Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Science, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science
(Information Technology)
In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a postgraduate degree from
University Utara Malaysia, I agree that the University Library may make it freely available for
inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in
part, for scholarly purpose may be granted by my supervisor(s) or, in their absence by Dean of
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Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of materials in this thesis, in whole or in
I owe my most sincere gratitude to Allah the almighty and the most powerful for offering
me such a strength, endurance, audacity, and capability to accomplish this project.
I would also like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Adi Affandi
Hj Ahmad, his wide knowledge and his logical way of thinking have been of great value
for me. His understanding, encouraging and personal guidance have provided a good
basis for the present thesis.
During this work I have collaborated with many colleagues for whom I have great regard,
and I wish to extend my warmest thanks to all those who have helped me with my work
in the College of Art and Science (Information Technology) University Utara Malaysia.
I owe my loving thanks to my mother, and all my family members. They have lost a lot
due to my research abroad. Without their encouragement and understanding it would
have been impossible for me to finish this work. My special gratitude is due to my
brother, my sisters and their families for their loving support.
CAR RENTAL RESERVATION/MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH
TRACKING CAPABILITY
ABSTRACT
businesses. The research will look into different aspects; such as to provide
come out with the intended system, this research suggests integration of GPS
technology and mobile device into the overall proposed system architecture.
This research also points out that the proposed system is not intended to
replace, but rather to compliment the current car management and the GPS
technologies available in the market. When they all work together, they will
businesses.
TABLE OF Content
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………….. 1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION:
1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….. 2
1.1 Problem Statement………………………………………………………………….. 4
1.1.1 Financial Risk…………………………………………………………………… 5
1.1.2 Rental Fraud…………………………………………………………………….. 5
1.2 Objectives…………………………………………………………………………….. 6
1.3 Research Question………………………………………………………………….. 6
1.4 Significance of the Study……………………………………………………………. 7
1.5 Scope of the Study…………………………………………………………………... 8
1.6 Limitations of the Study……………………………………………………………... 8
1.6.1 Data Limitations………………………………………………………………... 8
1.6.2 Time Limitations……………………………………………………………….. 9
1.6.3 Financial Limitation……………………………………………………………. 9
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY:
3.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 22
3.0.1 Conceptual Design……………………………………………………………... 23
3.0.2 Construct Design of the System………………………………………………. 23
3.0.3 Prototyping……………………………………………………………………… 24
3.0.4 Evaluate Use of the System…………………………………………………… 24
3.0.5 Purpose of Study……………………………………………………………….. 26
3.0.6 Type of Investigation…………………………………………………………… 26
3.0.7 Unit of Analysis…………………………………………………………………. 26
3.0.8 Study Setting……………………………………………………………………. 27
3.0.9 Data Collection………………………………………………………………….. 27
3.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………. 27
CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION:
4.0 System Functionality (Conceptual View)………………………………………….. 28
4.1 Use Case Diagram……………………………………………………………….. 28
4.2 Use Case Specification…………………………………………………………... 30
4.3 Class Diagram…………………………………………………………………….. 43
4.4 Sequence Diagram……………………………………………………………….. 45
4.5 Review of Car Management/Reservation System with Tracking
Capability…………………………………………………………………………. 48
4.6 Design of Use Requirements (Questionnaire)………………………………… 48
4.7 Prototype Evaluation Based On Survey Results……………………………… 52
4.7.1 Usability Testing……………………………………………………………. 52
4.7.2 Customer Web Reservation Task………………………………………… 54
4.8 Result of Research Design Method…………………………………………….. 59
4.9 Result of Awareness Problem…………………………………………………… 59
4.10 Result of Suggestion……………………………………………………………. 60
4.11 Result of Development…………………………………………………………. 60
4.12 Result of Evaluation…………………………………………………………….. 60
4.13 Result of Conclusion……………………………………………………………. 61
4.14 Summary…………………………………………………………………………. 61
CHAPTER 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Today, there are wide varieties of vehicle anti-theft devices in the market. These
include from simple security devices, such as steering lock, gear lock and
immobilizer, to a more advanced security system that can track down stolen
News Release, 2001), the industry had to compensate a total claim amounting to
RM168.6 million for the period of January 2001 to June 2001. Whereas Wah, K.C.
et al. (2005) in the journal for Kuala Lumpur Royal Malaysia Police College
reported that vehicle theft contributed 49% of the total index crime for the year
2004, as compared to 26% for year 1994. This issue has affected the car rental
businesses negatively.
The car rental contract is designed in a specific form for the car leasing at which
consists of the agreement between the lessee (renter) with the leaser (owner) of the
automobile. Whereby at the specific time agreed he lessee entitles the right of the
usage of the car, and at the same time the leaser will offer the features of the car
agreed, together with the tax payment, insurance, maintenance, and the accessories
1
and including the realization value added of the valuation of the car. Foreign car
enormous car rental service network taking over most of the business in the world.
On the market, the car demand of the car rental has already had the whole 10% of
car yield in the developed western countries. After entering 20 centuries in 90's,
the scale of the global car rental industry extends quickly, with the sales of USD
exceeding USD 100 billion in 2000, having the world leasing industry total
The dramatic expansion of the Internet has been observable throughout the world
for more than a decade by now. More and more systems are put on-line, as the
mesh of IP-based data communication networks gets tighter every day. The
for service providers to offer and for users to take advantage of a variety of
information services.
New features like the short message service (SMS) or the multimedia messaging
2
like the global system for mobile communications (GSM), have for their part
caused these systems to become popular and a broad user base all over the world.
wireless networks provide thus a exible and robust possibility to implement remote
The paper is organized as follows: After this introductory section some of the
problems facing the car rental industry will be presented. In the third section, we
present some of the new IT applications that the researcher recommends to be used
Wah, K.C. et al. (2005) suggested anti-theft mechanism to be updated and made
fool-proof in order to bring the crime (vehicle theft) index down. This implies that
there are still some weaknesses inherent to the current anti-theft devices in their
ways to go against the crime. One of the noticeable weaknesses is lack of early,
3
Anti-theft devices, such as steering lock, gear lock and immobilizer attempt
to prevent the crime from happening in the first place; but it is left at the
owners would have no idea what will happen to their motor vehicles when
they leave their motor vehicles, for example at parking lots. They would be
shocked to see that only the steering locks were left behind at the parking
vehicles; but it is controlled by the Captor (i.e. the third party rather than
the vehicles’ owners themselves), and it is good only after the crime has
do not consider the time factor wisely it will therefore cost them money
4
Some criminals pretend to be a lessee so that he can rent a car and then
sell this car to get profit illegally using false personal information.
Some vicious lessees may rent a car and then mortgage this car to pay
their debt. Some lessees may delay or not pay the rental fee. Some
lessees may hide traffic illegality and punishment when they return the
China]
1.2 OBJECTIVES
To develop a web based system to help manage the business and keeps records
of all the data of the customers, the cars they rented and the duration.
system
5
• How can the car management system be integrated with a GPS tracking
capability?
This research is significant due to the fact that in these challenging business
environments, many car rental firms have been unable to properly implement
corrective methods in order to improve their services and provide superior quality
and security to their customer. Working with our system organization can benefit
In essence, some of the firms do not even know where to start when it comes to
securing their properties where in our case are the cars. Hence this project is meant
effective security, and the strategies that can be employed in order to improve and
6
This research is connected to the domains of car rental businesses, web-based and
GPS tracking services hence these related concepts would form the central theme
the service that have been employed by the most successful European firms such
as Perot and what can be done to perfect use of proper strategies by organizations
like these.
There are a number of limitations that are likely to be encountered during the
7
doing various other course related activities and hence there might be
sufficient time is allocated for all projects related activities so that the
time.
8
The objectives of this project must be met in a proper way but the
researcher could not afford to buy the elements those make up the system
such as the GPS-GSM alarm, the static IP and the fees for the SMS server.
9
CHAPTER 2
LITERETURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides an overview on the different technologies applied on the car rental
industry. The car rental is such a big market which needs a massive effort to be improved.
Some of the technologies that are available now in the market are listed below:
Perot Systems has proven experience and expertise helping organizations worldwide
returns on their IT investments. And we can help your business achieve and increase
The design and development of an alarm device that can disseminate disaster early
warnings to threatened communities over the GSM network. The device is capable of
response to a warning message from an authorized entity via GSM's short message
service (SMS) or cell broadcast (CB). The design of the device follows international
people very fast, awaken sleeping communities, and be able to acknowledge warning
messages. The alarm has been designed as a last-mile technology in a larger Disaster
10
Early Warning network (DEWN). It is intended to be place in selected locations such as
The Transition to web-based reservation systems and IP-based call centers with
Deliver solutions based on technologies including GPS navigation, Chip & PIN, and
voice to improve trace and track capabilities and fleet management Build, implement, and
support fleet management solutions, vehicle scheduling, purchasing and billing, and other
Integrate databases at various points of sale and field locations to maintain continuity of
service delivery in real time, Perot Systems has helped leading car rental companies
achieve higher levels of operational excellence and increase their customer base while
A vehicle management system and method using wireless terminals is provided. In the
11
message to a wireless terminal of a subscriber. The wireless terminal of the subscriber
transmits accumulated travel distance information to the server. The server checks
replaced according to the accumulated travel distance information transmitted from the
generator) and prices of the items at the moment when they are replaced can be easily
calculated according to the accumulated travel distance information provided through the
This study will determine the review of World Wide Web (WWW), testing a website,
website requirements, Unified Modeling Language (UML) and provide some information
related to the market development of the Go-Kart through online reservation system.
The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked,
hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a web browser, a user views web
pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigates
12
between them using hyperlinks. The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Sir
Tim
played an active role in guiding the development of web standards (such as the markup
languages in which web pages are composed), and in recent years has advocated his
There are certain procedural steps that need to be followed in order to avail a good
Website that adheres to the standards of any quality system (Bemers-Lee, 1996; Krueger,
1992). The steps for Website testing are (Whittaker, 2000; Bruno & Agarwal, 1997).
A useful web application should be based on traditional graphical user interface designs
which rely 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).
13
Applications based on the web, and running on top of application servers are a case of
multi-tier application. They are mainly composed of a Client and a Server tier. The client
attended by the server; it can be considered as a user interface of the application. The
server tier implements the logic of the application and is responsible of serving user-
generated requests. Web contents can be basically divided depending on their nature as
static or dynamic. Static contents are those served to clients without any kind of process.
HTML files are the best example of static contents: when requested, they are read from
disk and sent to clients directly and without any modification. Dynamic contents are
those requiring some process before being sent to clients. Typical dynamic contents are
server scripts, which are processed and generated results (typically formatted as an
Web applications implement business rules and have certain functionality to either
interact with another actor (person or system) or change its own state (Souer, 2003). De
kiosk for presenting plane information, and a Web application as a kind of interactive
information system (Troyer, et. al., 1998). Castro et al (2004) recognize one of the
Web applications the client and the users are not the same people. Another recognized
challenge stems from the fact that Internet, and more specifically, the Web, is a
14
2.4 DESIGN OF UML (UNIFIED MODELING LANGUAGE)
retrieve information and conduct transactions related to travel. Originally designed and
operated by airlines, they were later extended to travel agents as a sales channel; major
CRS operations that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines are known as Global
Distribution Systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to
dedicated Global Distribution System companies, and many systems are now accessible
to consumers through Internet gateways for hotel, rental cars, and other services as well
modeling language that includes a graphical notation used to create an abstract model of a
15
UML is officially defined at the Object Management Group (OMG) by the UML meta-
the UML meta-model and UML models may be serialized in XMI. UML was designed to
specify, visualize, construct, and document software-intensive systems (Chonoles, et. al.,
2003).
UML is not restricted to modeling software. UML is also used for business process
systems engineering that is defined as a UML 2.0 profile (Coad, et. al., 1999).
UML 2.0 has 13 types of diagrams, which can be categorized hierarchically as follows
16
Structure diagrams emphasize what things must be in the system being modeled:
• Class diagram
• Component diagram
• Composite structure diagram
• Deployment diagram
• Object diagram
• Package diagram
Behavior diagrams emphasize what must happen in the system being modeled:
• Activity diagram
• State Machine diagram
• Use case diagram
Interaction diagrams, a subset of behavior diagrams, emphasize the flow of control and
• Communication diagram
• Sequence diagram
17
2.5 GPS TECHNOLOGY
network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was
originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the
system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the
world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.
GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal
information to earth. GPS receivers take this information and use triangulation to
calculate the user's exact location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a
signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference
tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements
from a few more satellites, the receiver can determine the user's position and display it on
18
A GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a
2D position (latitude and longitude) and track movement. With four or more satellites in
view, the receiver can determine the user's 3D position (latitude, longitude and altitude).
Once the user's position has been determined, the GPS unit can calculate other
information, such as speed, bearing, track, trip distance, distance to destination, sunrise
Today's GPS receivers are extremely accurate, thanks to their parallel multi-channel
design. Garmin's 12 parallel channel receivers are quick to lock onto satellites when first
turned on and they maintain strong locks, even in dense foliage or urban settings with tall
buildings. Certain atmospheric factors and other sources of error can affect the accuracy
of GPS receivers. Garmin® GPS receivers are accurate to within 15 meters on average.
Newer Garmin GPS receivers with WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) capability
can improve accuracy to less than three meters on average. No additional equipment or
fees are required to take advantage of WAAS. Users can also get better accuracy with
Differential GPS (DGPS), which corrects GPS signals to within an average of three to
five meters. The U.S. Coast Guard operates the most common DGPS correction service.
This system consists of a network of towers that receive GPS signals and transmit a
corrected signal by beacon transmitters. In order to get the corrected signal, users must
have a differential beacon receiver and beacon antenna in addition to their GPS.
19
2.5.3 THE GPS SATELLITE SYSTEM
The 24 satellites that make up the GPS space segment are orbiting the earth about 12,000
miles above us. They are constantly moving, making two complete orbits in less than 24
hours. These satellites are travelling at speeds of roughly 7,000 miles an hour.
GPS satellites are powered by solar energy. They have backup batteries onboard to keep
them running in the event of a solar eclipse, when there's no solar power. Small rocket
Here are some other interesting facts about the GPS satellites (also called NAVSTAR, the
Data is sent via a cellular phone network to the client’s cell phone
20
• Security Concepts manufactures WorldTracker, which uses the voice
Using your PC you contact the tracker from your home or office phone, without going
through the Internet, and instantly display the target vehicle on your computer with a
moving street map. No monthly fees. New options allow the WorldTracker to shut the
vehicle off remotely or call the owner in the event their vehicle is stolen.
2.6 CONCLUSION
At the end of this chapter we can clearly see that there are various technologies applied
by different companies each is slightly following a specific technique but eventually they
all are trying to achieve the same result which is to improve the car rental industry but
they are quite different from the system we implemented whereby the cost is quite
cheaper and the technologies here are integrated together to produce more desirable
results.
21
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION
It is theorized here that academic investigations such as this one has to be approached in a
manner that is very and it is at this chapter where a determination will be made of the
the methodology that will be used in order to collect information for the purposes of
satisfying the research objectives of the project is very important as it is will determine
the quality of information that is obtained. The employment of the wrong methodology to
collect information might be quite disastrous to the outcome of the project and might
result in the objectives of the project not being satisfied. For this project, the information
that would be processed and synthesized for the purposes of satisfying the research
objectives would be collected from a variety of primary and secondary research sources
and this means that primary and secondary research tools will be used in order to gather
data for this project. It is the opinion of the researcher that the use of primary ands
secondary research methods would be very beneficial in drawing in the correct data for
be used as design research approach. There are four stages in this approach, conceptual
design, construct design of the system, prototyping and evaluate use of the system.
22
The detail of design research stages are shown below:
Apply existing knowledge in car rental industry and identify the gap, the
meaningful research objectives are developed in this stage. Here where the system
requirement are gathered from the users through the means of questionnaire
where they were asked straight questions regarding their opinion and past
experience with the web based management and tracking system. The
questionnaires were divided into two parts one was distributed to the public to
determine their behavior towards the car rental industry and also to determine
their opinion about having an online car reservation system. The second part of
the questionnaire focuses on the employees working in the car rental field to
determine three main areas which are their opinion about having an online car
management system, their experience with their customers and their opinion
applied in this stage to develop the prototype for car rental management
system with tracking system. This stage is based on the previous step
23
whichmeans it was initiated based on the results of the questionnaires to meet
1.1.3 PROTOTYPING:
The concept of car rental management system with tracking capability was
proved and designed based on the architecture that was proposed, involve the
field study.
24
The framework based on Nunamaker (1991) is represented in the below diagram:
Conceptual design
Construct
design
of
the
system
Construct design of the system
Prototype
A
prototype
based
on
the
designed
architecture
will
be
developed
in
this
stage
Evaluating the use of the system
25
Addition information about the research shown below:
miscellaneous set of applications, services and devices that relate to the successful
Causal Study: Define problems in car rental industry. How the financial risk,
Individual: Staff, Customer. Compare the benefit of the system before and after has been
developed.
26
1.1.8 STUDY SETTING
Internet and interview: We are collecting our data basically from the internet and
also on our experience in renting cars and as some of us have experience working
3.1 CONCLUSION
The reason this research methodology is chosen simply because in order to meet the
above points a suitable method had to be applied. To satisfy the purpose of this study
which is to explore new area of comfort for the car rental industry, a general purpose
method ought to be implemented in the research. Most of the other research methods
have one specific purpose, which will certainly hold the process of this paper back in
27
CHAPTER 4
In this chapter, result obtained from the prototype implementation will illustrate system
There are five examples UML representations used in this study. UML is developed by
Huge(2002). UML has several representations such as class diagram, use case diagram,
state diagram, collaboration diagram, sequence diagram, sequence diagram. This study
used UML design since UML is a de facto standard for software engineering. It is a much
more attractive approach due to the familiarity of software designer with UML hence it
can reduce the learning curve and make it not far from their usual practices.
The use case diagram is a visualization of a use-case analysis whichis one of behavior
diagrams of UML design, i.e., the interaction between the system and the users. Figure
28
This system allows user to do registration, see information, products, make reservation
and do payment as well. This system requires login from the admin before the admin can
make new reservations or edit any existing ones besides the admin can have the system
send messages to the cars to get the coordinates in order to locate cars.
29
4.2 USE CASE SPECIFICATION
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This use case will be used by user/client to make a new user name and
password.
PRE-CONDITION
30
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
It is used when the new user intends to create his/her user name and his/her
password.
FLOW OF EVENT
• Basic Flow
This use case will begin when the user click the “OK” button. Then
and password. User must click the “submit” button to insert the
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter
POST-CONDITION
User can login to the reservation menu by using the username and password
31
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This use case will be used by user/client to view the information such as
PRE-CONDITION
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
When the user intends to view the product information and the cars
availability.
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the user enters the system. Then the
reservation.
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter
32
the valid link of the main page.
POST-CONDITION
User can get information about the system by using correct link.
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
PRE-CONDITION
33
The user has username and password in order to be able to login into the
system.
Characteristic Of Activation
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the user click the “reservation”
input the details of reservation, the input are booking date, time
and length to use of the desired car. User must click the submit
•EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter
POST-CONDITION
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
34
1 Fi
. g
4 u
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This use case will be used by user/client to make the payment for the car
PRE-CONDITION
The user has username and password in order to login into the system.
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the user/client confirms the booking
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter
35
POST-CONDITION
User can make the payment based on the details that have been inserted
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This use case will be used by user/client to confirm the payment for the car
PRE-CONDITION
The user has username and password in order to login into the system.
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
36
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin after the user/client confirms the booking and
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter the valid
POST-CONDITION
User can make the payment based on the details that have been inserted into the
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
37
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
PRE-CONDITION
The admin must have a username and password in order to login into the system.
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the admin inserts his username and password
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter the valid
POST-CONDITION
Admin can login after being registered and his/her details inserted to the database
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
38
Figure 4.6 : Use Case Administrator manage the booking
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
PRE-CONDITION
The admin must have a username and password in order to login into the system.
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the admin inserts his username and password
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
The system displays an error message and then the user must enter the valid
39
POST-CONDITION
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This use case will be used by admin to check the status of the rented cars such as
their return time and here the admin can also send a message to the device in the car
40
PRE-CONDITION
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the admin chooses to check the rented car
status
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
POST-CONDITION
The admin can check the status after the car has been given out
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
41
Figure 4.6 : Use Case Administrator inserts the car coordinates of the car
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
This use case will be used by admin to check the location of the rented cars after the
PRE-CONDITION
CHARACTERISTIC OF ACTIVATION
FLOW OF EVENT
• BASIC FLOW
This use case will begin when the admin inserts the rented car’s coordinates
• EXCEPTIONAL FLOW
42
POST-CONDITION
The admin can check the location after the car has been given out
LIMITATION
Not applicable.
A UML class is defined by a rectangle having 3 segments. The segments are defined as:
Classes are the building blocks of software architecture. A class diagram is used to show
hierarchical relationships as figured above. A class diagram is also used to show other
43
connectors, interaction "uses" relationships with dependency arrows, or associations with
connecting lines.
The class diagram is the most important entity in object-oriented design and analysis. It
describes the types of classes that exist in the system and shows the relationship between
them. It also shows the attributes exist in the system, operations involved, and also
constraints that apply to the way the objects are connected. The following diagram shows
a hypothetical class interaction diagram. Figure 4.7 shows the class diagram.
44
This class diagram has three identities, all customers can do reservation and many
reservations can be done by a customer on the other hand the third entity, which is the
administrator who also can add or edit any booking as well as locate the desired cars.
The sequence diagram displays the overall flow of control in an object-oriented program.
It captures the behavior of a single use-case. Figure 4.8 shows the sequence diagram of
admin
45
Sequence Diagrams
46
Figure 4.9: Sequence Diagram for customers’ activities
47
4.5 REVIEW OF CAR MANAGEMENT/RESERVATION SYSTEM WITH
TRACKING CAPABILITY
Most of famous car rental companies have several thousand locations all over the world,
which are used to provide rental service for their customers. Therefore, there is an
obvious logistics management problem in the service operation process. For a large-scale
car rental company, the rental locations are scattered around the world, while its daily
operation is based on a country even a special region. However, the car rental industry
contains various risks. Besides facing common risks of the general service business
enterprise, the car rental business also faces some specific risks resulting from finance,
rental fraud, and traffic accidents. Therefore the system provides a solution for most of
those problems by offering a management solution, an online car reservation solution for
the customers and finally and the most important service is the car tracking capability
which eliminates the hustle of finding cars in case of fraud or major accidents. This
capability comparing to other services is far cheaper because it can be done manually
Table 4.1 below identified questionnaire for the user requirements. There are three
variables such as online reservation task for customers, web-based management system
for the companies and finally the tracking capability. Questionnaires were distributed to
48
Table 4.1 Item for the Questionnaire to Identify User Requirement
Variable Indicator
internet
the phone
49
Time of renting cars
notice
Variable Indicator
50
customers
cars
website
Employees’ perception on having a
The positivity of an automated car
management website
management website on everyday tasks
market expansion
Variable Indicator
51
operation
Table 4.2 below shows that 80% respondents indicated that the website has a strong
interface, 70 % indicated the good menu of the website. Furthermore, 53.3% of the
button, 83.3% of easiness of navigation, 60% of picture as guide for them to the web
reservation and car rental service, 70% of the navigation and 80% of icon quality, were
indicated the confident performance of the design. Overall, 76.7% of respondents
indicated the system criteria have strong indicators (figure 4.16).
52
Table 4.2 Respondents Perception on website Criteria
Yes
Indicators No (%)
(%)
Interface 80 20
Menu 70 30
Picture 60 40
Navigation 70 30
Icon 80 20
53
Wea
kStron
g
Table 4.3 summarized respondents’ perception based on the customer web reservation
task. 73.3% of respondents mentioned the register menu in this application is strong.
Furthermore, the percentage of the optimistic reply from the respondents is 70% in fields’
information, 73.3% in transaction record, 80% in confirmation and 70% in cancellation
process. This result represents the task in this application is confidently strong to provide
a high quality service.
Fields 70 30
Confirmation 80 20
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Cancellation 70 30
Overall figure 4.18 below shows that, 86.7% of respondents agreed that the reservation
tasks to the web reservation are strong.
Table 4.2 in the appendix shows that 80% respondents indicated that they had no
experience with the GPS tracking services this shows that the idea of the GPS tracking
whereby the willingness of the companies to experience the idea is widely welcomed.
Furthermore, 53.3% of them are willing to have internet based GPS tracking solution
whereby if the idea is implemented correctly and advertised properly it will be welcomed
strongly, 83.3% indicated that they prefer to purchase the hardware and pay very little or
55
no fees for other services this is considerably cheap when compared to the service
Table 4.2in the appendix shows that 0% of the companies never loses track of their rented
cars 1% rarely, 2% sometimes, 6% often and 1% always. This emphasizes the importance
of such a system to manage and track the cars. This survey also indicates that fraud
always here we can clearly see that fraud is something that happens most of the time and
this is a prove that such a system can be of a good use. This survey also indicates that in
sometimes, 1% often and 1% always. Another important finding that this survey indicates
is that in case of awful car accidents, companies can easily find their abandoned cars, 4%
because the system can obviously help companies to locate their cars at any given time.
Customers return cars late and do not pay for the delay 2% never do that, 2% rarely, 4%
sometimes, 1% often and 1% always. This is quite high rate so the system can help
Questionnaire Design
Table 4.3 in the appendix shows that 1% strongly disagree on considering allocating a
agree, and 3% strongly agree here we can see the majority is willing to allocate the budge
for the website which means the idea of the web reservation will be accepted. An
automated car management website will positively ease everyday tasks 1% strongly
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disagrees, 2% disagree, 4% neutral, 2% agree and 3% strongly agrees. Here also the
majority thinks that the management website can ease their everyday tasks. Only 0%
disagrees that A car reservation website will help to expand the market, 1% disagrees, 3%
neutral, 4% agree and 2% strongly agrees. These answers indicate that the car reservation
web site will help companies to expand their market. Now in the sense of the confusion
with the customers 2% strongly disagrees that such a web site would help companies to
eliminate the problem, 1% disagrees, 3% neutral, 3% agrees and 1% strongly agrees. This
is a good sign to develop the car reservation web site. Finally 2% strongly disagrees that
disagrees, 2% neutral, 2% agrees and 2% strongly agrees such answers are fair but they
encourage to develop the management system because 60% of them think that such
The answers we acquired in the appendix indicate that 7% of the users cannot get access
agrees and 3% strongly agrees so in the sense of availability of access to the internet the
majority can get easy access. On the other hand, 6% strongly disagrees that a car
reservation website would be more convenient to book cars 8% disagrees, 12% neutral,
2% agrees and 2% strongly agrees. Here if we calculate we can see that 16 out of 30
agree on the convenience a car web based reservation system. Now here the questions ask
the users whether booking a car via the internet is easier than booking through the phone
or not and the result was like the following, 4% strongly disagrees, 4% disagrees, 13%
think it is neutral, 4% agrees and 5% strongly agrees. The users were also asked if
57
booking through the phone gives them troubles and the result was 3% strongly disagrees,
2% disagrees, 7% think it is neutral, 12% agrees and 6% strongly agrees. Another aspect
the users were asked about was the possibility of reaching the car rental companies
through the phone and the result was 5% disagrees, 5% disagrees, 7% neutral, 6% agrees,
and 7% strongly agrees. Users were also asked if they can get a car easily and quickly in
a case of emergency and the result was 12% strongly disagrees, 5% disagrees, 5%
The answers we acquired here indicate that 3% strongly disagrees that they rent cars very
often, 5% disagrees, 4% neutral, 4% agrees and 14% strongly agrees, the other question
was about users’ time of renting and the result was 5% strongly disagrees that they rent
cars at random times, 6% disagrees, 7% neutral, 6% agrees and 6% strongly agrees. Now
4% strongly disagree that they have a specific type of cars, 4% disagrees, 9% neutral, 6%
disagrees, 4% neutral, 5% agrees and 5% strongly agrees. By not using the web
reservation system users always face troubles regarding the time of taking and returning
agrees. About the variation of the renting price some people have had good experience
and some have had bad ones. 8% strongly disagrees that the price varies, 7% disagrees,
5% neutral, 5% agrees and 5% strongly agrees. One very important aspect is the
availability of the desirable type of cars 8% strongly disagrees that they can always get
their car type, 8% disagrees, 6% neutral 4% agrees and 4% strongly disagrees. Some
users’ cancelation sometime gets canceled with no prior notice 5% strongly disagrees,
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5% disagrees 4% neutral, 7% agrees and 9% strongly agrees. The car delivery of cars
some people get it on time and some not 5% strongly disagrees that they get cars on time,
In this page researcher present a broad perspective that explicates the types and levels of
knowledge that can be derived from design research while reserving judgment on
whether a narrower goal of design research should be held within any specific research
community.
The output of this phase is a Proposal, formal or informal, for further research. They are
proposals for how things should be done. In this project researcher found models differ
from natural science theories primarily in intent: natural science has a traditional focus on
truth whereas design research focuses more on (situated) utility. Proposal of car web
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4.10 RESULT OF SUGGESTION
After the researcher read the literature about the car web reservation/management system
with GPS tracking capability based requirement, the researcher obtained the overview of
the whole guidelines provided by the car rental industry. Researcher found that the car
Output in this phase is that the researcher developed a prototype of the car web
requirements and the design. The system has been developed using PHP, MySQL and
Apache Web server. UML diagram such as Use Case diagram, Class diagram and
The researcher evaluated the entire component in previous phase according to car rental
industry requirement. The output of this phase is that researcher found that most of the
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4.13 RESULT OF CONCLUSION
The researcher found that the car web based reservation/management with GPS tracking
capability has a multiplier effect to the customer services development and to the car
rental companies managements. In contrast, the GPS tracking capability is enough to fill
the industry’s pleasure, and also to attain profits by decrease the car loss rate. They view
the mobile and the seemingly endless dynamism, more-compact computers and higher-
speed service as tools that allow them to function with increased effectiveness. All the
4.14 SUMMARY
Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 14.00 was employed to determine
the frequency of respondents answer and categorized their answers to the strong and
weak level.
Based on the answers of respondents respond to the user requirements researcher found
that most of them mentioned the strength and goodness of the car web
The car web reservation has provided complete information about the existence of the car
rental industry to the customers. The user requirements of the car web reservation system
provided facilities to eliminate the troubles of the phone booking and also to provide
61
easier solution and availabilities to the market. On the other hand, the management
system will ease every day tasks as well as provide more accurate management results.
Last but not least, is the tracking capability which is the main strength of the system will
sophisticatedly provide companies with better information about their cars, it will also
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CHAPTER 5
This chapter will review back all the findings of this study by giving a full view based on
the research objectives. There is much more work to do in developing an efficient and
effective system to provide customers and car rental industry a mechanism for making
online reservation and managing as well as tracking capability. This study will provide the
recommendation to the current community as well as the information and suggestion for
future studies.
Here is the users’ reservation page where they can insert their personal information like
name, address, and phone number as well as to create their usernames and passwords.
After the users are done inserting their information they can then choose the car model
they desire. Upon completion of this step users will get a message of success or failure. In
the case of reserving a car, that particular car will not be available anymore in the
66
67
5.0.2 ADMINISTRATOR LOGIN PAGE
Here is the administrators’ login page. The administrator must enter his username and
password in order to login into the system, check reservation list and track any car that
he/she desires.
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5.0.3 USERS’ LIST
In this user car list the administrator can check each and every reservation details he/she
wants for example the customer details like name, address or phone number besides that
he/she can just click the track button to locate the car. The mechanism of this function is
connected to a messaging sending server and Google maps of the desired country, which
is in this case Malaysia. When the system is hosted on a server an IP will automatically be
or subscribe to this service. When the track button is clicked the system will automatically
send a message to the car’s SIM card, which is in fact a request for the coordinates in
return the car will send back the coordinates to the website. Google provides a service that
if acquired sufficient locating times per second is offered which in this system it is
available already. Eventually when the website receives the coordinates it will
maps and give a precise location of the car. It also offers a zoom in and out option. Last
but not least, the system will automatically moves the map as the car moves.
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5.0.4 CARS TRACKING PAGE
This page is where the system connects to Google maps to locate the car. Here we can see
that the red color point is the car and it is in fact moving but the picture cannot represent
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5.1 CONCLUSIONS
From the findings derived from the survey process, researcher concluded that 80%
respondents indicated that they had no experience with the GPS tracking services. 70 %
indicated that they are considering vehicle-tracking solution. Furthermore, 53.3% of them
are willing to have internet based GPS tracking solution, 83.3% indicated that they prefer
to purchase the hardware and pay very little or no fees for other services
This project is developed by using Design Research methodology and applying UML
technique for analyzing and designing the prototype. Design Research emphasizes on the
standard design specification that is overseen by the Object Management Group (OMG).
The use case diagram is a visualization of a use-case analysis been applied. This project
also implement sequence diagram to display the overall flow of control in an object-
oriented program. Thus, the second objective to design the car web-based
From the findings that derived from the survey process, researcher concluded that the car
confidently reliable, easy to use and user-friendly. Concurrently, the study found that the
To make this system more interactive and keep the pace of the technology of it, all
stakeholder in the car rental industry should understand the utility and implement the
71
system as the strategic point in order to improve the profit of their car business, develop
the number of loyal customers and expand the design to get a higher quality in services.
valuable means to guide customers to reserve all services or facilities offered by the car
rental companies. The third objective to develop the prototype of car web-based
The present study was determining the car web-based reservation/management system
with GPS tracking capability, for getting information about the cars and making
reservation of the facility provided. Besides the overview of the service that the car
companies are willing to provide for such a system that can store the database about
profiles and reservation that have been made by the customers or the management. PHP
programming language and MySQL server are needed to construct this dynamically web
based system.
Concurrently, the study found that the system has a multiplier effect to the
fill their pleasure, and to reduce loss rate. Most of the car rental managements view the
GPS tracking and the seemingly endless dynamism, more-compact computers and
higher-speed service as tools that allow them to function with increased effectiveness.
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
capability more interactive and keep rapidity with the technology of the it all stakeholder
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in the car rental industry should understand the utility and implement the such a system
as the strategic point in order to improve their profit, develop the number of loyal
Future research about the combination of other facilities and services with car web-based
researcher should look up to such systems to develop this technology to reach more
73
REFERENCES
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Andrews, T., Curbera, F., Dolakia, H., J. Goland, Klein, J., Leymann, F., et
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Chonoles, Jesse, M., & Schardt, J. A. (2003). UML 2 for Dummies.: Wiley
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Coad, Peter, Lefebvre, E., & Luca, J. D. (1999). Java Modeling In Color
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Fowler, & Martin. (2004). UML Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Standard
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21, 2003)-Universit at Bochum, Germany
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Souer, J., Weerd, I. v. d., Versendaal, J., & Brinkkemper, S. (2005).
Situational Requirements Engineering for the Development of Content
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5
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONAIRE
Please circle the statement, which is the most appropriate answer to you.
Section 1: users behavior: Attitude of users towards having an automated reservation website
to rent cars
Indicate your level of agreement with the following statements from 1 (total disagreement) to
5 (total agreement)
Disagree) Agree)
Please circle the statement, which is the most appropriate answer to you.
1
Section 2: users behavior: Attitude of users towards the current manual process for renting
cars
Indicate your level of agreement with the following statements from 1 (total disagreement) to
5 (total agreement)
2
Please circle the statement, which is the most appropriate answer to you.
Indicate your level of agreement with the following statements from 1 (never) to 5 (always)
1 2 3 4
5
abandoned cars
5 Customer return cars late and do not pay for the delay 1 2 3 4 5
Please circle the statement, which is the most appropriate answer to you.
3
Section 2: Employees behavior: Attitude of employees towards having an automated
management website
Indicate your level of agreement with the following statements from 1 (total disagreement) to
5 (total agreement)
Agree)
Disagree)
2 3 4
1 5
management website
tasks
the customers
report
4
Section 3: employees’ behavior: Attitude of employees towards having web based GPS
tracking capability.
tracking solutions
only once
4 Would you prefer to purchase the equipment and the GPS service
and then pay a set monthly fee for the online hosting service?
5
Vehicle Track and Trace Questions
What do you consider the main advantages to be for your company in respect to
3. Trace frauds
Is there any additional functionality you would like from a vehicle tracking
solution?
a) ………………………………………………………………………………..
b) ………………………………………………………………………………..
c) ………………………………………………………………………………..
d) ………………………………………………………………………………..
6
Yes No
Indicators
(%) (%)
whereby they pay fees for hardware and communication costs for
once
If companies prefer to purchase the equipment and the GPS service 83.3 16.7
and then pay a set monthly fee for the online hosting service only
7
Questionnaire for car rental employees
Customer return cars late and do not pay for the delay 2 2 4 1 1
Table 4.3 Respondents Perception of the car rental employees towards the
customers’ behavior.
8
(Strongly (Disagree) (Neutral) (Agree) (Strongly
Agree)
Questions Disagree)
(%) (%) (%)
(%)
(%)
1 1 3 2 3
0 1 3 4 2
A car reservation website will help us expand our market
2 1 3 3 1
a car reservation website would help us eliminate the confusion with
the customers
9
Questionnaire for car rental employees
(%) (%)
10
I rent cars very often 14 5 4 4 3
11