Telephonic communications – With usage measurement – Call charge metering or monitoring
Reexamination Certificate
1996-06-26
2001-02-27
Kuntz, Curtis A. (Department: 2643)
Telephonic communications
With usage measurement
Call charge metering or monitoring
C379S093230, C379S093120, C379S112030, C379S119000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06195420
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to communication systems, and more particularly, to specialized communications systems for use in reviewing invoices and then resolving disputes concerning those invoices.
2. Description of Related Art
In-room video checkout systems offered by many hotels permit a guest to view his bill and authorize payment. However, these systems provide no way to easily resolve billing disputes except by visiting the cashier.
Some hotels prepare a final bill during the night before a quest's departure and slip it under the door. If there is a problem with the pre-printed bill prepared during the night, such as an error or omission, the guest is faced with having to wait in line to speak with a cashier to resolve it. As the cashier and the guest attempt to solve the problem there are many opportunities for miscommunication between them: while the guest is looking at a paper copy of the bill, the cashier is typically looking at a computer screen which has formatted the bill information differently, so substantial verbal effort may be required to, in effect, map the format seen by the guest to the format seen by the cashier so that each knows what the other is talking about.
Guests checking out of hotels often face a dilemma. Should they skip breakfast so that they can check out quickly using the pre-printed bill slipped under the door during the night or should they eat breakfast and then have to go through the entire bill preparation process again? A guest may opt to skip having breakfast at the hotel to avoid spending time at the cashier's counter as the bill is prepared again. Not only has the traveler skipped a meal, but the hotel has missed an opportunity to generate revenue due to the loss of a restaurant customer.
Touch screens, where human/machine interaction is achieved by literally touching a desired icon or portion of the screen, are extremely easy to use and often eliminate the need for any other sort of input device.
Radio or radio telephony, whether digital or analog, eliminate the needs for “hard-wired” connections and enable, individually or simultaneously, two-way voice and data communications.
Collaborative software tools, which allow multiple users to view, annotate, and change documents while interacting with other users, are commercially available. This technology, in conjunction with telecommunication networks, allows users from disparate locations to interact as if they were physically in the same location. Each user's display contains the same information as all the other users' devices. As a result, little of the cognitive dissonance that may occur, for example, during a telephone conference call where one user is trying to describe an object to others does occur. Such collaborative tools are often referred to as groupware.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides apparatus, system, methods and computer program products which allow a hotel guest increased flexibility in determining when the bill is prepared and how disputes over errors or omissions are resolved.
Conceptually, the invention provides the guest with instant access to his current bill, the ability to add, for example, a tip to a restaurant bill that has not yet been completed, and immediate access, via telephone and groupware, to the hotel's cashier to resolve disputes. In addition, the customer can authorize payment of the bill and receive a printed copy of the bill on demand without the intervention of a cashier.
The invention uses three different communications approaches. In one form, the invention uses radio telephony to allow the guest to review his bill, add a tip to a restaurant check, request that the bill be printed for later pick-up, authorize payment and, if necessary, speak to the cashier. A second embodiment, with all the functionality of the first, uses a wired approach to data and voice transmission. A third embodiment (also wired), again with all the functionality described above, is implemented in a kiosk where a guest can request an immediate printout of the guest's bill on a printer located within the kiosk.
This invention solves problems with current hotel billing and checkout procedures by empowering the guest to determine when his bill should be generated, by encouraging close and easy cooperation between the guest and the cashier should there be a billing dispute, and by allowing the guest to quickly authorize bill payment and print his final bill without having to wait for a cashier.
The inventions relates to apparatus for allowing a user to communicate with a customer service representative, including a telephone handset, a computer, having a display, configured to retrieve a user's account information, display it for the user and permit a customer service representative to see the same display information as that viewed by the user, a card reader, and an interface connecting the telephone handset, the computer and the card reader to a network. The interface connects the telephone handset to one of a cellular telephone, cordless telephone or a radio transceiver. The interface connect audio information from the telephone handset and data from the computer to a voice/data multiplexer for transmission over the network.
The inventions also relates to a method of allowing a user to communicate with a customer service representative about a bill, including the steps of reading an account identification from a medium, retrieving account information using the account identification and displaying the account information on a display of the user and on a display of the customer service representative, and activating a voice link to the customer service representative. The account information can be revised during discussions between the user and the customer service representative and the revised information stored.
The invention also relates to a method of allowing a user to communicate with a customer service representative, by reading account identification information from a recording medium, accessing a database to retrieve account information based on the account identification information, and linking a terminal of the customer service representative and a terminal of the user to display the same information. A voice link is established between the user and the customer service representative.
The invention also relates to a system for allowing a user to communicate with a customer service representative, including a network, a customer service representative terminal providing voice and data links to the network, a database accessible over the network, and one or more user terminals each providing a voice and data link to the network and each having a computer and card reader. The computer is configured to obtain account identification from the card reader and connect the user to the database to retrieve account information. The link to the network can be over a cellular telephone link, a cordless telephone link, or a radio link. One of terminals is installed in a kiosk. The network may be an integrated voice and data PBX.
Computer program products permit implementing the methods, apparatus and systems of the invention on one or more computers.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein only the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3675204 (1972-07-01), Miehle et al.
patent: 4072825 (1978-02-01), McLay et al.
patent: 4953159 (1990-08-01), Hayden et al.
patent: 5365577 (1994-11-01), Davis et
Kuntz Curtis A.
McDermott & Will & Emery
Sun Microsystems Inc.
Tieu Binh K.
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