Abstract:
A preferred embodiment of the subject invention comprises a method for scheduling call consultations, comprising: receiving an electronic request from a first participant for one or more on call dates; assigning one or more on call dates to the participant; and notifying potential callers of the first participant&#39;s on call dates and qualifications. In other embodiments, the invention comprises the method above, as well as: receiving electronic feedback information from one or more callers who have called the first participant during the one or more assigned on call dates; and recording the feedback information in an electronic database and/or assigning the participant to a group associated with a topic. In a further embodiment, the method comprises associating the participant with a topic, wherein a predetermined number of callers have expressed interest in the topic, and wherein the participant has received positive feedback for calls related to the topic.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/454,423, filed Mar. 13, 2003. The entire contents of that application are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    Phone consultations usually are set up by a coordinator who finds an expert on a given topic and schedules a mutually convenient time for the client and the consultant expert. After the call takes place, the coordinator usually pays the consultant and receives payment from the caller.  
           [0003]    In addition to such phone consultations, there are call rosters whereby a physician, for instance, may be on call for a given specialty and other physicians or healthcare professionals that need the help of a practitioner in the specialty may call that physician during the time that they are on call. Such a roster is usually created manually and either physically or electronically disseminated.  
           [0004]    The scenarios referred to above rely on the coordinator (in the former) and the person drawing up the schedule (in the latter) to decide who is to be made available on a given topic at a given time. Feedback from the callers is not automatically incorporated into deciding who should be made available when, and on what topic.  
           [0005]    What is needed is an automated system that monitors the topics that callers have shown an interest in and suggests consultants with whom they might like to consult.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0006]    A preferred embodiment of the subject invention comprises a method for scheduling call consultations, comprising: receiving an electronic request from a first participant for one or more on call dates; assigning one or more on call dates to the participant; and notifying potential callers of the first participant&#39;s on call dates and qualifications. In other embodiments, the invention comprises the method above, as well as: receiving electronic feedback information from one or more callers who have called the first participant during the one or more assigned on call dates; and recording the feedback information in an electronic database and/or assigning the participant to a group associated with a topic, wherein a potential caller does not have access to contact information for the participant unless the potential caller has indicated an interest in the topic. In further embodiments, the interest is indicated by the potential caller requesting to speak with a associated with the topic; the interest is indicated by the potential caller attending one or more events associated with the topic; and/or the interest is indicated by the potential caller downloading one or more publications related to the topic. In a further embodiment, the method comprises associating the participant with a topic, wherein a predetermined number of callers have expressed interest in the topic, and wherein the participant has received positive feedback for one or more calls related to the topic; and transmitting an electronic invitation to the participant to request an on call date relating to the topic. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIGS. 1A and 1B depict steps of a preferred method embodiment.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIGS. 2A and 2B depict steps of an alternate embodiment.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 depicts components of a preferred system embodiment.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 depicts a consultant registration page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 depicts a groups currently on call page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 depicts a group details page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 depicts an invitation generation page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary email invitation of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 9 depicts a calendar web page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 10 depicts a contact information page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary confirmation request email of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 12 depicts a confirmation page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 13 depicts an administrator&#39;s calendar page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 14 depicts a participant on call page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 15 depicts an exemplary on call cancellation email of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 16 depicts an exemplary advisors on call email of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 17 depicts an electronic invoice page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 18 depicts an exemplary invoice confirmation email of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 19 depicts an exemplary call feedback request email of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 20 depicts a feedback form page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 21 depicts an aggregated electronic invoice page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 22 depicts an administrator&#39;s feedback screen of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 23 depicts a caller&#39;s calendar page of a preferred embodiment.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 24 depicts a group details page of a preferred embodiment wherein the group is attached to a topic.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 25 depicts an exemplary advisors on call email of a preferred embodiment wherein the recipient has expressed interest in a matching topic. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises systems and methods for contacting participants for an on call service, construction of an on call roster, and distribution of the roster to prospective callers who may decide to call on a participant.  
         [0033]    Components of a preferred system embodiment are depicted in FIG. 3. Participants  301  may be consultants who are paid by the hour. They preferably give notice of their availability by having previously registered on a website  305  via the Internet  303  and have entered their hourly rate  401  (see FIG. 4) on a web form  400 , which is then submitted together with their biographical details and expertise to a SQL database  310 .  
         [0034]    With reference now to the flowchart in FIG. 1A, an administrator  304  can, via the Internet  303  and website  305 , at step  101  group participants  306  according to their expertise and store the groups in the SQL database  310 . Such groups are given names and are listed on the website  305  as shown in FIG. 5. By selecting an individual group  501 , an administrator  304  can view a web page  600  (see FIG. 6) with more details and statistics on a specific group  601 .  
         [0035]    From the detailed web page  600  the administrator  304  may elect to Edit ( 602 ) the group or Dissolve (delete) ( 603 ) the group. By electing at step  102  (see FIG. 1A) to Edit On Call parameters ( 604 ), the administrator is directed to a screen  700  (see FIG. 7) specific for that group ( 701 ) which has editable fields  702 . End Date ( 703 ) is the last day on which call dates are permitted. Exclusion Range ( 704 ) is the time period after a call date when a participant  307  will not be allowed to have another call.  
         [0036]    After setting the parameters  702 , an Administrator can send email invitations (see FIG. 8) to participants in the group  306  by clicking an Invite button  705 . A Manage On-Call Invites link  605  on screen  600  (see FIG. 6) allows for further invitations to be sent at a later date if necessary to one or more participants  307  in the group  306 . This function is useful if new participants  307  are added to the group  306  once invitations  800  (see FIG. 8) have already been sent.  
         [0037]    Returning now to the Invite screen  700 , email invitations  800  are sent at step  103  (see FIG. 1A) to participants  301  when the Invite button  705  is clicked. The email invitation  800  comprises terms  801  of a preferred on call arrangement. The participant  307  clicks on a URL  802  to log in to a secure web site to sign up for on call dates. If the participant decides at step  104  not to sign up for on call dates, they do not click through and there is no further action for the current round of Invitations (see step  105  in FIG. 1A).  
         [0038]    A participant  307  who logs in to the secure website  305  is taken to a calendar web page  900  (see FIG. 9) when they click on On Call Calendar link  901 . The text  902  on the page  900  outlines the expectations for the participant  307 . The calendar section  903  shows a month view of the calendar with icons  904  to represent dates that are not available to the participant  307 . A striped box icon  906  represents a day that is not available because participant  307  already is on call that day. A cross icon  907  represents a day that is not available either because someone else in the group  306  is on call for that group specialty, or because participant  307  cannot sign up for a day that is within the Exclusion Range  704  following another call of theirs.  
         [0039]    When a participant selects at step  106  an available day  905  on the calendar  903 , they are taken to a web page  1000  (see FIG. 10) where they are required to fill in or verify their contact details  1001  and preferred mechanism of contact  1002  at step  107 . They then indicate that they agree with the Terms and Conditions of the consulting arrangement by clicking checkbox  1003  and submit the form by clicking a “Submit” box  1004 .  
         [0040]    A day before the call date, the system  311  at step  108  sends a confirmation request email  1100  (see FIG. 11) to the participant  307  stating that the participant is required to click on a custom link  1101  to confirm that the participant will be on call on the specified date  1102 . Clicking through on the custom link  1101  at step  112  (see FIG. 1A) takes the participant to a confirmation page  1200  (see FIG. 12) where the participant verifies his willingness to do the on call session by selecting an appropriate option  1201  and clicking a submit button  1202  after accepting the Terms &amp; Conditions  1203  of the arrangement and verifying their contact information  1204 .  
         [0041]    If the participant does not click the confirmation link at step  112 , then at step  110  a flag on the Administrator&#39;s Calendar  1300  (see FIG. 13) indicates this via icons  1302 . The Administrator then tries at step  111  to contact the participant  307  to confirm with them by other means. If the Administrator is able to reach the participant at step  114  and the participant  307  confirms the call date at step  116 , then the Administrator confirms the on call date for the participant in the system directly at step  118  by clicking on the participant&#39;s name ( 1304 ) in the Calendar view  1300 , thereby linking to a web page  1400  (see FIG. 14) for that specific participant  307 &#39;s call day, where the confirmation can be made via the Confirm button  1403 .  
         [0042]    If the Administrator is not able to reach the participant at step  114 , then the call cannot be confirmed or denied and the entry is ignored going forward (see step  115 ). If the Administrator reaches the participant and learns that the participant can no longer be on call that day, the Administrator can delete the call at step  117  using a Delete button  1401  (see FIG. 14). If the Administrator wishes to delete the call entry and send an email  1500  to the participant notifying him of the deletion, the Administrator would use the Delete &amp; Send Email button  1402 .  
         [0043]    On the date of the call, the system  311  automatically generates at step  119  a personalized email  1600  (see FIG. 16) that is distributed to prospective callers  302  (see FIG. 3). The email  1600  contains a descriptive instruction section  1601  followed by an On Call List  1602 , followed by further instruction and explanation  1603 , and then a biographical detail section  1604 . Part of the customization is a star  1605  next to any participant on call that the client has already spoken to (as tracked by the system  311 ).  
         [0044]    An individual caller  309  may read the list and decide to directly contact at step  120  (see FIG. 1B) any number of participants  301  on call that day. The caller may contact the participant by pager ( 1606 ), regular phone ( 1607 ), or mobile phone ( 1608 ) (see FIG. 16). After a call has concluded, the participant  307  at step  121  logs into the secure website and fills out an electronic invoice  1700  (see FIG. 17). The system  311  sends at step  122  to the participant a confirmation email  1800  (see FIG. 18) stating that an invoice has been filed. It then sends at step  123  to the caller  309  (as identified ( 1701 ) in the electronic invoice  1700 ) an email  1900  (see FIG. 19) requesting feedback on the call. The caller  309  then clicks on the URL at step  125  and fills out a feedback form  2000  (see FIG. 20) indicating quality ( 2001 ), suitability ( 2002 ), and availability ( 2003 ) scores, as well as qualitative commentary ( 2004 ). If the caller elects at step  129  not to click through and give feedback, no feedback is recorded, but the payment process (steps  127  and  128 ) proceeds unchanged. Feedback on participants can subsequently be viewed by the Administrator on a feedback screen  2200  (see FIG. 22).  
         [0045]    The Administrator  304  periodically looks (step  126 ) at an aggregated electronic invoice page  2100  (see FIG. 21) and allows at step  127  (see  2101 ) or denies at step  130  (see  2102 ) payments to individual participants ( 2103 ) using a conventional checkbox-then-submit-type-button method. Accepted payment requests are sent electronically through to the accounts payables department and a check is sent at step  128  to the participant  307  for services rendered.  
         [0046]    Should a prospective caller  309  want to plan ahead, they may log into a secure website and view a calendar  2300  (see FIG. 23) that lists participants expected to be on call in the following days and weeks.  
         [0047]    An alternate embodiment of the invention preferably is used in combination with the preferred embodiment. It provides for customization of the On Call List based on topics that callers have previously shown interest in. See FIGS. 2A and 2B. By using this method callers do not have access to the contact details of participants for topics they have not previously shown interest in, nor are they even aware of the topics. Caller interest is expressed through other activities, outside of the on call schedule. Such activities include requesting to speak with a participant on a given topic, attending events on a given topic, and downloading publications on a given topic.  
         [0048]    The solid circle  308  in FIG. 3 indicates a caller who has expressed interest in a topic, whereas the empty circle  309  is a caller who has not. Only those callers who have expressed interest in the topic will receive the participant in their on call lists.  
         [0049]    With reference now to the flowchart in FIG. 2A, an administrator  304  can, via the Internet  303  and website  305 , at step  201  group participants  306  according to their expertise and store the groups in the SQL database  310 . Such groups are given names and are listed on the website  305  as shown in FIG. 5. By selecting an individual group  501 , an administrator  304  can view a web page  2400  (see FIG. 24) with more details and statistics on a specific group  2401 . From that web page  2400  the administrator  304  can attach (step  202 ) one or more topics  2406  to the group  306  by using the Manage link  2407 . The action of attaching (step  202 ) one or more topics to the group  306  differentiates this embodiment from that described above.  
         [0050]    From the detailed web page  2400  the administrator  304  may elect to Edit ( 2402 ) the group or Dissolve (delete) ( 2403 ) the group. By electing at step  203  (see FIG. 2A) to Edit On Call parameters ( 2404 ), the administrator is directed to a screen  700  (see FIG. 7) specific for that group ( 701 ) which has editable fields  702 . End Date ( 703 ) is the last day on which call dates are permitted. Exclusion Range ( 704 ) is the time period after a call date when a participant  307  will not be allowed to have another call.  
         [0051]    After setting the parameters  702 , an Administrator can send email invitations (see FIG. 8) to participants in the group  306  by clicking an Invite button  705 . A Manage On-Call Invites link  2405  on screen  2400  (see FIG. 24) allows for further invitations to be sent at a later date if necessary to one or more participants  307  in the group  306 . This function is useful if new participants  307  are added to the group  306  once invitations  800  (see FIG. 8) have already been sent.  
         [0052]    Returning now to the Invite screen  700 , email invitations  800  are sent at step  204  (see FIG. 2A) to participants  301  when the Invite button  705  is clicked. The email invitation  800  comprises terms  801  of the on call arrangement. The participant  307  clicks on a URL  802  to log in to a secure web site should they wish to sign up for on call dates. If the participant decides at step  205  not to sign up for on call dates, they do not click through and there is no further action for the current round of Invitations (see step  206  in FIG. 2A).  
         [0053]    A participant  307  who logs in to the secure website  305  is taken to a calendar web page  900  (see FIG. 9) when they click on the On Call Calendar link  901 . The text  902  on the page  900  outlines the expectations for the participant  307 . The calendar section  903  shows a month view of the calendar with icons  904  to represent dates that are not available to the participant  307 . A striped box icon  906  represents a day that is not available because they are already on call that day. A cross icon  907  represents a day that is not available either because someone else in the group  306  is on call for that group specialty, or because they cannot sign up for a day that is within the Exclusion Range  704  following another call of theirs.  
         [0054]    When a participant selects at step  207  an available day  905  on the calendar  903 , they are taken to a web page  1000  (see FIG. 10) where they are required to fill in or verify their contact details  1001  and preferred mechanism of contact  1002  at step  208 . They then indicate that they agree with the Terms and Conditions of the consulting arrangement by means of a checkbox  1003  and submit the form by clicking a “Submit” box  1004 .  
         [0055]    A day before the call date, the system  311  at step  209  sends a confirmation request email  1100  (see FIG. 11) to the participant  307  stating that they are required to click on a custom link  1101  to confirm that they will be on call on the specified date  1102 . Clicking through on the custom link  1101  at step  213  (see FIG. 2A) takes them to a confirmation page  1200  (see FIG. 12) where they verify that they can do the on call session by selecting an appropriate option  1201  and clicking a submit button  1202  after accepting the Terms &amp; Conditions  1203  of the arrangement and verifying their contact information  1204 .  
         [0056]    If they do not click the confirmation link at step  210 , then at step  211  a flag on the Administrator&#39;s Calendar  1300  (see FIG. 13) indicates this via icons  1302 . The Administrator then tries at step  212  to contact the participant  307  to confirm with them by other means. If they are able to reach the participant at step  215  and the participant  307  confirms the call date at step  217 , then the Administrator confirms the on call date for the participant in the system directly at step  219  by clicking on the participant&#39;s name ( 1304 ) in the Calendar view  1300 , thereby linking to a web page  1400  (see FIG. 14) for that specific participant  307 &#39;s call day, where the confirmation can be made via the Confirm button  1403 .  
         [0057]    If the Administrator is not able to reach the participant at step  215  then the call cannot be confirmed or denied and the entry is ignored going forward (see step  216 ). If the Administrator reaches the participant at step  215  and learns that the participant can no longer be on call that day at step  217 , the Administrator can delete the call at step  218  using a Delete button  1401  (see FIG. 14). If the Administrator wishes to delete the call entry and send an email  1500  to the participant notifying of the deletion, they would use the Delete &amp; Send Email button  1402 .  
         [0058]    On the date of the call, the system  311  generates at step  220  a personalized email  1600  (see FIG. 16) that is distributed to prospective callers  302  (see FIG. 3). Only those callers that have expressed interest in the topic, callers  308  (see FIG. 3) will receive the participant&#39;s details in their personalized email, in a distinct Select On Call section  2501  above the regular On Call section  2502 . Whereas the regular On Call section has the group name  2503  of the group  304  (see FIG. 3) adjacent to the participant&#39;s name, the Select On Call section  2501  has the Topic name  2504  next to the respective participant. The system may determine said expressed interest by means of a direct topic match or by a child-parent taxonomy relationship in a topic taxonomy structure.  
         [0059]    The email  2500  still contains a descriptive instruction section  2505  followed by the On Call Lists  2501  and  2502 , followed by further instruction and explanation  2506 , and then a biographical detail section  2507 . Part of the customization is a star  2508  next to any participant on call that the caller has already spoken to (as tracked by the system  311 ).  
         [0060]    An individual caller  309  may read the list and decide to directly contact at step  221  (see FIG. 2B) any number of participants  301  on call that day. They contact them either by pager ( 1606 ), regular phone ( 1607 ) or mobile phone ( 1608 ) (see FIG. 16). Once a call has been made, the participant  307  at step  222  once again logs into the secure website and fills out an electronic invoice  1700  (see FIG. 17). The system  311  sends at step  223  to the participant a confirmation email  1800  (see FIG. 18) stating that an invoice has been filed. It then sends at step  224  the caller  309  (as identified ( 1701 ) in the electronic invoice  1700 ) an email  1900  (see FIG. 19) requesting feedback on the call. The caller  309  then clicks on the URL at step  226  and fills out a feedback form  2000  (see FIG. 20) indicating quality ( 2001 ), suitability ( 2002 ) and availability ( 2003 ) scores, as well as qualitative commentary ( 2004 ). If the caller elects at step  225  not to click through and give feedback, no feedback is recorded, but the payment process (steps  228  and  229 ) is not affected. Feedback on participants can subsequently be viewed by the Administrator on a feedback screen  2200  (see FIG. 22).  
         [0061]    The Administrator  304  periodically looks (step  227 ) at an aggregated electronic invoice page  2100  (see FIG. 21) and allows at step  228  (see  2101 ) or denies at step  231  (see  2102 ) payments to individual participants ( 2103 ) using a conventional checkbox then submit type button method. Accepted payment requests are sent electronically through to the accounts payables department and a check is sent at step  229  to the participant  307  for services rendered.  
         [0062]    Should a prospective caller  308  want to plan ahead, they may log into a secure website and view a calendar  2300  (see FIG. 23) that lists participants expected to be on call in the following days and weeks. The calendar includes Select On Call participants  2301  and  2302  as part of the customization of the web page for that particular caller  308 . A prospective caller who has not expressed interest in a topic  309  will not see the Select On Call participants related to that topic on the calendar  2300 .  
         [0063]    A further embodiment of the invention preferably is used in combination with the above embodiments. It provides for more automation with regard to the invitation process for participants. Whereas in the embodiments above it is necessary to construct a group of participants and trigger an email to them, this embodiment provides a method by which individual participants, outside of a group, are invited to participate in the on call program.  
         [0064]    Callers trigger automated invitations by providing high feedback (that is, substantially positive feedback) on a call with a particular participant. If high feedback is given for a call where a topic was assigned, the participant is not already signed up for an on call day, the hourly billing rate is within a certain range, and sufficient callers have expressed interest in the topic, then an invitation is triggered. Caller interest also may be expressed through other activities, such as requesting to speak with a participant on a given topic, attending events on a given topic, and downloading publications on a given topic. Other activities to which the method is potentially applicable will be apparent to those skilled in the art.  
         [0065]    Preferably the only restrictions preventing a participant from signing up for an on call day are: (1) it is a day on which they are already on call, or (2) it is in a 2-week lockout period (for example) following an on-call day. As opposed to the other embodiments described above, there is no participant group in this embodiment, so there is no restriction against participants signing up for a day on which someone else in the group has already signed up.  
         [0066]    On the day of the call, callers that qualify as having expressed interest in the topic (and preferably only those callers) will receive the participant&#39;s name and contact details related to the topic of interest. The list of such participants preferably resides in a separate section of the on call list.  
         [0067]    While the embodiments shown and described herein are fully capable of achieving the objects of the invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are shown only for the purpose of illustration and not for the purpose of limitation. For example, those skilled in the art will recognize that computer-network-based chat rooms, instant messaging, and the like could be used in the above-described embodiments instead of telephone calls. Thus, the term “call” should be construed broadly, to cover such alternatives to telephone calls.