Abstract:
An on-premises restaurant paging system and method for paging a customer in the restaurant. A data token provided to the customer includes an encoded customer identifier which the customer inputs into one of a plurality of paging receivers that are mounted on different tables in the restaurant. Each of the paging receivers includes a data input device for reading the data token, and storing the customer identifier in a database. A programmable paging transmitter broadcasts a paging message in the restaurant that includes a broadcast customer identifier. Each of the fixed paging receivers receives the broadcast paging message, extracts the broadcast customer identifier, and compares the broadcast customer identifier with the customer identifier stored in its database. The paging receiver that determines a match generates an alert signal to alert the customer.

Description:
PRIORITY STATEMENT UNDER 35 U.S.C. §119(E) &amp; 37 C.F.R. §1.78 
     This nonprovisional application claims priority based upon the prior U.S. provisional patent application entitled, “On-Premises Paging System Utilizing a Pager Having a Data Input Device,” application No. 60/298,809, filed Jun. 15, 2001 in the names of James Livingston, Russell P. Blink, and Kenneth J. Lovegreen. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to on-premises paging systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to an on-premises paging system that utilizes pagers mounted at different locations on the premises, each pager having a data input device through which a customer identifier may be input to the pager. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Many restaurants use a service method in which customers order their food at a central service counter, and then select their own table where they sit and wait for their food to be prepared. The customers may give their names to a server at the central counter, or the server may give each customer a number that will be called when the customer&#39;s food is ready. In either case, when the food is ready, a public address (PA) system is used to call out the name or number of the customer whose food is ready. The called customer then proceeds to the central counter and picks up his food. A disadvantage of the central service counter method is that many noisy PA system announcements must be made within the restaurant, thereby making the restaurant a less pleasant place to eat. 
     In other restaurants, customers must wait in a waiting area for a table to become available before they can sit down and order their food from a waitperson. Some of these restaurants utilize an on-premises paging system to alert waiting customers when their table is available. When the customer first arrives at the restaurant, he is given an on-premises pager by the receptionist who then enters the code number of the pager into the on-premises paging system. When the table is available, an on-premises paging transmitter pages the customer&#39;s pager with the proper code number, and the customer is alerted. A disadvantage of this paging method is that customers sometimes leave the restaurant before their table is ready, and they take their assigned pager with them. The loss of such pagers can be very expensive to the restaurant. 
     Some restaurants using the central service counter method have also attempted to utilize on-premises pagers to alert customers when their food is ready rather than using the noisy PA system. While this approach has been successful at lowering the noise level, it still suffers from the disadvantage that expensive pagers are lost. 
     It would be advantageous, therefore, to have an on-premises paging system for restaurants with central service counters that eliminates the necessity to make noisy PA announcements, and also eliminates the loss of expensive pagers. The present invention provides such a system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect, the present invention is directed to an on-premises restaurant paging system for paging a customer in a restaurant having a central service counter. At the central service counter, a data token is provided to the customer. The token includes an encoded customer identifier which the customer inputs into one of a plurality of paging receivers that are mounted in a plurality of locations in the restaurant. For example, a paging receiver may be mounted on each table. Each of the paging receivers includes a data input device for reading the customer identifier from the data token when the customer presents the data token to the data input device. The customer identifier is then stored in a database in the paging receiver. A programmable paging transmitter broadcasts a paging message in the restaurant that includes a broadcast customer identifier. The fixed paging receivers receive the broadcast paging message and extract the broadcast customer identifier. A processor in each paging receiver compares the broadcast customer identifier with the customer identifiers stored in its database. When a paging receiver finds a match, the paging receiver generates an alert signal to alert the customer. 
     In another aspect, the present invention is directed to an on-premises pager that includes means for mounting the pager at a location in a business establishment; means for receiving a first identifier from a person to be alerted; and means for storing the first identifier received from the person. The pager also includes means for receiving from an external paging transmitter, a broadcast paging message that includes a second identifier; means for comparing the stored first identifier with the received second identifier; and means for generating an alerting signal for alerting the person when the first identifier matches the second identifier. 
     In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of paging a customer with an on-premises paging system. The method includes the steps of providing the customer with a data token on which a customer identifier is encoded, and reading the customer&#39;s customer identifier with a data input device at a particular one of a plurality of paging receivers mounted in one of a plurality of locations on the premises. The read customer identifier is then stored in a database in the particular paging receiver. This is followed by broadcasting to the plurality of paging receivers, a paging message that includes a broadcast customer identifier. Each of the paging receivers extracts the broadcast customer identifier from the paging message, and compares the broadcast customer identifier with the customer identifier stored in its database to determine whether there is a match. The particular paging receiver alerts the customer when the broadcast customer identifier matches the customer identifier stored in the database. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the following drawings, in conjunction with the accompanying specification, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the on-premises paging system of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the pager/data reader of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a simplified functional block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the pager/data reader of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary process performed by the pager/data reader when receiving a paging message and alerting a customer. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the on-premises paging system of the present invention. The present invention is an on-premises paging system that utilizes pagers mounted at different locations on the premises, each pager having a data input device through which a customer identifier may be input to the pager. In restaurants using the central service counter method, customers  11 - 13  order their food at a central service counter  14 , and then they select their own table  15 - 17  where they sit and wait for their food to be prepared. In the system of the present invention, an on-premises pager  18  is permanently mounted on each table. As shown and described in FIG. 2, each pager includes a data input device  19  such as a card reader, bar code scanner, keypad, etc. Each pager also includes a display screen  20 , a set of alerting lights  21 , a speaker  22 , and a customer acknowledgment/reset button  23 . 
     When the customer places an order at the central service counter  14 , the server taking the order may place a blank data token  24  into a token programmer  25  which encodes a customer number on the token. Alternatively, the tokens may be preprogrammed, in which case the token programmer is not required. The server then gives the customer a programmed data token  26  and instructs them to input the data on the data token into the pager  18  mounted on the table that they select. The customer number is then stored in a customer-number memory in the pager. Thereafter, when the customer&#39;s order is ready, the customer number is broadcast by an on-premises paging transmitter, and the pager at the customer&#39;s table alerts the customer. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the pager  18 . In the description herein, the pagers may be referred to as being mounted in fixed locations. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the owner of the restaurant may have the means to relocate the pagers from one location to another. An essential feature of the pager, however, is that customers do not hand-carry the pagers, and customers cannot remove the pagers from their mounted locations without tools. In the preferred embodiment, the pagers are table-top pagers fixedly mounted to the tables in the restaurant. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the data tokens are preprogrammed plastic cards  26  having a series of holes  27  which are used to encode different customer numbers. A registration hole  28  is used to ensure that the data token is inserted into the data input device in the correct orientation. The data input device decodes the customer number by reading the pattern of holes. In one embodiment, when the card is placed in the data input device, a series of LEDs shine through the holes, and the light from each hole is detected by a series of detectors on the other side of the card. The presence of light is a logical value while the absence of light is an inverse logical value. Together, the values are interpreted as a customer number. 
     In other embodiments, the server may give the customer a plastic card with a magnetic strip that records the customer number. In this case, the data input device  19  in the pager is a magnetic card reader. Alternatively, the data input device in the pager may be a bar code reader, and the server may give the customer a receipt that has a bar code imprinted thereon containing the customer number. Other methods of inputting the customer number may also be utilized, such as optically read devices, smart cards, Radio Frequency Identifier (RFI) tokens, voice recognition programs, or mechanical bumps, holes, or slots. The data input device  19  may read the customer number as the card, token, or receipt is slid into, slid out of, and/or swiped across the data input device. In another embodiment, the customer is told or given a number at the central service counter, and the customer enters the number in the pager  18  through a keypad or microphone. 
     The display screen  20  may be an LCD or LED display, or any other display suitable for displaying a customer number. In the preferred embodiment, the display screen displays the customer number when the number is input into the pager, and then displays the number again when the customer number is paged. When the page is received, the alerting lights  21  flash to get the attention of the customers at the table. The speaker  22  may also provide an audible indication of the incoming page. When the customer recognizes his customer number on the display screen, he pushes the acknowledgment/reset button  23  which ends the alert and erases his number from the customer-number memory in the pager. 
     FIG. 3 is a simplified functional block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the pager/data reader  18  of the present invention. When the customer  11 - 13  selects a table  15 - 17 , the data input device  19  is utilized to input the customer&#39;s identifier number into the pager  18 . A processor  31  informs the customer of his customer number on the display screen  20 , and stores the customer number in a customer-number memory  32 . Additional members of the customer&#39;s party can then scan their tokens into the pager. The customer-number memory can store multiple customer numbers, and in the preferred embodiment, the customer-number memory can store up to sixteen (16) customer numbers. Each member of the party is informed of his/her customer number, and each customer number is stored in the customer-number memory. 
     When a particular customer&#39;s order is ready, the expediter at the central counter  14  (FIG. 1) uses an expediter interface  33  to use a paging transmitter  34  to broadcast a paging message that includes the assigned customer number. The pagers  18  mounted on each table receive the paging message through a paging receiver  35 . A customer-number extractor  36  extracts the broadcast customer number from the received message and sends it to the processor  31 . The processor of each particular pager then determines whether the broadcast customer number is stored in its customer-number memory. The particular pager that determines that the broadcast customer number is stored in its memory then alerts the customers at its table using the alerting lights  21  and the optional speaker  22 , and then displays the broadcast customer number on the display screen  20 . The customer acknowledgment/reset button  23  enables the customer to indicate that the customer has received the message. The pager then turns off the lights, clears the display screen, and deletes the customer number from the customer-number memory  32 . The pager is powered by a power supply  38  which may be, for example, one or more batteries. 
     FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary process performed by the pager/data reader  18  when receiving a paging message and alerting a customer. At step  41 , a customer number may be encoded on a data token  26  at the central service counter  14 . Alternatively, a pre-recorded data token is provided to the customer. The customer then takes the token to a table, and the data input device  19  reads the customer number from the token at step  42 . At step  43 , the processor  31  stores the customer-number in the customer-number memory  32 . The number may be displayed at this time on the display screen  20  to provide feedback to the customer that the number has been entered. At step  44 , it is then determined whether another member of the dining party inputs a customer number through the data input device. If so, the process returns to step  42  where the data input device reads the customer number from the token, and the processor stores the customer-number in the customer-number memory at  43 . When all of the customer numbers at the table have been entered, the pager waits for a broadcast paging message. 
     At step  45 , the paging transmitter at the central service counter broadcasts a paging message that includes a customer number. At  46 , the paging receiver  35  receives the message, and the customer-number extractor  36  extracts the broadcast customer number at  47 . At step  48 , the processor  31  determines whether or not the broadcast customer number matches any of the customer numbers stored in its memory  32 . If not, the process moves to step  49  where no action is taken. The process then returns to step  45  where the pager continues to wait for a broadcast paging message. If the broadcast customer number matches one of the customer numbers stored in its memory at step  48 , the process moves to step  50  where the alerting lights  21  are flashed to get the attention of the customers at the table. At step  51 , the customer number matching the broadcast customer number is displayed on the display screen  20 , and at  52 , the customer having the displayed customer number pushes the customer acknowledgment/reset button  23 . At  53 , the processor turns off the alerting lights and clears the display. At  54 , the customer number is then deleted from the customer-number memory. This process continues until all of the customers at the table have been alerted. 
     In this manner, the necessity to make noisy PA announcements is eliminated. The loss of expensive pagers is also eliminated since the pagers are permanently mounted on the tables, and the customers are given only plastic cards costing a few cents, or bar-coded receipts which essentially cost nothing. 
     It is thus believed that the operation and construction of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing description. While the system, apparatus, and method shown and described has been characterized as being preferred, it will be readily apparent that various changes and modifications could be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.