Patent ID: 8346588

Claim:
A method for coordinating an availability of service providers to fulfill service requests of customers to service products of different types and brands by using a dynamic group availability processing system, the processing system comprising a processor and a database, the method comprising: receiving, in the processing system, service capacity data from each service provider, the service capacity data being indicative of a respective capacity of each service provider to deliver services for products of different types and brands over selectable periods of time; updating the database with the service capacity data, the database including area-coverage data indicative of at least one group of service providers assignable to serve customers over respective geographical areas; generating data indicative of individual service providers' availability over respective geographical areas and over each selectable period of time, the data including an availability and a load for each service provider determined from the service capacity data, the availability comprising a difference between a total capacity of the service provider and the load, the load comprising a quantity of assigned service requests; receiving, in the processing system, a service request from a customer for service of a product, the service request identifying a type and a brand of the product, wherein the brand of product of the customer is one of a first brand and at least a second brand different from the first brand, a geographical location of the product and a requested time for the service; determining, in the processor, if a service provider's service capacity data is indicative of the service provider's availability corresponding to the service request, the determination comprising comparing the type and brand of the product in the service request to types and brands of products serviced by each service provider, comparing the geographical location of the product to a geographical location of each service provider, and comparing a requested time for the service with a time availability of each service provider; and if a service provider's service capacity data indicates an individual service provider availability to service the first brand and the second brand corresponding to the service request, the processor is configured to: select the service provider and send an assignment update to notify the selected service provider of the service request; and inform the customer of the results of the selected service provider's availability; increment the load by one load unit for the selected service provider; calculate a new availability for the selected service provider; and update the database with the assignment update, the availability and the load in real-time without input from the selected service provider.