Systems and methods for on-line scheduling of appointments and other resources
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a computer-based data center for providing an automated computer network-based appointment scheduling service through which a plurality of customers registered with the service are individually capable of scheduling an appointment with one or more of a plurality of businesses registered with the service at a customer-selected appointment time that is selected from one or more business-offered appointment times, wherein the data center comprises;
one or more computer databases that store data, wherein the stored data comprise data regarding the plurality of customers and the plurality of businesses; and
at least one electronic computer device in communication with the one or more computer databases, wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to;
calculate a reliability rating for at least a first customer of the plurality of customers, wherein the reliability rating for the first customer is based on at least, for the first customer, (i) a number of non-no-show scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over a historic evaluation time period and (ii) a total number of scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period, wherein;
the reliability rating is calculated based on a ratio of (i) the number of non-no-show scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period, to (ii) the total number of scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period; and
there are a plurality of possible hierarchical reliability ratings for each of the plurality of customers, and wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to calculate the reliability rating for each customer such that a customer has the highest possible reliability rating when the customer had zero scheduled appointments over the evaluation time period;
compare the reliability rating for the first customer to a reliability rating threshold for a first business of the plurality of businesses upon the first customer transmitting a request to schedule an appointment with the first business at the customer-selected appointment time to the computer-based data center; and
booking the appointment for the first customer at the customer-selected appointment time with the first business when the reliability rating for the first customer equals or exceeds the reliability rating threshold for the first business,wherein the at least one electronic computer device comprises at least one processor circuit and at least one memory circuit in communication with the at least one processor circuit.
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Abstract
Computer-based apparatuses and computer-implemented methods for providing an automated computer network-based, or online, appointment scheduling service through which registered customers are individually capable of scheduling an appointment with a plurality of businesses that are also registered with the online appointment scheduling service. The application describes a reliability rating for each registered customer that is based on the reliability of the customer showing for scheduled appointments for all (or several) of the businesses registered with the online appointment scheduling service, not just one business. In addition, the application describes an optimization algorithm for controlling the start times presented to a customer when selecting an appointment time that seeks to cluster the new appointment to existing appointments for the business in order to reduce time gaps during the day for the business/service provider that are of insufficient duration to schedule other appointments for other customers of the business.
143 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a computer-based data center for providing an automated computer network-based appointment scheduling service through which a plurality of customers registered with the service are individually capable of scheduling an appointment with one or more of a plurality of businesses registered with the service at a customer-selected appointment time that is selected from one or more business-offered appointment times, wherein the data center comprises; one or more computer databases that store data, wherein the stored data comprise data regarding the plurality of customers and the plurality of businesses; and at least one electronic computer device in communication with the one or more computer databases, wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to; calculate a reliability rating for at least a first customer of the plurality of customers, wherein the reliability rating for the first customer is based on at least, for the first customer, (i) a number of non-no-show scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over a historic evaluation time period and (ii) a total number of scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period, wherein; the reliability rating is calculated based on a ratio of (i) the number of non-no-show scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period, to (ii) the total number of scheduled appointments by the first customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period; and there are a plurality of possible hierarchical reliability ratings for each of the plurality of customers, and wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to calculate the reliability rating for each customer such that a customer has the highest possible reliability rating when the customer had zero scheduled appointments over the evaluation time period; compare the reliability rating for the first customer to a reliability rating threshold for a first business of the plurality of businesses upon the first customer transmitting a request to schedule an appointment with the first business at the customer-selected appointment time to the computer-based data center; and booking the appointment for the first customer at the customer-selected appointment time with the first business when the reliability rating for the first customer equals or exceeds the reliability rating threshold for the first business, wherein the at least one electronic computer device comprises at least one processor circuit and at least one memory circuit in communication with the at least one processor circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer-implemented method for providing an automated computer network-based appointment scheduling service through which service-registered customers are individually capable of scheduling an appointment with a plurality of businesses scheduled with the service at a customer-selected appointment time that is selected from one or more business-offered appointment times, the method comprising:
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receiving at a computer-based data center via an electronic data network an electronic communication from a service-registered customer to schedule an appointment with a first business at the customer-selected appointment time, wherein the first business is one of the plurality of service-registered businesses, wherein the data center comprises; one or more computer databases that store data, wherein the stored data comprise data regarding the plurality of customers and the plurality of businesses; and at least one electronic computer device in communication with the one or more computer databases, wherein the at least one electronic computer device comprises at least one processor circuit and at least one memory circuit in communication with the at least one processor circuit; calculating, by the at least one electronic computer device, the reliability rating for the service-registered customer, wherein; the reliability rating is calculated based on a ratio of (i) the number of non-no-show scheduled appointments by the service-registered customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period, to (ii) the total number of scheduled appointments by the service-registered customer with the plurality of businesses registered with the service over the evaluation time period; and there are a plurality of possible hierarchical reliability ratings for service-registered customer, and wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to calculate the reliability rating for the service-registered customer such that the service-registered customer has the highest possible reliability rating when the service-registered customer had zero scheduled appointments over the evaluation time period; comparing, by the at least one electronic computer device, the reliability rating for the service-registered customer to a reliability rating threshold for the first business; and booking, by the at least one electronic computer device, the appointment for the service-registered customer with the first business at the customer-selected appointment time when the reliability rating for the service-registered customer equals or exceeds the reliability rating threshold for the first business. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification