Apparatus and methods for providing an estimated time of arrival based marketplace

• US 20020116202A1
• Filed: 02/16/2001
• Published: 08/22/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bantz, David Frederick, Mastrianni, Steven J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,212,975 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0611 Request for offers or quotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for providing an estimated time of arrival based marketplace are provided. The apparatus and methods solicit bids from one or more service providers for a requested service. The service providers may respond with bids that may include a price for providing the requested service along with an estimated time to perform the requested service in a location associated with the service provider. The bids are used, along with travel data obtained from a travel data provider, to generate service search results that are provided to a client device. The service search results include the price charged by the service provider as well as estimated times of completion (ETAs) for obtaining the service from the service provider. The ETA may be a combination of travel time determined from the travel data and time of performance determined from the bid submitted by the service provider. The service search results may further include a service provider rating that provides an indication as to the accuracy of the ETAs. From the service search results, a user of the client device may submit an order for having a particular service provider from the service search results provide the requested service.

Claims

1. A method of providing service provider information to a client device in a distributed computer system, comprising:

obtaining at least one bid from one or more service providers for providing a service;

determining an estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers; and

providing the at least one bid from the one or more service providers and the estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a service provider rating for each of the one or more service providers; and

providing the service provider rating for each of the one or more service providers to the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a selected service provider from the one or more service providers and a command to place an order for the service with the selected service provider; and

placing an order with the selected service provider.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one bid includes a price for providing the service.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one bid further includes an estimated time to perform the service at a location associated with a corresponding service provider.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers includes obtaining route information from a route determination provider based on a first location associated with the client device and a second location associated with the one or more service providers.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining an estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers further includes:

obtaining historical travel data from a historical database; and

calculating an estimated time of travel for each of the one or more service providers based on the route information and the historical travel data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining an estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers further includes adding the estimated time of travel to an estimated time of performing the service at the second location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented in an electronic marketplace provider.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the electronic marketplace provider is present on a proxy server.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the electronic marketplace provider is present on the client device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor determines a service provider rating for each of the one or more service providers and the second interface provides the service provider rating for each of the one or more service providers to the client device.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

a third interface which receives a selection of a selected service provider from the one or more service providers and a command to place an order for the service with the selected service provider; and

a fourth interface which places an order with the selected service provider.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one bid includes a price for providing the service.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one bid further includes an estimated time to perform the service at a location associated with a corresponding service provider.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor obtains route information from a route determination provider based on a first location associated with the client device and a second location associated with the one or more service providers.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processor obtains historical travel data from a historical database and calculates an estimated time of travel for each of the one or more service providers based on the route information and the historical travel data.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor adds the estimated time of travel to an estimated time of performing the service at the second location.

20. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus is a part of an electronic marketplace provider.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the electronic marketplace provider is present on a proxy server.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the electronic marketplace provider is present on the client device.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

fourth instructions for determining a service provider rating for each of the one or more service providers; and

fifth instructions for providing the service provider rating for each of the one or more service providers to the service consumer.

25. The computer program product of claim 23, further comprising:

fourth instructions for receiving a selection of a selected service provider from the one or more service providers and a command to place an order for the service with the selected service provider; and

fifth instructions for placing an order with the selected service provider.

26. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the at least one bid includes a price for providing the service.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the at least one bid further includes an estimated time to perform the service at a location associated with a corresponding service provider.

28. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the second instructions include instructions for obtaining route information based on a first location associated with the service consumer and a second location associated with the one or more service providers.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the second instructions further include:

instructions for obtaining historical travel data; and

instructions for calculating an estimated time of travel for each of the one or more service providers based on the route information and the historical travel data.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the second instructions further include instructions for adding the estimated time of travel to an estimated time of performing the service at the second location.

31. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the computer program product is executed in an electronic marketplace provider.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the electronic marketplace provider is present on a proxy server.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the electronic marketplace provider is present on the client device.

12. An apparatus for providing service provider information to a client device in a distributed computer system, comprising:

a first interface which obtains at least one bid from one or more service providers for providing a service;

a processor which determines an estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers; and

a second interface which provides the at least one bid from the one or more service providers and the estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers to the client device.

23. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for providing service provider information to a service consumer in a distributed computer system, comprising:

first instructions for obtaining at least one bid from one or more service providers for providing a service;

second instructions for determining an estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers; and

third instructions for providing the at least one bid from the one or more service providers and the estimated time of completion for the service for each of the one or more service providers to a service consumer.