Abstract:
A process of developing a computer network based universal reservation system. In one embodiment, such a process includes the steps of obtaining a service interface broker, providing a service offering system that a service developer wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system with functionality of the service offering system being extended by functionality provided by the service interface broker, obtaining a marketplace interface broker, and providing a marketplace system that a marketplace supplier wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system with functionality of the marketplace system being extended by functionality provided by the marketplace interface broker.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/981,744 entitled “BUSINESS TO MEDIA RESERVATION BUSINESS PROCESS” filed on Oct. 22, 2007, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to facilitating the reservation of services offered by service providers, and more particularly to a developing computer network connected systems for the reservation of services in any business domain using multiple analog and digital media. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The Internet and other computer networks have proven to be a useful medium for connecting service providers with persons seeking to obtain services. For example, a patient might utilize the Internet to access their doctor&#39;s office Web site to schedule an appointment, a driver might access a car rental agency&#39;s Web site via the Internet to reserve a rental car, or a diner might utilize the Internet to access a restaurant&#39;s Web site to obtain a dinner reservation. In each of the foregoing examples, the scheduling function is integrated with the system that presents information about the available service. Furthermore, access to the system that presents information about the available services may be limited to particular marketplaces. For example, the doctor&#39;s office, car rental agency&#39;s, or restaurant&#39;s Web site might be accessible via a Web portal, but not via a mobile phone portal or a digital television system. Additionally, the clients seeking services may be presented with a myriad of different scheduling systems and processes in order to reserve a variety of differing services since the clients directly interface with the service offering systems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for developing a computer network based universal reservation system (CNBURS) capable of performing every type reservation relating to services between customers and service providers in real time, simultaneously over every analog and digital media, in multiple digital marketplaces through a single scheduling agent. A “service” may, for example, be considered an arrangement among a service provider and one or more customers by which the customer(s) receives/receive the use of one or more resources from the service provider. Use of the resource(s) may be received by the customer(s) for a scheduled period of time (e.g., for an hour, a day, a week, or the duration of a performance such as a movie, a play, or a sporting event), although it is also possible for the duration of the service to be open-ended. A “resource” may, for example, include a good that is exchanged between the service provider and the customer(s) as well as an activity that is performed for or on behalf of the customer(s). The activity may be performed by one or more individuals, one or more entities, one or more devices, or a combination of individuals, entities and/or devices. In general, a “customer” is any individual or entity that may receive a service from a service provider. The terms “customer” and “client” may be used interchangeably herein. Further, a “reservation” refers to any activity involving scheduling the delivery of a service. A “service provider” may be any individual or entity that possesses resources and is capable of providing the use of those resources to customers. Where the service provider owns a resource, ownership of the resource may be maintained by the service provider during the service. 
         [0005]    One aspect of the process of the present invention is to establish the roles, responsibilities and interactions between various actors and components derived from the B2M reservation standard and the universal B2M reservation system. In general, the B2M reservation standard specifies a standard that provides for the visualization of, and the renting/scheduling of services, simultaneously, in real time, and over multiple analog and digital media in multiple analog and digital marketplaces. The B2M reservation standard is more specifically described in a separate U.S. patent application filed contemporaneously herewith entitled “BUSINESS TO MEDIA RESERVATION STANDARD” (which application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/981,752 filed Oct. 22, 2007), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. In general the universal B2M reservation system provides a system that provides easy brokering of reservations relating to services between customers and service providers. The universal B2M reservation system is more specifically described in a separate U.S. patent application filed contemporaneously herewith entitled “UNIVERSAL BUSINESS TO MEDIA RESERVATION SYSTEM” (which application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/981,760 filed Oct. 22, 2007), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. In accordance with this aspect, this covers the following: 
         [0006]    a. Universal B2M reservation system&#39;s development process; 
         [0007]    b. Universal B2M reservation system&#39;s modules ownership; and 
         [0008]    c. Universal B2M reservation system&#39;s open structure which enables the following:
       i. the ability to offer reservation services to different kinds of domains (e.g. auto parts, medical reservations and ski rental),   ii. the ability to use different technologies and programming languages (e.g. Windows, Unix and OS X/PHP and Java),   iii. the ability to use different languages (e.g. English, German, French and Polish),   iv. the ability to implement variety of business logic approaches (e.g. service bundles and linked services),   v. the ability to offer access to the system via every analog and digital media (e.g. newspaper, billboard, Internet and cell phone), over multiple marketplaces (e.g. domain specific, geographic, bundled and universal).       
 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the process of the present invention may be presented as a process combining cooperation and interaction of three groups of actors and six components. The three actors are: one or more marketplace suppliers, a universal reservation system operator (URSO), and one or more service developers. The components owned by the universal reservation system operator may include: a marketplace interface broker (MIB), a service interface broker (SIB), and a scheduling agent. Components that are part of the process but are external to the universal reservation system operator may belong to the marketplace suppliers and service developers. Such components include, respectively, marketplaces belonging to marketplace suppliers and service offering systems (SOSs) belonging to service developers. Both groups may also own media interfaces. 
         [0015]    The universal reservation system operator may develop the scheduling agent, the marketplace interface broker and the service interface broker. Marketplace suppliers receive the marketplace interface broker and develop marketplaces (the client&#39;s interfaces to CNBURS). Service developers receive the service interface broker and develop service offering systems (service provider interfaces to CNBURS). 
         [0016]    The process of developing CNBURS allows:
       developing a reservation system with marketplaces and service offering systems separated from the scheduling agent.   creating a reservation system with particular components belonging to different owners, and   creating a reservation system with multiple marketplaces and service offering systems.       
 
         [0020]    By using MIB and SIB in accordance with the presented process, the reservation system becomes truly universal and can offer reservation services to different kinds of reservation domains (e.g. computer purchase reservation, medical services and ski rental, etc.). This is possible due to the fact that CNBURS is not developed by only one or several developers but it can have as many domain-specific marketplace suppliers and service developers as the scheduling agent is able to serve. 
         [0021]    With the MIB and SIB being operating system and programming language agnostic and following the presented process of using them, CNBURS can be made available for all leading technologies and programming languages. 
         [0022]    In one embodiment, the process of the present invention states that client&#39;s and service provider&#39;s interfaces within the CNBURS are developed independently from the URSO by different entities. This implicates that language used within graphical user interfaces (GUIs) developed by marketplace suppliers and service developers depends only on the perceived market needs which allow the system conditions to become multi language with a potentially unlimited number of supported languages. 
         [0023]    The process of the present invention also allows for the possibility of developing CNBURS with an unlimited number of service offering systems developed by different entities (service developers). 
         [0024]    The process of the present invention further allows for the possibility of developing CNBURS with an unlimited number of marketplaces developed by different entities (marketplace suppliers). 
         [0025]    The process of the present invention also gives marketplace suppliers freedom in the marketplace development process. Marketplace suppliers can choose what kind and what number of business domains available at the scheduling agent they want to offer on their marketplaces and how interaction with the client should look like. As this invention lets an unlimited number of marketplace suppliers cooperate with CNBURS, the number of marketplaces with different business logics is also potentially unlimited. 
         [0026]    The present invention includes various additional aspects and features. In one more aspect a process of developing a computer network based universal reservation system includes the steps of obtaining a service interface broker, providing a service offering system, obtaining a marketplace interface broker, and providing a marketplace system. The service offering system may be one that a service developer wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system, with functionality of the service offering system being extended by functionality provided by the service interface broker. The marketplace system may be one that a marketplace supplier wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system, with functionality of the marketplace system being extended by functionality provided by the marketplace interface broker. 
         [0027]    In yet one more aspect, a process of developing a computer network based universal reservation system that enables reservations by one or more customers of services offered by one or more service providers, wherein a service offered by the one or more service providers comprises an arrangement wherein a customer receives the use of a resource from a service provider, includes the steps of providing a scheduling agent system, providing a service interface broker to a service developer, and providing a marketplace interface broker to a marketplace supplier. In providing a service interface broker to a service developer, the service interface broker may be usable by the service developer to develop a service offering system including functionality provided by the service interface broker when there is not an existing service offering system that the service developer wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system and to add functionality provided by the service interface broker to an existing service offering system when there is an existing service offering system that a service developer wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system, with functionality of the service offering system being extended by functionality provided by the service interface broker. In providing a marketplace interface broker to a marketplace supplier, the marketplace interface broker may be usable by the marketplace supplier to develop a marketplace system including functionality provided by the marketplace interface broker when there is not an existing marketplace system that the marketplace supplier wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system and to add functionality provided by the marketplace interface broker to an existing marketplace system when there is an existing marketplace system that a marketplace supplier wants included in the computer network based universal reservation system, with functionality of the marketplace system being extended by functionality provided by the marketplace interface broker. The process may also include the step of including in the computer network based universal reservation system at least one of the scheduling agent system, the service offering system with the functionality provided by the service interface broker, and the marketplace system with the functionality provided by the marketplace interface broker. 
         [0028]    Various refinements exist of the features noted in relation to the various aspects of the present invention. Further features may also be incorporated in the various aspects of the present invention. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination, and various features of the various aspects may be combined. These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon review of the following Detailed Description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0029]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention and further advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following Detailed Description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which: 
           [0030]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a computer network based universal reservation system presenting involved actors and components; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 2  shows one embodiment of a computer network based universal reservation system development process. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0032]      FIG. 1  depicts one embodiment of a CNBURS  100  that may be developed using the CNBURS development process  200 , one embodiment of which is presented in  FIG. 2 . The CNBURS development process  200  combines interactions of three (3) groups of actors and six (6) component types (see  FIG. 1 ). Component types used in this process include:
       A media interface  122 ,  142  is a set of all tools (e.g. php-html scripts, OpenTV applications, etc.) needed to support client  110  to marketplace  124 , marketplace  124  to client  110 , service provider  150  to service offering system  144 , and service offering system  144  to service provider  150  directed communication through digital media (e.g. mobile phone with an Internet browser, PC with an Internet browser, etc.). The media interface  122  is also a set of tools (e.g. graphics, texts, etc.) needed to enable marketplace  124  to client  110  directed communication through analog media (e.g. billboards, newspapers, etc.).   A marketplace  124  is a computer network enabled computer system where services are available through media interfaces  122  to the clients  110 . In this regard, marketplaces  124  may also be referred to herein as marketplace systems  124 .   A marketplace interface broker (MIB)  132  is a tool integrating marketplaces  124  with a scheduling agent  134 . The MIB  132  provides functionality enabling different kinds of marketplaces  124  to be connected to the scheduling agent  134 .   A scheduling agent  134  is a computer network enabled computer system capable of processing reservations of services on behalf of a service provider  150  and handling reservations between marketplace interface brokers  132  and service interface brokers  136 . In this regard, the scheduling agent  134  may also be referred to herein as the scheduling agent system  134 . The scheduling agent  134  is connected via a computer network (not shown) to one or more service offering systems  144  using service interface brokers  136  and to marketplaces  124  using marketplace interface brokers  132 .   A service interface broker (SIB)  136  is a tool integrating service offering systems  144  with the scheduling agent  134 . The SIB  136  provides functionality enabling different kinds of service offering systems  144  to be connected to the scheduling agent  134 .   A service offering system  144  is a computer network enabled computer system where services are defined and managed by service providers  150  through media interfaces  142 .
 
The actors cooperating in the process of developing CNBURS include:
   A universal reservation system operator  130  that is the provider of three components: the scheduling agent  134 , the marketplace interface broker  132  and the service interface broker  136 .   A marketplace supplier  120  that is the developer of one or more marketplaces  124  and one or more media interfaces  122 .   A service developer  140  that is the developer of one or more service offering systems  144  and one or more media interfaces  142 .         
         [0042]    CNBURS development may proceed in accordance with a process  200  such as depicted in  FIG. 2 . When the CNBURS development process begins, there are several initial conditions  202  including: (1) the universal reservation system operator  130  provides the scheduling agent  134  with adequate functionality; (2) the universal reservation system operator  130  provides the MIB  132  and the SIB  136  with the adequate functionality and features; and (3) the universal reservation system operator  130  makes the MIB  132  and the SIB  136  available to the market, so any interested service developer  140  and marketplace supplier  120  can obtain, respectively, the SIB  136  and the MIB  132 . 
         [0043]    With the initial conditions  202  satisfied, one embodiment of the CNBURS development process  200  proceeds in the following manner. In a first step  210 , the service developer  140  obtains the SIB  136  from the universal reservation system operator  130 . In a second step  220  the service developer undertakes one of two sub-steps. If the service developer  140  already has a service offering system  144 , the service developer  140  undertakes sub-step  222  wherein the service developer  140  adds functionality provided by the SIB  136  to the existing service offering system  144 ; else, the service developer  140  undertakes sub-step  224  wherein the service developer  140  develops a service offering system  144  with functionality provided by the SIB  136 . In a third step  230 , the service developer  140  develops at least one media interface  142  for accessing its service offering system  144 . 
         [0044]    In a fourth step  240 , the marketplace supplier  120  obtains the MIB  132  from the universal reservation system operator  130 . In a fifth step  250 , the marketplace supplier  120  undertakes one of two sub-steps. If the marketplace supplier  120  already has a marketplace system  124 , the marketplace supplier  120  undertakes sub-step  252  wherein the marketplace supplier  120  adds functionality provided by the MIB  132  to the existing marketplace system  124 ; else, the marketplace supplier  120  undertakes sub-step  254  wherein the marketplace supplier  120  develops the marketplace system  124  with functionality provided by the MIB  132 . In a sixth step  260 , the marketplace supplier  120  develops at least one media interface  122  for accessing its marketplace system  120 . 
         [0045]    In other embodiments of the CNBURS development process, the order of one or more of the aforementioned steps ( 210 - 260 ) may be arranged in a different manner. For example, steps undertaken by the service developer  140  (e.g., steps  210 - 230 ) may proceed in parallel with the steps undertaken by the marketplace supplier  120  (e.g., steps  240 - 260 ) or after the steps undertaken by the marketplace supplier  120 . Regardless of the order in which the steps are arranged, the CNBURS  100  starts to work at its full functionality when at least one service developer  140  and at least one marketplace supplier  120  fulfill their respective activities of the CNBURS development process  200 . 
       Ownership of CNBURS 
       [0046]    Actors (e.g., the universal reservation system operator  130 , marketplace suppliers  120  and service developers  140 ) participating in development of CNBURS  100  partially own the system  100  by owning its specified elements. Three groups of actors and their components are listed below:
       The universal reservation system operator  130  owns the scheduling agent system  134 , the service interface broker  136  and the marketplace interface broker  132 ,   Each service developer  140  owns at least one service offering system  144  and at least one media interface  142 , and   Each marketplace supplier  120  owns at least one marketplace system  124  and at least one media interface  122 .
 
While there is only one universal reservation system operator  130 , the number of service developers  140  and marketplace suppliers  120  participating in developing a CNBURS  100  is not limited.
       
 
       Roles and Responsibilities 
       [0050]    The role of the universal reservation system operator  130  in the CNBURS development process  200  includes:
       supplying marketplace suppliers  120  and service developers  140 , respectively, with MIBs  132  and SIBs  136 ;   assuring error-free and secure communication between provided MIBs  132  and SIBs  136 ;   providing the scheduling agent  134  which will operate efficiently and reliably; and   providing the functionality that satisfies marketplace suppliers  120  and service developers  140  needs according to the CNBURS  100 .       
 
         [0055]    The role of marketplace suppliers  120  includes:
       building marketplaces  124  in any area of perceived market need (e.g. auto parts reservation, hair-dressers, ski rentals, hotels, etc.);   establishing the tailored user interfaces for marketplaces  124 ;   linking or excluding service domains in order to improve the client experience on a given marketplace  124 ; and   providing access to marketplaces  124  to the clients  110  through required analog and digital media by media interfaces  122  (e.g. newspapers, billboards, cell phones, WWW sites, digital TV applications, etc.).       
 
         [0060]    The role of service developers  140  includes:
       building service offering systems  144  in any perceived need business domain (e.g. computer purchase reservation, auto parts, hair-dressers, ski rentals, hotels, etc.);   establishing the tailored user interfaces for service offering systems  144 ;   developing service provider&#39;s  150  reservation delegations within service offering systems  144 ;   developing functionality of assigning service provider&#39;s  150  offer to a unique universal service code;   linking to service offering systems  144  any other domain-specific tools (e.g. patient medical records, restaurant table configuration, etc.); and   providing access to service offering systems  144  to the service providers  150  through required digital media by media interfaces  142  (e.g. cell phone applications, WWW applications, digital TV applications, computer network enabled local applications, etc.).       
 
         [0067]    While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, further modifications and adaptations of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and adaptations are within the spirit and scope of the present invention.