Communication system for managing hotel operations

• US 7,523,046 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2002
• Issued: 04/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cartmanager LLC
• Original Assignee: Cartmanager LLC
• Inventors: Colalancia, Marco S., Miller, Jon S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett; Scott L
• Application Number:
  US10/205,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20040019513A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,461 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment

Abstract

A system and method are provided for managing hotel operations through a wireless communications network. A central computer includes software for organizing and prioritizing data regarding desired room usage based upon input from arriving hotel guests. The data is organized into shift orders which take into account particular hotel guests needs. The shift orders are transmitted wirelessly to mobile units in the hotel mounted to housekeeping carts. Housekeeping personnel respond to tasks or orders which appear on the screens of the mobile units. The mobile units are also used to wirelessly transmit back to the central computer the status of the work being completed, as well as to advise the central computer as to changing conditions encountered by the housekeeping personnel. The central computer continually updates shift orders, prioritizes assignments to the particular mobile units, and therefore enhances communications directly between the needs of the guests and housekeeping personnel.

Claims

1. A method of managing hotel room servicing operations, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of housekeeping carts each including;

(1) a mobile computing means including a first data storage means for storing data and a first microprocessor in the mobile computing means;

(2) software means loaded in the mobile computing means for providing desired functions for manipulating and organizing the data, wherein the software means comprises a graphical user interface screen showing;

available bed options, a list of available amenities, a time required for service completion, and a room service queue, and a screen for signifying completion of tasks on shift orders;

(b) a central computing means including a second data storage means for storing data in a second microprocessor in the central computer means, the software means loaded in the central computing means for providing desired functions for manipulating and organizing the data, the software means further comprising a graphical user interface;

(c) inputting data into the central computing means reflective of orders for rooms of the hotel said orders comprising a guest'"'"'s preference for room amenities, a desired check-in time and a room type preference;

(d) the software means prioritizing the orders for rooms of the hotel and creating shift orders, based on the orders for rooms of the hotel, wherein the orders for rooms of the hotel are prioritized by additional updates being periodically transmitted from the central computing means to the mobile computing means and wherein the prioritizing is reflective of additional tasks to be completed, said additional tasks being further prioritized within the shift orders;

(e) when a preset number of orders for rooms of the hotel have been inputted into the central computing means wirelessly transmitting the shift orders to the plurality of mobile computing means designating selected mobile units to complete specific tasks on the shift orders wherein the shift orders comprise a room identification, time required and an amenity requirement;

(f) housekeeping personnel associated with one of the plurality of housekeeping carts performing at least one task on the shift orders transmitted to the mobile computing means interconnected to their associated housekeeping carts and signifying the completion of the task on the shift order using the mobile computer means;

(g) wirelessly transmitting completion of the task by one of the mobile computing means;

(h) updating the shift orders based on completion of the task;

(i) housekeeping personnel performing the next task on the shift order, and wirelessly transmitting completion of the next task by one of the mobile computing means;

(j) further updating the shift orders based upon completion of the said next task;

(k) repeating steps (i) and (j) until completion of the shift orders; and

(l) transmitting intermediate updated information from the mobile computing means to the central computing means reflective of information generated by housekeeping personnel as to the status of the shift orders being worked on.

2. A method, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

sorting data in the data storage means reflective of the types and mounts of amenities stocked by completion of the shift order over a preset time period;

storing the data in the data storage means reflective of the sorted data; and

generating a report indicative of the amount and type of consumed amenities over a particular time period thereby achieving inventory management.

3. A method, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of:

transmitting information in the form of email type of communications from the mobile units to the computing means whereby the computing means then forwards the email messages to an addressed hotel personnel or a hotel staff group.

4. A method of managing room servicing operations within a hotel, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a plurality of housekeeping carts, each cart including;

(1) a mobile computing means including data storage means for storing data and a first microprocessor in the mobile computing means;

(2) software means loaded in the mobile computing means for providing desired functions for manipulating and organizing the data, wherein the software means comprises a graphical user interface screen showing;

available bed options, a list of available amenities, a time required for service completion, and a room service queue, and a screen for signifying completion of tasks on shift orders;

(b) providing a central computing means for manipulating and storing data;

(c) providing the software means also loaded in the central computing means for providing desired functionality to manipulate and organize the data;

(d) inputting data into the central computing means reflective of orders for rooms of the hotel, the orders including instructions concerning a guest'"'"'s preference for room amenities, a desired check-in time, and a room type preference;

(e) using said software means to prioritize the orders for a shift, based on the orders for rooms of the hotel, and creating a shift order reflective of tasks to be completed for designated rooms to be serviced wherein the orders for rooms of the hotel are prioritized by additional updates being periodically transmitted from the central computing means to the mobile computing means and wherein the prioritizing is reflective of additional tasks to be completed, said additional tasks being further prioritized within the shift orders;

(f) when a preset number of order for rooms of the hotel have been inputted into the central computing means, wirelessly transmitting the shift order to at least one of a plurality of mobile computing means by a base unit communicating with said mobile computing means, said mobile computing means each having a means for receiving the shift order and means for displaying the shift order, said shift order designating tasks to be completed by one or more housekeeping personnel attending to pre-selected mobile computing means, at least one graphical user interface screen of at least one of the plurality of mobile computing means depicting a room identification, time required, and an amenity requirement, wherein each of said mobile computing means is interconnected to a corresponding housekeeping cart of the plurality of housekeeping carts;

(g) housekeeping personnel associated with one of the plurality of housekeeping carts performing at least one task on the shift order;

(h) using one of the mobile computing means to wirelessly transmit indication of completion of the task, wherein the orders for rooms of the hotel are prioritized by additional updates being periodically transmitted from the central computing means to the mobile computing means and wherein the prioritizing is reflective of additional tasks to be completed, said additional tasks being further prioritized within the shift orders;

(i) updating the shift order by the central computing means based upon the transmitted completion of the task from the mobile computing means;

(j) housekeeping personnel performing the next task on the shift order, and using one of the mobile computing means to wirelessly transmit indication of completion of said next task;

(k) updating the shift order by the central computing means based upon the transmitted completion of the said next task by the mobile computing means; and

(l) repeating steps (j) and (k) to complete the shift order; and

(m) transmitting intermediate updated information from the mobile computing means to the central computing means reflective of information generated by housekeeping personnel as to the status of the shift orders being worked on.

5. A method, as claimed in claim 4, wherein:

said base unit includes a plurality of transceivers selectively located within the hotel to reduce transmission and reception distances of the mobile units.

6. A method, as claimed in claim 4, wherein:

indication of completion of a task in said second using step is achieved by a person manipulating an input device of the corresponding mobile unit.

7. A method, as claimed in claim 4, wherein:

said shift order is displayed on a screen of the mobile unit in time order sequence so that rooms required to be prepared first are displayed first on the screen.

8. A method, as claimed in claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

sorting data in the data storage means reflective of the types and mounts of amenities stocked by completion of the shift order over a preset time period;

storing the data in the data storage means reflective of the sorted data; and

generating a report indicative of the amount and type of consumed amenities over a particular time period thereby achieving inventory management.

9. A method, as claimed in claim 4, further comprising the step of:

transmitting information in the form of email type of communications from the mobile units to the computing means whereby the computing means then forwards the email messages to an addressed hotel personnel or a hotel staff group.

10. A system for managing hotel operations to include housekeeping tasks, said system comprising:

a plurality of housekeeping carts, each cart including;

(1) a mobile computing means including a first data storage means for storing data and a first microprocessor in the mobile computing means;

(2) software means loaded in the mobile computing means for providing desired functions for manipulating and organizing the data, wherein the software means comprises a graphical user interface screen showing;

available bed options, a list of available amenities, a time required for service completion, and a room service queue, and a screen for signifying completion of tasks on shift orders;

a central computer means including a microprocessor, a data entry device, and second data storage means for storing data;

the software means also for providing functionality to manipulate said data by said microprocessor to include organizing said data in shift orders reflective of tasks to be completed by housekeeping personnel;

the central computing means receiving data reflective of orders for rooms of the hotel, the orders including instructions concerning a guest'"'"'s preference for room amenities, a desired check-in time, and a room type preference;

the software means prioritizing the orders for a shift, based on the orders for rooms of the hotel and creating a shift order reflective of tasks to be completed for designated rooms to be serviced;

wherein the software means prioritizes the orders for rooms of the hotel based on additional updates periodically transmitted from the central computing means to the mobile computing means and wherein the prioritizing is reflective of additional tasks to be completed, said additional tasks being further prioritized within the shift orders;

a base unit communicating with said central computer means for exchanging data with the central computer means;

at least one transceiver communicating with the base unit for wirelessly transmitting and receiving data;

the mobile computing means communicating wirelessly with said at least one transceiver, each said mobile computing means having means for wirelessly transmitting and receiving data including the shift orders, when a preset number of order for rooms of the hotel have been inputted into the central computing means, wirelessly transmitting the shift order to at least one of a plurality of mobile computing means by a base unit communicating with said mobile computing means, said mobile computing means each having a means for receiving the shift order and means for displaying the shift order, said shift order designating tasks to be completed by one or more housekeeping personnel attending to pre-selected mobile computing means;

each said mobile computing means further including a screen display and a means for signifying completion of tasks on the shift orders, at least one graphical user interface screen of at least one of the mobile computing means depicting a room identification, time required, and an amenity requirement, wherein at least one mobile computing means is interconnected to a housekeeping cart of the plurality of housekeeping carts; and

wherein said mobile computing means receive instructions from the central computer means via said at least one transceiver and base unit reflective of specific tasks be completed on the shift order, the mobile computing means periodically transmitting data back to the central computer means via said transceiver and base unit reflective of tasks completed and wherein the mobile computing means transmits intermediate updated information to the central computing means reflective of information generated by housekeeping personnel as to the status of the shift orders being worked on; and

the central computing means updating the shift orders based upon the transmitted intermediate updated information.

11. A system, as claimed in claim 10, wherein:

said base unit receives the shift orders from the computer means in digital data format, and said base unit converts the digital data format to a wireless protocol format.

12. A system, as claimed in claim 10, wherein:

said base unit receives data from the mobile units in a wireless protocol format and converts the data into a digital data format for transmission to the computer means.

13. A system, as claimed in claim 10, wherein:

said mobile unit includes a personal digital assistant including second software means loaded therein for providing functionality to manipulate data received from the computer means, and for transmitting data from the mobile unit to the computer means.