Method and system for centralized order status tracking in a decentralized ordering system
First Claim
1. A method for tracking, from a central location, status of an order for a food item prepared at one of a plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in a chain of food-service establishments for delivery to a customer at a customer location, the method comprising:
- accepting, from the customer, an order for a food item at either a central computer system for the central location or an order processing computer system at any of the decentralized food-preparation locations, without requiring a login by the customer;
assigning the order for the food item to a first decentralized food-preparation location of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments, the first decentralized food-preparation location being selected based on a respective customer attribute;
storing, in a respective order processing computer system for the first decentralized food-preparation location, status data for the order for the food item, and an identifier associated with the customer for the order and obtained during the accepting of the order, wherein the status data comprises data indicating at least one of real-time status of preparation at the first decentralized food-preparation location or real-time location of the food item prior to delivery;
communicating periodically between the central computer system at the central location and the order processing computer system for the first decentralized food-preparation location to send order status data to the central location;
accepting, at the central computer system at the central location, a status inquiry from the customer regarding the order without requiring a login by the customer and without requiring specification by the customer of the first decentralized food-preparation location, the status inquiry including the identifier associated with customer; and
providing, by the central computer system at the central location, retrieved order status data to the customer, in response to the inquiry and based on the identifier associated with the customer, regardless of whether the order was accepted at the central location or at one of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A decentralized ordering system allows a customer to track order status from a centralized order status system by providing a single, easily remembered identifier (such as a telephone number) without having to log in and without having to specify which local system is handling the customer'"'"'s order. The central system communicates with each local system to obtain order status information. The central communication function handles all login and authentication requirements on the local systems, if necessary, and reformats the order status data, if necessary, to a common format for storage at the central location. The system also may notify the customer, via telephone, text message, instant message or electronic mail, whenever the order status changes or when the order status changes to a predetermined condition (such as “out for delivery”).
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for tracking, from a central location, status of an order for a food item prepared at one of a plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in a chain of food-service establishments for delivery to a customer at a customer location, the method comprising:
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accepting, from the customer, an order for a food item at either a central computer system for the central location or an order processing computer system at any of the decentralized food-preparation locations, without requiring a login by the customer; assigning the order for the food item to a first decentralized food-preparation location of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments, the first decentralized food-preparation location being selected based on a respective customer attribute; storing, in a respective order processing computer system for the first decentralized food-preparation location, status data for the order for the food item, and an identifier associated with the customer for the order and obtained during the accepting of the order, wherein the status data comprises data indicating at least one of real-time status of preparation at the first decentralized food-preparation location or real-time location of the food item prior to delivery; communicating periodically between the central computer system at the central location and the order processing computer system for the first decentralized food-preparation location to send order status data to the central location; accepting, at the central computer system at the central location, a status inquiry from the customer regarding the order without requiring a login by the customer and without requiring specification by the customer of the first decentralized food-preparation location, the status inquiry including the identifier associated with customer; and providing, by the central computer system at the central location, retrieved order status data to the customer, in response to the inquiry and based on the identifier associated with the customer, regardless of whether the order was accepted at the central location or at one of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 30, 31)
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12. A system for tracking, from a central location, status of an order for a food item prepared at one of a plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in a chain of food-service establishments for delivery to a customer at a customer location, the system comprising:
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a central computer system at the central location capable of accepting an order from the customer, without requiring a login by the customer, obtaining, as part of the accepting of the order, an identifier associated with the customer for the order, and assigning the order to a first decentralized food-preparation location in the chain of food-service establishments selected based on a customer attribute; a respective order processing computer system at each of the decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments capable of accepting the order from the customer, and processing the order; memory in each of the respective order processing computer systems at the decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments capable of storing, at each respective location, status data for the order for the food item and the identifier associated with the customer for the order, wherein the status data comprises data indicating at least one of real-time status of preparation of the food item at the respective location or real-time location of the food item prior to delivery; a respective local communication unit in each of the respective order processing computer systems at the decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments; a central communication unit in the central computer system at the central location that communicates periodically with each of the respective order processing computer systems at the decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments via the respective local communication unit to transfer order status data to the central location; a database in the central computer system at the central location storing the order status data; and an interface in the central computer system at the central location that receives a status inquiry from the customer regarding the order without requiring a login by the customer and without specifying the first decentralized food-preparation location, the status inquiry including the identifier;
wherein;the central computer system retrieves order status data from the database based only on the identifier, and provides the retrieved order status data to the customer, in response to the inquiry at the central location, regardless of whether the order was accepted from the customer at the central location or was accepted from the customer at one of the decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29)
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22. A method for tracking, from a central location, status of an order for a food item prepared at one of a plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in a chain of food-service establishments for delivery to a particular customer, out of a plurality of customers, at a customer location, the method comprising:
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accepting, from each of the plurality of customers, a respective order for a respective food item, some of said orders being accepted at a central computer system for the central location, and others of said orders being accepted at respective order processing computer systems at respective ones of the decentralized food-preparation locations, said accepting occurring without requiring a login by any of the customers and including obtaining a respective identifier associated with each respective customer for each respective order; assigning each respective order for the respective food item to a respective decentralized food-preparation location of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments, the respective decentralized food-preparation location being selected based on a respective customer attribute; storing in a respective order processing computer system for the respective decentralized food-preparation location status data for the respective order for the respective food item and the respective identifier associated with the respective customer for the respective order, wherein the status data comprises data indicating at least one of real-time status of preparation of the respective food item at the respective decentralized food-preparation location or real-time location of the food item prior to delivery; communicating periodically between the central computer system at the central location and each respective order processing computer system for each respective decentralized food-preparation location to send order status data to the central location; accepting, at the central computer system at the central location, a respective status inquiry from the particular customer regarding a particular respective order without requiring a login by the particular customer, the status inquiry including the respective identifier associated with the particular customer without specifying the respective decentralized food-preparation location; and providing, by the central computer system at the central location, retrieved order status data to the particular customer, in response to the inquiry and based on the identifier associated with the customer, regardless of whether the respective order was accepted at the central location or at one of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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23. A system for tracking, from a central location, status of an order for a food item prepared at one of a plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in a chain of food-service establishments for delivery to a particular customer, out of a plurality of customers, at a customer location, the system comprising:
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a central computer system at the central location capable of accepting, from each of a plurality of customers, a respective order for a respective food item, including obtaining a respective identifier associated with each respective customer for each respective order without requiring a login by any customer, and assigning the respective order for the respective food item to a respective decentralized food-preparation location of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments, the respective decentralized food-preparation location being selected based on a respective customer attribute; a respective order processing computer system at each of the decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments capable of accepting, from each of the plurality of customers, the respective order for the respective food item, wherein some of said orders are accepted at the central computer system for the central location, and others of said orders are accepted at the respective order processing computer systems at respective ones of the decentralized food-preparation locations; memory in each of the respective order processing computer systems at the respective decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments capable of storing status data for the respective order for the respective food item and a respective identifier associated with the respective customer for the respective order, wherein the status data comprises data indicating at least one of real-time status of preparation of the respective food item at the respective decentralized food-preparation location or real-time location of the food item prior to delivery; a respective local communication unit in each of the respective order processing computer systems at the respective decentralized food-preparation locations capable of communicating periodically between the central computer system at the central location and each respective order processing computer system for each respective decentralized food-preparation location to send order status data to the central location; a central communication unit in the central computer system at the central location that communicates periodically with each of the respective order processing computer systems at the respective decentralized food-preparation location via the respective local communication unit to transfer order status data to the central location; a database in the central computer system at the central location storing the order status data; and an interface in the central computer system at the central location that receives a status inquiry from the particular customer regarding a particular respective order without requiring a login by the particular customer, the status inquiry including the respective identifier associated with the particular customer without specifying the respective decentralized food-preparation location, wherein the central computer system at the central location provides order status data to the particular customer, in response to the inquiry, regardless of whether the respective order was accepted at the central location or at one of the plurality of decentralized food-preparation locations in the chain of food-service establishments. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification