System and method for enhancing sales for service providers by utilizing an opportunistic approach based on an unexpected change in schedule of services

• US 7,930,205 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kraft, Reiner, Ruvolo, Joann
• Primary Examiner(s): MISIASZEK, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US11/931,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20080059289A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,266 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/10
• US Class Current: 705/7.29
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

Sales associated with service providers is increased using an opportunistic approach based on an unexpected change in a schedule or services (time, location). Windows of opportunity (time, physical location) are automatically identified, and once such a window of opportunity is detected, the people affected directly from the change of a schedule are identified. This information is then used by services providers to act quickly, in order to enhance sales. Heuristics to determine a window of opportunity are based only on schedule changes (which are associated with a rule database), and without knowing who the affected people are or what their preferences (profile data) are.

Claims

1. A system comprising a computer memory storing computer readable program code that is executed by a computer to detect windows of opportunities, said computer memory comprising:

computer readable program code implementing a service provider schema database storing schema descriptions associated with a plurality of data sources, wherein a schema description is associated with a particular data source and identifies data structure and format associated with that particular web based data source;

computer readable program code implementing a cookie crawler simulating user interactions and extracting data from one or more data sources over a network, wherein data extractions are based on stored schema descriptions stored in said service provider schema database;

computer readable program code implementing an event retriever receiving extracted data from said cookie crawler and generating an event pair which comprises a target time value and an actual time value associated with a schedule of service;

computer readable program code implementing an event observer, said event observer receiving said event pairs from said event retriever, calculating the difference between said actual and target time values, and based on one or more rules from a first set of rules, identifying and notifying a window of opportunity detector regarding potential windows of opportunities, wherein each potential window of opportunity defines a time period of customer inactivity; and

computer readable program code implementing said window of opportunity detector receiving said potential windows opportunities and detecting, based on one or more rules from a set of second rules, if a window of opportunity exists, and if so, matching said detected windows of opportunities with service providers for the purposes of providing a new product or a service separate from said scheduled service.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said service provider schema database stores schema descriptions in a document type definition (DTD) format.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said service provider schema database stores schema descriptions in an XML schema format.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more rules from said set of first rules is a threshold rule, and said potential windows of opportunities are identified based on comparing said difference between said actual and target value against said threshold.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more rules from said set of second rules are provided externally by said service providers.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said events are Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) events.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said network is any of the following:

local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or the Internet.

8. A method for detecting windows of opportunities comprising:

storing, using a computer comprising a service provider schema database, schema descriptions associated with a plurality of data sources, wherein a schema description is associated with a particular web based data source and identifies data structure and format associated with that particular web based data source;

simulating, using a computer comprising a cookie crawler, user interactions and extracting data from a particular data source over a network, wherein data extractions are based on a stored schema description associated with said particular data source;

generating, using a computer comprising an event retriever, an event pair from said extracted data, said event pair comprising a target time value and an actual time value associated with a schedule of service;

calculating, using a computer comprising an event observer, the difference between said actual and target time values, and based on one or more rules from a first set of rules, identifying potential windows of opportunities, wherein each potential window of opportunity defines a time period of customer inactivity;

detecting, using a computer comprising a window of opportunity detector and based on one or more rules from a set of second rules, if a window of opportunity exists, and if so, matching said detected window of opportunity with service providers for the purposes of providing a new product or a service separate from said scheduled service.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said service provider schema database stores schema descriptions in a document type definition (DTD) format.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein said service provider schema database stores schema descriptions in an XML schema format.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein said one or more rules from said set of first rules is a threshold rule, and said potential windows of opportunities are identified based on comparing said difference between said actual and target value against said threshold.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein said one or more rules from said set of second rules are provided externally by said service providers.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein said events are Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) events.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein said network is any of the following:

local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or the Internet.

15. An article of manufacture comprising computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, said medium comprising:

computer readable program code aiding in storing schema descriptions associated with a plurality of data sources, wherein a schema description is associated with a particular web based data source and identifies data structure and format associated with that particular web based data source;

computer readable program code aiding in simulating user interactions and extracting data from a particular data source over a network, wherein data extractions are based on a stored schema description associated with said particular data source;

computer readable program code aiding in generating an event pair from said extracted data, said event pair comprising a target time value and an actual time value associated with a schedule of service;

computer readable program code aiding in calculating the difference between said actual and target time values, and based on one or more rules from a first set of rules, identifying potential windows of opportunities, wherein each potential window of opportunity defines a time period of customer inactivity;

computer readable program code aiding in detecting, based on one or more rules from a set of second rules, if a window of opportunity exists, and if so, matching said detected window of opportunity with service providers for the purposes of providing a new product or a service separate from said scheduled service.