COMPUTER-BASED ORDERING SYSTEM

• US 20070265935A1
• Filed: 05/01/2007
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nextep Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nextep Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Wheeler, Charles, Woycik, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 8,190,483 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: B30B 11/005 Control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B30B 11/201 for extruding material
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 3/565 of granular or particulate material
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/367 involving electronic purses or money safes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0621 Item configuration or customization
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/18 specially adapted for controlling several coin-freed apparatus from one place
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/00 Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/14 Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit data transmission in general H04L; telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station H04Q9/00

Abstract

A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services includes a plurality of self-service client terminals and a server. Each self-service client terminal runs a self-order application including a set of interactive menu screens having buttons that allow the customer to select and customize products for the order. An administration tool application communicates with the server to administer the self-service client terminals. The administration tool application including a menu editor that enables the administrator to create and edit the interactive menu screens provided by the self-order application at the self-service client terminals. The menu editor accesses a library of menu templates containing predefined groupings of buttons, and uses the menu templates, as directed by the administrator, during creation and editing of the interactive menu screens.

Claims

1. A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services, the system comprising:

a self-service terminal for use by a customer to place an order, the self-service terminal including a processor and a storage medium storing a self-order application, the self-order application providing a first user interface including a set of interactive menu screens having buttons that allow the customer to select and customize products for the order;

the storage medium further storing an administration tool application for administering the self-service terminal, the administration tool application providing a second user interface that can be accessed by the administrator to perform various administrative functions, the administration tool application including a menu editor that enables the administrator to create and edit the interactive menu screens provided by the self-order application; and

wherein the menu editor accesses a library of menu templates containing predefined groupings of buttons, and uses the menu templates, as directed by the administrator, during creation and editing of the interactive menu screens.

2. The computer-based ordering system of claim 1 wherein the self-service terminal further comprises a display screen having a touch screen for accepting user input, and wherein the first user interface, which is provided by the self-order application, is a graphical user interface, and the customer interacts with the self-order application using the touch screen.

3. The computer-based ordering system of claim 1 wherein the self-service terminal further comprises a display screen having a touch screen for accepting user input, and wherein the second user interface, which is provided by the administration tool application, is a graphical user interface, and the administrator interacts with the administration tool application using the touch screen.

4. A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services, the system including a plurality of self-service client terminals for use by customers to place orders, each self-service client terminal running a self-order application, the self-order application providing a first user interface including a set of interactive menu screens having buttons that allow the customer to select and customize products for the order, the system further including a server in communication with the plurality of self-service client terminals, the system further comprising:

an administration tool application stored on a computer-readable storage medium, the administration tool application being executable by a computer for communicating with the server to administer the self-service client terminals, the administration tool application providing a second user interface that can be accessed by the administrator to perform various administrative functions, the administration tool application including a menu editor that enables the administrator to create and edit the interactive menu screens provided by the self-order application at the self-service client terminals; and

wherein the menu editor accesses a library of menu templates containing predefined groupings of buttons, and uses the menu templates, as directed by the administrator, during creation and editing of the interactive menu screens.

5. The computer-based ordering system of claim 4 wherein each self-service client terminal further comprises a display screen having a touch screen for accepting user input, and wherein the customer interacts with the self-order application using the touch screen.

6. The computer-based ordering system of claim 4 wherein the computer-readable storage medium storing the administration tool application is located at the server, and wherein the server further comprises a display screen having a touch screen for accepting user input, and wherein the second user interface, which is provided by the administration tool application, is a graphical user interface, and the administrator interacts with the administration tool application using the touch screen.

7. The computer-based ordering system of claim 4 wherein the library of menu templates includes a plurality of templates, each template representing an interactive menu screen having buttons, and wherein the menu editor enables the administrator to, during creation/editing of an interactive menu screen, select a template for the interactive menu screen and associate functions with the buttons included on the selected template.

8. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting a button type for a button.

9. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting associated text for a button.

10. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting an image overlay for a button.

11. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting an item/product for a button.

12. The computer-based ordering system of claim 11 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting a quantity for the item/product for a button.

13. The computer-based ordering system of claim 11 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting a pricing option for the item/product for a button.

14. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template includes selecting a subsequent menu screen for activation upon selection of a button by the customer, thereby creating a hierarchy of menus to guide the customer through the order process.

15. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein the plurality of templates includes at least one template configured to allow selection of only a single button by the customer from a presented plurality of buttons.

16. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein the plurality of templates includes at least one template configured to allow selection of multiple buttons by a customer from a presented plurality of buttons.

17. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein the plurality of templates includes at least one template configured to allow selection of multiple buttons by a customer from a presented plurality of buttons, and wherein the presented plurality of buttons includes at least one special button, the special button including a plurality of sub-buttons to provide multiple selected states for the special button.

18. The computer-based ordering system of claim 7 wherein the plurality of templates includes at least one template configured to allow selection of multiple buttons by a customer from a presented plurality of buttons, and wherein the presented plurality of buttons includes at least one special button, the special button, upon selection thereof, causing selection of a predetermined set of the presented plurality of buttons.

19. A method of administrating the computer-based ordering system of claim 4, the method comprising:

establishing a library of menu templates containing predefined groupings of buttons; and

utilizing the menu editor of the administration tool application to create and

edit the interactive menu screens for the self-order application, wherein the interactive menu screens are created using menu templates from the library.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the library of menu templates includes a plurality of templates, each template representing an interactive menu screen having buttons, the method further comprising:

during creation/editing of an interactive menu screen, selecting a template for the interactive menu screen and associating functions with the buttons included on the selected template.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the computer-readable storage medium storing the administration tool application is located at the server.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the server also operates as a self-service client terminal by running the self-order application while the server communicates with the plurality of self-service client terminals in the background.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the administration tool application is also located at a plurality of the self-service client terminals to allow administration from any of the self-service client terminals having the administration tool application.

24. A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services, the system comprising:

a self-service terminal for use by customers to place orders, the self-service terminal running a self-order application, the self-order application providing a user interface including a set of interactive menu screens that allow the customers to select products for the orders;

an order display device for receiving orders placed by customers and providing instructions to workers that fulfill the orders; and

a configurable order governor cooperating with the self-order application to regulate the flow of orders by introducing a wait time between customer orders at the self-service terminal, as needed, based on the order governor configuration.

25. The computer-based ordering system of claim 24 wherein the order display device comprises a video display screen that displays instructions corresponding to received orders.

26. The computer-based ordering system of claim 24 wherein the order display device comprises a printer that prints instructions corresponding to received orders.

27. The computer-based ordering system of claim 24 wherein the order governor is located at the self-service terminal.

28. The computer-based ordering system of claim 24 wherein the order governor configuration includes a configurable value representing an average order fulfillment time.

29. The computer-based ordering system of claim 28 wherein the wait time between customer orders is provided such that an order fulfillment backlog time stays below a predetermined value.

30. The computer-based ordering system of claim 29 wherein the order fulfillment backlog time is increased by the average order fulfillment time upon the placement of an order, and is decreased with the passing of time.

31. The computer-based ordering system of claim 24 wherein the order governor configuration includes a plurality of configurable values representing order fulfillment time for the various products.

32. The computer-based ordering system of claim 31 wherein the wait time between customer orders is provided such that an order fulfillment backlog time stays below a predetermined value.

33. The computer-based ordering system of claim 32 wherein the order fulfillment backlog time is increased by an estimated order fulfillment time upon the placement of an order, and is decreased with the passing of time, wherein the estimated order fulfillment time is based on the plurality of configurable values in the order governor configuration and the selected products for the placed order.

34. A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services, the system comprising:

a plurality of self-service client terminals for use by customers to place orders, each self-service client terminal running a self-order application, the self-order application providing a user interface including a set of interactive screens that allow the customers to select products for the orders;

an order display device for receiving orders placed by customers and providing instructions to workers that fulfill the orders;

a server in communication with the plurality of self-service client terminals, the server receiving orders from the self-service client terminals and supplying the orders to the order display device; and

a configurable order governor cooperating with the self-order applications on the plurality of self-service client terminals to regulate the flow of orders by introducing a wait time between customer orders at each self-service client terminal, as needed, based on the order governor configuration.

35. A computer-based ordering system for ordering goods and services, the system comprising:

a self-service terminal for use by customers to place orders, the self-service terminal running a self-order application, the self-order application providing a user interface including a set of interactive menu screens that allow the customers to select products for the orders;

a customer recognition system cooperating with the self-order application to recognize a returning customer when the returning customer provides customer identification information; and

wherein the customer recognition system processes the provided customer identification information with a hash function to produce a hash result, discards the provided customer identification information, and recognizes the customer by looking up the customer based on the hash result.

36. The computer-based ordering system of claim 35 wherein the provided customer information is obtained by swiping a customer loyalty card.

37. The computer-based ordering system of claim 35 wherein the provided customer information is obtained by swiping a customer bank card.

38. The computer-based ordering system of claim 35 further comprising:

a customer information repository for retaining information relating to customer orders, the retained information for a particular customer being keyed to a hash result for that particular customer.

39. The computer-based ordering system of claim 38 further comprising:

a central server in communication with the self-service terminal, the central server containing the customer information repository.