Systems and methods for on-line scheduling of appointments and other resources
First Claim
1. A system 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 scheduling service, 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 determine one or more acceptable start times for a to-be-scheduled appointment on an appointment date for a service provided by a first business of the plurality of businesses in response to receiving by the data center via an electronic data network an electronic communication from a first service-registered customer to schedule the service with the first business on the appointment date, wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to determine one or more acceptable start times for the to-be-scheduled appointment (i) based on at least the duration of the service for the to-be-scheduled appointment and one or more existing appointments for the first business on the appointment date, such that the to-be-scheduled appointment does not conflict with the one or more existing appointments of the first business, and (ii) by applying one or more rules to determine the one or more acceptable start times, wherein the one or more rules comprise;
a first rule that selects a first start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is prior to a first existing appointment for the first business on the appointment date by the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment;
a second rule that selects a second start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is immediately after the first existing appointment for the first business on the appointment date; and
a third rule that eliminates other start times during the appointment date that would not be available given the first start time and the second start time and the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment,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, andwherein data regarding the duration of the service and the existing appointments for the first business on the appointment date are stored in the one or more computer databases.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Computer-based system 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 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.
203 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system 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 scheduling service, 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 determine one or more acceptable start times for a to-be-scheduled appointment on an appointment date for a service provided by a first business of the plurality of businesses in response to receiving by the data center via an electronic data network an electronic communication from a first service-registered customer to schedule the service with the first business on the appointment date, wherein the at least one electronic computer device is programmed to determine one or more acceptable start times for the to-be-scheduled appointment (i) based on at least the duration of the service for the to-be-scheduled appointment and one or more existing appointments for the first business on the appointment date, such that the to-be-scheduled appointment does not conflict with the one or more existing appointments of the first business, and (ii) by applying one or more rules to determine the one or more acceptable start times, wherein the one or more rules comprise; a first rule that selects a first start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is prior to a first existing appointment for the first business on the appointment date by the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment; a second rule that selects a second start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is immediately after the first existing appointment for the first business on the appointment date; and a third rule that eliminates other start times during the appointment date that would not be available given the first start time and the second start time and the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment, 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, and wherein data regarding the duration of the service and the existing appointments for the first business on the appointment date are stored in the one or more computer databases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. 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 registered with the service, 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 a to-be-scheduled appointment with a first business that is one of the plurality of service-registered businesses, wherein the to-be-scheduled appointment is for a service on an appointment date, and 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; determining, by the at least one electronic computer device, one or more acceptable start times for the to-be-scheduled appointment on the appointment date for the service (i) based on at least the duration of the service for the to-be-scheduled appointment and one or more existing appointments for the first business on the appointment date, and (ii) by applying one or more rules to determine the one or more acceptable start times, wherein the one or more rules comprise; a first rule that selects a first start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is prior to a first existing appointment for the first business on the appointment date by the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment; a second rule that selects a second start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is immediately after the first existing appointment for the first business on the appointment date; and a third rule that eliminates other start times during the appointment date that would not be available given the first start time and the second start time and the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment; and transmitting, by the data center via the electronic data network to the service-registered customer, the one or more acceptable start times, wherein data regarding the duration of the service and the existing appointments for the first business on the appointment date are stored in the one or more computer databases. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. 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 registered with the scheduling service, 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 a to-be-scheduled appointment for a service on an appointment date, 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; determining, by the at least one electronic computer device, one or more available businesses of the plurality of businesses that provide the service on the appointment date; determining, by the at least one electronic computer device, one or more acceptable start times for the to-be-scheduled appointment on the appointment date for the service (i) based on at least the duration of the service for the to-be-scheduled appointment and one or more existing appointments for the one or more available businesses on the appointment date, and (ii) by applying one or more rules to determine the one or more acceptable start times, wherein the one or more rules comprise; a first rule that selects a first start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is prior to a first existing appointment for a first available business of the one or more available businesses on the appointment date by the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment; a second rule that selects a second start time for the to-be-scheduled appointment that is immediately after the first existing appointment for the first available business of the one or more available businesses on the appointment date; and a third rule that eliminates other start times during the appointment date that would not be available given the first start time and the second start time and the duration of the to-be-scheduled appointment; and transmitting, by the data center via the electronic data network to the service-registered customer, the one or more acceptable start times, wherein data regarding the duration of the service and the existing appointments for the first available business on the appointment date are stored in the one or more computer databases. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification