Business Method of Providing a Channel for Delivering and Distributing Events Based on a Subscription Model for Service Providers to Enhance Sales Opportunities

Abstract

Sales associated with service providers are increased using an opportunistic approach based on an unexpected change in a schedule or services (time, location). Windows of opportunity (time, physical location) are automatically identified, and once such a window of opportunity is detected, the people affected directly from the change of a schedule are identified. This information is then used by service providers to act quickly in order to enhance sales. Both service providers and consumers setup a personalized profile in a database, and the system uses a matching process to match related service providers to the consumers' preferences.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 863,268, filed May 24, 2001, pending; which is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 768,458, filed Jan. 25, 2001, pending.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic commerce. More specifically, the present invention is related to enhancing sales for service providers by utilizing an opportunistic e-commerce approach based on an unexpected change in the schedule of services (time, location). [0004] 2. Discussion of Prior Art [0005] There has been a steady increase in the speed and ease with which business transactions are carried over a network such as, but not limited to, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LAN's), or the World Wide Web (WWW). Systems based on networks listed above deal with a plethora of information available in various formats (e.g., documents, image...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a computer-based system that can automatically identify and analyze events associated with a subscriber, and select and notify a service provider when an event is likely to increase sales. The system can also receive location data and consumer profile information to improve the accuracy of event analysis and selection. The technical effect of the invention is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of event-based marketing and advertising.

Problems solved by technology

One common challenge associated with such e-commerce systems is whether or not they are able to filter out relevant or pertinent information that benefits the end-user.

One common problem associated with data extracted from web pages is that there is no standard format associated with this data.

This is a significant problem encountered by data mining software, since in most cases it is not able to analyze the extracted data in a logical way.

Although personalized advertising and direct marketing are becoming more sophisticated through the use of data mining software programs, current advertising and marketing strategies do not enjoy all the benefits from new emerging Internet and e-commerce applications and technologies.

Furthermore, none of the prior art systems utilize an opportunistic approach based on an unexpected change in the schedule of services (time, location) with Internet-based technologies to benefit and enhance the generation of sales opportunities for sales providers.

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