Itinerary search tool for territory management
First Claim
1. A computer-assisted method for electronically creating an itinerary schedule of drop-in sales call events for a representative in a calendar program in support of sales calls to one or more customers of the representative within a territory of the representative, comprising the steps of:
- loading an interactive user-interface with a first set of geographic indicators and a second set of calendar dates into a memory of a machine wherein the first set of geographic indicators concern locations within the territory;
interacting with the user-interface so as to assign within the memory of the machine, using a processor of the machine, at least one geographic indicator selected from the first set to at least one calendar date in the second set and thereby define an itinerary entry independent of any determination of the customers of the representative to be called upon in the itinerary entry and independent of any connectivity or coordination of calendars maintained by the customers of the representative;
updating a counter for each selection of a particular geographic indicator through interaction with the user-interface, wherein the counter counts the number of times each particular geographic indicator has been interacted with;
displaying the counter in the interactive user-interface to provide guidance to the representative prior to his or her defining any further itinerary entry of a geography within the territory to be visited; and
including the itinerary entry for the at least one calendar date into the calendar program on respective dates which correspond to the at least one calendar date,wherein the defined itinerary entry comprises an entry in the calendar of the representative to make a drop-in sales call to at least one customer of the representative within the territory of the representative.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Electronically creating an itinerary schedule in a calendar program. A geographic indicator and a calendar date are acquired and coordinated with each other to define an itinerary entry. The itinerary entry is included into a calendar program maintained by the machine. The step of acquiring the geographic indicator further comprises the step of updating a counter upon each selection of a geographic indicator. Another method electronically populates a calendar program with an event using an itinerary entry. Optionally, health care providers from within a geographic indicator are included in the itinerary entry. A geographic indicator and calendar date are obtained from an itinerary entry, and additional search criteria are input. A search of a database is executed to identify candidates matching the geographic indicator and search criteria. Candidate matches are assigned to a time slot, and each time slot is populated into the calendar program on the calendar date.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-assisted method for electronically creating an itinerary schedule of drop-in sales call events for a representative in a calendar program in support of sales calls to one or more customers of the representative within a territory of the representative, comprising the steps of:
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loading an interactive user-interface with a first set of geographic indicators and a second set of calendar dates into a memory of a machine wherein the first set of geographic indicators concern locations within the territory; interacting with the user-interface so as to assign within the memory of the machine, using a processor of the machine, at least one geographic indicator selected from the first set to at least one calendar date in the second set and thereby define an itinerary entry independent of any determination of the customers of the representative to be called upon in the itinerary entry and independent of any connectivity or coordination of calendars maintained by the customers of the representative; updating a counter for each selection of a particular geographic indicator through interaction with the user-interface, wherein the counter counts the number of times each particular geographic indicator has been interacted with; displaying the counter in the interactive user-interface to provide guidance to the representative prior to his or her defining any further itinerary entry of a geography within the territory to be visited; and including the itinerary entry for the at least one calendar date into the calendar program on respective dates which correspond to the at least one calendar date, wherein the defined itinerary entry comprises an entry in the calendar of the representative to make a drop-in sales call to at least one customer of the representative within the territory of the representative. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer-assisted method for electronically creating drop-in sales call events for inclusion in a calendar program of a representative in support of sales calls to one or more customers of the representative within a territory of the representative comprising the steps of:
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selecting a geographic indicator and a calendar date through an interactive user-interface; assigning the geographic indicator to the calendar date within a memory of a machine using a processor of the machine; updating a counter in response to the selection of the geographic indicator through the interactive user-interface, wherein the counter counts the number of times each particular geographic indicator has been interacted with; displaying the counter in the interactive user-interface to provide guidance to the representative prior to his or her selecting any further geographic indicator; executing a search of a database on the machine to identify at least one candidate having a matching geographic indicator, wherein the candidate is among the customers of the representative within the territory; automatically assigning in the memory at least a portion of any candidate matches to a time slot within the calendar date; and populating one or more time slots of the calendar program with the memory assignments, wherein the foregoing steps are performed free of any connectivity or coordination of calendars maintained by the candidates such that the one or more time slots are populated with one or more drop-in sales calls to one or more of the customers of the representative. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-assisted method for electronically populating a calendar program for a representative with an event using an itinerary entry in support of drop-in sales calls to one or more customers of the representative within a territory of the representative, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining an assignment of a geographic indicator to a calendar date from the itinerary entry in an interactive user-interface; updating a counter in view of the obtained assignment of the geographic indicator in the interactive user-interface, wherein the counter counts the number of times the geographic indicator has been obtained; displaying the counter in the interactive user-interface to provide guidance to the representative prior to obtaining any further assignments of geographic indicators; inputting one or more search criteria; executing a search of a database to identify at least one candidate matching the geographic indicator and the one or more search criteria, wherein the candidate is among the customers of the representative within the territory; automatically assigning in a memory at least a portion of any candidate matches to a time slot within the calendar date using a processor of a machine; and populating each time slot of the calendar program with the memory assignments for the calendar date, wherein the foregoing steps are performed free of any connectivity or coordination of calendars maintained by the candidates such that the one or more time slots are populated with one or more drop-in sales calls to one or more of the customers of the representative. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification