Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02827096 2013-09-18
TITLE
[0001] Photo Sharing Network For Business
FIELD
[0002] There is described a photo sharing network for business and method
of use of the
same.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Instagram and Flickr are examples of photo sharing networks that
allow persons to
share photographs with friends and family. A user is able to link his or her
account to another
user's account. Every time the user uploads photos, the linked users are able
to see the
uploaded photos. They are many instances in which businesses could benefit
from photo
sharing. Existing photo sharing networks are not suited to the needs of
business. What is
required is a photo sharing network that is suited to the needs of business.
SUMMARY
[0004] There is provided a photo sharing network for business which
includes computer
storage on the internet where a business user can electronically store digital
photos, with each
digital photo being allocated to a digital file identified by a business file
number. A
collaboration access profile is provided for each digital file, wherein the
business user
identifies collaborating users who have permitted access to the digital file.
A collaboration
portal on the internet enables permitted collaborating users to gain access to
the digital file for
the purpose of viewing the digital file.
[0005] As will hereinafter be further described, the photo sharing network
described
above enables a business users to organize digital photos and restrict access
to those digital
photos to only selected collaborating users.
[0006] Although beneficial results may be obtained through the use of the
photo sharing
network described above, even more beneficial results may be obtained by
including an
electronic notification system, whereby computer generated electronic
notifications are
automatically sent to all collaborating users when a new digital photo is
stored in the digital
file.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] These and other features will become more apparent from the
following
description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings
are for the
purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting,
wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a photo sharing network for
business.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] A photo sharing network will now be described with reference to FIG.
1.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
[0010] A business user registers and builds a list of collaboration
contacts. The system
allows the business user to select a unique identifier (such as a file number)
for a single or
batch of photographs stored in a digital file and inputs basic identification
data. Once the
identification data has been in-putted, a user creates a collaboration user
profile for the digital
file by selecting from the list of collaboration contacts, those of the
collaboration contacts the
business user wishes to have access to the photographs for the purpose of this
particular
collaboration. Once the photos are transferred to computer storage in the
"Cloud" on the
interne, an email as well as system notifications are sent to the
collaborating users advising
them that new photographs have been assigned to them. Collaborating users
access the digital
file containing the photographs through a secure collaboration portal in the
form of a web
interface. The whole process is safe, secure and confidential. Only authorized
users ever have
access to assigned photographs.
[0011] When photos are assigned to first time collaboration users, the
first time
collaboration users are prompted to create a user account (register) in order
to view the
assigned photos. This ensures there is no anonymous access to user assigned
photos.
Examples of Applications:
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Medical
[0012] Currently, patients have to wait 15-months or more to see a
dermatologist on a
referral from their general practitioner. Doctors estimate that 80%-90% of
dermatology
related referrals could be done remotely using pictures. Within the medical
industry photos
are rarely used and they are almost never used for collaborative purposes. The
reason being is,
there is no safe, secure and confidential method of sharing photographs. In
addition, doctors
who are general practitioners see a lot of patients. The average doctor sees
between 30 and 50
patients per day, which equates to thousands of photographs per month. It
would be extremely
time consuming for a physician to sort and organize that many photographs per
month. The
proposed photo sharing network enables general practitioners in the medical
professional to
efficiently use photographs as tool for collaboration with specialists.
Construction
[0013] It is good practise to document construction projects using
photographs from start
to finish. This creates a record of construction progress, clearly showing
what work was done
and when. There is also a need to share selected photos with sub-trades
working on
completion of specific aspects of the projects, especially relating to
deficiencies. The
proposed photo sharing network enables the efficient use photographs as a
collaboration tool
with sub-trades working on construction projects.
Automotive Collision Repair
[0014] Currently, automotive collision repair centers document vehicle
damage using
photographs for insurance companies. Photographs are a method of visually
communicating
to insurance companies during the estimation process, what the extent of
damage is to vehicle.
Automotive collision repair centers also need to provide photographs as method
of proving
what work was done when repairing a vehicle in order to receiving payment from
the
insurance company.
[0015] One of the largest losses of revenue within the automotive
collision industry is
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parts that are orders that when delivered, are the incorrect part. This
happens every day in
automotive collision repair centers throughout North America and can cost
thousands of
dollars a month in lost revenue as well as affecting the a shops cycle time
with insurance
companies. When a wrong part shows up, the vehicle cannot be repaired. In many
cases a
vehicle could be on a hoist, which could mean the vehicle has to now wait for
one to two days
before the repair process can continue. This effect all other vehicles in the
repair queue. It
also effects rental car costs and other costs associated with delay. Many
parts are near
identical expect for minor differences. When a part is supplier which is
incorrect, it is due to
problems accurately communicating a description of the part between an
automotive collision
repair center and a parts supplier. Most of the time this can be avoided if a
photograph is
involved. A photograph can clearly communicates what the part looks like.
[0016] Currently, automotive repair collision repair centers can take
photo graphs and
email them to suppliers. This is time consuming and inefficient. Because of
this, most
automotive collision repair centers do not use photographs when ordering
parts. A busy shop
could need to take hundreds and in some cases thousands of photographs per
week. If
collision repair centers could communicate/collaborate using photographs on
the majority of
vehicle repairs, quickly and easily, a tremendous amount of money could be
saved by the
automotive collision repair center as well as by the suppliers. The proposed
photo sharing
network enables the efficient use photographs as a collaboration tool with
part supplies to the
automotive repair industry.
[0017] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-
limiting sense to
mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically
mentioned are not
excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the
possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context
clearly requires that
there be one and only one of the elements.
[0018] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrated
embodiments set
forth as examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent
with a purposive
construction of the claims in view of the description as a whole.
