UNIVERSAL SERVICE CODE FOR RESERVATIONS
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating the reservation of services by clients using a reservation system, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request from a service provider for a universal service code, wherein the request is received by at least one universal service code provider system including at least one processor, at least one network connection and computer program instructions executable by the at least one processor;
executing, in response to the request, the computer program instructions with the at least one processor to generate a universal service code that is uniquely associated for a period of time with an offer of available services by the service provider, wherein the offer of available services is made using the reservation system;
transmitting, via the at least one computer network connection, the universal service code from the at least one universal service code provider system to the service provider;
receiving an inquiry message including the universal service code from a client, wherein the inquiry message is received using the reservation system; and
sending an acknowledgment message to the client, wherein the acknowledgment message includes information based on the universal service code included in the inquiry message, and wherein the acknowledgment message is sent using the reservation system.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Reservation of services using, for example, a computer network based universal reservation system (CNBURS) is facilitated by the use of universal service codes (USCs). In one embodiment, a CNBURS enabled reservation scheduling process (100) includes receiving (110) a request from a service provider for a USC, generating (120) a USC uniquely associated for a period of time with an offer of available services, transmitting (130) the USC to the service provider, presenting (140) information about the offer of available services including the USC to a client by, for example, advertising (150) the services on a one-way communication media, receiving (160) an inquiry message including the USC from a client using the CNBURS, sending (170) a reservation message to the service provider, and sending (180) an acknowledgment message using the CNBURS to the client that includes information based on the USC confirming a reservation and/or informing the client about further steps to take to finalize a reservation.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating the reservation of services by clients using a reservation system, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request from a service provider for a universal service code, wherein the request is received by at least one universal service code provider system including at least one processor, at least one network connection and computer program instructions executable by the at least one processor; executing, in response to the request, the computer program instructions with the at least one processor to generate a universal service code that is uniquely associated for a period of time with an offer of available services by the service provider, wherein the offer of available services is made using the reservation system; transmitting, via the at least one computer network connection, the universal service code from the at least one universal service code provider system to the service provider; receiving an inquiry message including the universal service code from a client, wherein the inquiry message is received using the reservation system; and sending an acknowledgment message to the client, wherein the acknowledgment message includes information based on the universal service code included in the inquiry message, and wherein the acknowledgment message is sent using the reservation system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus that facilitates the reservation of services by clients using a reservation system, said system comprising:
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at least one processor; at least one computer network connection; and computer program instructions executable by said at least one processor, wherein when executed said computer program instructions enable said system to; receive a request from a service provider for a universal service code, wherein the request is received via the at least one computer network connection; generate, in response to the request, a universal service code that is uniquely associated for a period of time with an offer of available services by the service provider, wherein the offer of available services is made using the reservation system; and transmit, via the at least one computer network connection, the universal service code from the apparatus to the service provider. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification