CA2590999A1 - Method and system of providing an online calendar for a number of different service providers - Google Patents
Method and system of providing an online calendar for a number of different service providers Download PDFInfo
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Abstract
Description
industrY ~ntlustrle Canatla Canetla ~II~I I 2007/06/04 ~II~ I
IIII~~~ 155 _ ~
C-Po oPIC E000514347 METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PROVIDING AN ONLINE CALENDAR FOR A
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SERVICE PROVIDERS
This invention is in the field of online scheduling and more particularly to online appointment scheduling among a number of different practitioners.
BACKGROUND
Traditionally, if a person wanted to book an appointment with a servicc provider, such as a health care service provider like a massage therapist, they would call the office or the location where the practitioner provides the services and talk to a receptionist. The receptionist would then usually go through the appointment book for the practitioner and between the receptionist and the cliettt the two of them would determine an appointment for the client to see the practitioner.
W'hile this method worked, it was somewhat cumbersome and time cottsuming requiring each office or location to provide at least one receptionist to handle the calls and determine what appointments are available.
In some circtuttstances a client will not know who they would like to use as a practitioner, this is common when a client has not used a practitioner before and does not know who they would like to use. Typically, the client will just look in a telephone directory for a practitioner offering the service and will simply calE the number provided.
It is often hard for a client to determine which practitioner to contact to book an appointment if they have not dealt with the practitioner before.
Additionally, often a client desires an appointment at a specific time and is not overly coneerned about setting an appointment with a specific practitioner. In this case, the client would typically call a number of different locations providing the receptionist with his or her desired time slot and seeing if a practitioner at the location or several practitioners at the location have the desired time slot available for the appointment. The client would continue this with different locations and practitioners until they fmd one acceptable to them with the available time slot available for an appointment.
SUMMARY OF'THE INVENTION
It is an object of the prescnt invention to provide a system and inethod that overcomes problems in the prior art.
A client can use a computer connected to the internet to access web pages displayed by a central server. These web pages allow a client to obtain information on practitioners offering services in the client's area, such as massage therapists, etc.
Practitioners using the website can choose from a number of different options in how thcy arc portrayod on the websites. All the practitioners with records in a database connected to the central server can have some information displayed about the practitioner when a client uses the website to search for them specifically, either using part or all of the name of the practitioner or by a client code assigned to each practitioner.
Some practitioners will only have a basic level of information provided, such as their contact telephone number and their location. Other practitioners can choose to have more information provided to the client such as the serviccs thcy offer, fees, etc.
when a client searches for the practitioner specifically using all or part of their name or a client code specifically assigned the practitioner.
Additionally, practitioners can have calendars of their appointments available online.
This allows the practitioners themselves to log on to the website and can access lheir own calendar or allow their clients to log on to the website and have access to their calendars so that they can see what appointments a practitioner has available and book an appointment with the practitioner online in a free timc slot.
In a further aspect, some practitioners may choose to have new clients referred to them, a client can search the website by indicating a desired time for an appointment and all practitioners with the time slot free, and allowing the referral of new clients, will be located by the website. The list of practitioners with the desired time slot available will then be sorted based on how much the practitioner agrces to pay for the refetTal and a sorted list of some of the located practitioners, with the desired time slot available, is presented to the client. The client can then choose the practitioner they would like the appointment with and the appointment is immediately booked online in the practitioner's calendar.
l0 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions hereof, preferred embodiments are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best understood in conjunction with the accompanying diagrams whcre like parts in each of the several diagrams are labeled with like numbers, and where:
Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a data processing device;
Fig. 2 is schematic illustration of a system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of the database; and Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of searching for a practitioner with an available appointment in a desired time slot.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
Fig. 1 illustrates a data processing system 1 suitable for supporting the operation of a to remote client device or remote practitioner device in accordance with the present invention. The data processing system 1 could be a personal computer, server, mobile computing device, cell phone, etc. The data pmcessing system I typically comprises: at least one proc:essing unit 3; a memory storage device 4; at least one input device 5; a display device 6; a program module 8 and a network intcrface 10.
The processing unit 3 can be any processor that is typically known in the art with the capacity to run the provided methods and is operatively coupled to the memory storage device 4 through a system bus. In some circumstances the data processing system 1 may contain more than one processing unit 3. The memory storage device 4 is operative to store data and can be any storage device that is known in the art; such as a local hard-disk, etc. and can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories for providing temporary storage.
Additionally, -PxgeS-the memory storage device 4 can be a database that is extemal to the data processing system 1 but operatively coupled to the data proccssing system 1. The input device 5 can be any suitable device suitable for inputting data into the data processing system 1, such as a keyboard, mouse or data port such as a network connection and is operatively coupled to the processing unit 3 and operative to allow the processing unit 3 to receive information from the input device 5. The display device 6 is a CRT, LCD
monitor, etc.
operatively coupled to the data processing system I and operative to display information.
The display device 6 could be a stand-alone screen or if the data processing system I is a mobile device, the display device 6 could be integrated into a casing containing the processing unit 3 and the metnory storage device 4. The program niodule 8 is stored in the memory storage device 4 and operative to provide instructions to processing unit 3 aad the processing unit 3 is responsive to the instructions from the program module 8.
The network interface 10 allows the data processing system I to be connected to a computer network such as an intranet or the intGrnet.
Although other internal components of the data processing system 1 are not illustrated, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that only the componcnts of the data processing system 1 necessary for an understanding of the present invention are 2o illustrated and that many more componcnts and interconnections between them arc well known and can be used.
-Ppge7-Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a system 100 in an aspect of the present invention.
System 100 eomprises: a plurality of remote client device 120; a plurality of remote practitioner devices 130; a network 140 and a central server 110 operably connected to a database 150.
The central server 110 is typically a web server allowing any of the remote client devices 120 or remote practitioner device 130 to access web pages displayed by the central server 110.
lo The network 140 is typically the ]fnternet, howevcr, it could also be a intranet, extranet or similar communication network that allows the central server 110 to be in communication with the customer remote client devices 120 and practitioner remote practitioner devices 130.
Both the remote client devices 120 and practitioner reniote practitioner devices 130 are personal computers or other mobile communieation devices, such as data processing system I as illustrated in Fig. 1, and operative to access the network 140 and to display web pages using a web browser.
A customer operating a remote client device 120 can access the central server through the network 140 in a client/server relation, such as with the central server 110 operating as a web server and providing web pages in a markup language such as, HTML
or XML that are readable by the remote client device 120 using a web browser program installed on the remote client device 120.
The remote practitioner device 130 can also access the central server 110 through the network 140, again typically in the client/server relation with the remote practitioner device 130 accessing web pages comprises a markup language displayed by the central server 110 readable by the remote practitioner device 130 using a web browser program installed on the remote practitioner device 130.
Database 150 is operably connected to the central scrvcr 110, such that data stored in the database 150 is accessible by the central server 110.
Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of a data model used by database 150 to store information in an aspect of the invention. A number of practitioner records 210 are stored in the database 150. Each practitioner record 210 relates to a practitioner that offers services on the website displayed by the central server 110.
Each practitiotter record 210 contains a practitioner identifier 215 and one or more customer identifiers 220. The practitioner identifier 215 allows the practitioner record 210 to be associated with a specific practitioner and allows the practitioner to gain access to his or her corresponding practitioner record 210 associated with him or her so that the practitioner can access and add or change the information contained in the practitioner record 210. For example, the practitioner may wish to update or change his or ccr profile 240, add money to his or her deposit amount 230, or updatelchange his or her calendar 250. This can be done by the practitioner using his or her practitioner identifier 210.
In an aspect there will be a class indicator 218 which indicates the class of the practitioner record 210. Based on what class the practitioner record 210 belongs to, the practitioner record 210 is used in different ways by the system. For example, a first class, class A, allows clients to make online bookings with the practitioner associated with the practitioner recvrd 210, allows the practitioner to be located by searching the website and ic the practitioner associated with the practitioner record 210 will be able to receive bookings from new clients that have searched an appointment that the practitioner has available. A second class, class B, are allowed to book online but will not receive any new clients. Class C are not be able to book appointments online but information in their portfolio will be displayable to a user when looked up. Class D will only display a limited amount of moncy by a uscr.
Each practitioner record 210 has a deposit amount 230 that indicates the amount of money a practitioner has on deposit with the system to pay for referrals as well as a referral amount 235 that is set by the practitioner and indicates the amount a practitioner has agreed to pay for each referral by the system. Each timc a ncw client is referred to the practitioner by the system, the amount indicated in the referral amount 235 is subtracted from the amount indicated in the deposit amount 230. If the amount indicated in the depmit amount 230 dmps below a minimum level, the practitioner is notified and no new clients will be referred to the practitioner until he or she provides a deposit to bring the deposit amount 230 above the minimum level.
A call center field 237 indicates whether a practitioner desires appointmcnts to be booked through a call center.
Additionally, each practitioner record 210 has one ore more practitioner profiles 240 of that practitioncr containing data pertaining to that practitioner. Because each practitioner may provide services out of more than one location, the practitioner record 210 can have a different practitioner profile 240 for each location the practitioner offers services out of.
Each practitioner profile 240 contains information about the practitioner such as: a nanie field.containing the name of the practitioner; a location field, containing the location the practitioner profile 240 relates to; types of scrviccs offcred at the location; fees for the different services; gender; certification details; methods of payment; a general message for clients; etc. By each practitioner record 210 having a separate practitioner profile 240 for each location the practitioner practices out of, a practitioner can tailor each practitioner profile 240 individually; providing diffcrcnt addresses for the locations, different services provided at different locations and even different fees at the different locations.
In an aspect, the practitioner profile 240 can include a general message that is shown whenever a client accesses the practitioner profile 240. In this manner, a practitioner can notify his or her clients or potential clients of any important information or events, such as moving to a new location, etc. using his or her practitioner profiie 240.
The practitioner record 210 also has one or more linked calendars 250 associated with it.
Each calendar 250 indicates the times that a practitioner has available for appointments at a location as well as indicating which of these appointments times have been booked and by whom. In some cases, a practitioner may operate out of more than one location and a calendar 250 can be created for each location that a practitionea practices in. Typically, each calendar 250 associated with a practitioner reoord 210 will correspond with one of the practitioner profiles 240.
Each calendar 250 typically records intervals of the day (typically in 15 minute intervals) and allows the calendar to be graphically displayed by the central server 110 as part of a web page in daily, weekly or monthly format. Appointments are indicated in the time slots.
In an aspect, periodically, the central server 110 runs a program Lhat checks all of the calendars 250 associated with a practitioner record 210 to ensure the practitioner is not double booked with two appointments at the same time in two different locations and if it finds two corresponding appointments notify the practitioner of this conflict in his or her schedule (typically by email).
A practitioner, using a remote practitioner device 130, can log on to a webpage displayed by the central server 110 to access his or her corresponding practitioner record 210 contained in the database 150. To do this, the practitioner uses the practitioner identifier indicated in the practitioner identifier field 215 of the practitioner record 210 typically with the addition of a password or other method of authentication. Once the practitioner has been logged in and authenticated by the central server 110, he or she is given ac:cess to his or her practitioner record 210. The practitioner can alter the amount set for his or her referral amount 235, enable/disable the call center 237. The practitioner profiles 240 associated with the practitioner record 210 of the practitioner can be changed or updated, such as if a practitioner moves the address of one of his or her offices or changes the fees they charge for certain services at one of the locations. Additionally, the practitioner can check their one or more calendars 250 associate with their practitioner record 210 to see what appointments are booked on ccrtain days and manuatly enter or change appointments in one of more of these calendars 250. The calendar 250 will display each appointment contained in the calendar 250 along with information about the appointment, such as the client who booked the appointment, relevant information about the client, and any additional information that may be relevant to the practitioner.
Additionally, the appointments in an aspect indicate how the appointment was booked. For example, if a client is a new client referred through the system, the appointment will indicate that the -Puge 13-client is a new referred client. If the client booked the appointment through a call center, this will be indicated in the appointment. If a client searched specifically for the practitioner and booked the appointment online, this will be indicated in the appointment.
In this manner, a practitioner looking at appointments booked in his or her calendar 250 can easily determine how the appointnient was booked.
Additionally, a number of client records 260 are contained in the database 150. Each client record 260 has a client profile 265 that contains information about the client, such as his or her name, addrcss, ctc. Each client record 260 is associated with any calendars t0 250 they have appointments on. If a client books an appointment with a practitioner, the calendar 250 associated with the corresponding practitioner record 210 is associated with that client's corresponding client record 260 as well keeping a record of what appointments that client has made and with which practitioner or practitioners.
t5 A client can access a webpage displayed by the central server 110 using a remote client device 120. The web page displayed on the remote client device 120 gives the client a number of options: they can search for appointment in a desired time slot across a number of the practitioners or they can search for a specific practitioner.
20 Before a client can use the web pages displayed by the central server 110 to book appointments for services offered by practitioners online, the client must provide some information to create a client record 260, if a client record 260 has not yet been created -Pagel4-for the client. The client will be prompted to enter inforrnation about themselves, such as their name, address, etc. In this manner, a client record 260 can be created and appointrnents booked by the client can be stored including information regarding the appointment, such as which practitioner was used, the service booked, the time used, etc.
Additionally, upcoming appointments will be available t.o a client by their accessing their client record 260. In this manner, they can see what upcoming appointmenu they have booked, as well as, the information relevant to these upcoming appointments, such as the time, location, practitioner and service booked.
-0 If a client has already created a client record 260 they can log into the website and their specific client record 260.
SEARCHING FOR AN AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT
in an aspect, a client can search for an available appointment from among a number of is different practitioners and book an appointment with a practitioner that has the desired time slot available for an appointment. In this manner, a client does not have to be limited to the time available to any single practitioner, but can choose a desired time slot for an appointment and then the system will search out a practitioner that can provide this service in the desired time.
A client uses a remote client device 120 to access a login page displayed by the central server 110 and either creates a new client record 260 if it is their first time using the - Page l5-website, or attematively logs into their already existing client record 260.
To search for an appointment among a group of potential practitioners, the client spccifics a desired time for an appointment as well as any additional criteria or constraints for thc appointment. Typically, the client will specify the desired length of the appointment if different lengths of time are available. For example, if the client wanted to schedule an appointment for a massage, they may specify the length of the massage, such as minutes; 45 minut.es; 60 minutes; and 90 minutes, as well as the type of massage they desire. To select the time, typically a calendar interface is provided where all of the available time slots are shown on a calendar interface and the client can select the desired 1 o time slot for the appointment.
In an aspect, any request for a time slot that is within 30 minutes of the present time is refused by the system because it would not necessarily allow enough time for the client to get to the location of the practitioner.
Additionally, the client can enter a number of search criteria andlor search constraints in addition to their time slot. In an aspect, the client can specify a period of flexibility they have available surrounding the desired time slot. For example, a client may specify a flexibility period of plus and/or minus 15 minutes, 30 minutes, l hour, 2 hours, etc. that ?A they would accept an appoint around the time slot they indicated. In an aspoct, the client tnay also be able to include preferred gender, if the client has a preferencc, type of payments methods they prefer, etc. In another aspect, a client can specify the number of people for the appointment. If more than one person would like an appointment at lhc same time (i.e. a family of 2 or 3 people would like to make a single trip), this can be specified.
In an aspect, the client furnishes information to identify their location, such as a zip code or postal code, so that the system can only return information regarding practitioners that are in the same area as the client.
Once the client instigates the search with a desired time slot and any other additional lo specified search criteria or constraints, the client uses the remote client device 120 to transmit this information to the central server 110. Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method conducted by the central server 110 upon receiving search criteria from a client searching for a practitioner with a desired time slot open for an appointment.
Method 300 comprises the steps of: receiving client search criteria 310; determining search constraints 320; generating appointment candidates 330; sorting the generated appointments 340; transmitting sorted appointments to remote devices 350;
receiving selected booking 360; booking calendar entries 370; adjusting practitioner deposit 380;
and sending an email notification 390.
The method 300 starts when the client search criteria are receired from a customer at step 310. The client search criteria includes the desired time of the appointment, the service requested, the length of time of the appointment, as well as any other critcria or constraints.
Any searc:h wnstraints that limit the practitioners that a client would book an appointment with are determined at step 320. For example, only practitioners offering the desired service will be acceptable or if a client spccifced a preferred gender, this will exclude practitioners of the other gender. Additional7y, if practitioners in several relatively diverse geographical locations are represented in the system and a client has provided information regarding where he or she is located, a constraint imposed on the lo search results might be the gcographical location of the practitioner.
Once any constraints are det.erniined at step 320, the method 300 uses the received search criteria and any determined constraints to generate a set of candidate appointments which practitioners have availablc in the requested time slot at step 330. Referring to Fig. 3, all of the calendars 250 stored in the database 150 arc searched to determine which of the calendars 250 have appointments for the desired service in the requested time slot and meet any other additional imposed constraints such as location. If a calendar 250 has an available appointment in the requested time slot and meets the other additionally imposed criteria, the practitioner record 210 associated with thc calendar is retrieved including the referral amount 235 and the deposit amount 230 of tliat practitioner record 210. Any practitioner record 210 that have a deposit amount 230 indicating an amount less than the minimum amount required are excluded from the set of practitioner records 210.
The -Page I s -class indicator 218 is also checked to determine which class is assigned to each of the located practitioner records 210 and any practitioner records 210 that indicale they belong to a class that does not allow new client bookings are removed from the set of practitioner records 210 generated in the search. In this manner, a set of practitioner records 210 is gencratcd whcre cach practitioner record 210 in the set has an available appointment for the requested service in the requestcd time slot and meets the other constraints.
In an aspect where a client has specified more than one person wants an appointment for the same time, method 300 will search the calendars for a location containing the to required number of practitioners where the necessary number of practitioners have the desired time slot available.
Referring again to Fig. 4, at step 340 the generated set of practitioner records 210 is sorted. Typically, the referral amount 235 in each practitioner record 210 is evaluated and the practitioner records 210 are sorted based on the practitioner record 210 with the highest referral amount 235. In this manner, practitioners can increase their rankings on the list of retutned practitioners by setting a higher referral amount 235 and thus be ranked over practitioners that have set lower referral mounts 235 in their practitioner records 210.
Details of the selected practitioners with the desired time slot free for an appoinlrnent are then displayed for the client at step 350. Information supplied by the practitioner profile il 240 is taken and can be displayed to the client in the sorted order with details of the appointment such as the name of the practitioner, location of the practitioner, fee for the service requested, methods of accepted payment, etc. Allowing the client to browse the different practitioners and select one of their choosing to book his or her appointment with.
In an aspect, only the top three practitioners from the sortcd set of practitioner records 210 are selected and displayed to the customer with only the information regarding the first practitioner displayed in full. The customer can then select one of the other two to practitioners to see the information regarding them without rranoving the information displayed regarding the first practitioner. In this manner, the highest ranked practitioner is displayed to greater advantage than the other practitioners displayed to the client.
A custonner will have the ability to book their appointment with one of the listed practitioners by selecting the practitioner they would like to book their appointment with.
Once a user selects a practitioner to book his or her appointment with, this booking informalion is received at slep 360, at the appointment is booked into the calendar of the selected practitioner at step 370. Referring to Fig. 3, the calendar 250 associated with the practitioner record 210 is accessed and the appointment placed in the calendar 250.
Typically, along with booking the appointment being placed in the calendar 250 of the practitioner, an indicator is provided with the appointment to indicate to the practitioner that the client booked the appointment through searching on the website. This indicates to the practitioner how many clients are being referred to them through the search feature of the system as well as indicating to the practitioner that they will be charged a referral fee for this new client. As we1l, a link is provided in the appointment so that the practitioner can select the link and be linked to the client record 260 for that client and be provided with information regarding the client from the client profile 265, such as name, telephone number, address, email, fax, etc.
In an aspect, when an appointment is booked in a calendar 250 associated with a 1o practitioner record 210, an extra 15 minutes is added to the appointment to give the practitioner time between appointments to prepare for the next client.
At step 380 the deposit amount 230 is adjusted in the practitioner record 210, if the practitioner is paying on a referral basis. The referral amount 235 that the practitioner has selected to pay for each referral of a new client from the system is subtracted from the deposit amount 230 in the practitioner record 210 and if the deposit amount 230 dips below a minimum level as a result of the refen:al, the practitioner is notified.
Altetnatively, if the practitioner is paying a monthly fee for referrals rather than a fee on a referral by referral basis, this step 380 is conducted my method 300.
At step 390 an email is sent to the client confirming the booked appointment.
Typically, this email along with a confirmation also includes the details of the appointment -Page2! -including: the name of the practitioner, the location where the appointment is to take place; when the appointment is; how long the appointment is; how much the charge for the appointment will be; etc. Additionally, a link can be provided in the eniail allowing the customer to link to the practitioner profile 240 of the practitioner contained in the practitioner record 210 associated with the practitioner to see various details of the practitioner. In a further aspect, the email will also have a link allowing the customcr to change or cancel the appointment.
In this manner, a user can access a wcbsite, enter his or her desired time slot for an appointment for a servicc offered by a practitioner and any other desired or required criteria and a list of practitioners with that time slot is provided to the user. The list of practitioners with an open appointment in the desired time slot is sorted based on the amount the practitioner has agreed to pay for the referral. The user can then select to book the appointment and the appointment is automatically entered into the practitioner's calendar 250.
SEARCH FOR SINGLE PRACTIONER
In addition to allowing a client to search for a practitioner able to accept an appointment for a desired service in a desired time slot, the system allows a client to search for a specific practitioner and if the practitioner has online booking, exaniine the practitioners calendar and book an appointment with the practitioner using the remote client device 120.
= Page 22 -Additionally, a client can use a remoie client device 120 to access the webpage displayed by the central server 110 in order to search for a specific practitioner. A
client can enter the first and/or last name of a specific practitioner they are looking for.
Altematively, if the client knows the practitioner's specific client code, they can use this code to view information from the praetitioner record 210 corresponding to the practitioner.
Once a client has located his or her desired practitioner, a full sct of inforroation regarding the practitioner corresponding to the located practitioner record 210 is displayed, if the class indicated in tbe class indicator 218 is one of classes A, B or C.
This full set of information can include any information provided in the practitioner record 210 con:esponding to that practitioner. If the class indicated in the class indicator 218 is class D, a subset of the information in the practitioner profile 240 is displayed providing only a limited amount of information about the practitioner to the client, such as: only the name of the practitioncr; telephone number; fax number; email address;
website; any official registrations; types of services qualified to do or offered by the practitioner; and, in an aspect, a resume of the practitioner.
Additionally, if the practitioner record 210 indicates that it belongs to class A or B in the class indicator 218, the client can gain access to the onc or more of the calendars 250 associated with the practitioner record 210 located in the client's search, and the client can see what appointments the practitioner has available and book an appointment in an =Page23-available time slot. Instead of seeing all of the information related to a pmctitioner's appointments, such as the client's names, etc., that have booked each of the appointments, the client typically will only see which time slots are available.
In a further aspect, a practitioner can have his or her practitioner record 2101'inked to the practitioner record 210 of another practitioner, forming a group of practitioners that work together, either at the same location or at different locations. A client can then access the associated practitioner record 210 belonging to another practitioner and view that practitioner's calendar 250 in order to book an appointmcnt with that practitioner. In this to manner, the practitioner can work together with a number of other practitioners even though they may not work at the same location and if a client, who wants a timc slot for an appointrnent with a favorite practitioner, finds the appointment unavailable with that practitioner, the client may view the calendars 250 of the associated practitioners and book an appointment through one of these associated practitioners.
In a further aspect, rather than having a practitioner record 210 associated with calendars 250 of other practitioners, a practitioner can refer clients to another practitioner for a fee.
Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a niethod 500 for booking an appointment and making a referral if the appointment is full. Method 500 comprises: locating a dcsircd practitioner record 510; selecting a time slot 520; checking for an available time slot 530;
recommending a different practitioner 540; selecting a recommended practitioner 550-.
transferring a deposit from a recommended practitioner to the initially located practitioner 560; making an appointment 570; and sending an email to the client 580.
At step 510 the practitionex record 210 for the desired practitioner is located. The client can locate the desired practitioner by either searching for the practitioner using the name of the practitioner or other identifier of the practitioner.
Once the practitioner record 210 is located for the desired practitioner at step 510, an appointment is selected for a desired time slot at step 520 and this sclected time slot is compared to the calendar 250 of the practitioner, at step 530, to determine if the time slot is available. If the time slot is available at step 530, the method 500 continues to step 570 where the appointment is placed in the calendar 250 of the practitioner and an email confirmation is send to the client at step 580. If however, at step 530 the practitioner does not have the time slot available (either because they are not taking appointments at that time, they are in a different location or have a preexisting appointment in that time slot) the method 500 recommends one or more other practitioners to the client at step 540.
At step 540, the practitioner originally selected by the client is able to recontmend the names of one or more other practitioners when that practitioner does not have an available appointment at the selected time. The client is then presented with a list of one or more other practitioners. Typically, each practitioner listed is a link to that practitioners calendar 250 associated with their practitioner record 210.
At step 550, a practitioner is selected and the calendar 250 associated with the practitioner record 210 for that practitioner is acccss. At step 560 the deposit amounts 230 for the two practitioner records 210 are adjusted if the practitioner is guing on a referral by referral fee basis. For the practitioner who is being recommended, the deposit amount 230 in that practitioner's practitioner record 210 is decreased by a detetmined amount and the deposit amount 230 for the recommending practitioner is increased in his or her practitioner record 210. In an aspcct, a fee is taken by the website for allowing the recommendation to given.
The fee charged could be a one time fee for the referral. Alternatively, a fee could be directed to the original referred each subsequent time the client books an appointment with the referred practitioner.
In additional aspect, rather than a practitioner paying on a referral by referral basis, they could elect to pay a monthly fee to have other practitioners refer clients to him or her.
At step 570 one of the recommended practitioners is selected by the client and the profile from the profile record 240 of the practitioner is displayed. A client can then book their appointment with the practitioner, if the practitioner has an appointment available in the time slot and steps 570 and 580 are conducted by the method 500 with the appointment being made in the calendar 250 of the recommended practitioner and an email confirming the appointment being sent to the client.
CALL CENTER
In a further embodiment, rather than a client having access to the remote client device 120 that is operable eommunication with the central server 110, an intermediate may be operating the remote client device 120 and the client has access through the system through a telephone call center.
Rather than the client accessing a website displayed by the central server 110 directly, the client uses a telephone system to call an operator at a call center and verbaily asks to book the appointment, the operator than uses the remote client device 120 to access a webpage displayed by thc ccntral server 110. If the client is a new client, the opcrator will ask the client questions about him or her and use this information and the remote client device 120 to create a new client record 260 in the database for the client. If the client is a retuming client, the operator uses the remote client device 120 to access the already existing clicnt rccord 260.
The client can then specify to the operator the time desired for an appointment and the operator can use the remote client device 120 to look for a practitioner with the time slot available. Referring to Fig. 4, method 300 is used by the operator to locate practitioners in the same manner as described above. However, at step 330, practitioner records 210 that indicate they do not use the call center in the call center field 237 are excluded from the set of appointment candidatcs. In this manner, practitioners who have chosen not to use the call center are excluded from thc list presented to the operator.
The operator, verbally interacting with the client can book an appointment for the client with a practitioner and this appointment will be indicated in the client record 260 corresponding to that client. In this manner, when a client calls the ca11 ccnter later with questions regarding the appointment he or she hooked, the operator can access the client io record 260 corresponding to dhe client, the operator can obtain all of the relevant details of the upcoming appointment.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention.
Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not dcsired to liniit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, al1 such suitable changes or modifications in structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed invention.
IIII~~~ 155 _ ~
C-Po oPIC E000514347 METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PROVIDING AN ONLINE CALENDAR FOR A
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SERVICE PROVIDERS
This invention is in the field of online scheduling and more particularly to online appointment scheduling among a number of different practitioners.
BACKGROUND
Traditionally, if a person wanted to book an appointment with a servicc provider, such as a health care service provider like a massage therapist, they would call the office or the location where the practitioner provides the services and talk to a receptionist. The receptionist would then usually go through the appointment book for the practitioner and between the receptionist and the cliettt the two of them would determine an appointment for the client to see the practitioner.
W'hile this method worked, it was somewhat cumbersome and time cottsuming requiring each office or location to provide at least one receptionist to handle the calls and determine what appointments are available.
In some circtuttstances a client will not know who they would like to use as a practitioner, this is common when a client has not used a practitioner before and does not know who they would like to use. Typically, the client will just look in a telephone directory for a practitioner offering the service and will simply calE the number provided.
It is often hard for a client to determine which practitioner to contact to book an appointment if they have not dealt with the practitioner before.
Additionally, often a client desires an appointment at a specific time and is not overly coneerned about setting an appointment with a specific practitioner. In this case, the client would typically call a number of different locations providing the receptionist with his or her desired time slot and seeing if a practitioner at the location or several practitioners at the location have the desired time slot available for the appointment. The client would continue this with different locations and practitioners until they fmd one acceptable to them with the available time slot available for an appointment.
SUMMARY OF'THE INVENTION
It is an object of the prescnt invention to provide a system and inethod that overcomes problems in the prior art.
A client can use a computer connected to the internet to access web pages displayed by a central server. These web pages allow a client to obtain information on practitioners offering services in the client's area, such as massage therapists, etc.
Practitioners using the website can choose from a number of different options in how thcy arc portrayod on the websites. All the practitioners with records in a database connected to the central server can have some information displayed about the practitioner when a client uses the website to search for them specifically, either using part or all of the name of the practitioner or by a client code assigned to each practitioner.
Some practitioners will only have a basic level of information provided, such as their contact telephone number and their location. Other practitioners can choose to have more information provided to the client such as the serviccs thcy offer, fees, etc.
when a client searches for the practitioner specifically using all or part of their name or a client code specifically assigned the practitioner.
Additionally, practitioners can have calendars of their appointments available online.
This allows the practitioners themselves to log on to the website and can access lheir own calendar or allow their clients to log on to the website and have access to their calendars so that they can see what appointments a practitioner has available and book an appointment with the practitioner online in a free timc slot.
In a further aspect, some practitioners may choose to have new clients referred to them, a client can search the website by indicating a desired time for an appointment and all practitioners with the time slot free, and allowing the referral of new clients, will be located by the website. The list of practitioners with the desired time slot available will then be sorted based on how much the practitioner agrces to pay for the refetTal and a sorted list of some of the located practitioners, with the desired time slot available, is presented to the client. The client can then choose the practitioner they would like the appointment with and the appointment is immediately booked online in the practitioner's calendar.
l0 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions hereof, preferred embodiments are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best understood in conjunction with the accompanying diagrams whcre like parts in each of the several diagrams are labeled with like numbers, and where:
Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a data processing device;
Fig. 2 is schematic illustration of a system in accordance with an aspect of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of the database; and Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of searching for a practitioner with an available appointment in a desired time slot.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
Fig. 1 illustrates a data processing system 1 suitable for supporting the operation of a to remote client device or remote practitioner device in accordance with the present invention. The data processing system 1 could be a personal computer, server, mobile computing device, cell phone, etc. The data pmcessing system I typically comprises: at least one proc:essing unit 3; a memory storage device 4; at least one input device 5; a display device 6; a program module 8 and a network intcrface 10.
The processing unit 3 can be any processor that is typically known in the art with the capacity to run the provided methods and is operatively coupled to the memory storage device 4 through a system bus. In some circumstances the data processing system 1 may contain more than one processing unit 3. The memory storage device 4 is operative to store data and can be any storage device that is known in the art; such as a local hard-disk, etc. and can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories for providing temporary storage.
Additionally, -PxgeS-the memory storage device 4 can be a database that is extemal to the data processing system 1 but operatively coupled to the data proccssing system 1. The input device 5 can be any suitable device suitable for inputting data into the data processing system 1, such as a keyboard, mouse or data port such as a network connection and is operatively coupled to the processing unit 3 and operative to allow the processing unit 3 to receive information from the input device 5. The display device 6 is a CRT, LCD
monitor, etc.
operatively coupled to the data processing system I and operative to display information.
The display device 6 could be a stand-alone screen or if the data processing system I is a mobile device, the display device 6 could be integrated into a casing containing the processing unit 3 and the metnory storage device 4. The program niodule 8 is stored in the memory storage device 4 and operative to provide instructions to processing unit 3 aad the processing unit 3 is responsive to the instructions from the program module 8.
The network interface 10 allows the data processing system I to be connected to a computer network such as an intranet or the intGrnet.
Although other internal components of the data processing system 1 are not illustrated, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that only the componcnts of the data processing system 1 necessary for an understanding of the present invention are 2o illustrated and that many more componcnts and interconnections between them arc well known and can be used.
-Ppge7-Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a system 100 in an aspect of the present invention.
System 100 eomprises: a plurality of remote client device 120; a plurality of remote practitioner devices 130; a network 140 and a central server 110 operably connected to a database 150.
The central server 110 is typically a web server allowing any of the remote client devices 120 or remote practitioner device 130 to access web pages displayed by the central server 110.
lo The network 140 is typically the ]fnternet, howevcr, it could also be a intranet, extranet or similar communication network that allows the central server 110 to be in communication with the customer remote client devices 120 and practitioner remote practitioner devices 130.
Both the remote client devices 120 and practitioner reniote practitioner devices 130 are personal computers or other mobile communieation devices, such as data processing system I as illustrated in Fig. 1, and operative to access the network 140 and to display web pages using a web browser.
A customer operating a remote client device 120 can access the central server through the network 140 in a client/server relation, such as with the central server 110 operating as a web server and providing web pages in a markup language such as, HTML
or XML that are readable by the remote client device 120 using a web browser program installed on the remote client device 120.
The remote practitioner device 130 can also access the central server 110 through the network 140, again typically in the client/server relation with the remote practitioner device 130 accessing web pages comprises a markup language displayed by the central server 110 readable by the remote practitioner device 130 using a web browser program installed on the remote practitioner device 130.
Database 150 is operably connected to the central scrvcr 110, such that data stored in the database 150 is accessible by the central server 110.
Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of a data model used by database 150 to store information in an aspect of the invention. A number of practitioner records 210 are stored in the database 150. Each practitioner record 210 relates to a practitioner that offers services on the website displayed by the central server 110.
Each practitiotter record 210 contains a practitioner identifier 215 and one or more customer identifiers 220. The practitioner identifier 215 allows the practitioner record 210 to be associated with a specific practitioner and allows the practitioner to gain access to his or her corresponding practitioner record 210 associated with him or her so that the practitioner can access and add or change the information contained in the practitioner record 210. For example, the practitioner may wish to update or change his or ccr profile 240, add money to his or her deposit amount 230, or updatelchange his or her calendar 250. This can be done by the practitioner using his or her practitioner identifier 210.
In an aspect there will be a class indicator 218 which indicates the class of the practitioner record 210. Based on what class the practitioner record 210 belongs to, the practitioner record 210 is used in different ways by the system. For example, a first class, class A, allows clients to make online bookings with the practitioner associated with the practitioner recvrd 210, allows the practitioner to be located by searching the website and ic the practitioner associated with the practitioner record 210 will be able to receive bookings from new clients that have searched an appointment that the practitioner has available. A second class, class B, are allowed to book online but will not receive any new clients. Class C are not be able to book appointments online but information in their portfolio will be displayable to a user when looked up. Class D will only display a limited amount of moncy by a uscr.
Each practitioner record 210 has a deposit amount 230 that indicates the amount of money a practitioner has on deposit with the system to pay for referrals as well as a referral amount 235 that is set by the practitioner and indicates the amount a practitioner has agreed to pay for each referral by the system. Each timc a ncw client is referred to the practitioner by the system, the amount indicated in the referral amount 235 is subtracted from the amount indicated in the deposit amount 230. If the amount indicated in the depmit amount 230 dmps below a minimum level, the practitioner is notified and no new clients will be referred to the practitioner until he or she provides a deposit to bring the deposit amount 230 above the minimum level.
A call center field 237 indicates whether a practitioner desires appointmcnts to be booked through a call center.
Additionally, each practitioner record 210 has one ore more practitioner profiles 240 of that practitioncr containing data pertaining to that practitioner. Because each practitioner may provide services out of more than one location, the practitioner record 210 can have a different practitioner profile 240 for each location the practitioner offers services out of.
Each practitioner profile 240 contains information about the practitioner such as: a nanie field.containing the name of the practitioner; a location field, containing the location the practitioner profile 240 relates to; types of scrviccs offcred at the location; fees for the different services; gender; certification details; methods of payment; a general message for clients; etc. By each practitioner record 210 having a separate practitioner profile 240 for each location the practitioner practices out of, a practitioner can tailor each practitioner profile 240 individually; providing diffcrcnt addresses for the locations, different services provided at different locations and even different fees at the different locations.
In an aspect, the practitioner profile 240 can include a general message that is shown whenever a client accesses the practitioner profile 240. In this manner, a practitioner can notify his or her clients or potential clients of any important information or events, such as moving to a new location, etc. using his or her practitioner profiie 240.
The practitioner record 210 also has one or more linked calendars 250 associated with it.
Each calendar 250 indicates the times that a practitioner has available for appointments at a location as well as indicating which of these appointments times have been booked and by whom. In some cases, a practitioner may operate out of more than one location and a calendar 250 can be created for each location that a practitionea practices in. Typically, each calendar 250 associated with a practitioner reoord 210 will correspond with one of the practitioner profiles 240.
Each calendar 250 typically records intervals of the day (typically in 15 minute intervals) and allows the calendar to be graphically displayed by the central server 110 as part of a web page in daily, weekly or monthly format. Appointments are indicated in the time slots.
In an aspect, periodically, the central server 110 runs a program Lhat checks all of the calendars 250 associated with a practitioner record 210 to ensure the practitioner is not double booked with two appointments at the same time in two different locations and if it finds two corresponding appointments notify the practitioner of this conflict in his or her schedule (typically by email).
A practitioner, using a remote practitioner device 130, can log on to a webpage displayed by the central server 110 to access his or her corresponding practitioner record 210 contained in the database 150. To do this, the practitioner uses the practitioner identifier indicated in the practitioner identifier field 215 of the practitioner record 210 typically with the addition of a password or other method of authentication. Once the practitioner has been logged in and authenticated by the central server 110, he or she is given ac:cess to his or her practitioner record 210. The practitioner can alter the amount set for his or her referral amount 235, enable/disable the call center 237. The practitioner profiles 240 associated with the practitioner record 210 of the practitioner can be changed or updated, such as if a practitioner moves the address of one of his or her offices or changes the fees they charge for certain services at one of the locations. Additionally, the practitioner can check their one or more calendars 250 associate with their practitioner record 210 to see what appointments are booked on ccrtain days and manuatly enter or change appointments in one of more of these calendars 250. The calendar 250 will display each appointment contained in the calendar 250 along with information about the appointment, such as the client who booked the appointment, relevant information about the client, and any additional information that may be relevant to the practitioner.
Additionally, the appointments in an aspect indicate how the appointment was booked. For example, if a client is a new client referred through the system, the appointment will indicate that the -Puge 13-client is a new referred client. If the client booked the appointment through a call center, this will be indicated in the appointment. If a client searched specifically for the practitioner and booked the appointment online, this will be indicated in the appointment.
In this manner, a practitioner looking at appointments booked in his or her calendar 250 can easily determine how the appointnient was booked.
Additionally, a number of client records 260 are contained in the database 150. Each client record 260 has a client profile 265 that contains information about the client, such as his or her name, addrcss, ctc. Each client record 260 is associated with any calendars t0 250 they have appointments on. If a client books an appointment with a practitioner, the calendar 250 associated with the corresponding practitioner record 210 is associated with that client's corresponding client record 260 as well keeping a record of what appointments that client has made and with which practitioner or practitioners.
t5 A client can access a webpage displayed by the central server 110 using a remote client device 120. The web page displayed on the remote client device 120 gives the client a number of options: they can search for appointment in a desired time slot across a number of the practitioners or they can search for a specific practitioner.
20 Before a client can use the web pages displayed by the central server 110 to book appointments for services offered by practitioners online, the client must provide some information to create a client record 260, if a client record 260 has not yet been created -Pagel4-for the client. The client will be prompted to enter inforrnation about themselves, such as their name, address, etc. In this manner, a client record 260 can be created and appointrnents booked by the client can be stored including information regarding the appointment, such as which practitioner was used, the service booked, the time used, etc.
Additionally, upcoming appointments will be available t.o a client by their accessing their client record 260. In this manner, they can see what upcoming appointmenu they have booked, as well as, the information relevant to these upcoming appointments, such as the time, location, practitioner and service booked.
-0 If a client has already created a client record 260 they can log into the website and their specific client record 260.
SEARCHING FOR AN AVAILABLE APPOINTMENT
in an aspect, a client can search for an available appointment from among a number of is different practitioners and book an appointment with a practitioner that has the desired time slot available for an appointment. In this manner, a client does not have to be limited to the time available to any single practitioner, but can choose a desired time slot for an appointment and then the system will search out a practitioner that can provide this service in the desired time.
A client uses a remote client device 120 to access a login page displayed by the central server 110 and either creates a new client record 260 if it is their first time using the - Page l5-website, or attematively logs into their already existing client record 260.
To search for an appointment among a group of potential practitioners, the client spccifics a desired time for an appointment as well as any additional criteria or constraints for thc appointment. Typically, the client will specify the desired length of the appointment if different lengths of time are available. For example, if the client wanted to schedule an appointment for a massage, they may specify the length of the massage, such as minutes; 45 minut.es; 60 minutes; and 90 minutes, as well as the type of massage they desire. To select the time, typically a calendar interface is provided where all of the available time slots are shown on a calendar interface and the client can select the desired 1 o time slot for the appointment.
In an aspect, any request for a time slot that is within 30 minutes of the present time is refused by the system because it would not necessarily allow enough time for the client to get to the location of the practitioner.
Additionally, the client can enter a number of search criteria andlor search constraints in addition to their time slot. In an aspect, the client can specify a period of flexibility they have available surrounding the desired time slot. For example, a client may specify a flexibility period of plus and/or minus 15 minutes, 30 minutes, l hour, 2 hours, etc. that ?A they would accept an appoint around the time slot they indicated. In an aspoct, the client tnay also be able to include preferred gender, if the client has a preferencc, type of payments methods they prefer, etc. In another aspect, a client can specify the number of people for the appointment. If more than one person would like an appointment at lhc same time (i.e. a family of 2 or 3 people would like to make a single trip), this can be specified.
In an aspect, the client furnishes information to identify their location, such as a zip code or postal code, so that the system can only return information regarding practitioners that are in the same area as the client.
Once the client instigates the search with a desired time slot and any other additional lo specified search criteria or constraints, the client uses the remote client device 120 to transmit this information to the central server 110. Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method conducted by the central server 110 upon receiving search criteria from a client searching for a practitioner with a desired time slot open for an appointment.
Method 300 comprises the steps of: receiving client search criteria 310; determining search constraints 320; generating appointment candidates 330; sorting the generated appointments 340; transmitting sorted appointments to remote devices 350;
receiving selected booking 360; booking calendar entries 370; adjusting practitioner deposit 380;
and sending an email notification 390.
The method 300 starts when the client search criteria are receired from a customer at step 310. The client search criteria includes the desired time of the appointment, the service requested, the length of time of the appointment, as well as any other critcria or constraints.
Any searc:h wnstraints that limit the practitioners that a client would book an appointment with are determined at step 320. For example, only practitioners offering the desired service will be acceptable or if a client spccifced a preferred gender, this will exclude practitioners of the other gender. Additional7y, if practitioners in several relatively diverse geographical locations are represented in the system and a client has provided information regarding where he or she is located, a constraint imposed on the lo search results might be the gcographical location of the practitioner.
Once any constraints are det.erniined at step 320, the method 300 uses the received search criteria and any determined constraints to generate a set of candidate appointments which practitioners have availablc in the requested time slot at step 330. Referring to Fig. 3, all of the calendars 250 stored in the database 150 arc searched to determine which of the calendars 250 have appointments for the desired service in the requested time slot and meet any other additional imposed constraints such as location. If a calendar 250 has an available appointment in the requested time slot and meets the other additionally imposed criteria, the practitioner record 210 associated with thc calendar is retrieved including the referral amount 235 and the deposit amount 230 of tliat practitioner record 210. Any practitioner record 210 that have a deposit amount 230 indicating an amount less than the minimum amount required are excluded from the set of practitioner records 210.
The -Page I s -class indicator 218 is also checked to determine which class is assigned to each of the located practitioner records 210 and any practitioner records 210 that indicale they belong to a class that does not allow new client bookings are removed from the set of practitioner records 210 generated in the search. In this manner, a set of practitioner records 210 is gencratcd whcre cach practitioner record 210 in the set has an available appointment for the requested service in the requestcd time slot and meets the other constraints.
In an aspect where a client has specified more than one person wants an appointment for the same time, method 300 will search the calendars for a location containing the to required number of practitioners where the necessary number of practitioners have the desired time slot available.
Referring again to Fig. 4, at step 340 the generated set of practitioner records 210 is sorted. Typically, the referral amount 235 in each practitioner record 210 is evaluated and the practitioner records 210 are sorted based on the practitioner record 210 with the highest referral amount 235. In this manner, practitioners can increase their rankings on the list of retutned practitioners by setting a higher referral amount 235 and thus be ranked over practitioners that have set lower referral mounts 235 in their practitioner records 210.
Details of the selected practitioners with the desired time slot free for an appoinlrnent are then displayed for the client at step 350. Information supplied by the practitioner profile il 240 is taken and can be displayed to the client in the sorted order with details of the appointment such as the name of the practitioner, location of the practitioner, fee for the service requested, methods of accepted payment, etc. Allowing the client to browse the different practitioners and select one of their choosing to book his or her appointment with.
In an aspect, only the top three practitioners from the sortcd set of practitioner records 210 are selected and displayed to the customer with only the information regarding the first practitioner displayed in full. The customer can then select one of the other two to practitioners to see the information regarding them without rranoving the information displayed regarding the first practitioner. In this manner, the highest ranked practitioner is displayed to greater advantage than the other practitioners displayed to the client.
A custonner will have the ability to book their appointment with one of the listed practitioners by selecting the practitioner they would like to book their appointment with.
Once a user selects a practitioner to book his or her appointment with, this booking informalion is received at slep 360, at the appointment is booked into the calendar of the selected practitioner at step 370. Referring to Fig. 3, the calendar 250 associated with the practitioner record 210 is accessed and the appointment placed in the calendar 250.
Typically, along with booking the appointment being placed in the calendar 250 of the practitioner, an indicator is provided with the appointment to indicate to the practitioner that the client booked the appointment through searching on the website. This indicates to the practitioner how many clients are being referred to them through the search feature of the system as well as indicating to the practitioner that they will be charged a referral fee for this new client. As we1l, a link is provided in the appointment so that the practitioner can select the link and be linked to the client record 260 for that client and be provided with information regarding the client from the client profile 265, such as name, telephone number, address, email, fax, etc.
In an aspect, when an appointment is booked in a calendar 250 associated with a 1o practitioner record 210, an extra 15 minutes is added to the appointment to give the practitioner time between appointments to prepare for the next client.
At step 380 the deposit amount 230 is adjusted in the practitioner record 210, if the practitioner is paying on a referral basis. The referral amount 235 that the practitioner has selected to pay for each referral of a new client from the system is subtracted from the deposit amount 230 in the practitioner record 210 and if the deposit amount 230 dips below a minimum level as a result of the refen:al, the practitioner is notified.
Altetnatively, if the practitioner is paying a monthly fee for referrals rather than a fee on a referral by referral basis, this step 380 is conducted my method 300.
At step 390 an email is sent to the client confirming the booked appointment.
Typically, this email along with a confirmation also includes the details of the appointment -Page2! -including: the name of the practitioner, the location where the appointment is to take place; when the appointment is; how long the appointment is; how much the charge for the appointment will be; etc. Additionally, a link can be provided in the eniail allowing the customer to link to the practitioner profile 240 of the practitioner contained in the practitioner record 210 associated with the practitioner to see various details of the practitioner. In a further aspect, the email will also have a link allowing the customcr to change or cancel the appointment.
In this manner, a user can access a wcbsite, enter his or her desired time slot for an appointment for a servicc offered by a practitioner and any other desired or required criteria and a list of practitioners with that time slot is provided to the user. The list of practitioners with an open appointment in the desired time slot is sorted based on the amount the practitioner has agreed to pay for the referral. The user can then select to book the appointment and the appointment is automatically entered into the practitioner's calendar 250.
SEARCH FOR SINGLE PRACTIONER
In addition to allowing a client to search for a practitioner able to accept an appointment for a desired service in a desired time slot, the system allows a client to search for a specific practitioner and if the practitioner has online booking, exaniine the practitioners calendar and book an appointment with the practitioner using the remote client device 120.
= Page 22 -Additionally, a client can use a remoie client device 120 to access the webpage displayed by the central server 110 in order to search for a specific practitioner. A
client can enter the first and/or last name of a specific practitioner they are looking for.
Altematively, if the client knows the practitioner's specific client code, they can use this code to view information from the praetitioner record 210 corresponding to the practitioner.
Once a client has located his or her desired practitioner, a full sct of inforroation regarding the practitioner corresponding to the located practitioner record 210 is displayed, if the class indicated in tbe class indicator 218 is one of classes A, B or C.
This full set of information can include any information provided in the practitioner record 210 con:esponding to that practitioner. If the class indicated in the class indicator 218 is class D, a subset of the information in the practitioner profile 240 is displayed providing only a limited amount of information about the practitioner to the client, such as: only the name of the practitioncr; telephone number; fax number; email address;
website; any official registrations; types of services qualified to do or offered by the practitioner; and, in an aspect, a resume of the practitioner.
Additionally, if the practitioner record 210 indicates that it belongs to class A or B in the class indicator 218, the client can gain access to the onc or more of the calendars 250 associated with the practitioner record 210 located in the client's search, and the client can see what appointments the practitioner has available and book an appointment in an =Page23-available time slot. Instead of seeing all of the information related to a pmctitioner's appointments, such as the client's names, etc., that have booked each of the appointments, the client typically will only see which time slots are available.
In a further aspect, a practitioner can have his or her practitioner record 2101'inked to the practitioner record 210 of another practitioner, forming a group of practitioners that work together, either at the same location or at different locations. A client can then access the associated practitioner record 210 belonging to another practitioner and view that practitioner's calendar 250 in order to book an appointmcnt with that practitioner. In this to manner, the practitioner can work together with a number of other practitioners even though they may not work at the same location and if a client, who wants a timc slot for an appointrnent with a favorite practitioner, finds the appointment unavailable with that practitioner, the client may view the calendars 250 of the associated practitioners and book an appointment through one of these associated practitioners.
In a further aspect, rather than having a practitioner record 210 associated with calendars 250 of other practitioners, a practitioner can refer clients to another practitioner for a fee.
Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a niethod 500 for booking an appointment and making a referral if the appointment is full. Method 500 comprises: locating a dcsircd practitioner record 510; selecting a time slot 520; checking for an available time slot 530;
recommending a different practitioner 540; selecting a recommended practitioner 550-.
transferring a deposit from a recommended practitioner to the initially located practitioner 560; making an appointment 570; and sending an email to the client 580.
At step 510 the practitionex record 210 for the desired practitioner is located. The client can locate the desired practitioner by either searching for the practitioner using the name of the practitioner or other identifier of the practitioner.
Once the practitioner record 210 is located for the desired practitioner at step 510, an appointment is selected for a desired time slot at step 520 and this sclected time slot is compared to the calendar 250 of the practitioner, at step 530, to determine if the time slot is available. If the time slot is available at step 530, the method 500 continues to step 570 where the appointment is placed in the calendar 250 of the practitioner and an email confirmation is send to the client at step 580. If however, at step 530 the practitioner does not have the time slot available (either because they are not taking appointments at that time, they are in a different location or have a preexisting appointment in that time slot) the method 500 recommends one or more other practitioners to the client at step 540.
At step 540, the practitioner originally selected by the client is able to recontmend the names of one or more other practitioners when that practitioner does not have an available appointment at the selected time. The client is then presented with a list of one or more other practitioners. Typically, each practitioner listed is a link to that practitioners calendar 250 associated with their practitioner record 210.
At step 550, a practitioner is selected and the calendar 250 associated with the practitioner record 210 for that practitioner is acccss. At step 560 the deposit amounts 230 for the two practitioner records 210 are adjusted if the practitioner is guing on a referral by referral fee basis. For the practitioner who is being recommended, the deposit amount 230 in that practitioner's practitioner record 210 is decreased by a detetmined amount and the deposit amount 230 for the recommending practitioner is increased in his or her practitioner record 210. In an aspcct, a fee is taken by the website for allowing the recommendation to given.
The fee charged could be a one time fee for the referral. Alternatively, a fee could be directed to the original referred each subsequent time the client books an appointment with the referred practitioner.
In additional aspect, rather than a practitioner paying on a referral by referral basis, they could elect to pay a monthly fee to have other practitioners refer clients to him or her.
At step 570 one of the recommended practitioners is selected by the client and the profile from the profile record 240 of the practitioner is displayed. A client can then book their appointment with the practitioner, if the practitioner has an appointment available in the time slot and steps 570 and 580 are conducted by the method 500 with the appointment being made in the calendar 250 of the recommended practitioner and an email confirming the appointment being sent to the client.
CALL CENTER
In a further embodiment, rather than a client having access to the remote client device 120 that is operable eommunication with the central server 110, an intermediate may be operating the remote client device 120 and the client has access through the system through a telephone call center.
Rather than the client accessing a website displayed by the central server 110 directly, the client uses a telephone system to call an operator at a call center and verbaily asks to book the appointment, the operator than uses the remote client device 120 to access a webpage displayed by thc ccntral server 110. If the client is a new client, the opcrator will ask the client questions about him or her and use this information and the remote client device 120 to create a new client record 260 in the database for the client. If the client is a retuming client, the operator uses the remote client device 120 to access the already existing clicnt rccord 260.
The client can then specify to the operator the time desired for an appointment and the operator can use the remote client device 120 to look for a practitioner with the time slot available. Referring to Fig. 4, method 300 is used by the operator to locate practitioners in the same manner as described above. However, at step 330, practitioner records 210 that indicate they do not use the call center in the call center field 237 are excluded from the set of appointment candidatcs. In this manner, practitioners who have chosen not to use the call center are excluded from thc list presented to the operator.
The operator, verbally interacting with the client can book an appointment for the client with a practitioner and this appointment will be indicated in the client record 260 corresponding to that client. In this manner, when a client calls the ca11 ccnter later with questions regarding the appointment he or she hooked, the operator can access the client io record 260 corresponding to dhe client, the operator can obtain all of the relevant details of the upcoming appointment.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention.
Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not dcsired to liniit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, al1 such suitable changes or modifications in structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed invention.
Claims
1. A ...
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2590999 CA2590999A1 (en) | 2007-06-04 | 2007-06-04 | Method and system of providing an online calendar for a number of different service providers |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2590999 CA2590999A1 (en) | 2007-06-04 | 2007-06-04 | Method and system of providing an online calendar for a number of different service providers |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2590999A1 true CA2590999A1 (en) | 2008-12-04 |
Family
ID=40091197
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2590999 Abandoned CA2590999A1 (en) | 2007-06-04 | 2007-06-04 | Method and system of providing an online calendar for a number of different service providers |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2590999A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011156890A3 (en) * | 2010-06-17 | 2012-02-02 | Ian Huang | Online appointment booking system |
-
2007
- 2007-06-04 CA CA 2590999 patent/CA2590999A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011156890A3 (en) * | 2010-06-17 | 2012-02-02 | Ian Huang | Online appointment booking system |
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