Method and system for selecting optimal commodities based upon business profile and preferences
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities comprising the steps of:
- asking the customer for a definition of its business;
searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to the business definition;
creating a set of business requirement questions based upon the applied decision rules database;
receiving answers to the set of business requirement questions by the customer;
modifying the set of business requirement questions based on the answer received for each question;
implementing a business rule filter to the answers of the set of business requirement questions; and
recommending to the customer commodity types based upon the business rule implementation, wherein recommending further comprises;
allowing the customer to de-select at least one of the recommended commodity types;
allowing the customer to request non-recommended commodity types; and
entering the at least one of the recommended commodity types and the requested non-recommended commodity types into an optimizer device for determining optimum commodity selections for each of the recommended and requested non-recommended commodity types for use by the customer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities based on a business profile of the customer that includes asking the customer for a definition of its business; searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to the business definition; creating a set of business requirement questions based upon the applied decision rules database; answering the set of business requirement questions by the customer; implementing a business rule filter to the answers of the set of business requirement questions; recommending to the customer commodity types based upon the business rule implementation; and optimizing the recommended commodity types to find the best value commodity, which can be a product or service.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities comprising the steps of:
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asking the customer for a definition of its business;
searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to the business definition;
creating a set of business requirement questions based upon the applied decision rules database; receiving answers to the set of business requirement questions by the customer;
modifying the set of business requirement questions based on the answer received for each question;
implementing a business rule filter to the answers of the set of business requirement questions; and
recommending to the customer commodity types based upon the business rule implementation, wherein recommending further comprises;
allowing the customer to de-select at least one of the recommended commodity types;
allowing the customer to request non-recommended commodity types; and
entering the at least one of the recommended commodity types and the requested non-recommended commodity types into an optimizer device for determining optimum commodity selections for each of the recommended and requested non-recommended commodity types for use by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for assisting a customer in choosing between commodity types, comprising:
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an optimizer device that is connected to a network, wherein the optimizer device includes at least one database that includes information about at least one commodity type, at least one utility function, and at least one business profile for the customer, and a processing component enabled to perform tasks including;
receiving answers to a set of business requirement questions, modifying the set of business requirement questions based on the answers, and recommending to the customer a list of commodity types including at least one commodity type based on the business profile for the customer and the utility function for the commodity type, the recommending to the customer further comprising;
allowing the customer to de-select at least one of the recommended commodity types;
allowing the customer to request non-recommended commodity types; and
entering the at least one of the recommended commodity types and the requested non-recommended commodity types into an optimizer device for determining optimum commodity selections for each of the recommended and requested non-recommended commodity types for use by the customer; and
a customer device for connecting to the optimizer device via the network and sending business requirement information to the optimizer device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer system for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities comprising:
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means for asking the customer for a definition of its business;
means for searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to the business definition;
means for creating a set of business requirement questions based on a decision tree that is configured to change in response to the applied decision rules;
means for receiving answers to the set of business requirement questions by the customer;
means for modifying the set of business requirement questions based on the answer received to each question;
means for implementing a business rule filter to the answers of the set of business requirement questions; and
means for recommending to the customer commodity types based upon the business rule implementation, wherein the means for recommending further comprising;
a means for allowing the customer to de-select at least one of the recommended commodity types;
a means for allowing the customer to request non-recommended commodity types; and
a means for entering the at least one of the recommended commodity types and the requested non-recommended commodity types into an optimizer device for determining optimum commodity selections for each of the recommended and requested non-recommended commodity types for use by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing actions for assisting a customer in choosing from available commodities, the actions comprising:
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determining a customer'"'"'s definition of its business;
creating a set of business requirement questions;
receiving responses to the set of business requirement questions;
dynamically modifying the questions based on received responses by employing an inference engine;
implementing a business rule filter based on the responses of the set of business requirement questions to determine an optimum commodity selection; and
recommending the customer with a subset of commodities including the at least one optimum commodity, wherein recommending further comprises;
allowing the customer to de-select at least one of the recommended commodity types;
allowing the customer to request non-recommended commodity types; and
entering the at least one of the recommended commodity types and the requested non-recommended commodity types into an optimizer device for determining optimum commodity selections for each of the recommended and requested non-recommended commodity types for use by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A computer-implemented method for assisting a customer ill choosing among commodities, the computer-implemented method comprising the steps of:
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retrieving a set of decision rules from a decision rules database;
dynamically modifying the decision rules through an interactive process based on received responses;
implementing a business rule filter to available commodities based on the modified decision rules; and
recommending to the customer a subset of commodities including the at least one optimum commodity, wherein the commodity is selected based on the business rule implementation, recommending to the customer further comprises the steps of;
allowing the customer to de-select at least one of the recommended commodity types;
allowing the customer to request non-recommended commodity types; and
entering the at least one of the recommended commodity types and the requested non-recommended commodity types into an optimizer device for determining optimum commodity selections for each of the recommended and requested non-recommended commodity types for use by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification