route;
determining a misclassification of the route classification based on an importance level of an area level of a neighboring area exceeding the importance level of the route classification for identifying the candidate route as misclassified;
updating the route classification with a control unit based on the misclassification for reclassifying the candidate route; and
generating a travel route based on the candidate route with the route classification updated for displaying on a device.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein determining the misclassification includes determining the misclassification of the candidate route within the neighboring area.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein updating the route classification includes reclassifying the candidate route based on the neighboring area where the candidate route is identified.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein updating the route classification includes updating the route classification for the candidate route unconsidered for generating the travel route.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein updating the route classification includes updating the route classification based on a user’s preference for reclassifying the candidate route.
6. A method of operation of a navigation system comprising:
determining a route classification of a candidate route;
determining a misclassification of the route classification based on an importance level of an area level of a neighboring area exceeding the importance level of the route classification for identifying the candidate route misclassified;
updating the route classification with a control unit based on the misclassification for reclassifying the candidate route; and
generating a travel route to a target destination based on the candidate route with the route classification updated for displaying on a device.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein determining the misclassification includes determining the misclassification based on a travel cost meeting or exceeding a reclassification threshold.
8. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein updating the route classification includes reclassifying the candidate route based on a travel condition for improving the route classification.
9. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein generating the travel route includes generating the travel route based on a preferred path for considering the candidate route reclassified.
10. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein updating the route classification includes upgrading the route classification for reclassifying the candidate route.
11. A navigation system comprising:
a control unit for:
determining a route classification of a candidate route,
determining a misclassification of the route classification based on an importance level of an area level of a neighboring area exceeding the importance level of the route classification for identifying the candidate route misclassified,
updating the route classification based on the misclassification for reclassifying the candidate route,
generating a travel route based on the candidate route with the route classification updated, and
a communication interface, coupled to the control unit, for transmitting the travel route for displaying on a device.
12. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the control unit is for determining the misclassification of the candidate route within the neighboring area.
13. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the control unit is for reclassifying the candidate route based on the neighboring area where the candidate route is identified.
14. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the control unit is for updating the route classification for the candidate route unconsidered for generating the travel route.
15. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the control unit is for updating the route classification based on a user’s preference for reclassifying the candidate route.
16. The system as claimed in claim 11 wherein the control unit is for generating a travel route to a target destination based on the candidate route with the route classification updated for displaying on the device.
17. The system as claimed in claim 16 wherein the control unit is for determining the misclassification based on a travel cost meeting or exceeding a reclassification threshold.
18. The system as claimed in claim 16 wherein the control unit is for reclassifying the candidate route based on a travel condition for improving the route classification.
19. The system as claimed in claim 16 wherein the control unit is for generating the travel route based on a preferred path for considering the candidate route reclassified.
20. The system as claimed in claim 16 wherein the control unit is for upgrading the route classification for reclassifying the candidate route.