Autonomous and integrated system, method and computer program for dynamic optimisation and allocation of resources for defined spaces and time periods

Abstract

In one aspect, the invention provides a computer enabled method for optimising and allocating booking requests, comprising the steps of, at a computing system including at least one software module arranged to allocate bookings autonomously to one of a table or table combination, electronically receiving a booking request via a network, the booking request including constraint information including a plurality of constraint values associated with one of the venue and the requestor, and for each received booking request, the module categorising the booking request into one of at least two categories selected from a group of categories including a selection category including constraint information identifying a specific table or table combination, and a non-selection category, and for each of the at least two categories, the module utilising an iterative method to analyse the constraint information and allocate the booking request to the table or table combination.

1 . A computer enabled method for optimising and allocating booking requests within a venue having one or more spaces, comprising the steps of, at a computing system including at least one software module arranged to allocate bookings autonomously to one of a table or table combination, electronically receiving a booking request via a network, the booking request including constraint information including a plurality of constraint values associated with one of the venue and the requestor, and for each received booking request, the module categorising the booking request into one of at least two categories, the at least two categories being selected from a group of categories including a selection category including constraint information identifying a specific table or table combination, and a non-selection category including booking requests with constraint information not identifying a specific table or table combination, and for each of the at least two categories, the module utilising an iterative method to analyse the constraint information and allocate the booking request to the table or table combination, the iterative method including at least one of the following steps:
 a. allocating the received booking request to the requested table or table combination;   b. allocating the received booking request to the requested table or table combination by firstly identifying one or more individual requestors that comprise the booking request, and using the identity of at least one of the one or more requestors to retrieve requestor constraint information from a database, the requestor constraint information including a requestor ranking value that ranks the at least one requestor relative to other requestors in the database, whereby the booking request is allocated utilising the requestor ranking as one of the plurality of constraint values;   c. where the module attempts to allocate a request and determines that a requested table or table combination is allocated to a previously received booking request, the module further determines the identity of at least one requestor associated with the booking request and uses the identity of the at least one requestor to retrieve requestor constraint information including a requestor ranking value from a database that ranks the at least one requestor relative to the requestors associated with the previously allocated booking request, and if the ranking of the requestor is higher than the ranking of the previously allocated booking requestor, reallocating the at least one previously allocated booking request to a different table or table combination and allocating the received booking request to the requested booked table;   d. upon requiring a reallocation of at least one booking to accommodate a received booking request, reallocating the at least one previously allocated booking request by allocating the booking request of the largest size first and reallocating all other booking requests in descending order of size;   e. upon requiring a reallocation of at least one booking to accommodate a received booking request, determining a booking size metric of the received booking and each of the allocated bookings, the size metric being determined by calculating a size metric which utilises the number of persons that comprise the booking request and the service time duration for the booking request as inputs, and utilising the size metric to reallocate all bookings in order from the largest size metric booking to the smallest size metric booking;   f. utilising booking request constraint information and venue constraint information to determine a difficulty metric utilising the size metric and a peak period seating time value to determine a difficulty measure, the difficulty measure representing a measure of the relative difficulty of allocating the booking request relative to the constraints of the venue, whereby booking requests are ranked from most difficult to least difficult and allocated in descending order from most difficult to least difficult;   g. utilising booking request constraint information and venue constraint information to determine sub-service periods within a service period, and for all booking requests that fall within the service period, firstly allocating all booking requests that fall across one or more sub-service periods in order of descending size, and subsequently allocating all booking requests that do not fall across the one or more sub-service periods in order of descending size;   h. utilising constraint information to determine a difficulty measure, the difficulty measure being representative of the relative difficulty of allocating a booking request, whereby bookings are allocated in descending order of difficulty;   i. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking request to optimise the number of bookings within each of the one or more spaces;   j. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking whereby bookings of identical or similar size are clustered, in both physical proximity and chronological proximity;   k. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking whereby the total time that the each table or table combination remains unused between bookings during a single service period is minimised;   l. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking to cluster bookings such that physically adjacent tables have similar start times;   m. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking such that physically adjacent tables have similar finish times;   n. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking so that smaller size bookings are physically clustered adjacent to larger size bookings;   o. Reallocating at least one previously allocated booking such that a previously joined table for an earlier booking in a service period is reutilised for a later booking in the service period;   p. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking such that the at least one booking is allocated in a manner where a minimal number of tables are joined to allocate the booking;   q. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking such that the total of bookings within a service period are arranged in a manner that requires the least possible number of table movements during the service period;   r. allocating at least one potentially conflicting booking to the smallest fitting table irrespective of availability, and where a conflicting booking is generated, reallocating the previously allocated booking as a result of the newly created conflicting allocation;   s. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking whereby an empty table is retained between one or more booked table;   t. utilising constraint information to reallocate all bookings from the highest ranked available table in a descending order of rank;   u. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking whereby the ranking of the booking requestor determines the table allocated;   v. reallocating at least one previously allocated booking utilising one or more qualitative constraints derived from information associated with the booking requestor including but not limited to a stated occasion associated with the booking, a menu or courses selected by the requestor, the courses selected by the requestor, ancillary products selected by the requestor and the date of the booking; and   w. reallocating all bookings to one or more different table solution sets to determine whether at least one of the one or more different table solution sets results in a more optimal outcome, and if so, selecting the at least one of the one or more different table solution sets that results in the more optimal outcome.   
     
     
         2 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the step of categorising the booking includes at least one further category, including but not limited to a super VIP category including requestors who are to be allocated to a selected preferred table or table combination as a priority and a VIP category including requestors who are to be allocated to their preferred table or table combination if available, whereby new bookings which identify a super VIP or VIP category trigger the dynamic reallocation of bookings. 
     
     
         3 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 2 , further comprising the step of assigning a predetermined ranking to each table and table combination wherein the ranking is determined according to a plurality of criteria and wherein the ranking is utilised as an input to the iterative allocation algorithm to assist in the allocation of booking. 
     
     
         4 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein the determination of a priority booking for a super VIP includes the step of determining whether the preferred table or table combination is available for allocation to the super VIP and if not, allocating one of a second preference and a highest ranked available table or table combination to the Super VIP. 
     
     
         5 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , whereby the step of allocating one or more bookings upon receipt of a new booking request occurs only when a predetermined plurality of bookings have been received for a specific service period. 
     
     
         6 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the constraint information includes information regarding the relative location of each table and table combination relative to each other table or table combination in the space. 
     
     
         7 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 6  whereby the constraint information includes information of groupings of tables and table combinations, whereby the grouping is utilisable to determine the potential for allocating a single booking request to a grouping. 
     
     
         8 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 7 , comprising the further step of, upon receiving a booking request equal to or greater than a predetermined number of guests, allocating the booking request to a grouping. 
     
     
         9 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the grouping of tables and table combinations comprise tables and table combinations that are adjacent to each other. 
     
     
         10 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , comprising the further step of determining whether an additional table or table combination is to be added or removed from the list of available table and table combinations in response to at least one of the receipt of a booking request and the reallocation of all received booking requests for a service period. 
     
     
         11 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 10 , whereby the step of determining whether an additional table or table combination should be added or removed occurs during one of the booking of table combination, the optimisation of the bookings, and the reconciliation between the bookings of the two or more categories in response to at least one the receipt of a booking request and the reallocation of booking requests for a service period. 
     
     
         12 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , comprising the further step of providing, via a user interface, a plurality of available booking times and capacities whereby the booking requestor can select a specific table or table combination at one of the available booking times. 
     
     
         13 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , comprising the further step of varying the menu displayed on the user interface to a booking requestor dependent on information provided by the booking requestor, the information including at least one of a group size, a day and/or time of a booking. 
     
     
         14 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , comprising the further step of determining the revenue potential for a particular combination of at least two constraints selected from the group including menu, group size and date/time of a booking, whereby the revenue potential is utilised to dynamically vary the tables and table combinations offered to a booking requestor. 
     
     
         15 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1 , comprising the further step of monitoring variations in the demand for each of the table and table combinations, whereby the price presented to the booking requestor is dynamically varied for each of the table and table combinations by determining the revenue potential of the table and table combinations. 
     
     
         16 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 1  comprising the further step of providing further information on the interface presented to the booking requestor, the further information including a number of selectable menus including a number of selectable courses associated with each menu, whereby the selection made by the booking requestor is utilised to optimise the allocation of bookings to each of the tables and table combinations. 
     
     
         17 . A computer enabled method in accordance with  claim 16 , comprising the further step of, in response to the method failing to adequately allocate a table or table combination to a booking request, presenting to the booking requestor, via the user interface, one or more additional constraints associated with one or more alternative possible bookings for the selected time and/or duration, whereby on selection of one of the one or more additional constraints by the booking requestor, the alternative booking is allocated. 
     
     
         18 - 30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . A computer enabled method for iteratively allocating and optimising the use of space in a venue utilising the methodology of  claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
 receiving at least one request to reserve one or more tables or table combinations within a space within the venue from the at least one remote user via the communications network, determining whether other requests for the one or more tables or table combinations have been made by other users, and if so, retrieve information regarding the other requests and information pertaining to those requests for the one or more tables and table combinations and combine the at least one request with other requests to form a pool of requests, retrieve constraint information regarding the venue, and iteratively allocate all requests from the pool of requests utilising the constraint information to produce an optimised table and table combination allocation instruction set, wherein the optimised table and table combination allocation instruction set is provided to one or more users associated with the venue.   
     
     
         32 . A computing system for allocating one or more booking requests for the provision of a service in a venue, the service including the allocation of a space within the venue and the provision of one or more products utilising the methodology of  claim 1 , the system comprising: a processor arranged to execute a booking allocation software module, the module being in communication with a product database including product information relevant to a plurality of products, the product information for each one of the plurality of products being associated with a product capacity value; the allocation module being arranged to request product constraint information related to one or more constraints provided by a booking requestor and retrieve associated product capacity values from the database, and utilise the product capacity values and product constraint information to determine product availability; and a user interface arranged to interact with the requestor and provide additional product information and additional constraints to the requestor, wherein the requestor may one of agree to the additional constraints and request allocation of the booking on the basis of acceptance of the one or more additional constraints or reject the constraints and not be allocated. 
     
     
         33 . A system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein the module utilises qualified product information to determine table availability using the classification of tables into categories. 
     
     
         34 . A system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein the module utilises the qualified product information to determine table availability within a space comprising one or more spaces. 
     
     
         35 . A system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein the module utilises the qualified product information to determine the table availability to effect an optimised condition. 
     
     
         36 . A system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein, if the product request is not confirmed then the booking requestor is provided with at least one alternative determined utilising the constraint information. 
     
     
         37 . A computing system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein a product is one or more of the number of courses associated with a menu, a food item, a beverage item or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         38 . A computing system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein product attributes include a:
 a. date;   b. service;   c. booking time;   d. number of guests;   e. duration time;   and also include at least one of a:   f. specific day of the week;   g. specific group size;   h. specific occasion;   i. specific duration for a menu and/or courses;   j. extended or reduced duration;   k. specific table;   I. specific table attributes;   m. specific location attributes;   n. specific menu attributes;   o. specific customer requirements;   p. specific price attributes; and   q. specific service attributes.   
     
     
         39 . A computing system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein the product information includes constraint information regarding supplementary items including:
 a. extended duration times;   b. locations within a venue;   c. classes of tables within a venue;   d. specific types of table;   e. specific tables within a venue;   f. specific levels of service;   g. tables with specific attributes;   h. locations with specific attributes;   i. menu specific attributes;   j. service specific attributes; and   k. promotion specific attributes.   
     
     
         40 . A computing system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein the product information includes constraint information regarding third party items including:
 a. flowers;   b. entertainment;   c. changes to order of service; and   d. additional complementary products.   
     
     
         41 . A computing system in accordance with  claim 32 , wherein a price is dynamically set in at least one of the following manners:
 a. Price by product;   b. Price by product by time;   c. Price by product group size;   d. Price by occasion;   e. Price by period of extended duration time;   f. Price by peak and off-peak times;   g. Price by table based on table utility and/or table location characteristics;   h. Booking fees;   i. Price by additional services;   j. Discounts, promotions during less popular times;   k. Price by booking time;   I. Price by channel;   m. Price by booking requestor;   n. Price by membership level;   o. Price by past history;   p. Price by estimated utilisation of resources; and   q. Price by level of service.   
     
     
         42 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising, a user interface arranged to receive input regarding constraint information including first constraint values associated with each of the one or more tables within an area or sub-area and at least one set of alternative constraint values associated with each of the tables and table combinations within an area or sub-area, whereby the first constraint values and at least one set of alternative constraint values define a plurality of relativities, utilities, contextual relationships and contexts between the area or sub-area for each one of the tables and table combinations, whereby upon receipt of the booking for one of the tables and table combinations, the module attempts to allocate the booking request to one of the tables and table combinations utilising the first constraint values associated with each of the one or more tables and table combinations, and if the booking cannot be allocated utilising the first constraint values, the module utilises the at least one set of alternative constraint values to allocate the booking request to one of the tables and table combinations. 
     
     
         43 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising, a user interface arranged to receive input regarding constraint information including a first arrangement of the tables and table combinations within an area or sub-area and at least one alternative arrangement of the tables and table combinations within an area or sub-area, whereby the first arrangement and at least one set of alternative arrangement define a plurality of relativities, utilities, contextual relationships and contexts between the area or sub-area for each table, whereby upon receipt of a booking for one of the tables and table combinations, the module attempts to allocate the booking request to one of the tables and table combinations utilising the first arrangement, and if the booking cannot be allocated utilising the first arrangement, the module utilises the at least one set of alternative arrangements to allocate the booking request to one of the tables and table combinations. 
     
     
         44 . A system in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising, a user interface arranged to receive input regarding constraint information including first constraint values associated with each of the tables and table combinations within an area or sub-area and at least one set of alternative constraint values associated with each of the one or more tables within an area or sub-area, whereby the first constraint values and at least one set of alternative constraint values define a plurality of relativities, utilities, contextual relationships and contexts between the area or sub-area for each one of the tables and table combinations, whereby upon receipt of a booking for a table, the module determines whether a trigger has occurred, and if not, attempts to allocate the booking request to one of the tables and table combinations utilising the first contain values, and if the trigger has occurred, the module utilises the at least one set of alternative constraint values to allocate the booking request to one of the tables and table combinations.