Service allocation system
First Claim
1. A system for allocating service resources to a plurality of individuals who have requested services, the services being of a type requiring that the service resource and a receiver of the services come together at some common location, the system comprising:
- a plurality of handheld wireless communication devices, each one of said communication devices for assignment and transfer to a different one of said plurality of individuals;
assignment means for assigning each one of said plurality of individuals to a corresponding one of a plurality of queues, each one of said plurality of queues having a different priority associated with it;
indication means for indicating that a service resource is or will become available to serve a next individual;
selection means responsive to said indication means for selecting the next individual from the queue having the highest priority and having at least one individual assigned to it; and
a wireless transmitter for communicating with the communication device assigned to the next individual so as to notify the next individual that a service resource is available.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for allocating service resources to a plurality of individuals who have requested services includes a plurality of communication devices, each one of which is for assignment to a different one of the individuals; assignment logic for assigning each one of the individuals to a corresponding one of the queues, each one of the of queues a different priority associated with it; indication logic for indicating that a service resource is or will become available to serve a next individual; selection logic for selecting the next individual from the queue having the highest priority and having at least one individual assigned to it; and a communicator for communicating with the communication device assigned to the next individual so as to notify the next individual that service is available. The communication devices are handheld wireless pagers. The communicator is a wireless transmitter.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A system for allocating service resources to a plurality of individuals who have requested services, the services being of a type requiring that the service resource and a receiver of the services come together at some common location, the system comprising:
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a plurality of handheld wireless communication devices, each one of said communication devices for assignment and transfer to a different one of said plurality of individuals; assignment means for assigning each one of said plurality of individuals to a corresponding one of a plurality of queues, each one of said plurality of queues having a different priority associated with it; indication means for indicating that a service resource is or will become available to serve a next individual; selection means responsive to said indication means for selecting the next individual from the queue having the highest priority and having at least one individual assigned to it; and a wireless transmitter for communicating with the communication device assigned to the next individual so as to notify the next individual that a service resource is available. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for allocating service resources to a plurality of individuals who have requested services, the services being of a type requiring that the service resource and a receiver of the services come together at some common location, the system comprising:
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a plurality of handheld wireless communication devices, each one of said communication devices for assignment and transfer to a different one of said plurality of individuals; assignment means for assigning each one of said plurality of individuals to a corresponding one of a plurality of queues; computation means for computing an expected wait time for an assigned individual based upon that individual'"'"'s position in the queue to which that individual is presently assigned, the expected wait time for an assigned individual being an estimate of how long that individual must wait before being notified that service is available; indication means for indicating that a service resource is or will become available to serve a next individual; selection means responsive to said indicating means for selecting the next individual from one of said plurality of queues; and a wireless transmitter for communicating with the communication device assigned to the next individual so as to notify the next individual that a service resource is available. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for allocating service resources to a plurality of individuals who have requested services, the services being of a type requiring that the service resource and a receiver of the services come together at some common location, the system comprising:
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a plurality of handheld wireless communication devices, each one of said communication devices for assignment and transfer to a different one of said plurality of individuals; assignment means for assigning each one of said plurality of individuals to a corresponding one of a plurality of queues; estimation means for estimating the number of service resources needed to provide a predetermined level of service, the estimate being based upon the number of individuals assigned to the plurality of queues; indication means for indicating that a service resource is or will become available to serve a next individual; selection means responsive to said indicating means for selecting the next individual from one of said plurality of queues; and a wireless transmitter for communicating with the communication device assigned to the next individual so as to notify the next individual that a service resource is available. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for allocating service resources to a plurality of individuals who have requested services, the services being of a type requiring that the service resource and a receiver of the services come together at some common location, the method comprising:
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receiving requests for services from a plurality of individuals; transfering a plurality of handheld wireless communication devices to the plurality of individuals requesting services, each of said plurality of handheld devices being assigned to a different one of said plurality of individuals; assigning each one of said plurality of individuals to a corresponding one of a plurality of queues, each one of said plurality of queues having a different priority associated with it; indicating that a service resource is or will become available to serve a next individual; selecting the next individual from the queue having the highest priority and having at least one individual assigned to it; transmitting a signal to the communication device assigned to the next individual so as to notify the next individual that a service resource is available; and providing the requested services to the next individual through the available service resource. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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Specification