Method and computer readable medium for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities
First Claim
1. A method for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities, the method comprising:
- searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to a profile of a customer'"'"'s business;
creating a set of business requirement questions based upon the applied decision rules database;
implementing a business rule filter to answers from the customer to the set of business requirement questions;
recommending, by an optimizer device, at least one commodity category to the customer, based upon the business rule filter implementation;
identifying one or more parameters associated with the at least one commodity category;
associating at least one value to each of the parameters;
calculating an estimated cost for at least one commodity of the at least one commodity category based on the values associated with the parameters;
obtaining from the customer a preference weighting for each of the parameters; and
calculating an effective cost by adjusting the estimated cost based on the preference weightings and the values associated with the parameters.
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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
16 Claims
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1. A method for assisting a customer in choosing among commodities, the method comprising:
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searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to a profile of a customer'"'"'s business; creating a set of business requirement questions based upon the applied decision rules database; implementing a business rule filter to answers from the customer to the set of business requirement questions; recommending, by an optimizer device, at least one commodity category to the customer, based upon the business rule filter implementation; identifying one or more parameters associated with the at least one commodity category; associating at least one value to each of the parameters; calculating an estimated cost for at least one commodity of the at least one commodity category based on the values associated with the parameters; obtaining from the customer a preference weighting for each of the parameters; and calculating an effective cost by adjusting the estimated cost based on the preference weightings and the values associated with the parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for controlling a computer to perform actions for assisting a customer in choosing from available commodities, the actions comprising:
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searching a decision rules database and applying decision rules to a profile of a customer'"'"'s business; creating a set of business requirement questions based upon the applied decision rules database; implementing a business rule filter to answers from the customer to the set of business requirement questions; and recommending to the customer at least one commodity category based upon the business rule filter implementation; identifying one or more parameters associated with the at least one commodity category; associating at least one value to each of the parameters; calculating an estimated cost for at least one commodity of the at least one commodity category based on the values associated with the parameters; obtaining from the customer a preference weighting for each of the parameters; and calculating an effective cost by adjusting the estimated cost based on the preference weightings and the values associated with the parameters. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification