Patent ID: 7327262

Claim:
A system for monitoring the movement of entities from a first location to a second location via a plurality of zones, the system including: means for detecting passage of an entity from one zone to another zone; data storage means for storing, in real-time, data comprising an identity of each zone a particular entity has occupied, a sequence in which each zone has been occupied, and a time at which the entity moves from one zone to another; means for calculating and storing an average transit time of entities through bottleneck zones based on the stored data; means for inputting and storing an average transit time of entities through non-bottleneck zones; means for calculating, based on the stored data, an estimated completion time of an entity, which is the time to travel between the zone in which an entity is located and the second location of the entity; means for calculating, based on said estimated completion time, an estimated time of arrival of an entity at the second location of the entity; means for periodically recalculating the estimated completion time of an entity; and means for providing an alert in the event an entity is predicted to arrive at the second location of the entity beyond a predetermined critical arrival time of the entity.