Video Rental E-Commerce Solution

Abstract

A method and system for providing a business-to-business network service for applications used by service providers is disclosed. The method and system include providing a central application capable of communicating with at least two applications over a public network, such as the Internet, and providing a repository database for storing customer information that spans more than one of the service providers. The method and system further include allowing the applications to query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the applications.

1 . A method for providing a business-to-business network service for applications used by service providers, the method comprising: 
 providing a central application capable of communicating with at least two applications over a public network;    providing a repository database for storing customer information that spans more than one of the service providers;    allowing the applications to query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the applications; and    providing a notification service that allows the applications to subscribe to automatic notifications triggered by updates to the customer information in the repository database.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises registering the applications as clients with the network service.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises making access to the repository database secure through encryption, and during a registration process, generating authentication keys to validate future data exchange requests made by the applications.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the allowing step further comprises receiving queries from the applications and analyzing data in the repository database to uncover patterns and relationships relating to the customers' rental activities and histories.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the allowing step further comprises returning in response to the queries one or more of a recommended list, an order list, a user rating list, and a list of user infractions.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the service providers provide online retail services.  
     
     
         7 . A network service for applications used by service providers comprising: 
 a central application capable of communicating with at least two applications over a public network; and    a repository database for storing customer information that spans more than one of the service providers, wherein the applications may query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the applications, wherein the service providers provide online retail services.    
     
     
         8 . A method for providing a business-to-business network service for rental chains, the method comprising: 
 allowing the rental chains to register as clients of the network service through respective rental chain applications;    receiving customer information from each of the rental applications and storing the customer information in a repository database, wherein the customer information spans more than one rental chain;    allowing the rental applications to access the customer information from repository database; and    providing a notification service that allows the rental chain applications to subscribe to automatic notifications triggered by updates to the customer information in the repository database,    receiving movie title information and storing the movie title information in the repository database; and    making the movie title information accessible by the rental chain applications, thereby eliminating a need to manually enter information at the rental stores.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the receiving movie title information step comprises receiving the movie title information from movie distributors.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the allowing the rental chains to register step comprises making access to the repository database secure through encryption, and during a registration process, generating authentication keys to validate future data exchange requests made by the rental chain applications.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the allowing the rental applications to access the customer information step further includes receiving queries from the rental applications and analyzing data in the repository database to uncover patterns and relationships relating to the customers' rental activities and histories.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the allowing the rental applications to access the customer information step further comprises returning in response to the queries one or more of a recommended list, an order list, a user rating list, and a list of user infractions.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the receiving customer information step comprises receiving customer information from each of the rental applications that includes one or more of; a list of business customers, a customer wish list, customer rental history, and customer evaluations of movie titles.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the receiving customer information step further comprises storing the customer information in XML format, and communicating between the rental applications and the network service using XML messages.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the receiving customer information step further comprises containing the XML messages in Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) envelopes.  
     
     
         16 . A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for providing a business-to-business network service for rental applications used by rental chains, the program instructions for: 
 providing a central application capable of communicating with at least two rental chain applications over a public network;    providing a repository database for storing customer information that spans more than one of the rental chains;    allowing the rental chain applications to query the repository database through the central application, thereby making the customer information accessible to each of the rental chain applications; and    providing a notification service that allows the rental chain applications to subscribe to automatic notifications triggered by updates to the customer information in the repository database.    
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16  further comprising instructions for registering the rental applications as clients with the network service.  
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16  further comprising instructions for making access to the repository database secure through encryption, and during a registration process, generating authentication keys to validate future data exchange requests made by the rental chain applications.  
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16  wherein the allowing step further comprises receiving queries from the rental applications and analyzing data in the repository database to uncover patterns and relationships relating to the customers' rental activities and histories.  
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16  wherein the allowing step further comprises returning in response to the queries one or more of a recommended list, an order list, a user rating list, and a list of user infractions.  
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16  further comprising instructions for storing customer credential reports in the repository database, allowing customers to request their credential reports directly from the central application to challenge the report's source/validity.  
     
     
         22 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16  wherein the service providers provide online retail services.