Patent ID: 6876973

Claim:
A computer network assisted method for managing remotely requested restaurant seating reservations, comprising the steps of: connecting a plurality of computer terminals to said network including a plurality of first computer terminals each associated with a corresponding one of a plurality of restaurants and a plurality of second computer terminals each associated with a corresponding one or more prospective restaurant patrons; calculating on each said first computer terminal a continuously updated weighted use interval for each corresponding one of said restaurants, wherein each said calculated weighted use interval is determined by the further steps of: recording the time of payment for restaurant services for each seat in the corresponding restaurant; subtracting from said time of payment the time of the corresponding reservation of each said seat; and, averaging the time difference in said subtracting step with prior time differences for the seats of said corresponding restaurant; communicating by way of a selected one of said second computer terminals to a first computer terminal associated with a selected one of said restaurants a reservation request signal including a desired time and number of seats; computing at said first computer terminal associated with said selected one of said restaurants the number of seats available at the desired time at said selected restaurant on the bases of the most currently updated one of said calculated weighted use intervals and comparing said number of seats requested at said desired time against said number of seats available; and accepting said reservation request signal if said number of seats requested is less than said number of seats available.