Global reservation transaction management system and method

Abstract

A reservation system and methodology ensures that all changes to a database in a federation are reliably and immediately communicated to all of the other databases in the federation. The system communicates information concerning hotel reservation transactions. The system comprises multiple applications each associated with one or more databases including hotel reservation data. The databases in the federation reflect transactions that are communicated to other databases and they also employ information received from other databases in determining the transactions that their associated local applications permit and the way in which they are processed. In one embodiment of the invention, communication among databases occurs through the Internet and data storage devices via secure packetized messages addressed to objects that represent the relevant databases. The system of the present invention also preferably includes a central database that functions as the primary source for verifying reservations and hotel data. Additionally, the system of the present invention also includes a yield subsystem that allows hotels to increase revenues. The yield subsystem calculates rates and availability based upon forecasted changes in supply and customer segment demand.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 487,361, filed Jan. 19, 2000, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 118,665, filed Jan. 20, 1999, both of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates generally to transaction management and control. More particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods for processing transactions that affect inventories of products and services. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Some industries have made great strides in adopting today's technology to provide the access and availability needed for these industries to operate in a cost-effective and otherwise efficient manner. However, achieving these goals is often difficult or impossible for a number of reasons. For example, many industries have evolved over time both with respect to the way the companies comprising the indus...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a system and method for a reservation system in the hospitality industry that can access and utilize data from multiple databases in a federation. The system ensures that all changes to a database are quickly communicated to all other databases in the federation. The system also includes a yield subsystem that calculates rates and availability based upon forecasted changes in supply and customer segment demand. The technical effects of the invention include improved access to inventory data, real-time access through various access points, and automated notification of changes in databases."

Problems solved by technology

However, achieving these goals is often difficult or impossible for a number of reasons.

Additionally, technology limitations and / or existing business practices may result in less than satisfactory results with respect to data access.

In some cases, new data and / or data updates made by one company may not be available to other companies in the industry until after a substantial lag period.

This lag may be due to various causes including, bandwidth limitations, business practices, the need for human intervention and / or network failures.

As a result of these deficiencies in propagating data, some parties may wind up working with incomplete and / or outdated data.

In many cases, this can result in conflicts which must be manually resolved after the discrepancy has been discovered.

Indeed, some conflicts which result from propagation delays may be unresolvable.

Another hurdle in connection with implementing a multi-organizational transaction system with satisfactory data access is the fact that the many different organizations which access the system often use incompatible hardware, software and communications protocols.

Because of this lack of standardization, it is difficult if not impossible to coordinate an arrangement between all parties involved whereby compatibility is achieved.

This industry is highly data intensive and highly data dependent in that all sorts of data including, for example, inventories, rates, property information, room characteristics, stay controls and reservations must be constantly input, updated and made available to a large number of parties with differing characteristics.

The hospitality industry, in its present form, presents unique difficulties with respect to data availability and access.

One such difficulty results from the fact that so many classes of users must have or desire access to information.

Unfortunately, with the exception of some chains, the various databases containing the collective reservations data are not currently synchronized to the extent necessary to provide consistent results in a real-time environment.

Because of this and other potential pitfalls, industry practices which are not the most desirable have been necessitated.

This is not the most desirable situation since it is possible that one booking agent may book few or no rooms while another booking agent may exhaust its supply very quickly.

The current model does not allow for the automated reallocation of inventory from, for example, the relatively inactive booking agent to the active booking agent.

As a result, inventory may go unused and potential customers may be turned away.

The lack of immediate and reliable communication between and among all users concerning events affecting the availability and pricing of inventory at hotel properties has been and continues to be a pressing problem preventing efficient and reliable processing of reservations.

Unfortunately, the current coordination effort falls short of an effective solution for various reasons.

As one would expect, this introduces time delays, inaccuracies, errors and clerical work presenting a less than ideal situation.

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