Appointment Negotiation via Intermediary Scheduling Service
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current computer-based collaboration tools are often project or team-centric, requiring significant setup time and limiting user access, as users manage interactions with different calendar applications and devices, leading to inefficiencies in scheduling appointments across diverse platforms.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for providing a scheduling service that allows remote devices to negotiate appointment times through a server-based system, enabling users to select and agree on appointment times without relying on specific calendar applications, using a user application to create and manage appointments, and transmitting notifications and calendar updates across devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users manage interactions with different calendar applications and devices, then users can access their preferred calendar application, but scheduling efficiency deteriorates due to setup time and compatibility issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a scheduling service as an intermediary layer between users with different calendar applications. This service receives scheduling requests, determines availability across multiple calendar systems, and coordinates appointments without requiring direct integration between different calendar applications. The intermediary handles the complexity of cross-platform compatibility, allowing users to maintain their preferred applications while achieving efficient scheduling.
2Productivity
If a unified scheduling system is implemented, then scheduling efficiency improves, but device complexity increases due to integration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling service acts as a mediator that centralizes the integration logic. Rather than requiring each device to integrate with multiple calendar systems, the scheduling service maintains the integration infrastructure and handles cross-platform communication. This approach improves scheduling efficiency while containing complexity within the service layer rather than distributing it across user devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The scheduling service provides universal functionality that works across multiple calendar applications and device types. By creating a platform-independent scheduling layer, the system achieves broad compatibility without requiring each participant's device to be complex. The service handles diverse calendar formats and protocols through standardized interfaces.
3Ease of operation
If real-time negotiation is implemented, then appointment coordination improves, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The scheduling service performs preliminary actions by pre-determining availability windows and proposing specific appointment times before actual negotiation occurs. Instead of allowing open-ended real-time back-and-forth communication, the service prepares candidate time slots in advance based on calendar data, reducing the negotiation to selecting from pre-evaluated options. This maintains ease of operation while limiting communication overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A server for providing scheduling services to at least two remote devices includes a communications interface for transmitting scheduling options to the at least two remote devices and receiving user inputs from the at least two remote devices. The server further includes a processing circuit configured to manage scheduling services for the at least two remote devices. In one embodiment, the server provides scheduling services for two users, allowing the two users to schedule an appointment with each other. In another embodiment, the server provides scheduling services for a first user and a plurality of second users, allowing the multiple users to schedule an appointment with one another.