Dynamic schedule mediation
First Claim
1. An apparatus for managing appointments between a customer and a service provider comprising:
- a communication gateway which receives and delivers communications;
a microprocessor that schedules appointments of a customer with a service provider based on a communication from a customer, business rules of a service provider and a statistical determination of characteristics of a requested appointment.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method provides dynamic schedule mediation by scheduling and monitoring appointments between a service provider and customers. The apparatus and method uses a statistical analysis to determine a best appointment time based on at least one of: historical performance patterns, the type of service requested during the appointment, geographic location of the customer or the service provider, time of day, time of year, weather, skills of the service provider, and automobile traffic conditions. The system and method continuously monitors changes to the appointment initiated by the customer or the service provider and notifies the other. Reminders are also sent to the customer and confirmation prompts may also be sent to the customer. The apparatus and method also provides the ability to select service providers based on their historical performance or other factors. The statistical information of a service provider may also be used to evaluate the rules of the service provider and to evaluate individual field service personnel of the service provider.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. An apparatus for managing appointments between a customer and a service provider comprising:
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a communication gateway which receives and delivers communications;
a microprocessor that schedules appointments of a customer with a service provider based on a communication from a customer, business rules of a service provider and a statistical determination of characteristics of a requested appointment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of dynamically scheduling appointments between a customer and a service provider using a computer comprising the steps of:
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receiving requests for appointments from a customer; and
determining an appointment schedule using a microprocessor based on the request for an appointment from the customer, business rules of a service provider and a statistical determination of performance of the service provider. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 26)
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19. A computer readable medium carrying instructions for a computer to perform a method of dynamically scheduling appointments between a customer and a service provider comprising the steps of:
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receiving requests for appointments from a customer; and
determining an appointment schedule using a microprocessor based on the request for an appointment from the customer, business rules of a service provider and a statistical determination of performance of the service provider. - View Dependent Claims (20, 24, 25, 27)
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- 21. The computer readable medium of claim 21, further comprising instruction to perform the steps of determining if a performed appointment was delayed, and determining if the delay will propagate to other appointments to be performed.
Specification