System for queue and service management

• US 9,064,359 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2007
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ahold Delhaize Licensing SARL (Ahold Delhaize International SARL)
• Original Assignee: Modiv Media (Catalina Marketing Corporation)
• Inventors: Lert, John G. Jr., Brouhard, Jesse, Bam, Ajay R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosen, Nicholas D
• Application Number:
  US11/952,768
• Publication Number:
  US 20090076875A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,755 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.12, 705/7.13, 705/16, 705/24, 705/500, 379/265.01, 379/265.05
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0229 Multi-merchant loyalty card systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 11/00 Arrangements, systems or apparatus for checking, e.g. the occurrence of a condition, not provided for elsewhere
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2011/04 related to queuing systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5238 with waiting time or load prediction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

A system for service queue management is disclosed including a terminal controlled by the system having a processing platform to generate service queue information for a user, and a mechanism for the user to request or receive the service queue information. The processing platform preferably transmits promotions related to goods and services associated with the service queue information to a user. The mechanism for the user to request or receive service queue information may preferably include a user'"'"'s mobile communications device or a manually-activated device located on the terminal. Service queue information may include a queue number, next queue number to be issued, estimated wait time for service, a predicted time of service, time of issuance of ticket, predicted queue-waiting time, marketing messages, instructions for use of said ticket dispenser, and average queue-waiting time.

Claims

1. A system for service queue management, said system comprising:

one or more devices comprising a ticket dispenser, the ticket dispenser comprising;

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect a proximity of a user;

generate an indication to join the service queue based on the detected proximity; and

cause the request to join the selected service queue to be communicated from the ticket dispenser to the computer based at least in part on the indication;

a computer having one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the computer to;

receive a request to join a service queue from the one or more devices, wherein the service queue relates to a sequence in which at least a first order to be placed at a department of a retail store and at least a second order to be placed at the department are to be taken;

generate service queue information based on the request;

identify, responsive to the request, a promotion for an item available at the department to which the service queue relates; and

cause the promotion and at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to the one or more devices.

2. The system for service queue management of claim 1, wherein the computer is programmed to receive the request via at least one of:

a mobile communications device, an optical card reader, a magnetic card reader, a biometric sensing device, a keypad, a touch screen, or a radio frequency identification (RFID) interface.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the service queue information comprises at least one of:

a queue number, a next queue number to be issued, an estimated wait time for service, a predicted time of service, a time of issuance of ticket, a predicted queue-waiting time, a marketing message, an instruction relating to use of the system, or an average queue-waiting time.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of:

the size of an order, the specific items of the order, the slice thickness of the items of the order, the quantity of the items in the order, the weight of the items of the order, an amount of time previous similar orders take to complete based on historical data, or personnel data associated with the order.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of the time of day an order is placed, or the time of week the order is placed.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on a productivity index associated with a particular service person fulfilling an order.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the promotion comprises a coupon for the item available at the department.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer is further programmed to:

cause the coupon to be applied at a counter associated with the service queue.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer is further programmed to:

cause the coupon to be applied via a loyalty card account.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time, the computer further configured to:

cause an alert to be communicated when the estimated wait time exceeds a predefined amount of time.

11. A system for delivering media based on user identification, said system comprising:

a computer; and

a ticket dispenser comprising;

at least one display; and

a control computer having at least a first physical processor programmed by first computer program instructions that, when executed by the first physical processor, programs the ticket dispenser to;

receive identification information associated with a user;

generate a request to join a service queue for a department of a retail store from the ticket dispenser, wherein the service queue relates to a sequence in which at least a first order to be placed at the department and at least a second order to be placed at the department are to be taken; and

communicate, together or separately, the identification information and the request to the computer,

wherein the computer comprises at least a second physical processor programmed by second computer program instructions that, when executed by the second physical processor, programs the computer to;

receive the identification information and the request to join the service queue;

generate service queue information based on the request;

identify, responsive to the request, a promotion for an item available at the department to which the service queue relates based on the identification information; and

cause the promotion and at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to the ticket dispenser.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the control computer is programmed to receive the identification information via at least one of:

an optical card reader, a magnetic card reader, a biometric sensing device, a keypad, a touch screen, or a radio frequency identification (RFID) interface.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the control computer is programmed to receive the identification information via a mobile device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the identification information comprises at least one of:

a telephone number, an email address, a text message address, a personal identification number (PIN), a bar code, or a loyalty/reward card number.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer is programmed to:

identify a mobile device associated with the user based on the identification information; and

cause the promotion and the at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to the mobile device.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer is programmed to cause the promotion and the at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to the at least one display of said ticket dispenser.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of:

the size of an order, the specific items of the order, the slice thickness of the items of the order, the quantity of the items in the order, the weight of the items of the order, an amount of time previous similar orders take to complete based on historical data, or personnel data associated with the order.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of the time of day an order is placed or the time of week the order is placed.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on a productivity index associated with a particular service person fulfilling the order.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the promotion comprises a coupon.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the control computer is programmed to communicate the coupon to a mobile device.

22. The system of claim 11, wherein the promotion is determined based on a purchase history associated with the identification information.

23. The system of claim 11, wherein the ticket dispenser further comprises:

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect a proximity of a user;

generate an indication to join the service queue based on the detected proximity; and

cause the indication to be communicated to the control computer, wherein the control computer communicates the request to join the service queue based at least in part on the indication.

34. The ticket dispenser of claim 12, further comprising:

a display configured to display the at least a portion of the service queue information;

wherein the processor is further programmed to;

cause an electronic or paper queue ticket to be offered;

determine that the electronic or paper queue ticket was not accepted; and

determine a reason that the electronic or paper queue ticket was not accepted based on the at least a portion of the service queue information that was displayed.

24. A ticket dispenser comprising:

one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the ticket dispenser to;

receive an indication to join a service queue from one or more devices, wherein the service queue relates to a sequence in which at least a first order to be placed at a department of a retail store and at least a second order to be placed at the department are to be taken;

communicate a request to join the service queue based on the indication to a computer remote from the ticket dispenser;

receive, responsive to the request, service queue information and a promotion for an item available at the department to which service queue relates from the computer remote from the ticket dispenser; and

cause the promotion and at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to a user; and

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect a proximity of the user;

generate the indication to join the service queue based on the detected proximity; and

communicate the indication to the one or more physical processors.

25. The ticket dispenser of claim 24, wherein the ticket dispenser further comprises:

at least one manually-activated device, and wherein the indication to join the service queue is based on an actuation of the at least one manually-activated device.

26. The ticket dispenser of claim 24, wherein the ticket dispenser is further programmed to:

receive a user identification via at least one of;

an RFID sensor, a telephone, a pager, or a PDA; and

provide the user identification to the computer remote from the ticket dispenser, wherein the promotion is based further on the user identification.

27. The ticket dispenser of claim 24, wherein the ticket dispenser further comprises:

a printer configured to print the promotion and the at least a portion of the service queue information.

28. The ticket dispenser of claim 24, wherein the ticket dispenser further comprises:

at least one display screen configured to display the promotion and the at least a portion of the service queue information.

29. The ticket dispenser of claim 24, wherein the service queue information comprises at least one of:

a queue number, a next queue number to be issued, an estimated wait time for service, a predicted time of service, a time of issuance of ticket, a predicted queue-waiting time, one or more marketing messages, one or more instructions for use of the ticket dispenser, or average queue-waiting time.

30. The ticket dispenser of claim 24, wherein one or more alerts related to the service queue are transmitted to a mobile device associated with the user.

31. The system of claim 24, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of:

the size of an order, the specific items of the order, the slice thickness of the items of the order, the quantity of the items in the order, the weight of the items of the order, an amount of time previous similar orders take to complete based on historical data, or personnel data associated with the order.

32. The system of claim 24, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of the time of day the order is placed or the time of week the order is placed.

33. The system of claim 24, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on a productivity index associated with a particular service person fulfilling the order.

35. A ticket dispenser for managing more than one service queue, said ticket dispenser comprising:

a physical processor programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the physical processor, cause the ticket dispenser to;

provide a selectable plurality of different types of service queues each related to a department of a retail store, wherein a given service queue relates to a sequence in which at least a first order to be placed at a given department and at least a second order to be placed at the given department are to be taken;

receive a selection of one of the plurality of different types of service queues; and

communicate a request to join a service queue associated with the selected one of the plurality of different types of service queues to a computer remote from the ticket dispenser;

receive, responsive to the request, service queue information associated with the service queue and a promotion for an item available at a department associated with the service queue from the computer remote from the ticket dispenser; and

cause the promotion and at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to a user.

36. The ticket dispenser of claim 35, wherein the ticket dispenser further comprises:

a plurality of display screens each associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of different types of service queues.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of:

the size of an order, the specific items of the order, the slice thickness of the items of the order, the quantity of the items in the order, the weight of the items of the order, an amount of time previous similar orders take to complete based on historical data, or personnel data associated with the order.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of the time of day an order is placed or the time of week the order is placed.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on a productivity index associated with a particular service person fulfilling an order.

40. The ticket dispenser of claim 35, wherein the plurality of different types of service queues are associated with at least one of:

a bakery, a deli, a pre-prepared foods section, a sushi section, or a pharmacy.

41. The ticket dispenser of claim 35, further comprising:

a display screen configured to toggle between the plurality of different types of service queues.

42. The ticket dispenser of claim 35, wherein the ticket dispenser further comprises:

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect a proximity of the user;

generate an indication to join the service queue based on the detected proximity; and

cause the indication to be communicated to the physical processor, wherein the physical processor communicates the request to join the service queue based at least in part on the indication.

43. A system for alerting a user to service queue related information, said system comprising:

a computer having one or more physical processors programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the computer to;

receive a request, from one or more devices, to join a service queue selected from among a plurality of different types of service queues, wherein a given service queue relates to a sequence in which at least a first order to be placed at a given department and at least a second order to be placed at the given department are to be taken;

generate service queue information based on the selected service queue;

identify, responsive to the request, a promotion for an item available at a department associated with the selected service queue; and

cause at least a portion of the service queue information and the promotion to be communicated to the one or more devices, wherein the one or more devices comprise a ticket dispenser, the ticket dispenser comprising;

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect a proximity of a user;

generate an indication to join the service queue based on the detected proximity; and

cause the request to join the service queue to be communicated from the ticket dispenser to the computer based at least in part on the indication, and wherein the computer is programmed to cause the at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated via the ticket dispenser.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the one or more devices comprise a mobile communications device, and wherein the computer is programmed to cause the at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated via the mobile communications device.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of:

the size of an order, the specific items of the order, the slice thickness of the items of the order, the quantity of the items in the order, the weight of the items of the order, an amount of time previous similar orders take to complete based on historical data, or personnel data associated with the order.

46. The system of claim 43, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on at least one of the time of day an order is placed or the time of week the order is placed.

47. The system of claim 43, wherein the service queue information comprises an estimated wait time based on a productivity index associated with a particular service person fulfilling an order.

48. A ticket dispenser comprising:

one or more physical processors; and

a proximity sensor configured to;

detect a proximity of a user;

generate an indication to join a service queue based on the detected proximity; and

communicate the indication to the one or more physical processors,

wherein the one or more physical processors are programmed by computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the ticket dispenser to;

receive the indication to join the service queue from the proximity sensor;

communicate a request to join the service queue to a computer remote from the ticket dispenser based on the indication;

receive service queue information and a promotion related to the service queue from the computer; and

cause the promotion and at least a portion of the service queue information to be communicated to the user.

49. The ticket dispenser of claim 48, further comprising:

a display configured to display the at least a portion of the service queue information;

wherein the ticket dispenser is further programmed to

cause an electronic or paper queue ticket to be offered;

determine that the electronic or paper queue ticket was not accepted; and

determine a reason that the electronic or paper queue ticket was not accepted based on the at least a portion of the service queue information that was displayed.