FORM - 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970) & THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)


A QUEUE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
SPRYLOGIC TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
an Indian Company of A/1, Aplab House, Wagle Estate, Thane 400 604, Maharashtra , India

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION DESCRIBES THE INVENTION


FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to queue management system.
In particular, this invention relates to queue management system for banks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
Queues have become inevitable in the modern world to cater to the customers efficiently. The efficiency of any organization is judged by the quality of service being provided to its customers. Worth mentioning here is the amount of time taken by the attender to deliver the best of his services to his customers, the faster the better.
Queue management systems are well known in many situations, in particular at supermarket counters. The systems currently in use employ interconnecting wiring between a staff-operated signaling device and a customer display unit. The signaling device could be software or a hardware device.
Current systems have a major drawback in that the service provider (e.g. bank teller) directly affects service measurement by controlling service start times, while being motivated to drive maximum service transactions with a minimum average service. For example, in the retail banking scenario, a bank teller is motivated, sometimes even financially by the employer, to service maximum number of customers in an hour with the shortest possible service times, but the service start time is directly controlled by the teller via a signaling device. Current systems fail to provide any validation if service is actually delivered, or if detect
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if the service provider generates faux transactions to boost service provider productivity numbers.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of prior art and provides a foolproof mechanism for efficient queue management system.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an efficient queue management system. Another object of the present invention is to provide a queue management system for banks.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a queue management system that can be used at any location where people have to wait for any form of goods or service.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tracking system that identifies faux transactions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a queue management system comprising a unique identification tag separate from the queue number (token number). The present mvention also relates to a mechanism for correctly validating a queue position number with the token ticket. Further, the present invention also relates to a mechanism for preventing service delivery start time recording before the availability of service requestor. The present invention also relates to a mechanism for controlling delivery of tokens across the internet. The present invention also relates to a mechanism for identifying false service transactions. The present invention also relates to a mechanism for customized or generic advertisement streaming to the service requestor for either service provider
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specific advertisements or third-party Internet advertisements leveraging the encapsulated internet server in the present invention. The present invention also relates to a mechanism for collating customer information across service providers and/or service institutions by leveraging the encapsulated internet server. Information aggregation can be done based on some unique customer identifying information. For example, credit card number, loyalty card number, driver's license etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
The invention will now be described with reference to accompanying drawing in which:
Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of the system employed in this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a Transaction Validating Networked Service Queue Management System. Referring to the drawing, the system for management of queues is generally indicated by the reference numeral 100.
A queue management and tracking system suitable for use in controlling the serving order of customers at, for instance, a retail banking outlet, or the like is provided in the present invention. 100 of the present invention may be used at any location where people have to wait for any form of goods or service. For e.g. at supermarket counters, bank transactions, ticket counters like railway reservation counters, cinema halls, etc.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, a unique ID is provided along with the regular queue position token number. This unique ID is a randomly generated number using any random number generator by the system
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encompassed by the present invention. IDs are randomly generated to prevent prediction of the ID based on queue position, token number, previous ID or any such parameter or combination of parameters. The service provider does not affect the start of service time recording, since the system automatically start timing the service transaction on entering the correct matching ID for a particular token number.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an algorithm based identifier sub-system is encompassed that identifies faux transactions. This sub-system looks for patterns using predictive or statistical algorithms to identify faux transactions. For, example algorithmically identifying synthetic transactions being generated or identifying transactions where the queue tokens are generated with the sole purpose of affecting service measurements.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a web (http) internet server is encompassed within the system. Using the appropriate user authentication and internet protocols for security and data transport, this optionally allows for services to be administered and tracked over the Internet.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ticket dispensing means is housed together with the processing means which processes data received from one or more of the dispensing means, encompasses an internet server, and interacts with the display unit. Thus, the processing unit dispenses a token number based on the services selected and the associated queue length for those services along with the unique ID (1).
The processing means on the completion of service of the previous service requestor and the availability of the service provider calculates the next token number for service based on queue position and preset customer priority, notifies
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the customer via a display unit and voice alert (2), The service provider on the customer's arrival (3), enters the unique id for that token; the processing means collects the information provided and if found to be accurate starts the service timer calculations (4).
By collating and processing the data, information can be provided on, for instance, the following: the time taken to serve customers during the day, variations in the length of the queue, the rate at which tickets are issued and also a simple tally of the number of customers served on each day. The processing means also actively looks for patterns of excess number of missing service requestors (service requested but service requestor not available), unusual service times using the collated information. The transaction is complete when the sen'ice delivery is completed and is signaled by the service provider to the processing means via a signaling device (hardware or software based) (5).
The processing means also encompasses optional auto-administrative functions using statistical and predictive algorithms to automatically modify service provider roles, etc. to match service demand. Customized targeted advertisement streaming is also provided as an encapsulated function; this can be based on customer service request and data input or on historical customer information and usage patterns. The processing means in the present invention can also accept some customer identification - e.g. credit card, loyalty card, driver's license, etc.; the encapsulated internet server can be leveraged to collate and aggregate customer information based on this identifying information across the service provider internet or across multiple service provider institutions using the Internet.
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ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention offers several advantages as mentioned below:
• The service provider does not affect the start of service time recording, since the system automatically starts timing the service transaction on entering the correct matching ID for a particular token number.
• The system encompasses an algorithm based identifier sub-system that identifies faux transactions.
• The processing means in the present invention can also accept some customer identification - e.g. credit card, loyalty card, driver's license, etc.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the various components of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many alterations can be made and that many modifications can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.
Dated this 5th
MOHAN DEWAN " Of R. K. DEWAN & CO. APPLICANTS' PATENT ATTORNEY
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