Method and apparatus for pricing calculation

• US 20070260540A1
• Filed: 06/24/2002
• Published: 11/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Siebel Systems Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Nuttall, Kirsty, Srinivasan, Balaji, Chau, Victor, Sovocool, Peter, Leung, Timothy, Yee, Colette, Ravuri, Muralidhar, Hoople, Doug, Roper, Joshua
• Granted Patent: US 8,165,959 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing a competitive bid from a provider comprising receiving billing data from a user, the billing data including provider information, location, and total bill amount. The method further comprising calculating a complex usage pattern based on the billing data and statistical data for the location. The method additionally comprising calculating a competitive bid for the user, based on the complex usage pattern and a pricing structure of the provider.

Claims

1. A method of providing a quote comprising:

receiving billing data from a user, the billing data including information of a provider, a location, and a total bill amount;

calculating a complex usage pattern based on the billing data and a statistical data for the location, wherein said complex usage pattern is calculated using a customized multiplier, and wherein said customized multiplier is a factor of statistics for a location of said user and a modifier for a peculiarity of a time-frame of a bill; and

calculating a competitive bid for the user, based on the complex usage pattern and a pricing structure of the provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating the complex usage pattern comprises:

calculating an annualized billing amount;

calculating an annual usage based on the annualized billing amount; and

calculating the complex usage pattern based on the annual usage.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating the annualized billing amount comprises using the total bill amount, a the time-frame of the bill, and the customized multiplier for the location of said user to calculate the annualized billing amount.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the peculiarity, for an energy bill, is unseasonable weather.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the competitive bid comprises a like-for-like product matching the user'"'"'s current preferences.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

presenting a plurality of alternative competitive bids, having varying parameters, and permitting the user to select from among the competitive bids.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving a selection from the user; and

passing the selected bid to an order management system to complete the process.

4. (canceled)

9. An apparatus to provide a competitive bid of a provider comprising:

a user interface to receive limited billing data from a user including a location of service;

an annual use calculator to calculate a complex usage pattern based on the billing data and statistical data for a locations wherein said annual use calculator calculates said complex usage pattern using a customized multiplier, and wherein said customized multiplier is a factor of statistics for a location of said user and a modifier for a peculiarity of a time-frame of a bill; and

a rate calculator to calculate a competitive bid for the user, based on the complex usage pattern and a pricing structure of the provider.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

an annualized bill calculator to determine an annualized billing amount;

the annual use calculator to calculate an annual usage based on the annualized billing amount and further to calculate the complex usage pattern based on the annual usage.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein calculating the annualized billing amount comprises using a total bill amount, the time-frame of the bill, and the customized multiplier for the location of said user to calculate the annualized billing amount.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

an offer ordering logic to identify a like-for-like product, matching the user'"'"'s current preferences.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

an output logic to present a plurality of competitive bids, having varying parameters; and

the user interface to permit the user to select from among the competitive bids.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

an order management system to receive a selection from the user and to complete the ordering process.

12. (canceled)

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the peculiarity, for an energy bill, is unseasonable weather.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a pricing engine to calculate a plurality of competitive bids for a customer based on;

billing information; and

a complex usage pattern wherein said complex usage pattern is calculated using a customized multiplier, wherein said customized multiplier is a factor of statistics for a location of said customer and a modifier for a peculiarity of a time-frame of a bill;

a web interface to provide the customer access to the pricing engine, the web interface permitting entry of the billing information; and

a call center interface to provide a customer service representative access to the pricing engine, such that a customer receives identical information from the customer service representative and the web interface.

18. An apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

a reporting front-end to provide reports of usage of the pricing engine, including success of various competitive bids presented to customers.

19. An apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

an administrative front end to permit entry of competitors pricing structures, the competitors pricing structures used by the pricing engine to calculate usage of the customer, to calculate the competitive bid.

20. An apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

the administrative front end further permitting editing of rate plans used to create competitive bids offered to users.