Central Data Center Aggregating Hospitality Availability via Email
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hospitality establishments face challenges in efficiently sharing and updating availability data across multiple systems, making it time-consuming for consumers to find suitable resources, and traditional data integration solutions are not feasible due to varying complexity and network sophistication.
Innovation Solution
A central data center maintains and aggregates hospitality data from multiple systems via automated emails, using email technology to bridge pre-existing systems with minimal network configuration, enabling secure and efficient data transfer and presentation to consumers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional dedicated data transfer methods (virtual private network) are used to integrate data from multiple hospitality systems, then data integration reliability is improved, but device complexity and ease of manufacture deteriorate due to varying system complexity and network sophistication
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (central data collection system using email servers and automated email exchange) that mediates between diverse hospitality systems and consumers. This intermediary handles the complexity of data integration, allowing individual hospitality systems to remain simple while achieving reliable centralized data collection through standardized email protocols.
2Loss of information
If consumers check availability at multiple hospitality establishments individually, then information completeness is improved, but loss of time increases due to the tedious and time-consuming process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges availability data from multiple hospitality establishments into a single centralized data collection system. Consumers access consolidated availability information from all establishments through one interface, eliminating the need to visit multiple websites or call multiple establishments individually, thus reducing time loss while maintaining information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically collecting and consolidating availability data from multiple hospitality establishments before consumers need to access it. The centralized system proactively gathers, updates, and organizes data from various sources, so when consumers query the system, the information is already prepared and integrated, saving them significant time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If hospitality establishments use different levels of network sophistication, then adaptability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates when implementing traditional dedicated data transfer solutions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs email technology as a universal communication protocol that can be implemented across hospitality establishments regardless of their network sophistication. Email servers and automated email exchange provide a multi-functional solution that works for both simple and complex systems, enabling broad adaptability while maintaining ease of operation through standardized, widely-supported protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a method includes, at a central data center including at least one server computer, maintaining central hospitality data for a plurality of hospitality systems. The method further includes serving, by the central data center, at least a portion of the central hospitality data to a plurality of computing devices operated by hospitality consumers. The method also includes, at the central data center, receiving, at regular intervals, an automated email from each hospitality system of the plurality of hospitality systems. Each automated email encapsulates updated local hospitality data gathered by the hospitality system. In addition, the method includes, at the central data center, retrieving the updated local hospitality data from each automated email. Also, the method includes, at the central data center, updating the central hospitality data per the updated local hospitality data.