Television with Interactive Portal and System and Method for Use of Same

Abstract

A television with an interactive portal and system and method for use of the same are disclosed. In one embodiment of the television, the television is deployed to provide an interactive portal in a hospitality establishment having multiple rooms, such as a hotel. The television is associated with a room and includes a housing that secures a processor, memory, tuner, panel, and audio driver in an interconnected architecture. The television generates a guest interactive portal as well as a housekeeping interactive portal for a guest and housekeeper, respectively. Each of the portals provides relevant feedback on the condition of the room to a server associated with the hotel.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for operating a hospitality establishment having a plurality of rooms, the system comprising:
 a programming interface configured to communicate with a television having a memory accessible to a processor, the television being locatable in an assigned room, the assigned room being one of the plurality of rooms of the hospitality establishment; and   processor-executable instructions associated with the programming interface that, when stored in the memory and executed by the processor, cause the system to:
 receive a next room assignment from a server, 
 in response to a housekeeping servicing request, generate a housekeeping interactive portal including a first interactive icon relative to the assigned room and the next room assignment, the first interactive icon being selected from the group consisting of clean/dirty status of the assigned room, do not disturb, make-up room, additional towels, fresh linens, turn-back service, and days until check-out, and 
   receive an interactive instruction relative to the first interactive request;   the next room assignment forming a portion of a housekeeping schedule stored at the server, the housekeeping schedule being dynamically maintained.   
     
     
         2 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first interactive icon further comprises a plurality of icons. 
     
     
         3 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the housekeeping interactive portal further comprise a second interactive icon relative to the maintenance of the assigned room. 
     
     
         4 . The system as recited in  claim 3 , further comprising a maintenance schedule stored at the server, the maintenance schedule being dynamically maintained based on the interactive instructions received at the server relative to the second interactive icon. 
     
     
         5 . The system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the second interactive icon further comprises a plurality of icons. 
     
     
         6 . The system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the second interactive icon is selected from the group consisting of telephone maintenance, television maintenance, light bulb maintenance, faucet maintenance, lock maintenance, clock maintenance, iron maintenance, light fixture maintenance, toilet maintenance, HVAC maintenance, refrigerator maintenance, Wi-Fi maintenance, and general maintenance. 
     
     
         7 . The system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the housekeeping interactive portal further comprise a third interactive icon functioning as a checklist configured to ensure completion of a housekeeping maintenance review list. 
     
     
         8 . A system for operating a hospitality establishment having a plurality of rooms, the system comprising:
 a programming interface configured to communicate with a television having a memory accessible to a processor, the television being locatable in an assigned room, the assigned room being one of the plurality of rooms of the hospitality establishment; and   processor-executable instructions associated with the programming interface that, when stored in the memory and executed by the processor, cause the system to:
 receive a next room assignment from a server, 
 in response to a housekeeping servicing request, generate a housekeeping interactive portal including a first interactive icon relative to the assigned room and the next room assignment, the first interactive icon being related to housekeeping, 
 receive an interactive instruction relative to the first interactive request, and 
 send the interactive instructions relative to the first interactive request to the server; 
   the next room assignment forming a portion of a housekeeping schedule stored at the server, the housekeeping schedule being dynamically maintained based on the interactive instructions received at the server relative to the first interactive icon.   
     
     
         9 . The system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the first interactive icon further comprises a plurality of icons. 
     
     
         10 . The system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the first interactive icon further comprises clean/dirty status of the assigned room. 
     
     
         11 . The system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the first interactive icon is selected from the group consisting of do not disturb, make-up room, additional towels, fresh linens, turn-back service, and days until check-out. 
     
     
         12 . The system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the housekeeping interactive portal further comprise a second interactive icon relative to the maintenance of the assigned room. 
     
     
         13 . The system as recited in  claim 12 , further comprising a maintenance schedule stored at the server. 
     
     
         14 . The system as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the maintenance schedule is dynamically maintained based on the interactive instructions received at the server relative to the second interactive icon. 
     
     
         15 . The system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein the server optimizes the maintenance schedule prior to dispatching maintenance tasks. 
     
     
         16 . The system as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the second interactive icon further comprises a plurality of icons. 
     
     
         17 . The system as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the second interactive icon is selected from the group consisting of telephone maintenance, television maintenance, light bulb maintenance, faucet maintenance, lock maintenance, clock maintenance, iron maintenance, light fixture maintenance, toilet maintenance, HVAC maintenance, refrigerator maintenance, Wi-Fi maintenance, and general maintenance. 
     
     
         18 . The system as recited in  claim 8 , wherein the processor-executable instructions to generate the housekeeping interactive portal further comprise a third interactive icon functioning as a checklist configured to ensure completion of a housekeeping maintenance review list. 
     
     
         19 . A system for operating a hospitality establishment having a plurality of rooms, the system comprising:
 a programming interface configured to communicate with a television having a memory accessible to a processor, the television being locatable in an assigned room, the assigned room being one of the plurality of rooms of the hospitality establishment; and   processor-executable instructions associated with the programming interface that, when stored in the memory and executed by the processor, cause the system to:
 receive a next room assignment from a server, 
 in response to a housekeeping servicing request, generate a housekeeping interactive portal including a first interactive icon and a second interactive icon, the first interactive icon being relative to an assigned room of the television and the next room assignment, the first interactive icon being relative to housekeeping, the second interactive icon being relative to maintenance of the assigned room, 
 receive an interactive instruction relative to one of the first interactive icon and the second interactive icon, and 
 send the interactive instruction to the server; 
   the next room assignment forming a portion of a housekeeping schedule stored at the server, the housekeeping schedule being dynamically maintained based on the interactive instruction received at the server relative to the first interactive icon; and   a maintenance schedule stored at the server, the maintenance schedule being dynamically maintained based on the interactive instruction received at the server relative to the second interactive icon.   
     
     
         20 . The system as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the first interactive icon further comprises a plurality of icons.