Patent Grant
9299037
The present invention relates to the provision of alert messages to customers of an establishment.
When visiting a business establishment, such as a restaurant, customers often find that, due to a high volume of earlier-arriving customers, they must wait for the business establishment to be ready to offer them services (e.g., to have a table ready at which they can be seated). Rather than having the customers physically standing in a queue during their wait time, it is common for customers to leave their name at a reception desk. Traditionally, a receptionist would call out the customer's name when the services were ready to be offered. More recently, it is common for the receptionist to hand the customer a short range pager. When the establishment is ready to offer services to the customer, the receptionist identifies which pager was handed to the customer and causes an alert signal to be sent to the short range pager. The short range pager responds to the alert signal by activating one or more user interfaces (e.g., visual, audio, and/or tactile) that are interpreted by the customer as an indication that the services are ready to be provided. The user is then supposed to return the pager to the receptionist who then arranges for the services to be provided to the customer (e.g., someone shows the customer to a table) and also arranges for the pager to be made ready for a next customer.
The inventors of the subject matter described herein have recognized that existing customer notification techniques have a number of drawbacks. For example, short range pagers have limited range. This makes it possible for a waiting customer to wander far enough away from the establishment that the customer's pager does will not respond to an alert signal when it is activated. The customer under such circumstances will fail to receive the notification. In the best of such circumstances, delivery of the customer's services are delayed only by the amount of time it takes for the customer to come back within radio range of the establishment and receive the notification. In worse circumstances, the establishment waits only so long before moving on to give the services to a next waiting customer, so that even when the original customer does return to the receptionist, s/he must now wait further for the establishment to again be ready to offer the services.
Other examples of drawbacks of existing notification techniques come from the fact that short range pagers have poor battery life, and are very often stolen.
The inventors of the subject matter described herein have therefore recognized that it is desirable to have other means for providing alert messages to customers of an establishment.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the objects of the invention are achieved in a customer management system and method that perform electronic messaging of customers of an establishment regarding front of house operations, including table availability, and marketing messages. This involves operating a server that hosts system software and is in communication with various other computing devices, via an internet web browser and a wireless network gateway, which establish the operating environment for the system including synchronizing the information communicated within the system. A user interface, hosted upon a computer at a business establishment, provides a host user with multiple processing request options and selection capabilities that can be transmitted to the server for execution and updating of the user interface. The user interface displays configuration information for the establishment. For example, and without limitation, in embodiments in which the business establishment is a restaurant or equivalent, the displayed configuration information includes, without limitation, table layout and seating chart information that can be used to provide reservation information to the user. Through the user interface the host/hostess user can communicate in real-time, via text messaging capabilities provided by the server, with the customer regarding table availability and marketing information. A wireless message gateway enables a customer mobile device to be in communication with the server and thereby enables the customer to receive text message alert notifications (e.g., originating from the business establishment's computer) regarding table availability and marketing messages from the establishment. A secondary device, operated by, for example, a waiter of the establishment, is also in communication with the computer and server and can provide and receive real-time communications from the customer mobile device. The customer is thereby enabled to make attention requests directly to the waiter in accordance with the customer's needs.
The objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings in which:
The various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the figures, in which like parts are identified with the same reference characters.
It should be emphasized that the terms “comprises” and “comprising”, when used in this specification, are taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components; but the use of these terms does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.
The various aspects of the invention will now be described in greater detail in connection with a number of exemplary embodiments. To facilitate an understanding of the invention, many aspects of the invention are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by elements of a computer system or other hardware capable of executing programmed instructions. It will be recognized that in each of the embodiments, the various actions could be performed by specialized circuits (e.g., analog and/or discrete logic gates interconnected to perform a specialized function), by one or more processors programmed with a suitable set of instructions, or by a combination of both. The term “circuitry configured to” perform one or more described actions is used herein to refer to any such embodiment (i.e., one or more specialized circuits and/or one or more programmed processors). Moreover, the invention can additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer readable carrier, such as solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the invention may be embodied in many different forms, and all such forms are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention. For each of the various aspects of the invention, any such form of embodiments as described above may be referred to herein as “logic configured to” perform a described action, or alternatively as “logic that” performs a described action.
Aspects of some embodiments consistent with the invention are characterized by an internet browser based system configured to manage a business establishment's wait queue, and to send one or more alert messages to a customer's own cell phone (e.g., by means of text messages or pre-recorded audio messages) when services are ready to be offered. These and other aspects are described in further detail in the following.
Via any internet connected web browser, a person at the business establishment (e.g., a manager or hostess) logs in to the server 107 with a secure username and password. A successful login causes the server 107 to respond by supplying the computer 101 with interface software 105 (e.g., stored on a fixed or removable non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) that, when run by one or more of the computer 101's processors, causes the computer 101 to provide a user interface that enables the following functionality (the interface software 105 is preferably presented to the user by means of the web browser software):
The computer's user interface software 105 presents the person with an interface that allows for guests to be added to a dynamic queue collecting information about the guests, including their cell phone's telephone number. If the user chooses not to divulge the cell phone telephone number, this can be accommodated by giving the user a traditional pager or even by having the user wait at the location.
After the above-described information is captured and added to the queue, a visual representation is shown on the computer 101, including how long they have waited, the guest's party size, and other relevant information in relation to other guests.
Once a table or service is ready for a particular guest, the name representing that guest can be selected by the person at the business establishment (e.g., by hovering over the guest's name in the display and clicking on it, or in the case of a touch screen, touching the guest's name on the display). In response to this selection, a context menu is displayed. The context menu presents options relevant to the particular business. One option is a command to send an alert message (e.g., an SMS text message, a pre-recorded audio message, or the like) to the guest's cell phone. As will be explained in further detail below, this results in the user's cell phone receiving the alert message, which serves as a notification to the user that the service they desire is ready to be offered. (There may be other reasons why a business establishment would want a guest to return to a reception point, and the alert message may be used for this purpose too.)
In response to the alert message, the guest returns to the reception point. Upon arrival, they check in with the person at the business establishment in person. The person at the business establishment then takes appropriate action(s) to initiate providing the service. For example, in the case of a restaurant, a hostess or manager can choose to seat them at a table. To facilitate selection of a table, the hostess or manager can use the computer 101 to display a business establishment-configured seating chart showing available tables. Once seated (or the service is otherwise initiated), the guest's name is removed from the queue.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, reservations or appointments can also be added via the software interface or via a separate website that can be made available to the general public.
Working in conjunction with the above computer 101 and interface software 105 is the server 107, which, as mentioned above, also has access to the Internet 103. In some embodiments, there may be more than one server, but to facilitate the reader's understanding of the various aspects of embodiments consistent with the invention, only a single server 107 is shown in this embodiment. The server 107 (e.g., comprising one or more programmable processors coupled to storage means for storing program instructions, and to one or more user input/output devices) includes server software 109 (e.g., stored on a fixed or removable non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) that, when run by one or more of the servers 107's processors, causes the server(s) 107 to provide the following functionality: The server(s) 107 receive all traffic from each business establishment location using a software interface provided by the server software 109. Each action on the software interface is recorded in a database (in this sense, the server software 109 can be considered to be partitioned into “middleware” that supplies and then interacts with the user interface software 105, and also a database), and the server 107 collects and processes requests, data, and the like. In some instances, the results of such processing are communicated back to the computer 101 via the Internet connection 103. If an alert message (e.g., SMS text message, pre-recorded audio message, or equivalent) is to be sent to a particular guest, the server 107 connects with an outside service provider 111 (e.g., SMS gateway) and supplies the outside service provider 111 with the alert message to be sent, the guest's telephone number, and in some but not necessarily all embodiments other information (e.g., whether it is an audio message or a text message being sent) that fully instructs the outside service provider 111 with sufficient information to send the alert message to the guest's cell phone 113 via wireless means.
Considering the above-described system as a whole, there are two main pieces of software: one that runs the interface that, via the computer 101, interacts with a person associated with the business establishment, and another piece of software that runs on the server(s) 107. Both send information back and forth to achieve the function described previously. More particularly, the computer 101 runs the software interface 105 (e.g., as a web page within a web browser), which accepts all input from a person associated with the business establishment (e.g., manager or hostess). When actions (e.g., “send alert message to guest”) are invoked (e.g., by someone typing, clicking, using a touch screen of the computer 101), the server(s) 107 respond accordingly. Alert messages sent from the software interface 105 to the server(s) 107 are then sent by the server(s) 107 to the outside service provider 111, which then causes the alert message to be delivered to the guest's cell phone 113 via wireless means.
To set up a system, a person or persons associated with the business establishment would set up an Internet connected computer, open up a web browser, and type in the URL for the main system application located in the server 107. The person enters their issued username and password. If these are valid, the computer 101 presents him/her with a main system interface generated by the server software 109 associated with the server 107. Guests can be added, messaged, managed, removed, and the like. Reservations can be set up, table charts created, guests seated, and more.
In some but not necessarily all embodiments, other actions include one or more of: adding guests to a queue; editing a guest's already-entered information; changing a guest's status; making reservations; defining table layouts. This list of actions is exemplary, and not limiting; the system can further be configured to perform other actions, as appropriate and useful to the particular type of business.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments, Additional software components run in conjunction with, or otherwise use the results of, the components described above. For example, other applications can be incorporated that are configured to use the data collected by the server to produce reports, quick views of activity at a location, sending bulk marketing text messages, and the like. This list is not intended to be exhaustive of all possibilities, but merely exemplary.
The exemplary “add guest to queue” interface 301 further includes “alert method” fields 313 that include selectable fields for entering the guest contact method and applicable information. In the illustration of
When all of the data has been entered, a person associated with the business establishment selects an “add to queue” button 321, which causes the entered information to be entered into the system and the guest added to the system's wait queue. If it is desired to cancel out of this window, the person associated with the business establishment can alternatively select a “cancel” button 323, which cause any entered data to be erased and a return to the main interface 200.
The reservation manager interface 401 also includes an “add reservation” button 411 that, when selected by the user of the computer 101, causes a data entry screen to open up with fields that permit another reservation to be added to the pre-existing ones.
It can be seen that, in this example, reservation slots are spaced 15 minutes apart, starting on the hour. This is user-configurable, with appropriate slot configuration control fields being made available when the user selects the “define reservation slots” tab 403.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to send a text message to a guest letting him/her know what time they were added to the wait list. The same or a different message can also let them know what time they can expect to be alerted based on their stated wait time.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to offer a dual screen mode of operation, whereby a user sets up a second monitor. The software is configured to display the wait list queue on one of the monitors while concurrently displaying a different menu screen, such as a seating chart, on the second monitor.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to enable online reservations to be made by customers without leaving the restaurant website.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to add guests to the wait queue with the information being supplied by a secondary device.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to clear tables (i.e., change the status of one or more tables from “occupied” to “available”), with the information for making the status changing being supplied by a secondary device. Such status changes can be considered “dynamic” in that the status can be expected to change states any number of times during the business establishment's normal course of operation. Updating a dynamic state can result in a corresponding change in pictorial display presented to a user (e.g., a table color can change, with color being coded to indicate either “occupied” or “available”). Any other connected secondary devices can also be updated to reflect the most-recent status information.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments, any action on any connected device can synchronize/update/trigger any data or event on all other connected devices. Every single action in the application can be triggered/synchronized remotely by another connected device or by the central remote server 107. Events include, but are not limited to:
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to change the status of one or more tables from such states as “cleared”, “dirty”, “occupied”, “available’, and the like. The information for making the status change can be supplied by any of a number of sources such as, but not limited to, a hostess station, a secondary device, or a customer's device (e.g., the customer's cell phone 113).
Such an arrangement further enables features such as “waiter paging” whereby, from the main interface (e.g., provided by the software 109), a secondary application (e.g., the customer mobile application 601), or a separate application (not shown), a waiter can be contacted via their own cell phone or other secondary mobile device, wherein the contact informs the waiter that a table is in need of the waiter's attention. For example, the guests at the table may be in a hurry and need to pay their bill right away. Other relevant actions/needs can also be communicated to waiters via this process. The waiter can then respond quickly as requested.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, on or more of the above-described components are configured to activate conventional pager systems from within the web-based software application. This is accomplished by running a secondary bridge application (not shown) that connects to the paging base stations via serial connection, Ethernet, or any other means to activate pagers that resides on at least one computer at the location connected to the paging base station. This secondary bridge application can be implemented in any number of ways so as to be compatible with known brands of paging hardware (e.g., LRS, HME, Jtech systems) without the main part of the application needing any configuration at all. This has the advantage of making the system efficient (in terms of cost and time) to set up at various locations. The secondary bridge application enables additional paging system types to be added at any time without the need to change any code in the main application. This also means that custom paging systems can be integrated for use with only a single customer, if needed. This technology can also be applied to any other hardware device, such as payment systems, cash drawers, printers, interactive screens at each table, just to name a few non-limiting examples. Additional separate applications can be made in a similar fashion to access the main server and read and write data changes without requiring that the main application code be altered in any way.
The secondary bridge application can sit on any computer associated with the location premises and does not need to reside on the same device as the main application. In case of a legacy serial connection, the computer must be physically connected to the paging system. If the paging system has an Ethernet interface, the secondary bridge application does not even need to be directly connected to the paging system, but only needs to be on the same network.
The provision of a secondary bridge application provides an additional benefit in that, if a device that runs the main application (or any other secondary application also) is unable to connect to the paging system directly (e.g., due to lack of serial or USB port, or for some other reason), then the secondary bridge application makes it possible for those devices to still activate pagers directly from their interfaces.
In yet another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments, execution of the paging application triggers the other connected devices (handheld and otherwise) to update their status to reflect the fact that the guest has been paged. This is similar to the other secondary applications triggering an event that is sent to all other connected devices and computer.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to run multiple instances of the software application that stay synchronized via the Internet. Any action carried out on a single instance is carried out on all instances logged into the same account. Synchronization is very important to operating a large location because it is desirable to run any number of machines, distributed throughout the location. The various machines should all stay synchronized with one another for proper operation. For example, suppose an establishment has two entrances (denoted “1” and “2”) on different floors of a building. If the hostess at door 1 seats a party, all hostesses must know about this (i.e., including a hostess at door 2) in order to avoid the possibility of the same table being assigned to other guests arriving at door 2. This is true for many events that the multiple hostesses may need to know at any given moment, such as but not limited to things like queue status, special notes, wait times, table layouts, reservation additions, cancelations, server (e.g., waiter) rotation updates, and special requests. Synchronization updates should be carried out in near real time (e.g., within about 2 seconds). In some embodiments, change events are recorded on the server 107 from the application instances making the change. That event log is scanned by the server 107 at a given polling rate (e.g., anywhere between 0.5 seconds and 20 seconds, with 2 seconds being considered a reasonable rate) prior. If there is a change, data is passed appropriately to each connected device and that new information is displayed accordingly on the device. If two conflicting actions are placed on two or more separate devices within the same polling rate interval, a screen is shown on the second (or more) device(s) inquiring which update should be considered to be the real (final) one. The occurrence of conflicting updates within the same polling interval is likely to be a rare event.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, one or more of the above-described components are configured to confirm reservations by means of SMS text message (or equivalent). If a customer makes a reservation with a location online or otherwise, a text message can be sent to the customer's cell phone and the customer replies to that message to confirm the reservation. In alternative embodiments (or in addition), customers can be provided other mechanisms for confirming a reservation such as, but not limited to, using a voice mail/email system. In exemplary embodiments, a reservation is not activated as a “live” reservation until the confirmation process is completed by the customer. For example, the customer can use his/her cell phone (although any number of alternative methods can be used) to text in a confirmation text message. This is sent to the system's text provider, which relays that message to the server 107. The server then marks the appropriate reservation as “live” and then that update is synchronized to all of the connected devices. This preferably takes place within seconds (e.g., within about 3 seconds) after the text message from the customer has been received.
The customer's confirmation message can be routed through any number of intermediate mechanisms, but ultimately needs to arrive at the server 107 so that the reservation can be stored and provided to the interface 105.
The system is able to distinguish between an instance being accessed in-house (e.g., by one of the employees) and one being accessed online by a customer. Customer facing applications use different system methods from those used by all of the employee/manager applications. All information generated by customer facing applications (e.g., online web reservations, having a customer put him/herself on a Wait Queue) create new records. New records must be created before they can be edited by the staff. For this reason, no editing collision between customer and business establishment personnel can take place.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, the customers can interact with the various applications of the customer management system of the current invention through multiple platforms. These platforms include, without limitation, the Apple™ iOS and Android™ OS environments which enable interaction through mobile and tablet devices as a native application.
In another aspect of some but not necessarily all embodiments consistent with the invention, the customer management system provides an application program interface that enables a user to transmit and receive text messages for various purposes. For example, a text message marketing system may be enabled that is capable of functioning independently and in association with the other functional capabilities of the customer management system of the current invention. Thus, the customer device(s), such as the customer mobile phone that is in communication with the server, may be able to receive marketing text messages in addition to the alert notifications regarding table availability at the establishment that they are capable of receiving from the server. Due to the application program interface, various capabilities, such as the text message marketing system are capable of implementation as a separate, stand-alone system that integrates with the functional capabilities of the current invention. The text message marketing system may provide the customer general marketing information and specific marketing information regarding a particular establishment. The text message marketing system may also provide the customer with coupons, electronic coupons, customer rewards and loyalty program features. It is contemplated that the text message marketing system may communicate various types of information or provide various capabilities to the customer in receipt of the communication.
The invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments. However, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that it is possible to embody the invention in specific forms other than those of the embodiment described above.
For example, consistent with the exemplary restaurant scenario utilized above, terms such as “guests”, “manager”, and “hostess” have been used. However, embodiments consistent with the invention can be utilized in many other contexts (e.g., doctors' offices; bowling alleys; . . . any establishment in which the establishment may not have the resources readily available to serve a consumer when the consumer arrives to receive those services, so that the consumer has to wait in some form of queue for a service, activity, or function).
Accordingly, the described embodiments are merely illustrative and should not be considered restrictive in any way. The scope of the invention is given by the appended claims, rather than the preceding description, and all variations and equivalents which fall within the range of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/478,897, filed Apr. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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