Transmission of service availability information

• US 20050221806A1
• Filed: 03/31/2004
• Published: 10/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Knauerhase, Robert, Sengupta, Uttam K., Deshpande, Nikhil M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,430,411 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.300
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for providing service availability information to a waiting customer using the customer'"'"'s wireless device are generally introduced herein.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving customer information from a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment;

generating service availability information in response to receiving the customer information; and

providing, to a wireless service provider that provides wireless services to the device corresponding to one of the one or more customers, the service availability information.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless device comprises one of:

a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a watch, and a wireless electronic mail device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the service establishment comprises one of:

a restaurant, a hair salon, an automobile service facility, an amusement park attraction, a spa, a bar, a club, a golf course and a bowling facility.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the customer information comprises one or more of:

a number of people in the party, a service preference and a wireless identifier.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the wireless identifier comprises one of:

a cellular telephone number, a pager number, a wireless device network address, a user identifier, a group identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the service availability information comprises one or more of:

an estimated wait time, a distance between the service establishment and the wireless device, a service status, a location of the service establishment and a location of the wireless device.

7. An article comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

receive customer information from a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment;

generate service availability information in response to receiving the customer information; and

provide, to a wireless device corresponding to one of the one or more customer, the service availability information.

8. The article of claim 7 wherein the wireless device comprises one of:

a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a watch, and a wireless electronic mail device.

9. The article of claim 7 wherein the service establishment comprises one of:

a restaurant, a hair salon, an automobile service facility, an amusement park attraction, a spa, a bar, a club, a golf course and a bowling facility.

10. The article of claim 7 wherein the customer information comprises one or more of:

a number of people in the party, a service preference and a wireless identifier.

11. The article of claim 10 wherein the wireless identifier comprises one of:

a cellular telephone number, a pager number, a wireless device network address.

12. The article of claim 7 wherein the service availability information comprises one or more of:

an estimated wait time, a distance between the service establishment and the wireless device, a service status, a location of the service establishment and a location of the wireless device.

13. A system comprising:

a memory controller;

a device for accessing a computer-readable medium coupled with the memory controller; and

an article comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to receive customer information from a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment, generate service availability information in response to receiving the customer information, and provide, to a wireless device corresponding to one of the one or more customer, the service availability information.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the wireless device comprises one of:

a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a watch, and a wireless electronic mail device.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the service establishment comprises one of:

a restaurant, a hair salon, an automobile service facility, an amusement park attraction, a spa, a bar, a club, a golf course and a bowling facility.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the customer information comprises one or more of:

a number of people in the party, a service preference and a wireless identifier.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the wireless identifier comprises one of:

a cellular telephone number, a pager number, a wireless device network address.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the service availability information comprises one or more of:

an estimated wait time, a distance between the service establishment and the wireless device, a service status, a location of the service establishment and a location of the wireless device.

19. A method comprising:

receiving customer information corresponding to a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment;

generating service availability information in response to receiving the customer information; and

providing, to a wireless device corresponding to one of the customers, the service availability information.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the wireless device comprises one of:

a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a watch, and a wireless electronic mail device.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

tracking a location of the wireless device;

determining a travel distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

determining a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

comparing the time of travel with an estimated wait time from the service availability information; and

transmitting an alert message to the wireless device with the time of travel is within a pre-selected range of the estimated wait time.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein determining a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment comprises using an indication of traffic conditions and distance of travel to determine the time of travel.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the service establishment comprises one of:

a restaurant, a hair salon, an automobile service facility, an amusement park attraction, a spa, a bar, a club, a golf course and a bowling facility.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the customer information comprises one or more of:

a number of people in the party, a service preference and a wireless identifier.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the wireless identifier comprises one of:

a cellular telephone number, a pager number, a wireless device network address.

26. The method of claim 19 wherein the service availability information comprises one or more of:

an estimated wait time, a distance between the service establishment and the wireless device, a service status, a location of the service establishment and a location of the wireless device.

27. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

tracking a location of the wireless device;

determining a travel distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

determining a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

comparing the time of travel with an estimated wait time from the service availability information; and

modifying the customer information if the time of travel exceeds the estimated wait time.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein determining a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment comprises using an indication of traffic conditions and distance of travel to determine the time of travel.

29. An article comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to:

receive customer information corresponding to a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment;

generate service availability information in response to receiving the customer information; and

provide, to a wireless device owned by one of the one or more customer, the service availability information.

30. The article of claim 29 wherein the wireless device comprises one of:

a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a watch, and a wireless electronic mail device.

31. The article of claim 29 further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:

track a location of the wireless device;

determine a travel distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

determine a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

compare the time of travel with an estimated wait time from the service availability information; and

transmit an alert message to the wireless device with the time of travel is within a pre-selected range of the estimated wait time.

32. The article of claim 31 wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to use an indication of traffic conditions and distance of travel to determine the time of travel

33. The article of claim 29 wherein the service establishment comprises one of:

a restaurant, a hair salon, an automobile service facility, an amusement park attraction, a spa, a bar, a club, a golf course and a bowling facility.

34. The article of claim 29 wherein the customer information comprises one or more of:

a number of people in the party, a service preference and a wireless identifier.

35. The article of claim 33 wherein the wireless identifier comprises one of:

a cellular telephone number, a pager number, a wireless device network address, a user identifier, a group identifier.

36. The article of claim 29 wherein the service availability information comprises one or more of:

an estimated wait time, a distance between the service establishment and the wireless device, a service status, a location of the service establishment and a location of the wireless device.

37. The article of claim 29 further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:

track a location of the wireless device;

determine a travel distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

determine a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment;

compare the time of travel with an estimated wait time from the service availability information; and

modify the customer information if the time of travel exceeds the estimated wait time.

38. The article of claim 31 wherein the instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment comprise instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to use an indication of traffic conditions and distance of travel to determine the time of travel

39. A system comprising:

one or more substantially omnidirectional antenna(e);

a device for accessing a computer-readable medium coupled with the memory controller; and

a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to receive customer information corresponding to a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment, generate service availability information in response to receiving the customer information, and provide, to a wireless device owned by one of the one or more customer, the service availability information.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein the wireless device comprises one of:

a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a watch, and a wireless electronic mail device.

41. The system of claim 39 wherein the computer-readable medium further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to track a location of the wireless device, determine a travel distance between the wireless device and the service establishment, determine a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment, compare the time of travel with an estimated wait time from the service availability information, and transmit an alert message to the wireless device with the time of travel is within a pre-selected range of the estimated wait time.

42. The system of claim 39 wherein the service establishment comprises one of:

a restaurant, a hair salon, an automobile service facility, an amusement park attraction, a spa, a bar, a club, a golf course and a bowling facility.

43. The system of claim 39 wherein the customer information comprises one or more of:

a number of people in the party, a service preference and a wireless identifier.

44. The system of claim 39 wherein the wireless identifier comprises one of:

a cellular telephone number, a pager number, a wireless device network address.

45. The system of claim 39 wherein the service availability information comprises one or more of:

an estimated wait time, a distance between the service establishment and the wireless device, a service status, a location of the service establishment and a location of the wireless device.

46. The system of claim 39 wherein the computer-readable medium further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to track a location of the wireless device, determine a travel distance between the wireless device and the service establishment, determine a time of travel corresponding to the distance between the wireless device and the service establishment, compare the time of travel with an estimated wait time from the service availability information, and modify the customer information if the time of travel exceeds the estimated wait time.