On-premises pager and charging unit, and methods for using same

• US 20040227617A1
• Filed: 05/14/2004
• Published: 11/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HM Electronics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: JTECH Communications Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Vasquez, Robert L., Hoo, Richard C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,236,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/7.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/025 with acknowledge back capability

Abstract

On-premises pager loss is reduced by alerting patrons they are out of range. Pagers include an LCD with messages or promotions. An LED on the pager emits different colors indicating the level of battery charge. Circuitry in the pager causes a higher charge to be delivered to the battery when the pager is first coupled to a charging unit, and a lower charge to be delivered thereafter. Stacked slots in the charging unit receive the pagers. This permits access without disconnection of pagers in other slots and removal from the slots using first-in-first-out rotation. Charging rails on the charging unit simultaneously and directly connect each pager in the slots. Charging units are electrically coupled to other units in a daisy chain. A light on the unit indicates whether it is receiving power. Conductors on the pagers mechanically interlock with the charging rail when a pager is inserted into a slot.

Claims

1. A method for reducing loss by a restaurant of on-premises pagers provided to patrons of the restaurant, comprising:

providing a plurality of on-premises pagers to patrons of the restaurant in order to selectively alert patrons about table availability;

wherein each pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager about table availability in response to an activation signal addressed to the pager from a transmitter in the restaurant;

wherein, in order to reduce loss of the pager by the restaurant, each pager selectively alerts the patron holding the pager that the patron is out of range of the transmitter by playing a voice message indicating an out of range condition when the pager is unable to receive the activation signal; and

wherein the voice message indicating the out of range condition causes a patron that has left the restaurant with the pager to return to the restaurant where the pager is retrieved from the patron.

2. An on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, comprising:

a plurality of on-premises pagers that are provided to patrons of the business after the patrons arrive at a geographic location of the business;

a transmitter, located at the geographic location of the business, that selectively alerts a patron holding a pager by addressing an activation signal to the pager, wherein the activation signal causes the pager to play a voice message indicating that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron;

wherein the voice message played by the pager is selected from the group consisting of;

a voice message indicating that the business is prepared to provide medical services to the patron, a voice message indicating that a retail order placed by the patron is ready for pick-up, a voice message indicating that an automobile is ready for pick up at an automobile service center, a voice message indicating that an automobile is ready for pick up at a car wash, a voice message indicating that food is ready for pick up at a counter, a voice message indicating that the prescription is ready for pick up at a pharmacy, a voice message indicating that a salon specialist is ready to provide salon services, and a voice message indicating that a sales specialist is ready to see a shopper in a retail store.

3. A method for providing on-premises pagers with different customized voice-messages to business customers, comprising:

(a) identifying a voice message for a business customer;

(b) downloading the voice message identified in step (a) onto a plurality of voice message chips in order to generate a plurality of on-premises pagers for the business customer, wherein each of the on-premises pagers automatically plays the voice message identified in step (a) to a patron of the business customer in response to an activation signal addressed to the pager; and

(c) repeating steps (a)-(b) for a plurality of different business customers each of which is identified with a different voice message in step (a).

4. An on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, comprising:

a plurality of on-premises pagers, each of the pagers including a pager housing wherein a liquid crystal display (LCD) is positioned on an outside surface of the pager housing, and the LCD displays messages or promotions to a patron;

a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business,

wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron;

wherein, in response to a message display signal addressed to at least one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager displays information from the message display signal on the LCD.

5. An on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, comprising:

a plurality of on-premises pagers, each of the pagers being enclosed in a pager housing having a transparent window, wherein at least one light emitting diode (LED) that emits a first color and a second color that is different from the first color is positioned within the housing adjacent the transparent window, wherein the housing for each pager also holds a re-chargeable battery for powering the pager;

a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron;

wherein, for each pager, the at least one LED is activated to emit the first color if the re-chargeable battery has a charge above a threshold and the at least one LED is activated to emit the second color if the re-chargeable battery has a charge below the threshold.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one LED comprises a single bi-color LED.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one LED comprises a first LED that emits the first color and a second LED that emits the second color.

8. An on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, comprising:

a plurality of on-premises pagers;

a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business,

wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron;

a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers;

wherein each pager includes circuitry that causes a relatively higher charge to be delivered to the battery in the pager for a predetermined period of time after the pager is coupled to the charging unit, and wherein the circuitry causes a relatively lower charge to be delivered to the battery in the pager after expiration of the predetermined period of time.

9. In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a method for charging the on-premises pagers comprising:

providing a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the charging unit includes a plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging, and wherein each stacked slot permits access by an operator to a pager positioned in the slot without disconnection of on-premises pagers in other slots from the charging unit; and

inserting the on-premises pagers into the stacked slots and removing the on-premises pagers from the stacked slots in accordance with a first-in-first-out (FIFO) rotation.

10. In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a method for charging the on-premises pagers comprising:

providing a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the charging unit includes a plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging, and wherein each stacked slot permits access by an operator to a pager positioned in the slot without disconnection of on-premises pagers in other slots from the charging unit; and

inserting the on-premises pagers into the stacked slots and removing the on-premises pagers from the stacked slots in accordance with a level of charge of the on-premises pagers.

11. In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a system for charging the on-premises pagers, comprising:

a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the charging unit includes a plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging, and wherein the charging unit includes a charging rail that simultaneously connects directly to each of the pagers in the stacked slots; and

wherein each stacked slot permits access by an operator to a pager positioned in the slot without disconnection of on-premises pagers in other slots from the charging unit.

12. In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a system for charging the on-premises pagers, comprising:

a first charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the first charging unit includes a first plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging, wherein each stacked slot in the first charging unit permits access by an operator to a pager positioned in the slot without disconnection of on-line pagers in other slots from the first charging unit;

at least one further charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the further charging unit includes a second plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging, wherein each stacked slot in the further charging unit permits access by an operator to a pager positioned in the slot without disconnection of on-line pagers in other slots from the further charging unit; and

wherein the first charging unit is electrically coupled to the further charging unit in a daisy chain.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first charging unit is electrically coupled to a wall outlet.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein a third charging unit is coupled in a daisy chain to the second charging unit.

15. In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a system for charging the on-premises pagers, comprising:

a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers;

wherein the charging unit has a light, visible to an operator, that indicates whether the charging unit is receiving power.

16. In an on-premises pager system for alerting patrons of a business that the business is ready to provide a good or service, wherein the system includes a plurality of on-premises pagers, a transmitter located at a geographic location of the business, and wherein, in response to an activation signal addressed to one of the pagers from the transmitter, the pager selectively alerts a patron holding the pager that the business is ready to provide a good or service to the patron, a system for charging the on-premises pagers, comprising:

a charging unit that recharges batteries within the pagers, wherein the charging unit includes a plurality of stacked slots each of which holds one of the pagers during charging; and

each pager including a pair of conductors that mechanically interlock with a charging rail in the charging unit when the pager is inserted into one of the slots.