SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING WEB-BASED MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

• US 20100191569A1
• Filed: 04/14/2010
• Published: 07/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MindBody
• Original Assignee: Spafinder Incorporated
• Inventors: ELLIS, Peter, Lizio-Katzen, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,206 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.24
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A centralized web-based system and method for managing appointments having a user interface that interacts with one or more users to display one or more items based on user input, a management module connected to the user interface and configured to receive data related to scheduling an appointment, determine one or more possible appointments based on the data, present the one or more possible appointments, receive a user selection from the one or more possible appointments, and schedule the appointment based on the user selection, and one or more databases configured to store appointment information, wherein the one or more databases are connected to the management module and wherein the data comprises a date and time slot and at least one of a facility, a service, and a servicer.

Claims

1. A centralized web-based system for managing appointments, the system comprising:

a user interface communication module configured to interact with a plurality of user systems over a network;

a centralized web-based management module communicatively coupled to the user interface communication module and configured to centrally manage appointments for a plurality of service facilities; and

one or more centralized databases communicatively coupled to the centralized web-based management module configured to store scheduled appointment data along with a plurality of other appointment-related information managed by the centralized management module for the plurality of user systems;

wherein the centralized web-based management module receives appointment requests for one or more resources from the plurality of user systems communicating with the user interface communication module over the network, processes the appointment requests, and allocates the appointment requests to preclude double-booking of the one or more resources due to remote database synchronization,

wherein the appointment requests comprise a date and time slot and at least one resource at one of the plurality of service facilities, and

wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage point-of-sale (POS) services in at least some of the plurality of service facilities.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage employee information of at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the employee information comprises personal employee information, employee schedule and availability, employee services, and history of employee transactions.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage customer information of at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the customer information comprises personal customer information, customer appointment requests, customer payment information, and history of customer transactions.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage service facility information of at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the service facility information comprises service facility schedule and availability, service facility services, service facility employees, service facility customers, and service facility inventory of one or more resources.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource is a room or space for performing one or more services at one of the plurality of service facilities.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more resource is a product or item offered for sale at one of the plurality of service facilities.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of service facilities are service facilities associated with spa-related or beauty-related services.

8. A web-based method for managing appointments, comprising:

receiving appointment requests for one or more resources from a plurality of user systems communicating with a user interface communication module over a network;

processing the requests at a centralized web-based management module communicatively coupled to the user interface communication module, the centralized web-based management module being configured to centrally manage appointments for a plurality of service facilities using one or more centralized databases communicatively coupled to the centralized web-based management module, the one or more centralized databases being configured to store scheduled appointment data along with a plurality of other-appointment-related information managed by the centralized management module for the plurality of user systems; and

allocating the requests, at the centralized web-based management module, to preclude double-booking of the one or more resources due to remote database synchronization,

wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage point-of-sale (POS) services in at least some of the plurality of service facilities, and

wherein the appointment requests comprise a date and time slot and at least one resource at one of the plurality of service facilities.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage employee information of at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the employee information comprises personal employee information, employee schedule and availability, employee services, and history of employee transactions.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage customer information of at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the customer information comprises personal customer information, customer requests, customer payment information, and history of customer transactions.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage service facility information of at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the service facility information comprises service facility schedule and availability, service facility services, service facility employees, service facility customers, and service facility inventory of one or more resources.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more resource is a room or space for performing one or more services at one of the plurality of service facilities.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more resource is a product or item offered for sale at one of the plurality of service facilities.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein at least some of the plurality of service facilities are service facilities associated with spa-related or beauty-related services.

15. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for instructing at least one computer processor to perform the method of:

receiving appointment requests for one or more resources from a plurality of user systems communicating with a user interface communication module over a network;

processing the requests at a centralized web-based management module communicatively coupled to the user interface communication module, the centralized web-based management module being configured to centrally manage appointments for a plurality of service facilities using one or more centralized databases communicatively coupled to the centralized web-based management module, the one or more centralized databases being configured to store scheduled appointment data along with a plurality of other-appointment-related information managed by the centralized management module for the plurality of user systems; and

allocating the requests, at the centralized web-based management module, to preclude double-booking of the one or more resources due to remote database synchronization,

wherein the centralized management module is further configured to manage point-of-sale (POS) services in at least some of the plurality of service facilities, and

wherein the appointment requests comprise a date and time slot and at least one resource at one of the plurality of service facilities.