Abstract:
A system and method for provisioning Internet access services to guests of a facility (e.g., one or more hotel chains). Equipment and devices for access service are installed throughout the facility. Each device that supports the Internet access services has a unique identifier. Zones representing various public and private areas within each facility are defined and one or more devices are associated with each zone. Service offerings for wired and wireless connections are defined and associated with one or more zones. Service offerings are also paired with pricing plans that provide various payment options and amounts. A web-based administration application allows an administrator to define and manage service offerings associated with the zones. The application also allows the administrator to define and manage the pricing plans. The ability to customize offerings in each facility allows development of consistent offerings, regardless of the size or layout of the facility.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/483,816, filed Jun. 12, 2009 and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVISIONING OF INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES IN A GUEST FACILITY, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,009,310 issued Apr. 14, 2015, and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/060,915, filed Jun. 12, 2008, titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVISIONING OF INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES IN A GUEST FACILITY, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to systems and methods for provisioning Internet access services at guest facilities. In particular, the present invention is directed to a system and method for provisioning of Internet access services in guest facilities according to wired and wireless zones defined within each facility. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Guests of many travel facilities such as hotels or other lodging facilities as well as transportation depots such as airports, train stations, and bus stations consider Internet access to be more than an amenity. Many business travelers work while traveling and view Internet access as an important factor in their ability to work while away from the office. They use the Internet to complete work assignments as well as to communicate with their home offices. They may also use it to communicate with their family members back home. Leisure travelers also frequently use Internet access services while traveling. They may use the Internet to plan daily activities or to stay in contact with business colleagues as well as other family members not participating in the vacation. Many guests further use the Internet for entertainment while traveling such as for accessing online games or downloading videos and music. For all guests, the availability of Internet access service, and in particular high-speed Internet access service, is an important consideration when selecting certain facilities such as hotels or other lodging. The availability of fast and reliable Internet access service can influence their decision to select one facility over another. 
     In addition to expecting fast and reliable service, guests want an Internet access service that is convenient and easy-to-use. Guests need to be able to connect quickly to the Internet without the need to modify or reconfigure their computers to establish the connection or without the need to create and maintain different user accounts that support access to the Internet. Methods for accessing an Internet connection, however, can vary depending upon the type of network or service used by a facility to initiate and support such connections. For example, in the overnight lodging industry, connection methods can vary not only across hotels&#39; brands that are part of the same chain, but even across hotels of the same brand because of differences in the Internet access service offered by each individual hotel. 
     For many guests, part of an Internet access service that is convenient and easy-to-use includes convenience when paying for Internet access services. For travel facilities that offer many services such as hotels, Internet access service is considered just one of the many amenities. As a result, guests expect to be able to use and pay for the service in the same manner they use and pay for other hotel services such as room service, entertainment services, or health club services. They should be able to request the service and then pay for it using one of several payment methods such as adding the service to a room bill or charging it to a credit card. 
     Although hotel guests today have specific expectations about the Internet access services, meeting those expectations can be difficult. Different systems may be deployed within a facility or across facilities to provide specific features and functionality. The manner in which systems are interconnected and communicate with each other can have an impact on the Internet access service for guests. As a result, there may be differences in the way services are provisioned and subsequently accessed by a guest. For example, within a hotel chain a guest may see different access service interfaces for the same brand of hotel. Account creation and authentication processes may differ and some hotels within the chain may offer a charge-to-room service while others do not. Finally, wireless connection services may differ between hotels with respect to location, payment options, etc. 
     Problems that compromise the guest experience such as variability in interface, location, and payment options can be reduced by implementing a solution that allows for more customization and control over the services provided by the guest facility. Providing seamless Internet access services within a single facility as well as across facilities within a brand or a chain requires consistency in the features and functionality that are offered. There is a need for an Internet access service across one or more guest facilities that provides guests with a consistent provisioning experience. There is a need for an Internet access service across one or more guest facilities that provides guests with a consistent access experience after provisioning services. There is a need for an improved system and method for providing Internet access services to guests across one or more facilities. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a system and method for provisioning Internet access services to guests of a travel facility. In an example embodiment, the Internet access service is offered to guests of one or more hotel chains. The system and method support provisioning of Internet access services in guest facilities according to zones (e.g., wired and wireless) defined within each facility. Equipment and devices for wired and wireless Internet access service are installed throughout each hotel. Each device or access point that supports the Internet access services has a unique identifier. Zones representing various public and private areas within each facility are defined and one or more devices are associated with each zone. In addition, service offerings for wired and wireless connections are defined and associated with one or more zones. Service offerings are also paired with pricing plans that provide various payment options and amounts. A web-based administration application allows an administrator to define and manage service offerings that are associated with the public and private zones of the hotel. The application also allows the administrator to define and manage the pricing plans. 
     The ability to customize offerings in each facility allows a hotel chain to develop consistent service offerings in each facility regardless of the size or layout of the facility. Hotel companies that manage more than one brand of property can develop consistent service offerings within each brand. As a result, the guest experience in accessing the Internet is more predictable and satisfying. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of devices and components for providing Internet access services in a hotel; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the designation of zones providing Internet access in a hotel; 
         FIGS. 3-5  are example screens for an administration application to define and manage service offerings and price plans for Internet access services in a hotel; and 
         FIGS. 6 and 7  are sample Internet access screens for use by guests of a hotel. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of devices and components for providing Internet access services is shown. A hotel  102  is equipped with various devices and other equipment (e.g., data ports, cables, etc.) for providing wired and wireless Internet access services to guests. An Internet gateway device  112  manages NATd (network address translation) IPs, provides DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) and opens and closes ports allowing hotel guests to access a local router  110  connected to the Internet  108 . The gateway device  112  also manages time allotments, such as several hours worth of access, three days of access, etc. 
     The gateway device  112  may communicate with a property management system (PMS)  114  via an RS-232 cable or similar type of link. When a guest checks into a hotel, identifying information for the guest such as the guest&#39;s first and last name is entered into the PMS  114 . Identifying information may be received from other sources such as reservation systems. Once the guest is checked into the hotel, additional identifying information such as the guest&#39;s room number is added to the data stored in the PMS  114 . The guest identifying data such as last name, first name, and room number facilitates confirming the guest&#39;s registration status when Internet access services are requested. The PMS  114  provides guest identifying data for guests such as a list of guest names in a specific room number and receives posting transactions from the gateway device  114  via a messaging interface. 
     The PMS  114  also communicates through the gateway  112 , router  110 , and Internet  108  via a private WAN with one or more data centers  100 . A first data center  104  may provide centralized authentication services to confirm that an Internet access request is from a guest of the hotel. A second data center  106  may provide portal services such as credit card authorization, accounting, billing, and reporting. 
     Access points and other equipment for defining wired and wireless local area networks (LANs) are installed throughout the hotel. One or more wired networks  116  may be defined to provide wired Internet access services in guest rooms  118  while one or more wireless networks  120  may be defined to provide wireless Internet access services in public areas  122  of the hotel such as the lobby, bar, and restaurants. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram illustrating the designation of zones to support Internet access services in a hotel is shown. In an example embodiment, access points installed throughout the hotel are grouped into virtual local area networks (VLANs). In the example zone designations of  FIG. 2 , each guest room floor  200 ,  202 ,  204 ,  206  is defined to be a separate zone and is assigned its own VLAN identifier. The first floor, which may comprise several public areas (e.g., restaurant, lobby, lounge)  208  and semi-private areas (e.g., meeting rooms)  210 ,  212 , may be divided into multiple VLANs. One or more access points are included in each zone identified by a VLAN. Each virtual grouping of access points into a VLAN may correspond to a large or a small physical area within the facility depending upon the needs of the facility. One or more public, semi-private, or private areas may be defined. Zones may also be defined according to the types of service offerings the hotel would like to extend to its guests as well as the pricing plans it would like to offer. The use of zones allows a hotel chain to offer consistent services regardless of the physical layout of each property. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3-6 , example screens for an administration application to define and manage Internet access service offerings and price plans are shown. Referring to  FIG. 3 , an example service offering screen  300  is shown. The screen allows a user to review the Internet access service offerings for a selected property. The offerings may be filtered according to status  302 . Each offering comprises an identifier  304 , a description  306 , a minimum and maximum bandwidth for the offering  308 , an effective and expiration date  310 , and version number  312 . An edit option  314  is also provided. As indicated in  FIG. 3 , different Internet service offerings may be defined for different areas or zones of the hotel such as guest rooms, the hotel lobby, and meeting rooms  306 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , an example edit service offering screen  400  is shown. The screen allows a user to edit an Internet access service offering for a hotel. The screen identifies the relevant service offering identifier  402  and property code  404 . The user can specify a minimum and maximum bandwidth  406  for the offering as well as an IP type  408  (e.g., private, public, or both which allows guest to select type). The user further specifies the connection and roaming zones  410  in the hotel to which the offering applies. The user specifies the connection and roaming zones by referring to the corresponding VLAN identifiers used to designate the zones. Connection zones are zones from which guests may make an initial connection using this service offering. Roaming zones represent zones from which a user is allowed to connect after an initial connection is made from a connection zone. For example, a service offering may be defined that requires a guest to initially connect from a guest room, but subsequently permits access from the lobby or another public area. In the example screen shown, initial connections (i.e., the connection zones) may be made from zones 1-299 and 311-899. Once a guest has made an initial connection from one of the zones in the ranges 1-299 or 311-899, the guest may connect again from any of the zones 1-899. The user may further specify effective and expiration dates for the service offering  412 . Finally, the user may edit the public and internal descriptions  414 . 
     At the bottom of the screen, price plans and promotions using the service offering  416  are shown. As indicated, the service offering may be associated with more than one Internet access service price plan or promotion. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , an example edit price plan screen  500  is shown. The screen allows a user to edit an Internet access service price plan that may be associated with one or more service offerings. The screen identifies the relevant price plan identifier  502  and property code  504 . The user can specify a service offering  506  to be associated with the price plan. The user can select a price type  508  (e.g., public, access code, or private), specify a price  510 , and select duration ranging from hours to weeks  512 . The user may further specify effective and expiration dates  514  for the offering and provide a description  516 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , sample Internet access screens for use by guests of a hotel are shown. Referring to  FIG. 6 , a sample screen for a guest of a first hotel in a hotel chain is shown. Within the hotel, an access screen is selected for a guest according to the zone in which the guest is stationed when requesting access. When a user requests access, the access point that receives the request provides the VLAN for the zone which is then used along with other information about the guest to determine which Internet access screen to display. For example, if a user is in a guest room using a wired connection, a screen  600  as shown in  FIG. 6  may be displayed. The screen displays for the user one or more price plans  602 . As shown in the screen, hourly and daily options are presented. In addition, the user may be prompted for a promotion code related to an Internet service promotion offered to the guest  604 . For example, frequent guests may receive free services for a certain period of time as part of a loyalty program. Finally, the screen displays for the user a payment option  606 . Because user is a confirmed guest in the hotel, the user may be presented with a “bill-to-room” option. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a sample screen for a guest of a second hotel in the same hotel chain is shown. Within the hotel, an access screen  700  is selected for a guest according to the zone in which the guest is stationed when requesting access. The access point that receives the request provides the VLAN for the zone which is then used along with other information about the guest to determine which Internet access screen to display. In this example, the service offering requires only an access code  702  from the user to establish an Internet connection. 
     The present invention allows a company that manages a variety of guest facilities to provision Internet access services efficiently and in a consistent manner across facilities. For companies that manage facilities under different brands, the system and method allow the company to define a consistent guest experience across each brand. The ability to provide a consistent guest experience under a particular brand helps the company to increase each guest&#39;s brand awareness and appreciation. The ability to meet an important need of business and leisure travelers helps the company to increase guests&#39; brand loyalty. 
     Appendix A provides technical details of page layout designs and content for an administration application to support geographic provisioning of Internet access Services. Appendix B provides connection log details regarding information that is stored for each guest Internet connection. 
     While certain embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above, the scope of the invention is not to be considered limited by such disclosure, and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention as evidenced by the following claims.