Patent ID: 8209206
Filing Date: 2012-06-26
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A centralized web-based system for managing appointments, the system comprising: a user interface communication module device and an application programming interface configured to interact with a plurality of user systems over a network, wherein the user interface communication module device receives appointment data and a plurality of other related appointment information from a plurality of partner entities; a centralized web-based management module component, communicatively coupled to the user interface communication module device and the application programming interface, configured as the exclusive mechanism to centrally manage appointments for the plurality of partner entities that collectively provide a plurality of service facilities; and a single centralized database communicatively coupled to the centralized web-based management module component configured to store the appointment data along with a plurality of other appointment-related information managed by the centralized web-based management module component for the plurality of user systems via the application programming interface, wherein the single centralized database stores the appointment data and the plurality of other related appointment information for the plurality of partner entities; wherein the centralized web-based management module component receives appointment requests for one or more resources from the plurality of user systems communicating with the user interface communication module device or the application programming interface over the network, processes the appointment requests by communicating with the single centralized database, determines availability of the one or more resources, presents the availability of the one or more resources for user selection at the plurality of user systems, allocates the appointment requests based on at least the availability of the one or more resources and the user selection, and manages the appointments, appointment-related information, and one or more resources in real-time or near real-time in a manner that requires access to the single centralized database to eliminate double-booking of the one or more resources associated with remote database synchronization, wherein the appointment requests comprise a date and time slot and at least one resource at one of the plurality of service facilities, wherein the centralized web-based management module component is further configured to manage point-of-sale (POS) services in at least some of the plurality of service facilities, wherein any information associated with the appointments in the centralized web-based management module component is accessible to a plurality of users via the application programming interface.