A Web-Based Rental System (a Case Study of UNIBEN Transport Services)
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this project is to develop interactive web based system for Uniben Maingate Car Rental (UMCR) organization that will enable customers to reserve a vehicle of choice online from anywhere. A system where every work process is done using computer, thus there is no need for expensive, difficult and time consuming hard copies.
To achieve the objective stated above, this project aims at:
- Studying the existing system to find out its problem.
- Finding the solution to the problem found in the existing system
- Designing and building a web-application of the system.
- Carrying out a case study of the transportation system in the university of Benin
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
A lot has been written about the subject of web based car rental service all aiming at offering a credible service which can be accessed by customers at any time irrespective of the terminal or location. This chapter provides the literature review that is related with what will be developed later. This chapter comprises two sections: The first section reviews the method, equipment, and technology used. The second section reviews the existing similar systems. References are made to books, articles, journals, magazines, conference paper, thesis and also sources from Internet.
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
The rapid growth of interactive Internet services has led to constantly increasing Web sites (Berners-Lee, et cal; 1992). We have also experienced an increase in their functionality, which, in turn, makes them more complicated to use. Thus, a useful web application should be based on traditional graphical user interface design which relies on menu selection and navigation. But these interfaces require a considerable cognitive overhead. This may be tolerable to frequent users, but will in many cases deter casual users, especially those who are not yet used to computers. (Nielsen, 1993)
Management Information System is a system or process that provides information needed to manage organizations efficiently and effectively. Management information systems involve three primary resources namely: technology, information, and people. It is important to recognize that while all three resources are key components when studying management information systems, the most important resource is people. Management information systems are regarded as a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems (Wikipedia, Online).
Meanwhile a web service is a collection of protocols and standards used for exchanging data between applications or systems. Software applications written in various programming languages and running on various platforms can use web services to exchange data over computer networks like the Internet in a manner similar to inter-process communication on a single computer. Furthermore, the meaning of software engineering is the computer science discipline concerned with developing large applications. Software engineering covers not only the technical aspects of building software systems but also management issues such as directing programming teams, scheduling and budgeting. Software engineering has several documentation that must be done with the development of the system. There are Software Development Plan (SDP), Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and Software Design Development (SDD).
CHAPTER THREE
SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
METHODOLOGY
This chapter provides the method and approach which have been used for the system development. A detailed explanation of each phase in developing this project will be discussed. A methodology is important for managing and controlling a research in order to achieve the specified objectives within a given time. In order to complete this research, there are some major phases involved. Each phase involved in this project have significance in achieving the objectives of the project. This project begins with knowledge acquisition phase and finished with the documentation of result. As mentioned in the objective of this project, data matching technique is applied to provide car recommendation service to the users.
ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL CAR RENTAL SERVICE
Uniben Car Rental service operates a manual form of car rental service. Under this system of operation, a customer places a call to the car operator and makes a reservation or he goes to the park to rent a car. Little or no records are kept and the customer may make a poor reservation choice because he cannot see through a phone call the car he is reserving.
PROBLEMS OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM
During reservation a customer reserves a vehicle via phone call or he/she is expected to go to the organization for reservation. There are many inconsistencies associated with such method.
When renting a vehicle, the customer information and contract made between them may be difficult to recall due to massive collection of data.
When generating report, it takes time and it may not be easy to manage and analyze work due to massive collection of data and the generated report may not be accurate.
CHAPTER FOUR
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION, TESTING AND DOCUMENTATION
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENT
The implementation of a system entails all those processes undertaken in the conversion of the old system to the new system. It begins from testing and debugging of the program to ensuring the elimination of potential problems users may face in the future. The process involves coding the instructions in a programming language of choice, testing the system, training the user on how to use it, and so on. The overall system is very user-friendly; that is, it is designed so that any level of user can easily use it without having any sort of problem. To implement any system design into a computer program the most important consideration is first and foremost the programming language to be used for implementation. Because it can be a major factor in determining the cost, complexity, user – operability and that which can be used for a wide array of programming functions. Some are more suited for writing certain types of program than the others, based on their functionality or on criteria set by programmer.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION:
This web-based car rental system is developed to be an interactive web-based environment for car rental services that intends to overcome the problems faced by users and car rental service organizations. For customers, the proposed UMCR online rental management system will provide car recommendation service to help users to choose the suitable car for them to rent based on their budget, the number of passenger, and their journey distance. Besides, users may view the car catalogue provided in the system, while for the organization, UMCR online is able to produce transaction report and thereby able to make informed business decisions. To access the administrator page, UMCR provides security access level for authorized administrator only.
Today, various online systems make the life of human very comfortable. By some clicks only, we can get whatever we want at home. We already know about the online shopping, e-banking, etc. Similarly, The Car Rental System is the online facility to book cars online with just few clicks. Some people cannot afford a car, for those people this system becomes very helpful. This system includes various cars to suit the customer’s needs as per budget and comfort.
Based on research conducted while executing this project, some specific conclusions can be drawn as follows:
- This application can help UMCR offer timely and effective web based car rental service
- This application makes transaction processing and data management that occurs in Rental easier for UMCR
- This application will help UMCR give reliable transaction report
- Data storage which is already computerized will ease UMCR’s data storage, retrieval and report
- UMCR will experience a huge upsurge in customer patronage because customers can comfortable make reservations.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Some suggestions exist that can be considered against UMCR even with the use of this system, namely:
- Need to open branches in other major parts of the city in order to achieve more growth and development
- The interface can be made more attractive
3. It is necessary to develop the credit card payment system, so that when the customers do not have a PayPal account, they can pay with credit cards.
REFRENCES
- Berners-Lee, et cal; (1992). World Wide Web; CERN; Invited talk at conference: Computing in High Energy Physics 92, Annecy, France, 23 27 Sep 1992.
- Berners–LeeJ., et al, (2001). The World Wide Web, Communications of the ACM
- Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability Engineering.Academic Press, Boston, ISBN 0-12-518405-0
- Ian Peter, (2004, Retrieved 27 June 2014) the Internet History Project. “So, who really did invent the Internet?”
- Barry M. Leiner, et al. (Retrieved 27 June 2014) Brief History of the Internet: The Initial Internetting Concepts”. Internet Society.
- MIT 150 Exhibitions. (2011, Retrieved April 20,2013). Man-Computer Symbiosis
