System and method for interactive coordination of scheduling, calendaring, and marketing

• US 8,595,046 B1
• Filed: 04/16/2005
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jennifer Christian
• Original Assignee: Jennifer Christian
• Inventors: Christian, Jennifer
• Primary Examiner(s): Sterrett, Jonathan G
• Application Number:
  US11/107,333
• Time in Patent Office: 3,146 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.18
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements

Abstract

A method and system for providing an interactive website designed and developed as a centralized system for use by Service Providers and their clients in the coordination of appointment scheduling with options for online marketing in the form of display web pages and automated and custom electronic messages and newsletters. The method and system enable users to access via the Internet the data stored and to view, make, and change appointments for services. By requiring various levels of membership, the method and system allow or limit the access of users to the data stored depending on the type of user. A specific embodiment of the system is described as applied to beauty salons.

Claims

1. A system for automated coordination of appointment time schedules using a network, the system comprising:

a web engine associated with a web server operable to communicate with the network and to present a user-type survey form to a client of the network, said web engine further operable to receive from said client user-type identifiers that are selected and entered by said client using said form, and further operable to allow or limit said client'"'"'s access to the system based on said user-type identifiers received;

an appointment web engine associated with the web server operable to communicate with the network and to present an appointment survey form to said client of the network, said appointment web engine further operable to receive from said client appointment data that is entered in said form;

a provider web engine associated with the web server operable to communicate with the network and to present a plurality of versions of provider profile and preference survey forms to said client of the network, each form having user-type content specific to said client determined as a type of user by said user-type identifiers received by said web engine, said provider web engine further operable to receive from said client provider profile and preference data entered in said forms;

a consumer web engine associated with the web server operable to communicate with the network and to present a consumer profile survey form to said client of the network, said provider web engine further operable to receive from said consumer profile data entered in said forms;

an appointment mapping engine in communication with said appointment web engine, the appointment mapping engine operable to receive appointment data from said appointment web engine and to generate at least one appointment identifier in response to parsing said appointment data, said appointment mapping engine further operable to index the at least one appointment identifier in response to the parsed appointment data, said at least one appointment identifier being linked to an appointment record, which appointment record stores said appointment data;

a provider mapping engine associated with a database server in communication with said provider web engine, said provider mapping engine operable to receive the provider profile data from said provider web engine and to generate at least one provider identifier in response to parsing said provider profile data, said provider mapping engine further operable to index the at least one provider identifier in response to said parsed provider profile data, the at least one provider identifier being linked to a provider record, which provider record stores said provider profile data;

a provider mapping engine associated with a database server in communication with said provider web engine, said provider mapping engine operable to receive the provider preference data from said provider web engine and to generate at least one provider identifier in response to parsing said provider preference data, said provider mapping engine further operable to index the at least one provider identifier in response to said parsed provider preference data, the at least one provider identifier being linked to a provider record, which provider record stores said provider preference data; and

a consumer mapping engine associated with a database server in communication with said consumer web engine, said consumer mapping engine operable to receive the consumer data from said consumer web engine and to generate at least one consumer identifier in response to parsing said consumer data, said consumer mapping engine further operable to index the at least one consumer identifier in response to said parsed consumer data, the at least one consumer identifier being linked to a consumer record, which consumer record stores said consumer data.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a filter engine in communication with said appointment, provider, and consumer web and mapping engines, the filter engine operable to control communication of said appointment, provider profile, provider preference, and consumer profile data between said web engines and mapping engines.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an appointment index having categories corresponding to said appointment data, said appointment mapping engine being operable to index the at least one appointment identifier by assigning the at least one appointment identifier to one of the appointment index categories in response to comparing the appointment data corresponding to the one category to said parsed appointment data.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the appointment survey form includes at least one selectable input field, each selectable input corresponding to the appointment data of a category in said appointment index.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a provider index having categories corresponding to said provider profile data, said provider mapping engine being operable to index the at least one provider identifier by assigning the at least one provider identifier to one of the provider profile index categories in response to comparing the provider profile data corresponding to the one category to the parsed provider profile data.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising a provider index having categories corresponding to said provider preference data, said provider mapping engine being operable to index the at least one provider identifier by assigning the at least one provider identifier to one of the provider preference data index categories in response to comparing the provider preference data corresponding to the one category to the parsed provider preference data.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the provider and preference survey forms include at least one selectable input field, each selectable input corresponding to the provider and preference data of a category in the provider index.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a consumer index having categories corresponding to said consumer profile data, said consumer mapping engine being operable to index the at least one consumer identifier by assigning the at least one consumer identifier to one of the consumer index categories in response to comparing said consumer profile data corresponding to the one category to the parsed consumer profile data.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said consumer profile survey form includes at least one selectable input field, each selectable input corresponding to the consumer profile data of a category in said consumer index.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said appointment web engine includes an appointment review form, and wherein said appointment web engine is operable to:

map appointment data from fields in said appointment survey form to fields in said appointment review form;

communicate said appointment review form to a client of the network; and

modify appointment data in said fields of the appointment survey form in response to receipt of modifications from the client to said fields of said appointment review form.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said provider web engine includes a plurality of versions of provider profile and preference review forms, and wherein said provider web engine is operable to:

map provider profile data from fields in said plurality of versions of said provider profile forms to fields in said plurality of versions of said provider profile review forms;

map provider preference data from fields in said plurality of versions of said preferences survey forms to fields in said plurality of versions of said provider preference review forms;

communicate one of said plurality of versions of said provider profile review forms to a client of said network in response to identification data received from said client to determine a selected one of the plurality of versions of said forms, each version displaying different fields of information associated with said provider record;

communicate one of said plurality of versions of said provider preference review forms to a client of said network in response to identification data received from said client to determine a selected one of the plurality of versions of said forms, each version displaying different fields of information associated with said provider record;

modify provider profile data entered in fields of one of said plurality of versions of said provider profile forms in response to receiving modifications from said client to said fields of one of said plurality of versions of the provider profile review forms selected by the client; and

modify provider preference data entered in fields of one of said plurality of versions of said provider preference forms in response to receiving modifications from said client to said fields of one of said plurality of versions of the provider preference review forms selected by the client.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said consumer web engine includes a consumer review form, and wherein said consumer web engine is operable to:

map consumer profile data from fields in said consumer profile survey form to fields in said consumer profile review form;

communicate said consumer profile review form to a client of the network; and

modify consumer profile data in fields of said consumer profile form in response to receipt of modifications from the client to fields of said consumer profile review form.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said appointment mapping engine further includes an appointment modification form, and wherein said appointment mapping engine is operable to:

map appointment data from said appointment record to fields in said appointment modification form;

communicate said appointment modification form to a client of the network; and

modify appointment data in said appointment record in response to receipt of modifications to fields of said appointment modification form.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said provider mapping engine further includes a plurality of versions of provider profile and preference modification forms, and wherein said provider mapping engine is operable to:

determine a selected one of the plurality of versions of said forms in response to receipt of identification data from the client;

map provider profile data from the provider record to fields in the selected provider profile modification form;

map provider preference data from the provider record to fields in the selected provider preference modification form;

communicate said selected provider profile modification form to a client of the network;

communicate said selected provider preference modification form to a client of the network;

modify provider profile data in said provider record in response to receiving modifications to fields of said selected provider profile modification form; and

modify provider preference data in said provider record in response to receipt of modifications to fields of said selected provider preference modification form.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said consumer mapping engine further includes a consumer profile modification form, and wherein said consumer mapping engine is operable to:

map consumer profile data from said consumer record to fields in said consumer profile modification form; and

communicate said consumer profile modification form to a client of the network; and

modify consumer, profile data in said consumer record in response to receipt of modifications to fields of said consumer profile modification form.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a provider profile web engine and mapping engine separate from a provider preference web engine and mapping engine.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said appointment, profile, and consumer web engines include a plurality of versions of search forms, and wherein the mapping engines are further operable to:

receive from a client appointment, provider, and consumer search criteria input by the client;

compare the search criteria to the appointment, provider, and consumer data associated with the categories of the appointment, provider, and consumer indices;

select each identifier assigned to the categories in response to comparing the search criteria; and

display to the client the data of each record for each selected identifier.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said appointment web engine is capable of receiving a wait-list selection from a client of the network, such web engine further operable to receive the appointment and service preference data from said client and to transmit said preference data to the appointment mapping engine, which mapping engine is operable receive said preference data and to generate an appointment wait identifier in response to parsing said preference data, said appointment mapping engine further operable to index the appointment wait identifier in response to the parsed appointment data, said wait identifier being linked to an appointment record, which record stores the appointment and service preference data, said appointment mapping engine further operable to compare modified appointment data with the indexed appointment wait identifiers and to notify automatically said client of the network by electronic message in the event of a match, said electronic message informing said client that an appointment has become available at the selected preferred time.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising standard messages, said standard messages being selectable and customizable by a provider, and capable of being transmitted by said provider to a consumer.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said messages are selected from a group comprised of electronic marketing letters, informational letters, informational notices, and newsletters.

21. The system of claim 1, further comprising standard display forms for provider information, said forms being selectable and customizable by a provider and capable of being reviewed by a client of the network.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said display forms are used to display information in web page formats, said information being selected from a group comprised of available services, available products, provider qualifications, business location, and marketing information.

23. The system of claim 1, further comprising standard reports, said reports capable of being generated by the mapping engines from data stored in provider, appointment, and consumer records, and further capable of being printed or reviewed by a client of the network.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said reports are selected from a group comprised of address labels, customer lists, income statements, and appointment schedules.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a provider member registrant web engine operable to communicate with the network and to present a provider member registrant form to a client of the network, said web engine further operable to receive from the client provider member registration data that is entered in said form and to transmit said data to the provider mapping engine;

a consumer member registrant web engine operable to communicate with the network and to present a consumer member registrant form to a client of the network, said web engine further operable to receive from the client consumer member registration data that is entered in said form and to transmit said data to the consumer mapping engine;

the provider mapping engine in communication with said provider member registrant web engine, the provider mapping engine operable to receive the provider member registration data from said provider member registrant web engine and to generate at least one provider member identifier in response to parsing the provider member registration data, the provider mapping engine further operable to index said at least one provider member identifier in response to the parsed provider member registration data, the at least one provider member identifier being linked to the provider record that stores the provider profile and preference data;

the consumer mapping engine in communication with said consumer member registrant web engine, said consumer mapping engine operable to receive the consumer member registration data from said consumer member registrant web engine and to generate at least one consumer member identifier in response to parsing said consumer member registration data, the consumer mapping engine further operable to index the at least one consumer member identifier in response to said parsed consumer member registration data, the at least one consumer member identifier being linked to the consumer record that stores the consumer profile data.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising a filter engine in communication with the provider and consumer member registrant web engines and the provider and consumer mapping engines, said filter engine operable to control communication of provider and consumer member registration data between said provider and consumer member registrant web engines and said provider and consumer mapping engines.

27. The system of claim 25, further comprising a provider member index having categories corresponding to said provider member registration data, said provider mapping engine being operable to index the at least one provider member identifier by assigning the at least one provider member identifier to one of said provider member index categories in response to comparing the provider member data corresponding to the one category to the parsed provider member registration data.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the provider member registrant form includes at least one selectable input field, each selectable input corresponding to the provider member registration data of a category in the provider index.

29. The system of claim 25, further comprising a consumer member index having categories corresponding to said consumer member registration data said consumer mapping engine being operable to index the at least one consumer member identifier by assigning the at least one consumer member identifier to one of said consumer member index categories in response to comparing the consumer member data corresponding to the one category to the parsed consumer member registration data.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the consumer member registrant form includes at least one selectable input field, each selectable input corresponding to the consumer member registration data of a category in the consumer index.

31. The system of claim 25, wherein said provider web engine includes a provider membership review form, and wherein said provider web engine is operable to:

map provider member registration data from fields in said provider member registrant form to fields in said provider membership review form;

communicate said provider membership review form to a client of the network; and

modify provider member registration data in fields of said provider membership registrant form in response to receipt of modifications from the client to fields of said provider membership review form.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein said consumer web engine includes a consumer membership review form, and wherein said consumer web engine is operable to:

map consumer member registration data from fields in said consumer member registrant form to fields in said consumer membership review form;

communicate said consumer membership review form to a client of the network; and

modify consumer member registration data in fields of said consumer membership registrant form in, response to receipt of modifications from the client to fields of said consumer membership review form.

33. The system of claim 25, wherein said provider mapping engine further includes a provider member registration modification form, and wherein said provider

mapping engine is operable to:

map provider member registration data from said provider record to fields in said provider member registration modification form;

communicate said provider member registration modification form to a client of the network; and

modify provider member registration data in said provider record in response to receipt of modifications to fields of said provider member registration modification form.

34. The system of claim 25, wherein said consumer mapping engine further includes a consumer member registration modification form, and wherein said consumer mapping engine is operable to:

map consumer member registration data from said consumer record to fields in said consumer member registration modification form;

communicate said consumer member registration modification form to a client of the network; and

modify consumer member registration data in said consumer record in response to receipt of modifications to fields of said consumer member registration modification form.