U.S. patent application number 14/744548 was filed with the patent office on 2015-10-08 for system for queue and service management.
This patent application is currently assigned to Catalina Marketing Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Catalina Marketing Corporation. Invention is credited to Ajay R. BAM, Jesse BROUHARD, John G. LERT.
Application Number | 20150286967 14/744548 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40260602 |
Filed Date | 2015-10-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150286967 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LERT; John G. ; et
al. |
October 8, 2015 |
SYSTEM FOR QUEUE AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Abstract
A system for service queue management is disclosed including a
terminal controlled by the system having a processing platform to
generate service queue information for a user, and a mechanism for
the user to request or receive the service queue information. The
processing platform preferably transmits promotions related to
goods and services associated with the service queue information to
a user. The mechanism for the user to request or receive service
queue information may preferably include a user's mobile
communications device or a manually-activated device located on the
terminal. Service queue information may include a queue number,
next queue number to be issued, estimated wait time for service, a
predicted time of service, time of issuance of ticket, predicted
queue-waiting time, marketing messages, instructions for use of
said ticket dispenser, and average queue-waiting time.
Inventors: |
LERT; John G.; (Watertown,
MA) ; BROUHARD; Jesse; (Sharon, MA) ; BAM;
Ajay R.; (Cambridge, MA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Catalina Marketing Corporation |
St. Petersburg |
FL |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Catalina Marketing
Corporation
|
Family ID: |
40260602 |
Appl. No.: |
14/744548 |
Filed: |
June 19, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11952768 |
Dec 7, 2007 |
9064359 |
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14744548 |
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11607283 |
Dec 1, 2006 |
7752146 |
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11952768 |
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60741963 |
Dec 2, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 99/00 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0229 20130101; G07C 2011/04 20130101;
H04M 3/5238 20130101; G07C 11/00 20130101; G06Q 10/0631 20130101;
G06Q 30/0267 20130101; G06Q 30/016 20130101; G06Q 10/02 20130101;
G06Q 20/20 20130101; G06Q 10/06311 20130101; H04W 4/70 20180201;
G06Q 20/209 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 10/02 20060101
G06Q010/02; G06Q 30/02 20060101 G06Q030/02; H04W 4/00 20060101
H04W004/00 |
Claims
1. A system for service queue management, said system comprising: a
terminal controlled by said system having a processing platform to
generate service queue information for a user; and a mechanism for
said user to request or receive said service queue information.
2. The system for service queue management of claim 1, wherein said
mechanism is selected from the list of: a mobile communications
device, an optical card reader, a magnetic card reader, a biometric
sensing device, a keypad, a touch screen, and a radio frequency
identification (RFID) interface.
3. The system for service queue management of claim 1, wherein said
processing platform of said terminal transmits promotions related
to goods and services associated with said service queue
information to said user.
4. The system for service queue management of claim 1, wherein said
terminal is a ticket dispenser.
5. The system of claim 1, said service queue information
comprising: a queue number, next queue number to be issued,
estimated wait time for service, a predicted time of service, time
of issuance of ticket, predicted queue-waiting time, marketing
messages, instructions for use of said ticket dispenser, and
average queue-waiting time.
6. A system for delivering media based on user identification, said
system comprising: a ticket dispenser controlled by said system for
delivering media to a user, said ticket dispenser including at
least one display, a control computer, and a mechanism for
receiving identification information from a user, wherein upon
receipt of said identification information, said control computer
authenticates said user and transmits media tailored to said user
for viewing by said user.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein said mechanism for receiving
identification information is arranged in connection with said
ticket dispenser and selected from the list of: an optical card
reader, a magnetic card reader, a biometric sensing device, a
keypad, a touch screen, and a radio frequency identification (RFID)
interface.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein said mechanism for receiving
identification information is an interface that communicates with a
mobile device of said user.
9. The system of claim 6, wherein said identification information
is selected from the list of: a telephone number, an email address,
a text message address, a personal identification number (PIN), a
bar code, and a loyalty/reward card number.
10. The system of claim 8 wherein said user views said media
tailored to said user on said mobile device.
11. The system of claim 6 wherein said user views said media
tailored to said user on said at least one display of said ticket
dispenser.
12. A ticket dispenser comprising: a housing; at least one
manually-activated device arranged on said housing; and a
communications interface arranged in said housing for interfacing
with a control computer controlling operation of said ticket
dispenser, wherein said control computer generates queue and
service related information for said ticket dispenser.
13. The ticket dispenser of claim 12, wherein said control computer
is arranged in said housing in commication with said at least one
manually-activated device, wherein a signal is sent from said at
least one manually-activated device to said control microcomputer
to request generation of queue and service related information.
14. The ticket dispenser of claim 13, wherein said control computer
is remote from said ticket dispenser.
15. The ticket dispenser of claim 13 wherein said interfacing with
said control computer is via a wireless connection.
16. The ticket dispenser of claim 12 wherein a user is identified
to said ticket dispenser through a mechanism selected from the list
of: RFID sensor, telephone, pager, PDA, and said manually-activated
device selected from the list comprising, a keypad, an optical card
scanner, a magnetic card scanner, a touch screen, at least one
button, and at least one knob.
17. The ticket dispenser of claim 12, said ticket dispenser further
comprising: a printer arranged in said housing and controlled by
said control microcomputer for printing said queue and service
related information.
18. The ticket dispenser of claim 12, said ticket dispenser further
comprising: at least one display screen arranged in connection with
said housing for displaying said queue and service related
information received from said control microcomputer.
19. The ticket dispenser of claim 12, said queue and service
related information comprising: a queue number, next queue number
to be issued, estimated wait time for service, a predicted time of
service, time of issuance of ticket, predicted queue-waiting time,
marketing messages, instructions for use of said ticket dispenser,
and average queue-waiting time.
20. The ticket dispenser of claim 12, wherein alerts related to
said service and queue related information are transmitted to a
mobile device of said user.
21. A ticket dispenser for managing more than one service queue,
said ticket dispenser comprising: a housing; a plurality of
manually-activated devices, wherein each of said plurality of
manually-activated devices is associated with a separate service
queue; and a communications interface arranged in said housing for
interfacing with a control computer controlling operation of said
ticket dispenser, wherein upon selection of one of said plurality
of manually-activated devices a signal is sent from said ticket
dispenser to said control computer to return service queue
information associated with said selected manually-activated
device.
22. The ticket dispenser of claim 21, wherein each of said
plurality of manually-activated devices is associated with a
separate display screen arranged in connection with said
housing.
23. A system for alerting a user to service queue related
information, said system comprising: a terminal controlled by said
system for transmitting said service queue related information upon
said user establishing position in a service queue through said
terminal; and a mechanism controlled by said user for receiving
said service queue related information.
24. The system of claim 23 wherein said terminal controlled by said
system is a ticket dispenser.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein said mechanism is a mobile
communications device.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/952,768, filed Dec. 7, 2007, which is a
continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/607,283, filed Dec. 1, 2006, which claims priority to U.S.
Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/741,963, filed Dec. 2,
2005, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates generally to service queue
management and more specifically to service queue management and
production management supporting real-time order fulfillment in a
service operation wherein customers may place orders through a
ticket dispenser as well as through other ordering channels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Queue management is a problem typically faced at grocery
stores, such as with respect to fulfillment of deli orders. When a
customer wishes to place an order for deli items, he/she typically
must pull a ticket and remain in the vicinity of the counter until
his/her number is called forward. Once the ticket number is called
forward, the customer then approaches the counter to place his/her
order. Once the order is placed, the customer must wait for the
order to be fulfilled. This typically requires that the customer
remain close to the deli counter in order to know when the order is
ready. The customer often has little understanding as to how long
it will take for his/her ticket number to be called forward or how
long will take the service person to fulfill his/her order. This
uncertainty may be frustrating for the customer who may have other
shopping to do at the store.
[0004] Most supermarkets with full-service deli departments use a
manual "call-forward" queue-management system such as the
"Turn-O-Matic" system sold by the Take-A-Number, Inc. Each customer
pulls of a sequentially-numbered paper ticket from a preprinted
roll in a dispenser to establish priority in a
"first-come-first-served" service queue. Each ticket effectively
represents a request for service by the service personnel to
fulfill an order for goods, and service personnel satisfy these
requests for service by "calling forward" each ticket number to be
served in sequence, usually by verbally announcing the queue number
and pushing a button to increment the "Now Serving" number on an
overhead sign. The customer then answers the call and places the
order with the service person, usually verbally, for immediate
fulfillment.
[0005] More and more supermarkets are also offering customers the
option of placing their deli orders through computerized ordering
software via a computer, e.g. a "kiosk" computer. Each placement of
an order through such computerized means is also a request for
service, and the computer acts as an intermediary for the customer
in actually placing the order with a service person for
fulfillment, usually by printing the contents of the order on a
printer behind the deli counter. In theory, the use of such
computer-ordering systems should provide significant benefit by
saving time, since the customers do not have to wait in line to
place their orders, and also by being able to take as much time as
they want to browse and order items. The retailer can benefit by
reducing labor costs, since the service person does not have to
take time to interact with the customer, and also by increasing
sales. The increase in sales is due to several factors. Some
customers will place their order through a computer who would
otherwise not be willing to wait in line. Customers are known to
place larger orders through a computer than at the counter,
primarily because they do not feel pressured by customers behind
them in the queue to complete their order quickly and can take more
time to browse and think of more items to buy.
[0006] However, managing customer-service levels using
queue-management and customer-ordering systems as described above
is complicated by several problems: lack of service-level
performance information, especially in real time, and the fact that
"counter customers" and "kiosk customers" create two separate and
competing service queues. Further, other customers may place a call
to the deli in order to place his/her order which creates an
additional competing service queue, introducing a third competing
service queue. These competing methods of placing orders and/or
entering the queue create logistical problems for the employees
fulfilling orders because, for example, an employee may begin
fulfilling an order placed by phone and cannot provide the customer
waiting at the counter with an accurate estimate as to how long it
may be before his/her order is fulfilled. The result of these
problems is reduced profits due to lost deli sales, higher
operating costs, and diminished benefit from those computerized
ordering systems.
[0007] Prior-art electronic call-forward queue-management systems,
such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,184 or those sold by
market leader Q-Matic AB of Sweden, can provide a wealth of
real-time service-level performance data. They can also provide
another significant customer benefit by displaying an estimate of
the queue-waiting time for a new customer joining the queue and
allowing for management of multiple different service queues.
However, all such prior-art systems support only one ordering
channel for any given service queue and so can provide this
information only for customers in that channel. In an environment
with multiple ordering channels, this lack of visibility of the
interaction between the various service queues becomes problematic.
For example, measurement of order-fulfillment times and
server-productivity, as well as estimates of queue-waiting times,
will be significantly in error if the service personnel are filling
orders from counter customers, kiosk customers and phone customers
but the queue-management system that is performing the measurement
only "knows" about the counter customers.
[0008] A much more severe problem not solved by the prior-art,
single-channel queue-management systems is that of rationalizing
and systematizing the service priority between the multiple
channels. Since the same pool of service associates must satisfy
service requests from counter customers, who are waiting in the
ticketed call-forward service queue, from kiosk customers, whose
orders have been printed by the deli printer, and from customers
calling in orders via the phone, these parallel ordering channels
create multiple separate queues that compete with each other for
service. Without any systematic method of assigning relative
priority of service between the service requests in the different
queues, service personnel are forced to use their own best judgment
in the allocation of their services. Especially during periods of
peak demand, there will be a natural tendency for them to give
priority to counter customers for several reasons. Counter
customers are more visible, since they are standing right across
the counter, whereas kiosk customers are present only in the form
of paper coming out of the printer, and phone customers are also
remote from the service personnel and the store itself. As
queue-waiting times increase, counter customers may well become
more vocal as well. Further, service personnel will likely
rationalize that they can delay in filling orders from kiosk
customers since those customers are shopping and do not need their
orders filled as quickly, and from phone customers who are not even
at the store when their orders are placed.
[0009] This situation gives rise to a number of unfortunate
consequences. Kiosk customers will all too often return to pick up
their deli order at the conclusion of a shopping trip only to find
that it has not yet been filled. Such customers will conclude
correctly that they cannot rely on their kiosk order being filled
and will frequently either revert back to waiting in the
counter-service queue on future shopping trips or stop ordering
from the deli altogether. In most cases in which the fulfillment of
a deli order is so late that a customer is forced to leave the
store without it, the order will have to be thrown away, resulting
in waste of both the product and the labor cost of fulfillment. If
a phone customer places an order and then comes to the store to
pick up the order but it is not ready, he/she may not choose to
order from the store again. Alternatively, the phone customer may
determine that the counter-service queue is the only reliable
ordering channel. On the other hand, counter customers may become
offended when they see service personnel turning to fulfill orders
from the printer or the phone instead of calling forward counter
customers, thereby perceiving service to be unfair, perhaps even to
the point of verbally criticizing the service staff for this
perceived slight and/or discontinuing patronage of the deli (or
even the store). The pressures of balancing service between
multiple queues, using their own best judgment, places considerable
stress on service personnel and degrades job satisfaction. One
strategy of coping with this stress, often exhibited by the service
personnel, is to sabotage the computerized ordering system in some
way. For example, they may place a bag over the kiosk computer
screen with "Out of Order" written on it, or disable the printer.
Reducing the availability of the computerized ordering system
reinforces the customers' perception that it is not a reliable
ordering channel, further diminishing its benefits.
[0010] Accordingly, it is desirable to have a system that allows
customers to be provided with an estimate as to how long it may
take for his/her order to be fulfilled when customers enter the
service queue through multiple channels. It also is desirable to
have a system that manages the order priority for service personnel
and that measures the productivity of service personnel fulfilling
orders.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] It is an object of the present invention to provide a
service-queue-management and production-management method and
system. Another object of the present invention is to provide
customers with estimated wait times for orders to be fulfilled when
customers enter the service queue through multiple channels.
Further objects of the present invention provide systems and
methods for customers to enter the service queue remotely through
use of multiple channels, such as a ticket dispenser, a kiosk, a
mobile device or a combination of systems, and wherein the multiple
channels are organized into a single queue.
[0012] A method for integrating requests for service through
multiple customer ordering channels into a single service queue to
obtain goods or services from a provider in accordance with the
invention includes enabling customers to request the service of
fulfilling an order for goods or services from the provider that
can be placed through a plurality of ordering channels, and
arranging the service requests in a single queue based on the time
at which each service request is placed regardless of the ordering
channel used. The ordering channels may include direct counter
service, the request for which is made through one or more ticket
dispensers which dispense tickets having the next number in the
service queue to waiting customers, and one or more computerized
ordering systems which enable customers to simultaneously request
service and place their orders for goods or services via a computer
or other processing device, and combinations thereof.
[0013] A system for integrating requests for service through
multiple customer ordering channels into a single service queue to
obtain goods or services from a service location of a provider in
accordance with the invention includes a control computer, one or
more ticket dispensers each connected to the control computer and
arranged to dispense tickets upon activation, and one or more
computerized ordering systems each connected to the control
computer and enabling placement of orders for goods or services
using a computer or other processing device linked to the control
computer. The control computer manages the service queue and more
particularly, assigns the next number in the service queue to an
order placed via a computerized ordering system or to a ticket
dispensed from a ticket dispenser based on the time at which the
ticket is dispensed from the ticket dispenser or the other is
placed via the computerized ordering system.
[0014] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a
system for service queue management including a terminal controlled
by the system having a processing platform to generate service
queue information for a user, and a mechanism for the user to
request or receive the service queue information. The processing
platform preferably transmits promotions related to goods and
services associated with the service queue information to a user.
The mechanism for the user to request or receive service queue
information may preferably include a mobile communications device
or a manually-activated device located on the terminal. Service
queue information may include a queue number, next queue number to
be issued, estimated wait time for service, a predicted time of
service, time of issuance of ticket, predicted queue-waiting time,
marketing messages, instructions for use of said ticket dispenser,
and average queue-waiting time.
[0015] Other embodiments of the present invention are directed to a
system for delivering media based on user identification including
a ticket dispenser controlled by the system for delivering media to
a user, the ticket dispenser including at least one display, a
control computer, and a mechanism for receiving identification
information from a user. Upon receipt of the identification
information, the control computer authenticates the user and
transmits media tailored to the user for viewing by the user. The
mechanism for receiving identification information from a user may
preferably be arranged in connection with the ticket dispenser and
include an optical card reader, a magnetic card reader, a biometric
sensing device, a keypad, a touch screen, and a radio frequency
identification (RFID) interface. In these embodiments, the user
preferably views media tailored to the user on at least one display
of the ticket dispenser. In other embodiments, the mechanism for
receiving identification information is preferably an interface
that communicates with a mobile device of the user, and in these
embodiments, a user views media tailored to the user on his/her
mobile device.
[0016] Additional embodiments of the present invention are directed
to a ticket dispenser including a housing, at least
manually-activated device arranged on the housing, and a
communications interface arranged in the housing for interfacing
with a control computer controlling operation of the ticket
dispenser. The control computer preferably generates queue and
service related information for the ticket dispenser, and the
control computer may be arranged in the housing of the ticket
dispenser or it may be located remotely from the ticket dispenser.
The ticket dispenser also may include a printer arranged in the
housing for printing queue and service related information. The
ticket dispenser also preferably includes at least one display
arranged in connection with the housing for displaying queue and
service related information.
[0017] A production-management method for monitoring individuals
fulfilling orders for goods or services at a provider of such goods
or services in accordance with the invention includes assigning
each individual service person a unique identification, receiving
requests for service to fulfill orders placed via multiple ordering
channels, placing the service requests into a single queue based on
the time at which each is placed or received by the provider
regardless the ordering channel used, associating each service
request with one of the uniquely identified individual service
persons to fulfill that order, tracking the time spent by the
individual service persons in fulfilling each order, and analyzing
the performance of the service persons individually and as a group
based on their order-fulfillment times.
[0018] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and
technical advantages of the present invention in order that the
detailed description of the invention that follows may be better
understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention
will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims
of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the
art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be
readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other
structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present
invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art
that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit
and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The
novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the
invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,
together with further objects and advantages will be better
understood from the following description when considered in
connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly
understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the
purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as
a definition of the limits of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] For a more complete understanding of the present invention,
reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0020] FIG. 1 shows a high-level block diagram of a functional
components of the present invention, plus the presence of
electronic ordering channel 106;
[0021] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of a
print-on-demand ticket dispenser, one of the components of the
present invention;
[0022] FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a more complex embodiment of
a print-on-demand ticket dispenser;
[0023] FIG. 4a shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a
print-on-demand ticket dispenser;
[0024] FIG. 4b shows a more specific implementation of the
embodiment depicted in FIG. 4a;
[0025] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a non-RFID embodiment of
service transaction terminal;
[0026] FIG. 6 shows an example of what would preferably be
displayed on the main screen of the transaction terminal depicted
in FIG. 5;
[0027] FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an RFID-enabled embodiment
of service transaction terminal;
[0028] FIG. 8 shows an example of what would preferably be
displayed on the main screen of the transaction terminal depicted
in FIG. 7;
[0029] FIG. 9a shows an example of what would preferably be
displayed on the screen of the non-RFID transactional terminal
depicted in FIG. 5 when an associate attempts to execute a
"next-in-queue" transaction when there are no orders in the service
queue;
[0030] FIG. 9b shows an example of what would preferably be
displayed on the screen of the RFID-enabled transactional terminal
depicted in FIG. 6 when an associate attempts to execute a
"next-in-queue" transaction when there are no orders in the service
queue; and
[0031] FIGS. 10a, 10h, 10c, 10d, and 10e illustrate examples of a
predicted waiting time simulation according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0032] Referring to the accompanying drawings, an automated
call-forward queue-management system in accordance with the present
invention preferably (a) creates a single service queue for all
customers regardless which ordering channel they use, e.g. whether
they are placing an order at the counter or through a computer or
mobile device, (b) measures service levels across all ordering
channels, capturing all critical service-level parameters in real
time, so that the retailer can more effectively and efficiently
ensure the delivery of service to the satisfaction of customers,
and (c) creates realistic service-level expectations for customers.
By simultaneously performing these actions, the present invention
increases sales, reduces costs, and maximizes the benefits from
computerized ordering systems.
[0033] Sequential queue numbers preferably are assigned to all
service requests by customers on a first-come-first-served basis,
whether the customer wishes to order at the counter or through a
computer or a mobile device. The standalone dispenser or preprinted
queue tickets in the typical non-automated call-forward system is
preferably replaced by a print-on-demand ticket dispenser. As in
the current system, customers wishing to place an order at the
counter request service by obtaining a queue ticket, but they do so
by pressing a button on the dispenser rather than pulling a ticket
off of a preprinted roll of tickets. When the button is pushed, a
queue ticket is printed with the next number in its service queue.
Customers placing orders through a kiosk or other computerized
ordering system such as through a mobile device are also assigned
queue numbers in the same first-come-first-served sequence. In
other words, placing an order through the kiosk is an equivalent
service request from a queue-management point of view as pressing
the ticket-demand button on the ticket dispenser.
[0034] The system tracks the number of service personnel fulfilling
orders at every moment, tracks which individual service person
fulfills each order (though not necessarily by name), and captures
the start and completion times--and therefore total fulfillment
time--of each order. The system also preferably tracks the number
of service requests in queue at each moment in time, and also
measures the queue-waiting time of each order. It also captures the
number of "abandoned" service requests, i.e. customers that take a
ticket but do not actually answer the call to place an order.
[0035] By tracking the number of service associates in the
order-fulfillment pool at any given time and estimating the
expected fulfillment time for each order, the system is able to
estimate with reasonable accuracy the queue-waiting time of the
next customer to join the queue. Communicating this predicted
waiting time to the customer eliminates the need for the customer
to guess, creating instead a realistic expectation of queue-waiting
time. Because all of this information is captured and tracked in
real time, the system is able to send an alert to managers in the
store when the predicted wait time exceeds a specified threshold,
enabling them to react quickly by redeploying staff from elsewhere
in the store to fulfill orders, thereby ensuring that acceptable
customer-service levels are maintained.
[0036] A block diagram of a non-limiting embodiment of a system
(100) of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 1. It comprises
the following primary components: (a) a control computer running
the Queue-Management (QM) software application (101), with a
communications interface to all of the system peripherals plus an
interface to one or more computerized-ordering software
applications (106) such as those that interact with customers
placing a kiosk order; (b) one or more print-on-demand ticket
dispensers (102), typically located in the customer area near the
service counter; (c) one or more service-transaction terminals
(103) distributed in the order-fulfillment work area behind the
service counter; (d) one or more order printers (105) also
distributed in the order-fulfillment work area behind the service
counter; and (e) one or more customer-information displays (104),
typically mounted overhead within the service-counter area for easy
view by waiting or prospective customers. Each of these system
components is addressed in further detail below.
[0037] The QM Application (101) software is the heart of the
queue-management system. It performs several key functions,
including but not limited to, controlling the operation of the
peripheral components of the system, including the ticket
dispenser(s) (102), service-transaction terminal(s) (103), the
customer-information display(s) (104), and the order printer(s)
(105); communicating with computerized ordering software
applications (106) so that service requests from various ordering
channels can be integrated into a single service queue; predicting
queue-waiting times for each customer in the service queue;
generating a variety of service-level and productivity reports to
managers, providing detailed visibility into service operations;
and alerting managers when exception conditions occur, such as
unacceptably long predicted queue-waiting times.
[0038] The ticket dispenser (102) replaces the traditional "take a
paper ticket" dispenser typically found in front of the deli. It
preferably includes, at minimum, a manually-activated button and a
ticket printer in a single housing. When the user activates the
button (as described further below), a known character sequence is
preferably transmitted out an Ethernet port on the ticket
dispenser. The QM Application (101) is connected to this port and
it reserves/returns the next queue number in sequence. This queue
number, along with an estimated wait time and optional
marketing/offering messages is formatted into a print stream and
preferably sent via Ethernet to the ticket printer of the ticket
dispenser.
[0039] Referring now to FIG. 2, ticket dispenser (200) is used to
reserve a position in the queue by customers wishing to place an
order at the counter. The customer obtains a queue ticket by
activating a button (201), which causes the QM Application (101) to
dispense a ticket for the customer preferably on a printer (202).
The customer removes the ticket from the printer (202), holds it
until the queue number printed on the ticket is called forward for
service, presents the ticket to the service person to validate
service priority, and places the order directly with the service
person.
[0040] Ticket dispenser (200) can have a variety of configurations,
such as those depicted in FIGS. 2-4. In a simple embodiment (FIG.
2), it includes the button (201) that, when pressed by a customer
wishing a ticket, inputs a signal to the QM Application (101)
running on the control computer, and a ticket printer (202) that
receives and prints information from the QM Application (101). In a
more complex embodiment shown in FIG. 3, ticket dispenser (300) is
itself a subsystem including a control microcomputer (304) that
communicates with the QM Application (101) and controls a set of
its own peripherals. One of these peripherals is the same demand
button (301) shown in FIG. 2, which is pressed by a customer
desiring a ticket, but in this configuration, inputs its signal to
the control microcomputer (304) rather than directly to the QM
Application (101). Similarly, another peripheral within the
ticket-dispenser (300) subsystem is the ticket printer (305), which
also in this configuration may be preferably directly controlled by
the control microcomputer (304) rather than the QM Application
(101).
[0041] Additional peripherals shown in FIG. 3 but not shown in FIG.
2 are a proximity detector (302) and a display screen (303). The
display screen (303) shows, at a minimum, the next queue number to
be issued and the predicted queue-waiting time for that queue
number, and can also display marketing messages, instructions, etc.
The proximity detector (302) is preferably a standard sensor that
works by emitting some foini of radiated energy (such as infrared
light or ultrasonic sound) and detecting the reflection of that
energy off the body of a person standing directly in front of the
ticket dispenser (300). The purpose of this combination of
peripherals is preferably to measure the number of customers who
approach the ticket dispenser (300) (as determined by the proximity
detector (302)) without requesting a ticket. Such a sequence of
events would be consistent with a customer considering taking a
ticket for counter service, but then deciding not to do so, because
of dissatisfaction with the predicted queue-waiting time shown on
the display screen. This information would allow for relatively
precise determination of a maximum allowable predicted-wait-time
threshold that results in an economically optimal service
level.
[0042] The embodiment shown in FIG. 4a is an embodiment that
preferably combines features of both embodiments shown in FIG. 2
and FIG. 3. As in FIG. 3, there is a control microcomputer (404)
that controls certain peripherals (button (401), display (403),
proximity detector (402)) and communicates with the QM Application
(101), but it does not control the ticket printer (405), which has
its own direct communications link to the QM Application (101), as
in FIG. 2. The button (401), proximity detector (402), display
(403), control microcomputer (404) and ticket printer (405) can be
situated in a common housing. An advantage of this embodiment is
that the control microcomputer (404) in FIG. 4a can be a much
simpler, lower-cost component than the one in FIG. 3 precisely
because it does not have to run complex print-driver software.
[0043] A more specific implementation of this embodiment is shown
in FIG. 4b, in which the control microcomputer (454) is a very
simple, low-cost single-chip microcontroller such as the Atmel
AT89C51RD2, running no operating system. The display preferably
includes five segmented numeric LED display (453), three digits for
queue-position number and two digits for predicted wait time,
although it should be appreciated that more or fewer numbers may be
displayed depending on the needs of the store. The ticket printer
(455) in this embodiment preferably is one that uses thermal
printing technology, such as the Swecoin TTP2010. The separate
communication channels between the QM Application (101) and both
the control microcomputer (454) and the printer (455) are
accomplished through a dual-port device server (456) such as the
Lantronix WiPort. The Lantronix WiPort is a device server that
converts serial devices to network devices. It converts network
data (TCP/IP and UDP) to raw serial data. This module essentially
converts serial message packets to local-area network (LAN) message
packets and LAN packet to serial message packets, and can support
two separate serial devices through two serial ports. In this
embodiment, the control microcomputer (454) preferably communicates
via one of the two serial ports and the printer (455) via the other
serial port, so that each effectively has its own connection to the
QM Application (101) over the network. The control microcomputer
(454) can thus receive an input from either the button (451) or
proximity detector (452) and transmit either a ticket-print request
or a customer-detection event to the QM Application (101),
respectively, and can also receive data to display on the segmented
LED numeric display (453). The QM Application (101) can also drive
the thermal ticket printer (455) directly through the network
connection and device server (456). The button (451), proximity
detector (452), display (453), control microcomputer (454), ticket
printer (455) and server (456) can be situated in a common
housing.
[0044] When the customer approaches the ticket dispenser, the
ticket dispenser display preferably shows the last ticket number
and the average wait time as of the last time that a ticket was
requested. As discussed above, referring back to FIG. 2, a customer
preferably obtains a queue ticket by pressing a button (201), which
causes the QM Application (101) to print a ticket for the customer
on a printer (202). The customer activates the button (201), and
the dispenser communicates with the server to obtain the next queue
number. The ticket preferably includes at minimum a queue number
and an estimated wait time.
[0045] While FIGS. 2-4 depict a ticket dispenser having a single
ticket-demand button, it should be appreciated that other selection
mechanisms or additional buttons may be incorporated as part of the
ticket dispenser without departing from the objects of the present
invention. For example, in place of or in addition to a button, the
ticket dispenser can preferably include any other type of device
which is manually activated by a customer to indicate an intent to
place an order by requesting and receiving a ticket with the next
number in the queue. In other embodiments of the present invention,
the ticket dispenser (200) preferably includes a keypad wherein the
customer may type in certain information in order to identify
himself/herself (i.e., email address, mobile device number). This
information entered may preferably be associated with the
customer's loyalty or reward card for the retail store and may
permit the customer to gain certain additional benefits from use of
the ticket dispenser as will be described in more detail below.
[0046] In an embodiment of the present invention, the ticket
dispenser preferably includes buttons that incorporate designations
depending on the type of service requested (i.e., bakery, deli,
pre-prepared foods, sushi). For example, a customer may approach
the ticket dispenser, determine that he/she would like to request
services from the bakery, and press the button designated as
bakery. The bakery button may include the word "bakery" or another
similar word, a picture of a bakery-related item, or another icon
that a customer would be likely to associate with bakery services.
In another embodiment of the invention, the buttons are preferably
shaped in a manner that would typically be associated with the
particular service being requested. For example, the button may be
configured in the shape of a cake to designate bakery services or
the button may be in the shape of a fish to designate seafood
services.
[0047] When the customer presses the button associated with bakery
services, the ticket dispenser preferably causes the QM application
(101) to print a ticket for the customer including at least the
estimated wait time and queue number specifically related to
fulfillment of a request for bakery services. If that same customer
also were to require deli services during the same visit to the
store, he/she may then preferably press the button associated with
deli services. A ticket would then be printed including at least
the estimated wait time and queue number specifically associated
with the request for deli services. Accordingly, the customer would
be called forward at both the bakery and the deli when the
respective queue numbers are called. By segmenting the ticket
dispenser to dispense a separate ticket associated with each
service requested, the customer preferably is able to better
predict the order in which he/she may be served by the different
departments of the store.
[0048] In a further embodiment of the present invention, when the
ticket dispenser includes different buttons to designate different
services to be requested, the ticket dispenser also may preferably
include separate display screens associated with each of the
services that may be requested. Accordingly, a customer would
preferably approach the ticket dispenser and be able to determine
how long the estimated wait time is for bakery services by viewing
the display screen associated with the bakery button on the ticket
dispenser. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention,
the ticket dispenser preferably includes a single display screen
that is configurable by the user, such that the user can
selectively switch the display screen to view the estimated queue
wait time for a given service. As such, if the user is interested
in determining how long the estimated wait time for bakery services
may be, he/she can switch the display screen to view service date
(e.g., current queue number being served or estimated wait time)
related to bakery services. The screen switching process may be
performed in several manners, such as through turn of a knob, use
of buttons above or below the screen that allow the customer to
punch a button and select the desired display, use of a touch
screen, a keypad or other mechanism that allows for selection of a
display.
[0049] In an embodiment of the present invention, the ticket
dispenser may preferably include a scanner or other card reading
capabilities wherein a customer could scan his/her loyalty or
reward card associated with the store in which he/she is shopping.
In this embodiment, the ticket dispenser preferably prompts the
customer for his/her ID (such as mobile number, email address, or
text message identification). The customer's loyalty or reward card
is linked to the ID, and the customer's loyalty or reward card
information may be displayed on the display of the ticket
dispenser. In another embodiment, a customer may scan a barcode
associated with his/her mobile device so as to allow the ticket
dispenser to access the customer's loyalty or reward card
information, as described for example in commonly assigned U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/646,579 which is incorporated by
reference. These embodiments preferably allow the store to identify
the customer in order to offer any services afforded to loyal
customers of the store (i.e., discounts, offers) as described
below.
[0050] The process of scanning the customer's loyalty or reward
card or accessing the customer's mobile device containing the
loyalty or reward card information may preferably act as a trigger
to initiate printing of a ticket by the ticket dispenser. In an
embodiment of the present invention, when the customer's loyalty or
reward card is scanned at the ticket dispenser, the scan preferably
determines the customer's purchasing history, for example with
respect to the deli or bakery. By assessing the customer's
purchasing history, a coupon, offer or some other incentive (i.e.,
the customer will receive one pound of cheese for no charge if
he/she places an order for a certain meat that the store is
advertising) may be distributed when a ticket is printed by the
ticket dispenser. The coupon or other incentive may be printed on
the same ticket that contains the queue number and estimated wait
time. In another embodiment of the present invention, an additional
ticket displaying the coupon or other incentive may be printed out
either before or after the ticket containing the queue number and
estimated wait time is dispensed. Other embodiments of the
invention preferably provide that the coupon or other incentive is
pushed out to the customer's mobile device such that the customer
does not receive a hard copy of the coupon or incentive, as
described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.
10/877,093 and 10/691,459, which are incorporated by reference.
[0051] As previously described, the ticket dispenser preferably
dispenses a printed ticket identifying the queue number and
estimated wait time for the service being requested. However, other
embodiments of the invention provide that the customer preferably
activates a button on the ticket dispenser associated with the
service being requested. After the button has been selected, the QM
application preferably sends a message to the customer's mobile
device providing that customer with the information that would have
been typically provided on the printed ticket. Alternatively, the
customer may not have to select a button on the ticket dispenser,
electing instead to communicate with the ticket dispenser by, for
example, tapping his/her RFID mobile device, by sending and
receiving text messages with the ticket dispenser, or by the ticket
dispenser prompting the customer for his/her ID (such as a mobile
phone number, email address, text messaging identification). In
each of these embodiments, the customer preferably is provided with
his/her queue number on the mobile device. This has the advantage
of providing the customer with the required information in order to
enter the queue and also reduces waste caused by the printing of
tickets.
[0052] Other embodiments may provide that the customer preferably
can access the QM Application remotely using his/her mobile device
in order to gain updates as to the estimated wait time and/or the
queue number currently being served. In this embodiment, the user
possesses real-time information about the queue status, enabling
the customer to more efficiently shop in the store.
[0053] In another embodiment, the customer has an RFID tag
associated with the store. The RFID tag may be placed, for example,
on the customer's bag, on a card that the customer carries, or a
fob for attaching to the customer's keychain. When the customer
approaches the ticket dispenser, the customer's RFID tag
communicates with the ticket dispenser in order to display
information relevant to the customer and to activate the ticket
dispenser (described below).
[0054] When a customer utilizes his/her mobile device at the ticket
dispenser in order to obtain a queue number and/or estimated wait
time, as previously discussed, the system may push out alerts to
the customer's mobile device to notify the customer, for example,
that the estimated wait time has increased or decreased or that
other coupons or offers are available. Other embodiments preferably
include notifying the customer that the wait time for a
non-selected service may be desirable. Further, an alert may be
sent to inform the customer when his/her queue number has been
called forward.
[0055] As an example, a customer preferably utilizes the ticket
dispenser to enter the queue for deli services. The customer
receives his/her queue number and estimated wait time for obtaining
deli services via his/her mobile device. While at the ticket
dispenser, the customer may have considered entering the queue for
bakery services but elected not to do so because the wait time was
longer than desirable. The ticket dispenser may preferably
determine using, for example, an embodiment of proximity detector
(402) described above, that the customer viewed the display screen
associated with bakery services but elected not to enter the queue.
If the circumstances associated with bakery services then change
(i.e., the estimated wait time becomes shorter because the orders
being fulfilled are smaller on average), the system could
preferably notify the customer of such change via the customer's
mobile device. The customer may then opt to enter the queue for
bakery services by selecting an option provided on his/her mobile
device. Alternative embodiments provide that the customer may not
utilize his/her mobile device to enter the bakery service queue but
instead may return to the ticket dispenser to enter the bakery
queue upon receiving such alerts as to changes in the estimated
wait time.
[0056] In another embodiment of the present invention, offers
preferably may be displayed on a display screen of the ticket
dispenser. While offers may not necessarily be associated with a
particular customer's shopping behavior, offers typically are used
to predict and analyze customers' behavior. An offer may be
generally distributed to promote a certain type of product, for
example, a selected deli meat, and all customers utilizing the
ticket dispenser would then have an opportunity to accept that
offer. If a customer elects to communicate with the ticket
dispenser utilizing his/her mobile device or his/her RID tag, upon
making contact with the ticket dispenser, the ticket dispenser
preferably may display advertisements or offers associated with the
customer.
[0057] Acceptance of an offer may be indicated by pressing a
certain button on the ticket dispenser associated with offer
acceptance; however, preferably the customer accepts the offer by
electing to utilize the ticket dispenser to enter the queue for
obtaining services. Accordingly, the offer may then be printed on
the ticket that indicates the queue number and estimated wait time.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the customer may
indicate acceptance of the offer by selecting the button to request
a ticket to enter the queue for certain services. When the customer
selects the button, a signal is sent to the one or more
service-transaction terminals distributed in the order-fulfillment
work area behind the service counter. At the time when the
customer's queue number appears on the service-transaction terminal
indicating that he/she is the next to be served, the service worker
would be notified that the customer has accepted the offer when
utilizing the ticket dispenser. Accordingly, the offer would be
applied to the customer's order at the time when the order is
placed with the service person. The customer also preferably may be
reminded of his/her acceptance of the offer on his/her mobile
device. Other embodiments provide that if the customer has
associated his/her loyalty or reward card with the order to be
placed, then upon acceptance, the offer would preferably be
associated with the customer's loyalty or reward card and later
applied to the customer's order upon check-out at the store.
[0058] In an additional embodiment, a customer utilizes his/her RID
tag to communicate with the ticket dispenser. When the customer
nears the ticket dispenser, the ticket dispenser preferably
recognizes the customer and displays advertisements or offers that
are pertinent to that customer. Other embodiments provide that the
ticket dispenser recognizes the customer and displays the
customer's prior transactions in order to guide the customer's
future purchases. For example, the customer frequents the store,
and in the past three trips, the customer purchased certain types
of cheese and meat from the deli. When the customer approaches the
ticket dispenser and identifies himself/herself to the ticket
dispenser, the ticket dispenser displays the prior purchases of
meat and cheese in order to remind the customer of what he/she
prefers to purchase at the deli. Additionally, the ticket dispenser
may display information about complementary or related products
that the customer might elect to purchase. This might include a
special type of bread that goes well with the meat or a similar
type of meat being offered at a discounted price.
[0059] Other embodiments of the present invention include
incorporating live video and/or multimedia displays into the ticket
dispenser. The live video and/or multimedia display may preferably
include sound that may describe products being featured or
advertisement information associated with what is being displayed.
Additional or alternative embodiments include incorporating color
into the display screens of the ticket dispenser. Color preferably
allows images of products to be displayed in a manner that more
accurately reflects what the customer expects to receive if he/she
purchases the product.
[0060] Turning to the service side of the system, the QM
Application (101) preferably interacts with service personnel by
means of one or more service-transaction terminals located in the
work area behind the service counter. These terminals allow service
personnel to call forward orders for service, associate a specific
service person with each order, and capture the start and
completion times (and hence fulfillment time) of each order.
[0061] For the service-transaction terminals to be as effective as
possible, the QM Application (101) must reliably estimate queue
waiting times. In order for the QM Application (101) to reliably
estimate queue-waiting times for customers considering joining the
queue, it must know precisely how many people are in the pool of
service personnel filling orders. In typical prior-art electronic
call-forward queue-management systems, a separate transaction
terminal, each with a unique internal identifier, is dedicated to
each server, so that the number of different transaction terminals
interacting with the application software provides the number of
service personnel. This methodology works in an environment in
which the service personnel remain at a stationary point of
service, e.g. a bank teller, but is not practical in a more dynamic
environment in which the service personnel move around the work
area fluidly, as is the case in a full-service deli. To solve this
problem, the present invention includes the step of uniquely
identifying the service person with each transactional input from a
service-transaction terminal (103), so that any service person can
use any one of multiple such terminals (103) for any
transaction.
[0062] There are at least two modes of uniquely identifying
servers: named identification (e.g. "John Jones", "Mary Smith",
etc.) and anonymous identification (e.g. "Server 1", Server 2",
etc.). Named identification has the advantage of enabling managers
to measure and track the productivity of each worker for purposes
such as performance evaluation, compensation, and training, but
anonymous identification adequately enables the QM Application
(101) to track how many people are in the server pool at any given
time for the purpose of estimating queue-waiting times.
[0063] At least two embodiments of the service-transaction terminal
(103) are envisioned, which use different methods to identify the
service person with each transaction. These embodiments are
described below.
[0064] An embodiment shown in FIG. 5 includes a control
microcomputer (502) with a display (503) and touch-sensitive screen
overlay (501), a combination commonly known as a touch-screen
(500). With this embodiment, service personnel use the touch-screen
interface to log into and out of the server pool and to identify
themselves with each transaction. As depicted in FIG. 6, the "Main
Screen" (600) displayed on the terminal (500) will preferably
include several graphical action objects. The terminal may
preferably include an identification object (604) assigned to each
service person logged into the system, with either the person's
name (named-ID mode) or with some anonymous foam of graphical
differentiation (anonymous-ID mode). These objects (604) are used
to identify the server conducting each transaction. Except for
New-Server-Login (605), all transactions require the service person
to first touch his/her individual ID object (604), and then one of
three service transaction buttons.
[0065] A "New-Server-Login" button (605) object is preferably used
by service personnel to join the active server pool. A service
person entering the pool touches this button (605), whereupon the
QM Application (101) displays either a set of named identification
objects for all service personnel registered to use the system
(named-ID mode), or set of anonymous ID objects (anonymous-ID
mode). The service person selects the ID object to be used to
identify him/her when conducting transactions. Several
service-transaction buttons are preferably included. The
"Next-In-Queue" button (601) is preferably used to call forward the
next customer in the service queue. The "Missed-Queue-Number"
button (602) is preferably used to serve a customer who missed the
call forward of his/her queue number when originally announced but
has returned to place an order. The "Going Off Duty" (603) button
is preferably used to take a service person out of the active
server pool.
[0066] An alternative embodiment of the service-transaction
terminal (700), depicted in FIG. 7, uses radio frequency
identification (RFID) as a mechanism for identifying service
personnel, and requires that a service person be wearing an RFID
tag in order to interact with the terminal (700). This is a
preferred embodiment of the transaction terminal (700) primarily
because it simplifies the process whereby the service personnel
interact with the system, since the identification step is
transparent to the user. The RFID tag worn by the service personnel
is preferably a bracelet, which is easily detachable and which can
be read at very short range during an interaction, but the tag
could alternatively be embedded in a name tag or even within the
fabric of a jacket or apron (especially at the end of a sleeve,
which would be an equivalent location to the bracelet). The named
mode of identification would require that a specific unique RFID
tag be assigned to each individual service person and only worn by
that person. In the anonymous mode of identification, by contrast,
there could be a common set of RFID tags, any one of which could be
worn at any given time by any service person, enabling the system
to know the number of different service personnel fulfilling
orders, and track each one individually, without knowing the named
identity of any of those people.
[0067] As depicted in FIG. 7, the RFID-enabled embodiment of the
service-transaction terminal (700) includes a control microcomputer
(703), a display screen (701), a multi-button keypad (704), and an
RFID-tag reader (702). While it would certainly be possible to use
a touch-screen (500) for input, as in the alternative embodiment
shown in FIG. 5 and discussed above, the multi-button keypad (704)
is typically a more reliable and less expensive input means. One
type of RFID reader is commonly referred to as an interrogator.
[0068] An advantageous approach to the design of a user-interface
is the use of "soft buttons," whereby the function of each button
changes depending on the context and content of the display screen
(701). FIG. 8 shows such an approach for the "Main Screen"
functionality similar to that described above, except that rather
than touching the touch screen (606) over a virtual button object
displayed on the screen (701), the service person touches the
button on the multi-button keypad (802) (e.g., the left-most button
in FIG. 8) based on functional labels for the buttons shown on the
display screen (800). Another important difference between the two
illustrative embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 is that in FIG. 8
there is no service-person ID object (604), nor any "New
Service-Person Log-In" button (605). Identification of the service
person is accomplished by reading the identity of the RFID tag worn
by the service person by means of the RFID-tag reader (702), for
example as the bracelet comes into range of the reader when the
hand nears the buttons on the keypad (704). Similarly, the log-in
of a new service person occurs automatically upon the detection of
a new RFID tag not already active in the server pool. It should be
appreciated that in place of RFID tags, other types of tags which
generate a signal upon being energized or activated by a
transmission signal can be used without departing from the objects
of the present invention.
[0069] Referring back to FIG. 1, orders placed through a
computerized ordering channel (106) are printed out on the order
printer (105) located in the order-fulfillment work area behind the
counter, just as they are in the conventional set-up today except
that, instead of being printed by the ordering application (106)
immediately submission by customers, orders are printed under the
control of the QM Application (101) when their associated queue
numbers are called forward for service.
[0070] The customer information display (104) comprises a large
display screen and optionally one or more audio speakers mounted,
for example, to the ceiling above a central location of the service
counter. Its purpose is preferably to provide service-queue
information to customers whenever the service department is open
for business. At a minimum, this information would include the "Now
Serving" number, i.e., the queue position currently being served,
as is shown on typical manual call-forward queue-management systems
today, and could advantageously show the ordering channel (counter
or kiosk) of the order currently being served. The primary purpose
of displaying the ordering-channel information is to explain to
waiting counter customers why not customers are called forward when
a kiosk order is filled. In addition, if not displayed on the
ticket dispenser (102), the customer information display (104)
could show the next queue-position number ("Next Ticket" number) to
be issued (the difference between the "Next Ticket" and "Now
Serving" numbers being the number of customers already waiting in
the service queue), and the predicted wait time for that next queue
position. This information is updated automatically by the QM
Application (101) as required, as will be described more below.
[0071] Each time a new order is called forward for service, the
"Now Serving" number is incremented to display that number. If this
new order being served is from a counter customer, an audible
computer-generated voice announcement is emitted via the audio
speaker(s) to call the customer forward if the customer information
display (104) is equipped with speakers; otherwise the service
person verbally calls out that queue-position number.
[0072] If the service counter is closed, the customer information
display (104) shows a message to that effect and preferably an
advisory as to what the business hours are. In another embodiments,
multiple customer information displays (104) can be provided, and
if so, would preferably be situated at different locations in and
around the service area or store.
[0073] In another embodiment, the customer information display
(104) also could optionally show marketing messages, including
advertising. If a particular item is being featured, images of the
item may be displayed on the customer information display (104).
Additionally or alternatively, information about an offer
associated with a particular product may be displayed. For example,
the display may include a message such as "$1 off store-brand X
meat with purchase of store-brand X cheese." Accordingly, when the
customer is viewing the customer information display (104) to
remain updated as to his/her position in the queue, he/she also may
be influenced by the offers being displayed. Further, when a
customer approaches the counter to place an order, he/she may view
the offers or marketing messages on the customer information
display (104) and add items to his/her order based on the
offers.
[0074] A core function of the QM Application (101) is to place
customers into a service queue by issuing sequential queue-position
numbers. Service-queue numbers preferably are issued to counter
customers through the ticket dispenser (102) and to kiosk customers
through an interface to the ordering application software
(106).
[0075] As described above, a customer may obtain a queue ticket by
activating a button on the print-on-demand ticket dispenser (102)
and/or by communicating with the ticket dispenser using his/her
mobile device or RED tag, causing the QM Application (101) to print
a ticket on the dispenser's printer (202). At a minimum, the
information printed on the ticket will preferably include a
humanly-readable representation of the queue-position number
assigned to the customer. The printed ticket could optionally also
include a time-stamp showing the time the ticket was issued, the
predicted queue-waiting time, the predicted time of service
(time-of-issue plus queue-waiting time), a machine-readable (e.g.
bar coded) representation of the queue-position number, and various
types of marketing messages (advertising, discount offers,
etc.).
[0076] The kiosk utilized by kiosk customers preferably includes
several hardware peripherals. A scanner or other magnetic strip
reader pea wits a customer to scan or swipe his/her loyalty card to
activate favorite features. A motion sensor is preferably used to
turn the scanner on when a customer approaches. It should be
appreciated that some kiosks may preferably perform this action
automatically. A printer is preferably used to print a customer
receipt when the order is placed.
[0077] The QM Application (101) issues queue numbers to kiosk
customers through an application program interface (API) with the
electronic-ordering application (106) software. This API includes
several key elements of functionality. The ordering application
(106) can establish communication with the QM Application (101).
Accordingly, the ordering application (106) allows customers to
place orders using the kiosk. The ordering application (106)
preferably communicates with the QM Application (101) to request
and receive information about the current predicted queue-waiting
time and predicted order-fulfillment time of the next order to be
placed or any order already placed. Accordingly, the ordering
application (106) informs customers when they can expect their
orders to be ready. In another embodiment, a customer may elect to
use the kiosk to reserve a position in the service queue. In a
preferred embodiment of the invention, this occurs when the
customer commits/submits an order and the ordering application
(106) communicates with the QM Application (101) to reserve the
customer's service queue position.
[0078] As previously addressed, the ordering application (106)
preferably reserves the customer's queue position when he/she
commits/submits an order for services. However, it should be
appreciated that in other embodiments, the customer's queue
position may be reserved at the time when the customer begins
entering his/her order at the kiosk. In this situation, the
customer may not always complete and submit his/her order before
his/her queue number is called forward for service. As such, the
information about the order already entered at the kiosk may be
submitted directly to service personnel for fulfillment. At a
minimum, the contents of the order are preferably a print image or
character string, the use of which by the QM Application (101) is
to send to the deli printer (105) as described more fully below.
Alternatively, the kiosk customer may be converted to a ticket
dispenser customer, and the customer can place his/her order at the
counter in the same manner as a ticket dispenser customer.
[0079] The ordering application (106) can also advantageously
include information about the contents of the order that the QM
Application (101) can use to better estimate the time that will be
required to fulfill the order, such as the number of items in the
order or, at a more detailed level, the identity of each type of
item ordered and attributes of each (such as quantity, thickness of
slice, etc.). The ordering application (106) can receive from the
QM Application (101) the status of an order previously placed. This
will happen either when the ordering application (106) requests the
status (for example, in response to a request by a customer), or
when the QM Application (101) automatically provides this
information upon change in an order's status. An order's status can
be: "Waiting" (still in the service queue), "In Process" (a service
person has begun filling the order), or "Complete." The ordering
application (106) can cancel a previously submitted order, provided
that the status of that order is still "Waiting." In this case, the
QM Application (101) will simply skip over the previously assigned
queue number in processing transactions, as if it had never been
issued.
[0080] Service personnel process customer orders in the service
queue by interacting with the QM Application (101) through
service-transaction terminals (103), any number of which can be
distributed within the work area for the convenience of the service
personnel. Any service person can use any transaction terminal
(103) at any time. Each transaction is enabled by the
identification of the service person conducting the transaction,
and is initiated by pressing one of several transaction buttons on
the terminal (103). If the transaction terminal is the non-RFID
embodiment (503) illustrated in FIG. 5, the service person
preferably first touches his/her identification object before
touching a transaction button. If the terminal is the RFID-enabled
embodiment (700) illustrated in FIG. 7, the identification of the
service person is accomplished transparently by reading the RFID
tag worn by the service person. In the absence of identification,
for example, if the service person fails to touch his/her ID object
or fails to wear the RFID tag, the transaction buttons are not
active and touching them has no effect. Service transactions
contemplated by the present invention are described below.
[0081] The Next-in-Queue transaction button (601) calls forward the
next customer in the service queue to place an order. In a
preferred embodiment, once this button (601) has been pressed, the
QM Application (101) performs several steps. It displays to the
service person necessary information about the order on the
terminal screen (103), namely the queue number of the next order to
be fulfilled and where the service person will find the order
information (counter customer or printer (105)). It increments the
"Now Serving" number, displayed on the customer information display
(104) (typically the same queue number displayed on the transaction
terminal (103)), and displays an icon, picture, or other graphical
object indicative of the ordering channel (e.g., counter or kiosk)
through which the order is being placed. If the next order in queue
is a counter customer, and if the customer information display
(104) includes the optional speakers, the QM Application (101)
causes a digital audio voice message to be emitted through the
speakers announcing the "Now Serving" number. If the customer
information display (104) does not include these speakers, the
service person fulfilling the order calls out the queue number. The
customer holding the queue ticket must then answer the call
forward, present the ticket to the service person in order to
validate his/her queue position, and verbally communicate the
order. In another embodiment, if the queue number has been sent to
the customer's mobile device, the customer may preferably present
his/her mobile device to the service person displaying the queue
number. If no customer answers the call within a reasonable time,
the queue position is considered abandoned and the service person
is free to initiate another service transaction. If the order being
served is from a kiosk customer, the QM Application (101) prints
the order on the order printer (105), and preferably sends a status
update to the deli application (101) to reflect the change in order
status from "Waiting-in-Queue" to "In-Process." The information on
the printed order would advantageously include the queue number and
the contents of the order based on the information provided by the
ordering application (106) at the time the order was submitted.
[0082] The most common business rule for handling the situation
when a customer misses the call forward of his/her queue number and
returns to the service counter requesting service is to have the
next available service person take the order, allowing the missed
queue number to maintain its priority since it is lower than any
number still waiting for service. The purpose of the "Missed Queue
Number" (602) transaction is to enable the QM Application (101) to
account for such out-of-sequence order fulfillment while still
maintaining the integrity of the queue. The service person taking
the order simply presses the "Missed Queue Number" transaction
button (602) instead of the "Next-in-Queue" button (601) and takes
the order from the customer. Obviously, there is no need for a
call-forward announcement, and the "Now Serving" number shown on
the customer display (104) does not change. In another embodiment,
when the service person presses the "Missed Queue Number," if the
customer has associated his/her mobile device with entry of the
service queue, an alert may be sent to the user's mobile device to
notify the customer that his/her queue number was missed. This
preferably will give the customer notice to return to the service
counter and take further action as desired. The Going-Off-Duty
transaction button (601) is used by service personnel to take
themselves out of the active server pool, either temporarily (e.g.,
they need to perform other tasks, such as prep, cleanup) or
permanently (e.g., end of shift).
[0083] The touch of either a "Next-in-Queue" (601) or
"Missed-Queue-Number" transaction button (602) marks the start of a
service transaction, but there is no explicit
completion-of-transaction input into the QM Application (101).
Instead, the next touch of any of the transaction buttons by the
same service person is automatically considered to mark the end of
the previous transaction by that server. Upon the completion of a
Next-in-Queue transaction (601) for an order from a kiosk customer,
the QM Application (101) preferably sends a status update to the
ordering application (106) to reflect the change in order status
from "In-Process" to "Complete."
[0084] Service personnel have no way of knowing when all of the
orders waiting in the service queue have been completed; they
certainly cannot infer this from the absence of customers waiting
in front of the service counter since there can be orders placed
through an electronic ordering application (106) still in the
queue, or customers shopping nearby may be listening for their
queue numbers to be announced. For this reason (and to capture the
completion of a finished order), service personnel should
preferably press one of the transaction buttons when finished with
an order, even if there are no customers waiting at the counter. It
will thus be commonplace for a service person to initiate a
"Next-in-Queue" transaction (601) when there is not another number
in the queue. In this case, the QM Application (101) displays a
message on the service-transaction terminal screen (900) that there
are no orders in the queue, along with an "OK" button (901) and a
"Virtual Ticket" button (902) (to be explained below). FIGS. 9a and
9b depict such a display on the non-RED-enabled (900) and
RFID-enabled (950) embodiments of the service-transaction terminal,
respectively. Upon the touch of the "OK" button (901), or after a
timeout period with no touch of either button, the terminal returns
to the main page (600 or 800).
[0085] A common boundary condition, especially during non-peak
demand periods, is the appearance of a new customer when the
service queue is empty. This condition preferably invokes two
features within the QM Application (101): the "New Order" alert,
and the Virtual Ticket (902).
[0086] When the queue is empty and a new queue position is assigned
to a kiosk customer or even to a counter customer, it may be the
case that no service person is aware that a "Next-in-Queue" (601)
transaction is required. It is therefore highly advantageous for
the QM Application (101) to generate a "New Order" alert. For
example, such an alert could be communicated through the optional
speaker system in the customer information display (104) and/or by
continuously flashing a message on all of the service-transaction
terminals. Other embodiments may provide for pushing out alerts to
customers who have made their presence known to the store using
his/her mobile device, such as the alerts described in commonly
assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/877,093, which is
incorporated by reference
[0087] If the service queue is empty and a counter customer asks to
place an order without having taken a ticket, a business rule that
forces the customer to take a ticket from the ticket dispenser may
be perceived by the customer to be arbitrary and even demeaning.
Instead, a service person can simply initiate the "Next-in-Queue"
transaction (601) to confirm that the queue is empty, and if that
is the case, press the Virtual Ticket button (902) mentioned above.
The QM Application (101) treats the touch of the Virtual Ticket
button (902) as a near-simultaneous press of the ticket-demand
button (201) on the ticket dispenser (102) by the customer and
press of the "Next-in-Queue" button (601) by the service person,
except that no ticket is printed and there is no automated voice
announcement accompanying the incrementing of the "Now-Serving"
number on the customer information display (104).
[0088] In order to maintain the integrity of the service queue,
once the Virtual Ticket button (902) has been displayed, the QM
Application (101) must reserve the next queue number for use by the
Virtual Ticket button (902) for a timeout period, even if other
customers submit orders through an electronic ordering application
(106) or request a ticket from the ticket dispenser (102). Rather
than locking the queue and having to delay responding to the
ordering application (106) or printing a ticket, QM Application
(101) can hold the next queue number for the virtual ticket, and
assign the next higher numbers to subsequent requests for queue
numbers. If the Virtual Ticket button (902) is not touched, the
reserved queue number will simply not be issued. If another queue
number has been issued, though, the audible New Order alert should
preferably be generated, since another Next-in-Queue transaction is
needed.
[0089] It might occasionally happen that a counter customer, having
reserved a queue position through the ticket dispenser (102), has a
change of mind and now wishes to place his/her order electronically
through the kiosk computer instead of waiting to place it directly
with a service person. Since customers typically tend to place
significantly larger orders through the kiosk computer than through
counter service, it would be commercially desirable to encourage
kiosk ordering in every way possible. Therefore, an advantageous
feature of the QM Application (101) is to allow counter customers
who have such a change of mind to place their orders via the kiosk
computer without losing their position within the service queue
(i.e., to convert their queue positions from the counter-customer
channel to the kiosk-customer channel).
[0090] For example, in a preferred embodiment, each ticket issued
by the ticket dispenser (102) carries a bar-coded representation of
the assigned queue number, and an ordering kiosk computer has an
integrated barcode scanner. With this embodiment, a customer can
scan that barcode at the kiosk computer, causing the ordering
application software to pass the queue number to the QM Application
(101) and preserve its queue priority for the order that the
customer subsequently places through the kiosk. Other embodiments
provide that if the customer had the barcode pushed out to his/her
mobile device when entering the service queue at the ticket
dispenser, the customer then may scan his/her mobile device at the
kiosk in order to re-associate the originally assigned ticket
dispenser queue number with the kiosk. Similarly, if a customer
scans his/her loyalty or reward card at the ticket dispenser and
the queue number was associated with that card, the customer may
now preferably scan the card at the kiosk in order to re-associate
the queue number with the kiosk.
[0091] By tracking how many people are in the active server pool at
all times, the QM Application (101) can estimate queue-waiting time
and time-to-completion for each order for the purpose of providing
customers with a realistic expectation of service level. Counter
customers will typically be interested in the predicted
queue-waiting time to know how long they must wait to place their
order or when to return to answer the call forward, whereas kiosk
customers will be interested in predicted time-to-completion to
know how soon they will be able to pick up their order.
[0092] The method for estimating these times in a preferred
embodiment is essentially a forward-looking simulation of the
processing of orders in the service queue. This simulation will be
run any time there is an event or condition that requires a
recalculation of predicted wait time, as will be discussed more
fully below. The key step in this simulation is first to estimate
the order-fulfillment time for each order in the service queue.
Thus, each time an order in the service queue is assigned to a
service associate, the QM Application (101) uses its predicted
fulfillment time for that order to predict when that service
associate will become available to fill another order. The complete
process simulation is an iterative sequence of looking ahead in
time and "assigning" each order in the service queue to the
predicted next-available service associate, predicting a completion
time for that order by adding its predicted fulfillment time to its
predicted start time (the predicted completion time of the previous
order for that server), until the start-times and completion-times
have been predicted for every order in the queue. The predicted
queue-waiting time for any given order is simply the difference
between the current clock time and the predicted start time for
that order, and the time-to-completion is the difference between
current clock time and predicted completion time for the order.
[0093] The accuracy of these predicted queue-waiting times and
times-to-completion is primarily a function of the accuracy of the
predicted fulfillment time for each order in the queue, and it is
possible to apply very sophisticated analytical techniques to
historical data produced by the system to make those estimates. For
example, since the exact contents of each order submitted through
an electronic ordering system are known, the QM Application (101)
can estimate the order-fulfillment times for those orders based on
that information. At a minimum, the number of items can preferably
be used, i.e., a standard fulfillment time-per-item can be
multiplied by the number of items. With more extensive analysis of
actual order-fulfillment-time data, the predicted fulfillment time
for each item in the order could be based on the type of item being
ordered (e.g., meat, cheese, salad, etc.) as well as ordering
attributes (e.g., quantity or weight, slice-thickness, etc.). Such
a granular level of prediction is not possible for counter
customers since the contents of the order is never known by the
system, but the prediction might well take into account day-of-week
and/or time-of-day. Finally, if named-identification mode is used,
the predicted fulfillment time for each order could take into
consideration the historical productivity of the specific service
associate predicted to fulfill each order.
[0094] As previously discussed, this simulation should preferably
be run whenever there is an event or condition that requires a
recalculation of predicted wait time. Such events or conditions
include but are not limited to, when a new customer joins the
service queue; when there is a change in the composition of the
server pool as a result of a New-Server-Login or a Going-Off-Duty
transaction; or when the current clock time goes past the predicted
completion time for any order, indicating that the actual
fulfillment time of that order is greater than the original
estimate used in the simulation. In this event, a new completion
time is preferably predicted and the simulation is re-run.
[0095] Once a simulation has been run and the queue-waiting time
for the next queue number to be issued has been predicted, the
system can simply adjust it continuously based on the elapsed time
since the simulation. For example, if the predicted queue-waiting
time is 5 minutes and 10 seconds from a simulation run at exactly
3:00:00 PM, then at 3:00:15 (15 seconds later), the predicted
queue-waiting time would be 4 minutes and 55 seconds, i.e., 15
minutes less than the original estimate.
[0096] A simplified example of such a simulation, run at 5:32:00 PM
on a weekday, is shown in FIGS. 10a-10e. In this example, as shown
in FIG. 10a, analysis of historical order-fulfillment times has
shown that the average length of time required by an average
service person to fulfill an order can be predicted by multiplying
the number of items in the order by 2.1 "standard" minutes per
item. In addition, analysis of historical demand shows that the
size of an average order from a counter customer varies based on
day of week and time of day, with weekend orders averaging 3.2
items per order and weekday orders average 3.0 items per order
during the busy evening hours and 2.5 items per order during the
rest of the day.
[0097] At the time of the simulation in this example, the pool of
service personnel fulfilling orders consists of three people: John,
Mary and Fred. As depicted in FIG. 10b, the "Productivity Indices"
for these service people, based on historical analysis of their
order-fulfillment times, are 1.1, 1.0 and 0.9, respectively. This
means that Mary's productivity (Index 1.0) is exactly average,
i.e., she can fill orders on average at the standard rate of 2.1
minutes per item. John (Index 1.1) takes 10% longer on average to
fill orders (or 2.3 minutes per item on average), and Fred (Index
0.9) takes 10% less time on average (1.9 minutes per item).
[0098] At the time of the simulation depicted in this analysis,
there are six customers waiting in the service queue. As shown in
FIG. 10c, these customers have been assigned queue numbers 55
through 60 inclusive. Queue numbers 55, 57 and 60 have been issued
to counter customers, while queue numbers 56, 58 and 59 have been
issued to kiosk customers. Since the simulation in this example
occurs at 5:32 PM (evening) on a weekday, counter customers are
assigned to order 3.0 items each, on average, so that the
"standard" fulfillment time (i.e., by a service person of average
productivity) is predicted at 6.3 minutes for orders 55, 57 and 60.
The standard fulfillment times for kiosk orders 56, 58 and 59 are
predicted at 8.4 minutes, 6.3 minutes, and 10.5 minutes based on
order sizes of 4 items, 3 items, and 5 items, respectively.
[0099] FIG. 10d shows the actual simulation of the servicing of the
queue in this example, which is triggered by Mary initiating a
"Next-in-Queue" transaction at 5:32 PM. She is assigned the next
queue number to be called forward for service, i.e., 55, a counter
customer. The predicted fulfillment time for this order is
calculated by multiplying Mary's Productivity Index (1.0) times the
standard fulfillment time (6.3 minutes for a counter customer), or
6.3 minutes. Mary is then predicted to become free again at 5:38:18
PM, calculated by adding 6 minutes 18 seconds to the current clock
time of 5:32:00 PM.
[0100] Next, the simulation looks for the next available service
person to take queue number 56. Since John is predicted to finish
the order he is working on at 5:34:56 PM, which is earlier than
Fred at 5:35:41 PM, the simulation "assigns" queue number 56 to
John. The predicted fulfillment time for this order is calculated
by multiplying the standard predicted time (8.4 minutes) by John's
Productivity Index (1.1), yielding 9.2 minutes, which is then added
to the predicted start time of 5:34:42 PM to predict a
time-of-completion of 5:43:56 PM. Next, the simulation "assigns"
queue number 57 to Fred, predicted to start at 5:35:41 PM and take
5.7 minutes (6.3 standard minutes times Fred's Productivity Index
of 0.9), completing at 5:41:21 PM.
[0101] This procedure continues, then, until all waiting queue
numbers have been assigned. Queue number 58 is assigned to Mary,
predicted to start at 5:38:18 PM and complete at 5:44:36 PM. Queue
number 59 is assigned to Fred, predicted to start at 5:41:21 PM and
complete at 5:50:48 PM. Finally, queue number 60 is assigned to
John, predicted to start at 5:43:56 PM and complete at 5:50:51
PM.
[0102] Based on this simulation, the next queue number to be
issued, i.e. number 61, would be assigned to Mary with a predicted
call-forward time of 5:44:36 PM. The predicted queue-waiting time
for this next queue number to be issued is therefore 12 minutes 36
seconds (the difference between 5:44:36 PM and current time of
5:32:00 PM). Thirty seconds later, at 5:32:30 PM, the predicted
queue-waiting time will be 12 minutes 6 seconds, assuming that no
event has occurred to require a new simulation.
[0103] Another feature in embodiments of the present invention,
resulting from its real-time monitoring of service levels, is the
ability to generate an alert to management when the service level
exceeds a threshold of acceptability. This alerting capability
enables management to react immediately to sudden or unexpectedly
large peaks in demand by adding service personnel to the server
pool, thereby increasing the rate of fulfillment throughput,
reducing queue-waiting times, and maintaining acceptable
customer-service levels. A preferred measure of service level to
use in generating this alert is the predicted queue-waiting time
for the next position in the queue, such that when this measure
exceeds a specific threshold, an alert is sent to one or designated
recipients.
[0104] While a full-service deli counter within a retail store
(e.g., supermarket) is preferably a place where customers can enter
the service queue or place an order through an electronic ordering
system, such as a ticket dispenser or kiosk, it should be
appreciated that the present invention is not limited in scope to
the deli counter or retail store scenario. Other scenarios where
embodiments of the present invention may be preferably utilized
include but are not limited to service-oriented places, including
but not limited to pharmacies, bakeries, and restaurants.
[0105] Although the present invention and its advantages have been
described in detail, it should be understood that various changes,
substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is
not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the
process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means,
methods and steps described in the specification. As one of
ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the
disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines,
manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps,
presently existing or later to be developed that perform
substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same
result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be
utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the
appended claims are intended to include within their scope such
processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means,
methods, or steps.
* * * * *