Apparatus and method to provide community pricing

• US 9,226,975 B1
• Filed: 12/30/2004
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deem, Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: Deem, Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: Orttung, Mark, Billington, Corey A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayles, Ashford S
• Application Number:
  US11/027,115
• Time in Patent Office: 4,023 Days
• Field of Search: 705/52, 705/5, 705/29, 705/15
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 48/00 Medicinal preparations containing genetic material which is inserted into cells of the living body to treat genetic diseases; Gene therapy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

One embodiment of the invention includes a method and system to obtain data for fees and surcharges charged by multiple providers for multiple services based on prior interactions with the service providers, and provide an estimate for fees and surcharges to be charged by one of the service providers for one of the services based on the prior interactions with the service providers. In one embodiment, the fee data is extracted from one of electronic publishing of fees, billings for services rendered, and employee expense reports. In one embodiment, the estimated fees and surcharges include restricted access to a first subset of data to a first predetermined group.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

obtaining, via a computing device, data for fees and surcharges, charged by multiple service providers for multiple services based on prior interactions with the service providers, wherein the data for fees and surcharges are incurred by a plurality of companies, and wherein the data for fees and surcharges are stored in a database in communication with the computing device;

providing an estimate for fees and surcharges to be charged by one of the service providers for one of the services based on the prior interactions with the service providers;

providing access to a first subset of the data for fees and surcharges stored in the database to a first company of the plurality of companies, wherein the data for the fees and surcharges are itemized;

denying access to the first subset of the data for fees and surcharges stored in the database to a second company of the plurality of companies;

before authorizing purchase of a single fee item associated with a service provided by a service provider and desired by a user, parsing from the single fee item, by the computing device, component portions associated with a plurality of individual services to allow direct cost comparison with the individual services of other service providers;

itemizing details of the single fee item and assigning a monetary cost value to the itemized details of the single fee item based on a profile of the user;

receiving a request for authorization to purchase the service having a fee before the service is performed;

before authorizing purchase of the single fee item, providing to the user costs of the individual services provided by the other service providers;

indicating, before performance of the service, whether the fee complies with company rules;

determining, before performance of the service, whether fee and surcharge information corresponding to a customary service associated with the service provider is provided in the data;

in response to a determination of a missing of the fee and surcharge information corresponding to the customary service in the data, requesting after performance of the service whether the customary service was used;

in response to the requesting whether the customary service was used, querying for provision of the missing of the fee and surcharge information; and

receiving information corresponding to services related to other services provided by the service provider, the related services not offered by the service provider.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the fee data is extracted from one of electronic publishing of fees, billings for services rendered, and employee expense reports.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising surveying a user of a service provider for which there is the missing information and requesting the user to provide pricing for components of services provided by the service provider.

4. The method of claim 3 surveying information from a community of users on amenities provided by a service provider.

5. The method of claim 1 further includes itemizing details of services included in a fee charged by a service provider and assigning a monetary cost value to the services.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the services include at least one of local phone access, toll free telephone access, and high speed Internet access.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing access in real time to the data.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an itemization of services included in the fees of the services provided, wherein the services include at least one of cost of parking, cost of telephone access, cost of food, and cost of beverages provided.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the service provided by the service provider includes at least one of local phone access, toll free telephone access, and high speed Internet access.

9. A tangible non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

obtain data for fees and surcharges charged by multiple service providers for multiple services based on prior interactions with the service providers, wherein the data for fees and surcharges are incurred by a plurality of companies, and wherein the data for fees and surcharges are stored in a database in communication with the computing device;

provide an estimate for fees and surcharges to be charged by one of the service providers for one of the services based on the prior interactions with the service providers;

provide access to a first subset of the data for fees and surcharges stored in the database to a first company of the plurality of companies, wherein the data for the fees and surcharges are itemized;

deny access to the first subset of the data for fees and surcharges stored in the database to a second company of the plurality of companies;

before authorizing purchase of a single fee item associated with a service provided by a service provider and desired by a user, parse from the single fee item component portions associated with a plurality of individual services to allow direct cost comparison with the individual services of other service providers;

itemize details of the single fee item and assigning a monetary cost value to the itemized details of the single fee item based on a profile of the user;

receive a request for authorization to purchase the service having a fee before the service is performed;

before authorizing purchase of the single fee item, provide to the user costs of the individual services provided by the other service providers;

indicate, before performance of the service, whether the fee complies with company rules;

determine, before performance of the service, whether fee and surcharge information corresponding to a customary service associated with the service provider is provided in the data;

in response to a determination of a missing of the fee and surcharge information corresponding to the customary service in the data, request after performance of the service whether the customary service was used;

in response to the requesting whether the customary service was used, query for provision of the missing of the fee and surcharge information; and

receive information corresponding to services related to other services provided by the service provider, the related services not offered by the service provider.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the fee data is extracted from one of electronic publishing of fees, billings for services rendered, and employee expense reports.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the medium further stores instructions for causing the computing device to survey a user of a service provider for which there is the missing information and requesting the user to provide pricing for components of services provided by the service provider.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the service provided by the service provider includes at least one of local phone access, toll free telephone access, and high speed Internet access.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the medium further stores instructions for causing the computing device to provide access in real time to the data.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the medium further stores instructions for causing the computing device to indicate whether a fee to be charged by a service provider is in accordance with predetermined organizational rules.

15. A system comprising:

a processor;

a memory having stored thereon a set of instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the system to;

obtain data for fees and surcharges charged by multiple service providers for multiple services based on prior interactions with the service providers, wherein the data for fees and surcharges are incurred by a plurality of companies, and wherein the data for fees and surcharges are stored in a database in communication with the system;

provide an estimate for fees and surcharges to be charged by one of the service providers for one of the services based on the prior interactions with the service providers;

provide access to a first subset of the data for fees and surcharges stored in the database to a first company of the plurality of companies, wherein the data for the fees and surcharges are itemized;

deny access to the first subset of the data for fees and surcharges stored in the database to a second company of the plurality of companies;

before authorizing purchase of a single fee item associated with a service provided by a service provider and desired by a user, parse from the single fee item component portions associated with a plurality of individual services to allow direct cost comparison with the individual services of other service providers;

itemize details of the single fee item and assigning a monetary cost value to the itemized details of the single fee item based on a profile of the user;

receive a request for authorization to purchase the service having a fee before the service is performed;

before authorizing purchase of the single fee item, provide to the user costs of the individual services provided by the other service providers;

indicate, before performance of the service, whether the fee complies with company rules;

determine, before performance of the service, whether fee and surcharge information corresponding to a customary service associated with the service provider is provided in the data;

in response to a determination of a missing of the fee and surcharge information corresponding to the customary service in the data, request after performance of the service whether the customary service was used;

in response to the requesting whether the customary service was used, query for provision of the missing of the fee and surcharge information; and

receive information corresponding to services related to other services provided by the service provider, the related services not offered by the service provider.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the fee data is extracted from one of electronic publishing of fees, billings for services rendered, and employee expense reports.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the service provided by the service provider includes at least one of local phone access, toll free telephone access, and high speed Internet access.