Methods, systems, and computer program products for ordering food/beverage items at a food/beverage establishment using a mobile terminal

• US 20060218040A1
• Filed: 03/17/2005
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Rohan G. Sabapathypillai
• Original Assignee: Rohan G. Sabapathypillai
• Inventors: Sabapathypillai, Rohan G.
• Application Number:
  US11/082,459
• Publication Number:
  US 20060218040A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A method of taking a food/beverage order at a food/beverage establishment includes receiving a menu selection from a customer mobile terminal in the food/beverage establishment at a dedicated restaurant transceiver over a wireless data connection. The menu selection designates at least one food/beverage item. The menu selection may be received responsive to transmitting food/beverage menu content from the dedicated restaurant transceiver to the mobile terminal. Also, a method of ordering food/beverage items at a food/beverage establishment includes transmitting a menu selection designating at least one food/beverage item from a customer mobile terminal in the food/beverage establishment to a dedicated restaurant transceiver over a wireless data connection. The menu selection may be transmitted responsive to receiving food/beverage menu content from the dedicated restaurant transceiver. Related devices and computer program products are also discussed.

Claims

1. A method of taking a food/beverage order at a food/beverage establishment, the method comprising:

receiving a menu selection designating at least one food/beverage item from a customer mobile terminal in the food/beverage establishment over a wireless data connection responsive to transmitting food/beverage menu content from a dedicated restaurant transceiver to the mobile terminal.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein receiving a menu selection comprises:

receiving a menu request from a customer mobile terminal in the food/beverage establishment at a dedicated restaurant transceiver;

establishing an ad-hoc wireless data connection with the mobile terminal responsive to the menu request;

transmitting food/beverage menu content including a plurality of available food/beverage items to the mobile terminal; and

receiving a menu selection designating at least one of the plurality of food/beverage items from the mobile terminal at the dedicated restaurant transceiver using the ad-hoc wireless data connection.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting food/beverage menu content comprises:

transmitting food/beverage menu content to the mobile terminal using the ad-hoc wireless data connection.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of menu selections from a respective plurality of customer mobile terminals in the food/beverage establishment; and

forming a virtual queue comprising a list of the plurality of customer mobile terminals and/or received menu selections based on an order of receipt of each menu selection.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

forming an aggregate queue comprising a combination of the virtual queue and a queue of manually-entered orders based on the order of receipt of each menu selection and based on an order of receipt of each manually-entered order.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting the mobile terminal within a predetermined proximity of the restaurant transceiver; and

transmitting a message to the mobile terminal responsive to detecting the mobile terminal,

wherein receiving a menu request from the mobile terminal comprises receiving a menu request from the mobile terminal responsive to the transmitted message.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

displaying a connection number in the food/beverage establishment,

wherein receiving a menu request from the mobile terminal comprises receiving a call from the mobile terminal at the displayed number.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the food/beverage establishment comprises at least one of a fast food restaurant, a coffee shop, and/or a bar, and wherein the wireless data connection comprises at least one of an infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and/or PLMN connection.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving a menu request comprises receiving a menu request for a first language version of the food/beverage menu content, and wherein transmitting food/beverage menu content comprises transmitting the first language version of the food/beverage menu content responsive to receiving the menu request.

6. (canceled)

10-13. -13. (canceled)

15-23. -23. (canceled)

24. A food/beverage ordering system for taking a food/beverage order at a food/beverage establishment, comprising:

a dedicated restaurant transceiver configured to transmit food/beverage menu content to a customer mobile terminal in the food/beverage establishment and receive a menu selection designating at least one food/beverage item from the mobile terminal over an ad-hoc wireless data connection.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the restaurant transceiver is configured to transmit the food/beverage menu content to the mobile terminal over the wireless data connection and receive the menu selection responsive to the transmitted food/beverage menu content.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the restaurant transceiver is further configured to receive a menu request from the mobile terminal, and further comprising:

a controller configured to establish the ad-hoc wireless data connection with the mobile terminal responsive to the received menu request.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the restaurant transceiver is configured to receive a menu request for a first language version of the food/beverage menu content from the mobile terminal, wherein the controller is configured to provide the first language version of the food/beverage menu content responsive to the received menu request, and wherein the restaurant transceiver is configured to transmit the first language version of the food/beverage menu content to the mobile terminal using the ad-hoc wireless data connection.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the controller is further configured to identify an account associated with the mobile terminal and bill the account based on the received menu selection.

29. The system of claim 26, further comprising:

a menu display configured to display a connection number,

wherein the restaurant transceiver is configured to receive a call from the mobile terminal at the displayed number, and wherein the controller is configured to accept the call to establish the ad-hoc wireless data connection.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the restaurant transceiver is further configured to transmit a message to the mobile terminal and receive the menu request from the mobile terminal responsive to the transmitted message.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the controller is configured to detect the mobile terminal within a predetermined proximity of the restaurant transceiver, and wherein the restaurant transceiver is configured to transmit the message to the mobile terminal responsive to detecting the mobile terminal.

34. The system of claim 26, wherein the restaurant transceiver is configured to receive a plurality of menu selections from a respective plurality of mobile terminals in the food/beverage establishment, and wherein the controller is configured to form a virtual queue comprising a list of the plurality of mobile terminals and/or received menu selections based on an order of receipt of each menu selection.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the controller is further configured to form an aggregate queue comprising a combination of the virtual queue and a queue of manually-entered orders based on the order of receipt of each menu selection and based on an order of receipt of each manually-entered order.

32. (canceled)

33. (canceled)

36-43. -43. (canceled)

44. A computer program product for ordering food/beverage items at a food/beverage establishment, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to transmit a menu request from a customer mobile terminal in the food/beverage establishment to a dedicated restaurant transceiver;

computer readable program code configured to establish an ad-hoc wireless data connection with the dedicated restaurant transceiver after transmitting the connection request;

computer readable program code configured to receive food/beverage menu content including a plurality of available food/beverage items from the dedicated restaurant transceiver;

computer readable program code configured to display the received food/beverage menu content at the mobile terminal;

computer readable program code configured to receive a menu selection designating at least one of the plurality of food/beverage items; and

computer readable program code configured to transmit the menu selection from the mobile terminal to the dedicated restaurant transceiver using the ad-hoc wireless data connection.