US2012191574A1PendingUtilityA1

Multi-device distributed processing of orders from a referral service

58
Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Feb 9, 2007Filed: Apr 2, 2012Published: Jul 26, 2012
Est. expiryFeb 9, 2027(~0.5 yrs left)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Howard W. LutnickColin SimsJesse Jordan
G06Q 30/0637G06Q 30/02G06Q 30/0601G06Q 30/0641G06Q 30/0635
58
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Claims

Abstract

Method and apparatus regarding referral services are described. Further embodiments are described.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 . A method comprising:
 providing a user interface through which a user may access respective listings of items offered for sale from each of a plurality of merchants;   in response to receiving an order for a plurality of items offered for sale by a merchant of the plurality of merchants:
 (a) determining an order identifier, 
 (b) determining a plurality of SMS messages that each include the order identifier and that together indicate the plurality of items of the order, and 
 (c) transmitting the SMS messages to a remote device of the merchant, in which the remote device is configured to: for a particular order identifier, print, at the merchant, SMS messages having the particular order identifier as a single output on paper without message breaks; and 
   facilitating delivery of the order from the merchant.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , in which the remote device includes an SMS printer. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , in which the SMS messages having the particular order identifier include multiple SMS messages and in which the SMS printer is configured to print the multiple SMS messages in a time period without printing other SMS messages. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , in which transmitting the SMS messages includes transmitting the SMS messages such that the SMS messages include an indication that the SMS messages should be printed as the single output by the SMS printer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , in which the remote device is configured to print on the SMS messages for a period of time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , in which determining the SMS messages includes dividing the order into the plurality of SMS messages so that the SMS messages do not include message breaks in the middle of an item identifier. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , in which the SMS messages include a confirmation code. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , in which the method further comprises receiving an indication of the confirmation code. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , in which receiving the confirmation code includes receiving the confirmation code through an automated telephone system. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , in which receiving the confirmation code includes receiving an a SMS message. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , in which receiving the confirmation code includes receiving an email. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , in which the method further comprises not receiving an indication of the confirmation code for a threshold period of time, and in response to not receiving the indication, retransmitting the SMS messages to the remote device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , in which facilitating delivery includes transmitting an SMS message to a delivery agent. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , in which the SMS message transmitted to the delivery agent includes a confirmation code. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , in which the method further comprises receiving an indication of the confirmation code from the delivery agent. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , in which the method further comprises not receiving an indication of the confirmation code from the delivery agent for a threshold period of time, and in response to not receiving the indication, retransmitting the SMS message to the delivery agent. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus comprising:
 a computing device; and   a non-transitory machine readable medium that when executed by the computing device causes the apparatus to:   provide a user interface through which a user may access respective listings of items offered for sale from each of a plurality of merchants;   in response to receiving an order for a plurality of items offered for sale by a merchant of the plurality of merchants:
 (a) determine an order identifier, 
 (b) determine a plurality of SMS messages that each include the order identifier and that together indicate the plurality of items of the order, and 
 (c) transmit the SMS messages to a remote device of the merchant, in which the remote device is configured to: for a particular order identifier, print, at the merchant, SMS messages having the particular order identifier as a single output on paper without message breaks; and 
   facilitate delivery of the order from the merchant.

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