Patron service allocation
First Claim
1. A method for scheduling a service of a service establishment, the method comprising:
- receiving a first request from a first customer for the service;
adding an entry for the first customer to a wait-list prioritizing service access;
predicting availability of the service;
determining a first estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer based at least in part on a first obstacle to the first customer receiving the service; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on comparing the predicted availability and the first ETA.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Opportunistic and proactive scheduling of service establishment services can be performed, in part, by tracking customer availability to receive a service. For example, assuming a service establishment maintains a wait-list for a certain service, customers can be monitored to determine whether they appear available to receive their service at their allotted time, e.g., when their turn is predicted coming due based on predicted service availability. If the customer is determined not available, such as due to some obstacle preventing receiving service, the service establishment may re-prioritize one or more customers in the wait-list to take advantage of other customer availability. A wireless device associated with the customer and providing at least location data may be used at least in part to help determine customer availability.
38 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method for scheduling a service of a service establishment, the method comprising:
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receiving a first request from a first customer for the service;
adding an entry for the first customer to a wait-list prioritizing service access;
predicting availability of the service;
determining a first estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer based at least in part on a first obstacle to the first customer receiving the service; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on comparing the predicted availability and the first ETA. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14)
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12. A method for scheduling a service of a service establishment, the method comprising:
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receiving a first request from a first customer for the service;
adding an entry for the first customer to a wait-list prioritizing service access;
determining a first customer availability for the first customer;
periodically receiving updates to the first customer availability; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on said updates to the first customer availability.
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15. A method for scheduling a service of a service establishment for customers having associated devices capable of providing location data for the customers, the method comprising:
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receiving a request from a customer for the service;
adding an entry for the customer to a wait-list prioritizing access to the service;
associating the customer'"'"'s associated device with the wait-list entry;
predicting an availability of the service;
predicting customer availability for selected customers of the wait-list; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on the predicted service availability and the predicted customer availability. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A method comprising:
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receiving customer information from a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment, the customer information including location data for at least one member of the party;
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;
periodically receiving updates to said location data; and
periodically updating the service availability to account for said updated location data. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An article comprising a computer-accessible medium having associated therewith instructions for scheduling a service of a service establishment that, when accessed, cause one or more processors to perform:
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receiving a first request from a first customer for the service;
adding an entry for the first customer to a wait-list prioritizing service access;
predicting availability of the service;
determining a first estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer based at least in part on a first obstacle to the first customer receiving the service; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on comparing the predicted availability and the first ETA. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 37)
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30. An article comprising a computer-accessible medium having associated therewith instructions for scheduling a service of a service establishment that, when accessed, cause one or more processors to perform:
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receiving a first request from a first customer for the service;
adding an entry for the first customer to a wait-list prioritizing service access;
determining a first customer availability for the first customer;
periodically receiving updates to the first customer availability; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on said updates to the first customer availability. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. An article comprising a computer-accessible medium having associated therewith instructions for scheduling a service of a service establishment for customers having associated devices capable of providing location data for the customers, the instructions, when accessed, causing one or more processors to perform:
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receiving a request from a customer for the service;
adding an entry for the customer to a wait-list prioritizing access to the service;
associating the customer'"'"'s associated device with the wait-list entry;
predicting an availability of the service;
predicting customer availability for selected customers of the wait-list; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on the predicted service availability and the predicted customer availability. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. An article comprising a computer-accessible medium having associated therewith instructions that, when accessed, cause one or more processors to perform:
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receiving customer information from a party including one or more customers requesting services from a service establishment, the customer information including location data for at least one member of the party;
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;
periodically receiving updates to said location data; and
periodically updating the service availability to account for said updated location data. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A system comprising:
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a memory controller;
a device for accessing a computer-accessible medium communicatively coupled with the memory controller; and
an article comprising a computer-accessible medium having associated therewith instructions that, when accessed, cause one or more processors to;
receiving a first request from a first customer for the service;
adding an entry for the first customer to a wait-list prioritizing service access;
predicting availability of the service;
determining a first estimated time of arrival (ETA) for the first customer based at least in part on a first obstacle to the first customer receiving the service; and
re-arranging the wait-list based at least in part on comparing the predicted availability and the first ETA.
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Specification