Patent ID: 8234216

Claim:
Apparatus comprising: a facility adapted to carry out transactions, the facility including an interior area; at least one drive-through lane externally adjacent the facility; at least one transaction device operative to enable at least one service provider in the interior area of the facility to exchange items with persons in vehicles in the at least one drive-through lane and in a position adjacent the at least one transaction device; at least one computerized transaction device within the interior area of the facility, wherein the at least one computerized transaction device is usable in carrying out transactions, wherein the at least one computerized transaction device is operative to record at least one transaction data item associated with each transaction; at least one vehicle sensor adjacent the at least one drive-through lane, wherein the at least one vehicle sensor is operative to sense each vehicle in the position adjacent the at least one transaction device, wherein the at least one vehicle sensor is operative to communicate at least one vehicle sensed signal responsive to sensing a vehicle relative to the position adjacent the at least one transaction device; at least one processor in operative connection with at least one data store, wherein the at least one processor is located in the interior area of the facility, wherein the at least one processor is in operative connection with the at least one vehicle sensor, wherein the at least one processor is operative to receive at least one communication corresponding to at least one vehicle sensed signal communicated by the at least one vehicle sensor, wherein the at least one processor is operative to determine for each respective vehicle sensed by the at least one vehicle sensor, at least one time value, wherein the at least one time value includes a total time value corresponding to a total elapsed time the respective vehicle was in the position, wherein the at least one processor is in operative connection with the at least one computerized transaction device, wherein for each transaction the at least one processor is operative to cause the at least one transaction data item and the at least one time value to be stored in associated relation in the at least one data store, enabling the at least one time value to be recovered from the at least one data store subsequent to the respective transaction.