System and method of dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment
First Claim
1. A method of dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving a message indicative of a problem in the transaction establishment;
(b) recording a location of the problem from the message;
(c) locating pagers carried by the individual and other individuals in the transaction establishment by an electronic price label system including the substeps of (c-1) transmitting a query message addressed to the pagers;
(c-2) sending responses to the query message by the pagers;
(c-3) receiving the responses by a plurality of receivers; and
(c-4) determining locations of the pagers using signal strength information determined from the responses;
(d) choosing the individual to respond to the problem based upon the locations of the pagers; and
(e) sending a message containing the location of the problem to the pager carried by the individual to alert the individual to respond to the problem by the electronic price label system.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method of dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment which employs a communication system and pagers. In a preferred embodiment, the system includes a telephone or other alert device for receiving a first message indicative of a problem, a recording device for recording a location of the problem from the first message, an electronic price label system including a number of transmitters in the transaction establishment for transmitting a second message addressed to a pager carried by the individual and a number of receivers in the transaction establishment for receiving a third message from the pager and a computer which determines a location of the pager from signal strength information from the third message and which sends a fourth message containing the location of the problem to the pager carried by the individual to alert the individual to respond to the problem. The first message may be from a customer in the transaction establishment, an employee of the transaction establishment, or a system in the transaction establishment. The choice of a responding individual may be based upon the person'"'"'s skill or proximity to the problem.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a message indicative of a problem in the transaction establishment;
(b) recording a location of the problem from the message;
(c) locating pagers carried by the individual and other individuals in the transaction establishment by an electronic price label system including the substeps of (c-1) transmitting a query message addressed to the pagers;
(c-2) sending responses to the query message by the pagers;
(c-3) receiving the responses by a plurality of receivers; and
(c-4) determining locations of the pagers using signal strength information determined from the responses;
(d) choosing the individual to respond to the problem based upon the locations of the pagers; and
(e) sending a message containing the location of the problem to the pager carried by the individual to alert the individual to respond to the problem by the electronic price label system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
(d-1) choosing the individual because the individual is closest to the problem.
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6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises the substep of:
(d-1) choosing the individual because the individual is most skilled to handle the problem.
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7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the individual is an employee.
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8. A method of dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a call for assistance from a caller in the transaction establishment;
(b) recording a location of the caller;
(c) locating pagers carried by the individual and other individuals in the transaction establishment by an electronic price label system including the substeps of (c-1) transmitting a query message addressed to the pagers;
(c-2) sending responses to the query message by the pagers;
(c-3) receiving the responses by a plurality of receivers; and
(c-4) determining locations of the pagers using signal strength information determined from the responses;
(d) choosing the individual to respond to the call; and
(e) sending a message containing the location of the caller to the pager carried by the individual to alert the individual to respond to the call by the electronic price label system.
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9. A system for dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment comprising:
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means for receiving a message indicative of a problem in the transaction establishment;
means for recording a location of the problem from the message;
an electronic price label system for locating pagers carried by the individual and other individuals in the transaction establishment including a number of transmitters in the transaction establishment for transmitting a query message addressed to the pagers, a number of receivers in the transaction establishment for receiving response messages from the pagers, and means for determining signal strength information from the response messages; and
means for choosing the individual to respond to the problem based upon locations of the pagers;
wherein the electronic price label system additionally sends a message containing the location of the problem to the pager carried by the individual to alert the individual to respond to the problem.
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10. A system for dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment comprising:
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means for receiving a first message indicative of a problem in the transaction establishment;
means for recording a location of the problem from the first message;
an electronic price label system including a number of transmitters in the transaction establishment for transmitting a second message addressed to a pager carried by the individual;
a number of receivers in the transaction establishment for receiving a third message from the pager, and a computer which determines a location of the pager from signal strength information from the third message, and which sends a fourth message containing the location of the problem to the pager carried by the individual to alert the individual to respond to the problem. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of dispatching an individual in a transaction establishment comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving a call for assistance from a caller in the transaction establishment;
(b) recording a location of the caller;
(c) locating a pager carried by the individual in the transaction establishment by an electronic price label system including the substeps of (c-1) transmitting a query message addressed to the pager;
(c-2) sending a response to the query message by the pager;
(c-3) receiving the response by a plurality of receivers; and
(c-4) determining a location of the pager using signal strength information determined from the response; and
(d) sending a message containing the location of the caller to the pager to alert the individual to respond to the call by the electronic price label system.
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Specification