Patent ID: 8694352

Claim:
A system for providing service representation for a vendor comprising: a handheld device configured for displaying a sequence of prompts from a worksheet, and for receiving user input in response to said prompts, said user input comprising data from the worksheet collected during a service call at a retail location, each worksheet comprising a survey that includes sequence of instructions and questions about one or more products of the vendor sold at the retail location that guide a service representative through a service call at the retail location, the handheld device comprises a digital camera device for recording digital images during the service call, the digital images corresponding to answers of questions provided in the survey, the handheld device further comprises a bar code scanner device for scanning bar codes during the service call; a server in communication with said handheld device via a network, said server configured for receiving the data from the handheld device and storing the data in a database; a beacon provided at the retail location that emits a first signal encoded with a retail center identifier and the current date and time, wherein the handheld device is configured with a receiver for receiving the first signal upon entry into the retail location, the handheld device automatically records and associates the retail center identifier and the current date and time with the worksheet on the handheld device in response to detecting the first signal and in response to the handheld device being physically located within the retail location having the beacon, the beacon emitting a second signal that is received by the handheld device upon exiting the retail location, the second signal causing the handheld device to display a message asking if the service representative is ready to synchronize the data from the worksheet with the server and if a communication link exists between the handheld device and the server, the second signal comprising the current date and time which is associated by the handheld device with the worksheet to indicate a completion time and date for the worksheet, the beacon preventing tampering of the data in the worksheet from the service representative by emitting the first and second signals for supplying accurate time, date, and retail location which are associated with the completed worksheet a network device in communication with said server via the network, said network device configured for interacting with a reporting module for querying the database and for generating a report based on the data; wherein the service call comprises multiple tasks; wherein the handheld device is further configured to record as data the times at which the service representative begins and completes the service call; and wherein the handheld device is further configured to record as data the times at which the service representative begins and completes each task during the service call.