Patent ID: 7085727
Filing Date: 2006-08-01
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. An automated movie rental and notification system, comprising: a computer having a central processing unit (CPU) and connected to a wide area computer network; a movie database connected to said CPU and containing a hold list, a reservation list, and a plurality of movie records associated with movies available for rental, each movie record having at least a present inventory status data field; means connected to said CPU for receiving a rental request from a user, said rental request including a selected movie, a selected reservation mode, a selected reservation time, and user contact information; means in said CPU for accessing a movie record from said movie database corresponding to said selected movie; means in said CPU for determining from said present inventory data field of said accessed movie record if said selected movie is presently available or will be available by said selected reservation time; means in said CPU for appending said rental request to said hold list if said reservation mode is indicative of a hold mode; means in said CPU for appending said rental request to said reservation list if said reservation mode is indicative of a reserve mode and said selected movie will be available by said selected reservation time; a message database having a plurality of predetermined messages therein, each message being indicative of the availability of a particular movie associated with a corresponding movie database record; an automated telephone dialer and message playback unit connected to said CPU; means in said CPU for successively selecting a next hold mode rental request from said hold list if said selected movie is presently available and directing said automated dialer to initiate a coupling with a downstream telephone according to respective user information of said next hold mode rental request until a predetermined response is received from a corresponding downstream telephone, said CPU directing a message from said message database corresponding to said next hold mode rental request to said playback unit for playback to said corresponding downstream telephone upon a successful coupling therewith; means in said CPU for selecting a reserve mode rental request from said reservation list at a predetermined time prior to said selected reservation time of said reserve mode rental request and directing said automated dialer to initiate a coupling with a downstream telephone according to corresponding user information of said selected reserve mode rental request, said CPU directing a message from said message database corresponding to said next reserve mode rental request to said playback unit for playback to said downstream telephone upon coupling therewith; wherein said means for determining if said selected movie is presently available or will be available at said selected reservation time includes querying the inventories of predetermined stores via said network; a bar code reader electrically connected to said CPU for checking in a returned movie rental, each movie rental having a bar code associated with a respective movie database record; means in said CPU for determining if said returned movie rental matches a selected movie of any hold mode rental request in said hold list; means in said CPU for setting said present inventory data field of said respective movie database record to “available” if said returned movie does not match a selected movie of any hold mode rental request in said hold list; means in said CPU for directing a store clerk to reshelve said returned movie; and means in said CPU for suspending said means for directing said automated dialer to initiate a coupling when said predetermined response is received from said corresponding downstream telephone.