Appointment Scheduling System

• US 20100191566A1
• Filed: 01/26/2009
• Published: 07/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TimeTrade Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: TimeTrade Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Lambert, Carl, Peterson, Marco, Garfield, Justin, Loring, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,073,725 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

The instant invention relates to an appointment scheduling system that allows inviters to define various activities for appointments and to invite invitees to select said appointments. The system utilizes multiple visual user interfaces to allow inviters, invitees and other users to interact with the appointment scheduling system. The system allows for inviter selection of time windows in which appointments may be allowed as well as for the customization of these properties in terms of how often and until when these defined time windows will recur. The system also utilizes various techniques to associate invitees with particular appointment activities received by the invitee through email and/or other correspondence means.

Claims

1. An appointment scheduling method comprising a step disposed to represent an appointment as an actionable data collection.

2. The appointment scheduling method of claim 1, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to generate user interactive abstract representations of available timeslots.

3. The appointment scheduling method of claim 1, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to distribute user interactive invitations to schedule appointments.

4. The appointment scheduling method of claim 2, wherein said method further comprises at least one step disposed to distribute a set of invitations to schedule appointments.

5. The appointment scheduling method of claim 4, wherein said actionable data collection comprises a set of data members and a step disposed to interact with said set of data members and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to configure complex scheduling systems; and

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to encapsulate said set of invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means comprises a of step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments.

6. The appointment scheduling method of claim 5, wherein said step disposed to generate abstract representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of subsequently generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period;

a step disposed to allow for a contingency that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated when prior commitments of the inviter conflict with said units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for the current day;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

7. The appointment scheduling method of claim 6, wherein said at an least one step disposed to distribute said invitations to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through a distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection member into said distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection member comprises a user-definable message; and

a step disposed to monitor the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by said distribution means.

8. The appointment scheduling method of claim 7, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to inspect said set of appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

9. An invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising a step disposed to generate a plurality of visual representations of available timeslots.

10. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 9, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to represent a set of invitations to schedule an appointment as an object.

11. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 9, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to distribute said set of invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

12. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 10, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to distribute said set of invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

13. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 12, wherein said object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure complex scheduling systems, wherein said complex scheduling systems comprise a set of multiple schedulable resources; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

14. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 13, wherein said step disposed to generate visual representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of available time for receiving appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for said units of available time for receiving appointments when said units of available time for receiving appointments selected by users conflicts with prior commitments of users, wherein said prior commitments of users are recorded in the primary calendar of a user;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that said generated set of appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period, wherein said user selected recurrence end period is comprised of a member of the group consisting of a specific minute, a specific hour, a specific day, a specific month a specific year and a specific date;

a step disposed to ensure that said generated set of appointment time availability slots are not generated for a current day;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to allow for the assurance that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

15. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 14, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations to schedule appointments over a network comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an electronic distribution means over a network;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic distribution means over a network, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by said electronic distribution means over a network.

16. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 15, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

17. A computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising a step disposed to distribute invitations to schedule appointments by an electronic mail system.

18. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 17, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to generate a set of graphical representations of available timeslots.

19. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 17, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to represent an appointment as an object.

20. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 18, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to represent an appointment as an object.

21. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 20, wherein said object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are distributed by an electronic mail system;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure a set of complex scheduling systems, wherein said set of complex scheduling systems comprise a plurality of multiple schedulable resources and a plurality of multiple schedulable activities; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is embedded as an instance of said object within said invitations to schedule appointments and, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by an electronic mail system.

22. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 21, wherein said step disposed to generate visual representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of available time for receiving appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for said set of units of available time for receiving appointments when said set of units of available time for receiving appointments selected by a plurality of users conflicts with a plurality of prior commitments of users, wherein said plurality of prior commitments of users are recorded in a primary calendar of an individual user and, wherein said primary calendar comprises a member selected from the group consisting of a Microsoft Outlook Calendar and a Google Calendar;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated when said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and when said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period, wherein said user selected recurrence end period comprises a member selected from the group consisting of a specific number of days into the future, a specific number of weeks into the future, a specific number of months, a specific number of years into the future and a specific future date;

a step disposed ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for a current day;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected number of time units into the future, wherein said time units comprise a member selected from the group consisting of days, weeks, months and years;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given time unit, wherein said time unit comprises a member selected from the group consisting of days, weeks, months and years.

23. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 22, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations over a network to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an electronic mail distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic mail distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message;

a step disposed to track the delivery of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic mail distribution means; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic mail distribution means.

24. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 23, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

25. An Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising:

a step disposed to represent an appointment as an actionable data collection;

a step disposed to generate abstract representations of available timeslots; and

a step disposed to distribute invitations to schedule appointments.

26. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 25, wherein said actionable data collection comprises a set of data members and a step disposed to interact with said set of data members and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collection as a means to configure complex scheduling systems; and

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collection as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments.

27. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 26, wherein said step disposed to generate abstract representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period;

a step disposed to allow that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated when a set of prior commitments of the inviter conflict with said units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for the current day;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

28. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 27, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an Internet distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection member into said Internet distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection member comprises a user-definable message; and

a step disposed to monitor the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said distribution means.

29. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 28, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

30. An Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising:

a step disposed to generate a set of visual representations of available timeslots;

a step disposed to represent a set of invitations to schedule an appointment as an object; and

a step disposed to distribute said set of invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

31. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 30, wherein said object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure complex scheduling systems, wherein said complex scheduling systems comprise multiple schedulable resources; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

32. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 31, wherein said step disposed to generate visual representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of available time for receiving appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for said set of units of available time for receiving appointments when said units of available time for receiving appointments selected a by user conflicts with a set of prior commitments of said user, wherein said prior commitments of users are recorded in a primary calendar of said user;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for a current day;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

33. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 32, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations over a network to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an electronic distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message; and

a step disposed to track a set of responses to said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic distribution means.

34. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 33, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow said user to visually inspect said appointment time availability slots prior to generation of said appointment time availability slots.

35. A Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising:

a step disposed to represent an appointment as an object;

a step disposed to generate a set of available graphical representations of timeslots; and

a step disposed to distribute a set of invitations to schedule appointments by an electronic mail system.

36. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 35, wherein said object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said set of invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are distributed by said electronic mail system;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure complex scheduling systems, wherein said complex scheduling systems comprise a set of multiple schedulable resources and a set of multiple schedulable activities; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is encapsulated within said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by an electronic mail system.

37. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 36, wherein said step disposed to generate visual representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of available time for receiving appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that generated a set of appointment time availability slots are not generated for said set of units of available time for receiving appointments when said set of units of available time for receiving appointments selected by a user conflicts with a set of prior commitments of user, wherein said set of prior commitments of users are recorded in a primary calendar of said user, wherein said primary calendar comprises a member selected from the group consisting of a Microsoft Outlook Calendar and a Google Calendar;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated when said appointment time availability slots extend beyond user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and when said appointment time availability slots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period, wherein said recurrence end period comprises a member of the group consisting of a specific minute, a specific hour, a specific day, a specific month, a specific year and a specific date;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for the current day;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected number of time units, wherein said time units comprise a member selected from the group consisting of days into the future, weeks into the future, months into the future and year into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given time unit, wherein said time unit comprises a member selected from the group consisting of at least one day and at least one week.

38. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 37, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations over a network to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an electronic mail distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic mail distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message;

a step disposed to track the delivery of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic mail distribution means; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic mail distribution means.

39. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 38, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

40. A Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising:

a step disposed to represent an appointment as a building block object;

a step disposed to generate available graphical representations of timeslots within a computerized graphical user interface; and

a step disposed to distribute at least one invitation to schedule appointments by a non-text only electronic mail system.

41. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 40, wherein said building block object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said building block object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are distributed by electronic mail;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure complex scheduling systems, wherein said complex scheduling systems comprise a set of schedulable resources and a set of schedulable activities; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said non-text-only based electronic mail.

42. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 41, wherein said step disposed to generate available graphical representations of timeslots within a computerized graphical user interface comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select timeslots for receiving appointments, wherein said timeslots are represented in quarter hour intervals;

a step disposed to ensure that said timeslots are not generated for said timeslots for receiving appointments when said timeslots for receiving appointments selected by a user conflict with prior commitments of users, wherein said prior commitments of users are recorded in at least one primary user calendar, wherein said at least one primary user calendar comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of a Microsoft Outlook Calendar and a Google Calendar;

a step disposed to allow that said timeslots are not generated when said appointment availability timeslots extend beyond user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and when said appointment availability timeslots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment availability timeslots;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated timeslots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated timeslots are not generated for the current day;

a step disposed to ensure that said generated timeslots are not generated beyond a user selected number of weeks into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated available timeslots are generated for a given unit of time.

43. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 42, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations over a network to schedule appointments comprises:

a step to disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through a non-text-only electronic mail distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic mail distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message;

a step disposed to track the delivery of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said non-text-only electronic mail distribution means; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said non-text-only electronic mail distribution means.

44. The Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 43, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said appointment timeslots before said availability timeslots are generated.

45. A user-interactive Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising:

a step disposed to represent an appointment as a building block object, wherein said building block object comprises;

an activity data field;

a resource data field;

an appointment duration data field;

an appointment type data field;

an availability information data field;

a step disposed to generate available graphical user interface representations of timeslots within a user-interactive Web-based graphical user interface; and

a step disposed to distribute at least one invitation to schedule appointments by a set of user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail.

46. The user-interactive Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 45, wherein said building block object further comprises a step disposed to interact with said building block object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said building block object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail;

a step disposed to utilize said building block object as a means to configure a set of complex scheduling systems, wherein said set of complex scheduling systems comprise a multiplicity of subset building block objects, a multiplicity of schedulable resources and a multiplicity of schedulable activities; and

a step disposed to utilize said building block object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail.

47. The user-interactive Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 46, wherein said step disposed to generate available graphical user interface representations of timeslots within a user-interactive Web-based graphical user interface comprises:

a step disposed to a allow user to select a set of timeslots for receiving appointments, wherein said timeslots are defined in quarter hour intervals;

a step disposed to ensure that a second set of timeslots are not generated for said set of timeslots for receiving appointments selected by a user in instances wherein said set of timeslots for receiving appointments selected by users conflicts with prior commitments of said user, wherein said prior commitments of users are recorded in a primary user calendar, wherein said primary user calendar comprises a member selected from the group consisting of a Microsoft Outlook Calendar and a Google Calendar;

a step disposed to ensure that said timeslots are not generated in instances, wherein said appointment availability timeslots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and in instances wherein said appointment availability timeslots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment availability timeslots;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated timeslots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period, wherein said recurrence end period comprises a specific date;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated timeslots are not generated for the instant day;

a step disposed to allow ensure that said set of generated timeslots are not generated beyond a user selected number of weeks into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of said set of generated available timeslots are generated for any given day.

48. The user-interactive Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 47, wherein said step disposed to distribute at least one set of invitations to schedule appointments by a user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail system comprises:

a step disposed to distribute a set of invitations to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through a user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail system;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail system, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message;

a step disposed to track the delivery of said set of invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said step disposed to distribute at least one invitation to schedule appointments by user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail system; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said set of user-interactive graphical user interfaced electronic mail system.

49. The user-interactive Web-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 48, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said set of appointment availability timeslots before said set of appointment availability timeslots are generated.

50. An appointment scheduling method comprising a step disposed to represent an appointment to schedule a physical face-to-face meetings as an actionable data collection.

51. The appointment scheduling method of claim 50, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to generate user interactive abstract representations of available timeslots.

52. The appointment scheduling method of claim 50, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to distribute user interactive invitations to schedule appointments.

53. The appointment scheduling method of claim 51, wherein said method further comprises at least one step disposed to distribute a set of invitations to schedule appointments.

54. The appointment scheduling method of claim 53, wherein said actionable data collection comprises a set of data members and a step disposed to interact with said set of data members and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to configure complex scheduling systems; and

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to encapsulate said set of invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means comprises a of step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments.

55. The appointment scheduling method of claim 54, wherein said step disposed to generate abstract representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of subsequently generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period;

a step disposed to allow for a contingency that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated when prior commitments of the inviter conflict with said units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for the current day;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

56. The appointment scheduling method of claim 55, wherein said at an least one step disposed to distribute said invitations to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through a distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection member into said distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection member comprises a user-definable message; and

a step disposed to monitor the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by said distribution means.

57. The appointment scheduling method of claim 56, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to inspect said set of appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

58. An invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising a step disposed to generate a plurality of visual representations of available timeslots.

59. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 58, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to represent a set of invitations to schedule an appointment for a physical face-to-face meeting as an object.

60. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 59, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to distribute said set of invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

61. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 60, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to distribute said set of invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

62. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 61, wherein said object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure complex scheduling systems, wherein said complex scheduling systems comprise a set of multiple schedulable resources; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments over a network.

63. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 62, wherein said step disposed to generate visual representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of available time for receiving appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for said units of available time for receiving appointments when said units of available time for receiving appointments selected by users conflicts with prior commitments of users, wherein said prior commitments of users are recorded in the primary calendar of a user;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that said generated set of appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period, wherein said user selected recurrence end period is comprised of a member of the group consisting of a specific minute, a specific hour, a specific day, a specific month a specific year and a specific date;

a step disposed to ensure that said generated set of appointment time availability slots are not generated for a current day;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to allow for the assurance that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

64. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 63, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations to schedule appointments over a network comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an electronic distribution means over a network;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic distribution means over a network, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by said electronic distribution means over a network.

65. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 64, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

66. A computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising a step disposed to distribute invitations to schedule appointments for physical face-to-face meetings by an electronic mail system.

67. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 66, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to generate a set of graphical representations of available timeslots.

68. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 66, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to represent an appointment as an object.

69. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 68, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to represent an appointment as an object.

70. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 69, wherein said object comprises a step disposed to interact with said object and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are distributed by an electronic mail system;

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to configure a set of complex scheduling systems, wherein said set of complex scheduling systems comprise a plurality of multiple schedulable resources and a plurality of multiple schedulable activities; and

a step disposed to utilize said object as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is embedded as an instance of said object within said invitations to schedule appointments and, wherein said invitations to schedule appointments are distributed by an electronic mail system.

71. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 70, wherein said step disposed to generate visual representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of available time for receiving appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for said set of units of available time for receiving appointments when said set of units of available time for receiving appointments selected by a plurality of users conflicts with a plurality of prior commitments of users, wherein said plurality of prior commitments of users are recorded in a primary calendar of an individual user and, wherein said primary calendar comprises a member selected from the group consisting of a Microsoft Outlook Calendar and a Google Calendar;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated when said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and when said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period, wherein said user selected recurrence end period comprises a member selected from the group consisting of a specific number of days into the future, a specific number of weeks into the future, a specific number of months, a specific number of years into the future and a specific future date;

a step disposed ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for a current day;

a step disposed to ensure that generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected number of time units into the future, wherein said time units comprise a member selected from the group consisting of days, weeks, months and years;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given time unit, wherein said time unit comprises a member selected from the group consisting of days, weeks, months and years.

72. The computerized invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 71, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations over a network to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an electronic mail distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection button into said electronic mail distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection button comprises a user-defined message;

a step disposed to track the delivery of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic mail distribution means; and

a step disposed to track the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said electronic mail distribution means.

73. The invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 72, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to visually inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.

74. An Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method comprising:

a step disposed to represent an appointment to schedule physical face-to-face meetings as an actionable data collection;

a step disposed to generate abstract representations of available timeslots; and

a step disposed to distribute invitations to schedule appointments for physical face-to-face meetings.

75. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 74, wherein said actionable data collection comprises a set of data members and a step disposed to interact with said set of data members and wherein said method further comprises:

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collections as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said invitations are substantially non-selectively distributed;

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collection as a means to configure complex scheduling systems; and

a step disposed to utilize said actionable data collection as a means to encapsulate said invitations to schedule appointments, wherein said means comprises a step disposed to initiate a step disposed to schedule an appointment, wherein said step disposed to schedule an appointment is contained within a set of substantially selectively distributed invitations to schedule appointments.

76. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 75, wherein said step disposed to generate abstract representations of available timeslots comprises:

a step disposed to allow users to select a set of units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that said appointment time availability slots are not generated in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of user defined fixed invitation acceptance times and in instances wherein said appointment time availability slots extend beyond a set of recurring user defined appointment time availability slots;

a step disposed to ensure that a set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a user selected recurrence end period;

a step disposed to allow that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated when a set of prior commitments of the inviter conflict with said units of time for availability to select appointments;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated for the current day;

a step disposed to ensure that said set of generated appointment time availability slots are not generated beyond a selected number of time units into the future;

a step disposed to ensure that only a maximum number of generated appointment time availability slots are generated for a given unit of time.

77. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 76, wherein said at least one step disposed to distribute said invitations to schedule appointments comprises:

a step disposed to distribute an invitation to schedule appointments to at least one invitee through an Internet distribution means;

a step disposed to embed a user activateable selection member into said Internet distribution means, wherein said user activateable selection member comprises a user-definable message; and

a step disposed to monitor the responses of said invitations to schedule appointments distributed by said distribution means.

78. The Internet-based invitation driven appointment scheduling method of claim 77, wherein said method further comprises a step disposed to allow users to inspect said appointment time availability slots before said appointment time availability slots are generated.