JP2003078624A - Reservation/call managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reservation/call managing system for managing a reservation and a call between a client and a store without reporting the number of the portable telephone of the client to the side of the store. SOLUTION: When a client makes a telephone call to a system in the case of making a reservation in the store, that telephone call is connected to the store by the system, and the reservation is informed by speaking. Afterwards, it is reported to the system by the store that the client has made a reservation in the store. This notice is provided by the automatic response function of a computer. Thus, the reservation information of clients are stored on a table inside the system in the order of incoming. When the store is to call the client, on the other hand, a telephone call is made to the system and calling of the client is reported. The system receives that notice, determined the client to be next called by referring to the table and connects that client and the telephone call of the store. When the telephone call is connected, the store reports coming of the turn of the client to the client.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reservation / call management system for accepting a reservation from a customer who uses a store such as a restaurant and calling the customer from the store when the customer's turn comes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In popular restaurants, theme parks, etc., the number of visitors exceeds the capacity, and there are many cases waiting in order to enter or enter the store. This waiting and the method of calling it, mainly due to the intention of the store side,
There are the following four typical forms.

In the first form, if the customers are full when they come to the store, they are lined up in the order of arrival near the entrance of the store, and when there is a vacancy, the stores are arranged on a first-come-first-served basis, that is, from the top of the line. It is a method of calling.

In the second form, if the customer is full when the customer comes to the store, then the shop gives the customer a piece of paper or the like on which the number indicating the order of coming to the shop is written, and the shop becomes vacant. It is a method to call the number given to the customer in order by voice or a display device.

In the third mode, if the customer is full when the customer visits the store, the pager (paging receiver) is operated from the store side.
This is a method in which the information device such as is lent to the customer, and the store side calls the customer by using the pager in the order in which the customer comes to the store when the vacancy occurs.

[0006] In the fourth mode, if the customer is full when the customer comes to the store, the customer's pager or mobile phone number is registered in the shop at that time, and if the customer has a vacancy, This is a method of calling customers by sending a message or calling to the registered numbers in the order in which they come to the store.

[0007] The waiting for customers and the calling of customers by stores are performed at various stores other than the above-mentioned restaurants and theme parks. Further, it is utilized not only when the number of customers exceeds the capacity, but also in simple waiting for waiting for processing to be performed in order. For example, at banks and post offices, the person making the transfer request takes a numbered ticket in order, and at the reception desk, the transfer requester is sequentially called by the number attached to the numbered ticket. This method is similar to the second mode.

[0008]

However, in the first form, the store side can show off the popularity of the store by forming a long line, and a great advertising effect can be expected, but as a customer's position However, it is inconvenient because you cannot leave the place for a long time, and you will be forced to line up in bad weather, extreme heat, and extreme cold. Such inconvenience to customers may result in a decrease in customers, and a long queue is likely to cause trouble with adjacent stores.

The second form differs from the first form in that
The customer does not have to wait in line and is free to leave the store until his turn. However, since the customer has to be in the store when his turn comes, he has to come back to the store in good time. If you can't get back to the store before your turn, you'll lose your turn, and if you're too early to return to the store, you'll waste time there. .

The third form is considered to be a kind of electronic numbered ticket and can solve the problem in the second form, but the store side prepares pagers by the number of customers who visit the store beyond the capacity. It is necessary, and as the number of customers waiting in line increases, the financial burden for purchasing a pager increases. In addition, there is a risk of frequent troubles such as loss or damage of loaned pagers.

The fourth mode can solve the problem in the third mode, but the personal information such as the customer's pager or mobile phone call number is registered in the store side, and these are expected by the customer. There is a risk of being used for undesired applications. From this point of view, some customers are reluctant to temporarily register the calling number on the store side. Also, the store side must handle the relevant data strictly and carefully so that there is no other privacy information of this customer.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems in the fourth mode. That is, the present invention provides a reservation / call management system capable of making a reservation and calling between a customer and a store without directly informing the store of personal information such as the customer's mobile phone number.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, when a telephone call is received from a customer, the caller number of the telephone is acquired and the telephone number of a predetermined store is called to call from the customer. Incoming connection means to connect the phone with the phone of the store,
After disconnecting the connection between the customer's phone and the store's phone, connect to the store's phone, receive the registration instruction from the store's phone, and set the caller number to the store's customer. Reservation registration means for registering in the waiting table as a telephone number, and when receiving a call instruction from the telephone of the store, the telephone of the store is put on hold and the telephone number of the customer to be called next is stored in the waiting table. And a call connection means for making a call to the acquired customer's telephone number to connect the held phone of the store to the customer's phone. A reservation / call management system configured as described above is provided.

As a result, the customer does not have to wait in line at the store to make a reservation for the store without the store knowing his / her telephone number.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, when a call is received from a customer, there is a receiving means for acquiring the caller number of the call, and when there is a predetermined instruction from the customer's phone. , Reservation registration means for registering the caller number in the waiting table as the telephone number of the customer who makes the reservation for the store, and the telephone number of the customer who should be called next when the call instruction is received from the telephone of the store. It is configured to have a customer selecting unit that selects and acquires from the waiting table and a call notifying unit that notifies the acquired customer's telephone that the customer has been called as a customer of the store. A reservation / call management system is provided.

As a result, the customer can make a reservation for the store without the store's own telephone number being known to the store and without making any call to the store.

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, in the system according to the first or second embodiment, the reservation registration means and the customer selection means are respectively provided in a voice message provided to the telephone. When a predetermined button of the telephone is pressed in response, the instruction of the telephone is received by detecting the pressing of the button.

According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, when a telephone call is received from a customer, the caller number of the telephone is acquired and the telephone number of a predetermined store is called to call from the customer. A step of connecting the telephone with the telephone of the store, disconnecting the connection between the telephone of the customer and the telephone of the store, connecting with the telephone of the store, receiving the registration instruction from the telephone of the store, and making the call. Registering the person number in the waiting table as the telephone number of the customer making the reservation for the store, and when receiving the call instruction from the store phone, the store phone should be put on hold and called next. Selecting and obtaining a customer's telephone number from the waiting table; and calling the obtained customer's telephone number to connect the held store telephone with the customer's telephone. With steps A, wherein each step, and book call management method executed by one or together a plurality of connected computers are provided.

According to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, when a call is received from a customer, a step of acquiring a caller number of the call, and a case where a predetermined instruction is given from the customer's phone, The step of registering the caller number in the waiting table as the telephone number of the customer who reserves the store, and the telephone number of the customer who should be called next when receiving the call instruction from the telephone of the store There is a step of selecting from a table and acquiring, and a step of notifying the acquired customer's phone that the customer has been called as a customer of the store, and each of the steps is one or both. A reservation / call management method provided by a plurality of connected computers is provided.

According to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, when a telephone call is received from a customer, the caller number of the telephone is acquired and the telephone number of a predetermined store is called to call from the customer. Incoming connection means for connecting a telephone with a telephone of a store, connecting with a telephone of the store after disconnecting the connection between the telephone of the customer and the telephone of the store, receiving a registration instruction from the telephone of the store, and Reservation registration means for registering the caller number in the waiting table as the telephone number of the customer making the reservation for the store, when receiving a call instruction from the telephone of the store,
The telephone of the store is put on hold, the telephone number of the customer to be called next is selected from the waiting table, the customer selecting means for acquiring, and the telephone number of the acquired customer are called, A program is provided for causing a computer to function as a call connection unit that connects the telephone of the store on hold and the telephone of the customer.

According to the seventh embodiment of the present invention, when a telephone call is received from a customer, a receiving means for obtaining the caller number of the telephone, and when a predetermined instruction is given from the telephone of the customer, Reservation registration means for registering the caller number as a telephone number of a customer who makes a reservation for a store in a waiting table, and a telephone number of a customer who should be called next when a call instruction is received from the telephone of the store A program for causing a computer to function as a call selecting unit that selects and acquires from a waiting table and a call notification unit that notifies the acquired customer's phone that the customer has been called as a customer of the store. Provided.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First, an outline of functions of a reservation / call management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a functional block diagram of FIG.

The reservation / call management system 100 of FIG.
Includes a reservation management function 110, a call management function 120, an incoming call automatic response function 130, and a waiting table 140.

First, the reservation management function 110 will be described. The reservation management function 110 is used by the customer 180 to store 20
0 is a function for managing reservations, and is a reservation incoming function 111,
It includes an incoming call connection function 112 and a reservation registration function 113.

The reservation call reception function 111 receives a call made from the customer's mobile phone 170 to the reservation / call management system 100 by a customer 180 who is waiting for a turn at a store 200 such as a restaurant or a theme park. To do. The customer 180 uses the reservation / call management system 100.
A call is made to a predetermined telephone number associated with the call, and the call is normally made from the mobile phone 170 through the base station 160 and the public telephone line network 150 as shown in FIG. To reach. Here, the public telephone line network 150 is the Internet, a mobile telephone line network,
And a wide range of networks including a combination of a plurality of networks, and is a network capable of transmitting information including voice from the mobile phone 170 to the system 100. What is the protocol for transmission and the topology of the network? May be

Further, the reservation / call management system 100
In the above, it is preferable that a different telephone number is used for each store for reservation reception. However, by calling the incoming call automatic response function 130 of the system 100, one telephone number can be used for reservation reception for a plurality of stores. Can be managed.

The incoming call automatic response function 130 is, for example, a CTI.
It realizes the function of (Computer-Telephony Integration). CTI is a technology for linking a computer and a telephone. If you use CTI, for example,
Information received (calling telephone number, push button number pressed, push button number pressed last time, etc.)
The voice message and processing corresponding to each of the contents are registered in advance, and when the registered information is obtained from the incoming call, the computer outputs the registered voice message corresponding to the registered information to the incoming call. Alternatively, the registration process can be automatically executed.

Further, the incoming call automatic answering function 130 uses the CTI.
It is not limited to the functions achieved by. For example, it also includes a function of interpreting a voice uttered by the customer 180 and instructing a computer to give a predetermined command instead of the standard incoming call information such as the caller number of the mobile phone 170 and button operation.

Therefore, when the customer 180 calls the above-mentioned one telephone number, the system 100 uses the CTI to carry a guide message such as "Please enter the number of the store to be used" by the customer 180. By voice-outputting to the telephone 170, it is possible to prompt the customer 180 to make an input through the mobile telephone 170 and sort the stores after receiving the call.

The incoming call connection function 112 has a circuit switching (forwarding) function, and after the reservation incoming call function 111 confirms an incoming call from the mobile phone 170 of the customer 180, it connects it to the telephone 190 of the store 200, and stores it. And establish a session so that the customer 180 can talk. As shown in FIG. 1, it is actually the store's receptionist or employee who handles the telephone 190 on the store side, but here, the main concept in a broad concept including them is “store 200”. I will call it.
Next, the incoming call connection function 112 uses the store 200 and the customer 180.
When the customer 180 confirms whether or not he / she intends to reserve the store by calling, the customer 180 hangs up the phone,
A session is established between the store 200 and the reservation / call management system 100.

A session establishing operation after such an incoming call,
The session disconnection operation is also realized by calling the incoming call automatic response function 130.

When the session between the store 200 and the reservation / call management system 100 is established, the reservation registration function 113 is instructed by the store 200 to send the customer 18
The fact that 0 has made a reservation is registered in the waiting table 140. At this time, the system 100 acquires the telephone number (caller number) of the mobile phone 170 when the customer 180 receives an incoming call, and the information is the above-mentioned waiting table 14
Registered as 0. If the caller number of the mobile phone 170 is not notified, the system 100 cannot obtain the caller number, so that the phone number may be obtained by some means, for example, by having the customer 180 input it. There must be.

The registration instruction from the store 200 can be issued by calling the above-described incoming call automatic response function 130. For example, from the system 100 side, a voice message “Do you want to register this telephone number? If yes, please press 1, if no, please press 0”
If the store 200 presses the push button “1” of the telephone 190, the telephone number of the customer 180 who is the other party of the call is provided to the waiting table 14.
Can be registered to 0.

Further, the customer 180 has the reservation management function 110.
Thus, it is possible to cancel the reservation once registered by using the incoming call automatic response function 130 as described above. In that case, the customer 180 registered in the waiting table 140
Information is deleted.

Next, the call management function 120 will be described. The call management function 120 is provided with a function for the store 200 to call the customer 180 who has been registered in the waiting table 140 by the reservation management function 110 and has reached the order. The call reception function 121, the customer selection function 122, And a call connection function 123.

The call receiving function 121 receives a call from the store 200 for calling the customer 180 via the telephone 190. When the store 200 is ready to accept the next customer, for example, because the seat is available,
Reservation / call management system 1 instead of 0 phone number
Make a call to the designated phone number 00. This telephone number is preferably different from the telephone number of the system 100 called by the customer 180 for reservation in terms of efficiency and management. However, the same telephone number can be used by allocating either one after the incoming call by using the automatic incoming call answering function 130.

The customer selection function 122, in response to the incoming call from the store 200 determined by the call reception function 121, determines which next customer 180 the store 200 should call by referring to the waiting table 140. To do.

The call connection function 123 has a circuit switching (transfer) function, and after the customer selection function 122 determines the customer, the call from the store 200 that received the call is sent to the mobile phone 170 of the determined customer 180. Connect and enable both parties to talk. Therefore, the store 200 notifies the customer 180 that the turn has arrived.

The customer selection function 122 normally selects the next customer 180 in the order in which the customer 180 is registered earlier. The contents of the waiting table 140 will be described in detail later.

Customer selection function 122 and call connection function 1
23, as described above, in response to an incoming call from the store 200,
The customer 180 to be called automatically is determined and a call between them is established. The incoming call automatic answering function 130 such as CTI is also used for these series of processes.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the customer 1
A process of making a reservation by 80 and being called by the store 200 will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a series of processes for the customer 180 to make a reservation at the store 200 for each of the customer 180, the reservation / call management system 100, and the store 200. These processes are mainly realized by the reservation management function 110 of the system 100.

First, this series of processing starts when the customer 180 uses the mobile phone 170 to call a predetermined telephone number of the reservation / call management system 100 (step S10 in FIG. 2). The reservation / call management system 100 uses the reservation reception function 111 to call this customer 18
A call from 0 is received (step S12). In general, the customer 180 calls the telephone number of the reservation / call management system 100 associated with the store for which a reservation is desired. This telephone number is different from the telephone number of the telephone 190 of the store 200. Also, as mentioned above,
When the call management system 100 has one representative telephone number, the customer 180 calls the telephone number and then selects a store to reserve by operating the button of the mobile phone 170 or the like.

Next, the reservation / call management system 100
Uses the incoming call connection function 112 to connect the incoming call of the customer 180 to the telephone 190 of the store 200 (step S14).
More specifically, the reservation / call management system 10
By this processing of 0, a call is made to the telephone 190 of the store 200, and when the store 200 answers the telephone 190, the mobile phone 170 of the customer 180 and the telephone 1 of the store 200
90 is connected.

By this connection, the customer 180 and the store 20
A call is made with 0 (steps S16, S18),
The reservation is confirmed there. After that, the store 200 disconnects the call with the customer 180 (steps S20 and S22). If the store 200 is full, the customer 1
The reservation / call management system 100 is instructed to add 80 to the waiting list (step S24). At this point, the telephone 190 of the store 200 is connected to the reservation / call management system 100, and the store 200
Is received by the system 100 using the incoming call automatic response function 130 such as CTI.

When the customer 180 calls, the store 20
If 0 is available, the customer 180 immediately
However, if there is a circumstance that you cannot go to the store 200 immediately, you may make a reservation in the same way as when there is no space.

The reservation / call management system 100 receives the instruction from the store 200 and registers the customer 180 in the waiting list of the store 200 by the reservation registration function 113 (step S26). Specifically, this registration is to register the telephone number of the mobile phone 170 of the customer 180 in the waiting table 140. Customer 180
The telephone number is acquired as a caller number when the system 100 receives an incoming call from the mobile phone 170 of the customer 180, and is temporarily stored.

The customer 180 uses the steps S10, S18,
Each process of S22 and S22 is performed by one call using the mobile phone 170. In FIG. 2, these steps are connected by a dotted arrow. Similarly, store 20
0 means that the processing in steps S16, S20, and S24 is
It is done in a single call using the telephone 190, with dotted arrows connecting between these steps. Hereinafter, also in other figures, a plurality of steps of one call are connected by a dotted arrow for the customer and the store.

Each item registered in the waiting table 140 will be described with reference to FIG. The waiting table 140 includes items such as an order 141, a number 142, and
It has a situation 143. Order 141 is customer 180
Is the order of registration in this table 140, and “1” is given to the customer 180 who is registered first, and thereafter “2”, “3” ,. ． ． Will be granted. Number 142
Is the telephone number of the mobile phone 170 of the customer 180 in this example. The situation 143 is the customer 180 registered in the row.
Shows the current situation, and in this example, it is blank when waiting for a turn, and when the turn has already arrived and the call is received by the store 200, the character “done” is displayed. Is memorized. Instead of the blank above,
It is also possible to store a number or the like indicating how many more times the turn will come. Further, after the reservation is registered, the customer 18
When the reservation is canceled by 0, it is possible to update this item to "completed" without deleting the record and exclude it from the customer selection.

As will be described later, the number of seats (the number of seats) required by each customer 180 may be further stored as an item of the waiting table 140. Bookings are usually made by a representative of a group of several people,
Knowing the number of people in this group enables efficient calling for the store side.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2 again, in step S26, a new customer 1
80 is registered in the waiting table 140. For example,
The telephone number of this customer 180 is 090-888-BBBB
If the customer 180 of 7 is registered in the waiting table 140 at this point, the eighth record (order = 8) is inserted as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, and the customer 180 is registered. To be done. The first record (order =
The customer 180 of 1) has a status of “done” and has already been called up by the store 200. Therefore, the customer 180 of the eighth record has six customers 180 waiting in front. (I.e., the 7th customer).

Next, FIG. 4 will be described. In Figure 4,
A series of processes until the store 200 is vacant and the customer 180 is called is shown for each of the customer 180, the reservation / call management system 100, and the store 200.

First, the series of processes is started when the store 200 calls the reservation / call management system 100 by telephone 190 (step S30). The telephone number of the system 100 is usually the telephone number associated with the store 200. The system 100 receives the call from the store 200 by the call receiving function 121 (step S32).

Next, the system 100 has a customer selection function 1
22, the customer 180 to be called next is determined by referring to the waiting table 140 shown in FIG. 3 (step S34). In the example of FIG. 3, the waiting table 14
0 has registered the customers 180 in the order of incoming calls, and when calling in this order, the customer 180 of the record with the smallest status and the smallest order, that is, the second record (order =
2) is selected. However, by selecting the store 200,
The customers to be called may be determined in another order.
Such a determination method can be different for each store.

Next, the reservation / call management system 100
The call connection function 123 of the mobile phone 17 of the customer 180 selected by the customer selection function 122 as described above.
The telephone number of 0 is acquired from the record (the second record in the above example) in the waiting table 140, the telephone number is called, and the mobile phone 170 of the customer 180 and the telephone of the store 200 receiving the call. 190 is connected (step S36).

By this connection, the customer 180 and the store 20
A call is made with 0 (steps S38, S40),
The store 200 notifies that the customer 180 has come.

The call made in steps S38 and S40 is finished in the same manner as a normal call when the message is over (steps S42 and S44). In FIG. 4, for convenience, it is described that the call is disconnected from the store 200 in step S42, but either one may be disconnected first, and that itself is not important from the viewpoint of the present invention. .

Finally, the call connection function 123 determines in step S46 that the customer 180 who has just received the call.
The item of the status of the record of the waiting table 140 corresponding to is updated from blank to “done”.

In step S46, the record of the waiting table 140 corresponding to the customer 180 that has been called once is marked with "done", so that this customer 180 will not be selected again. Further, it is desirable that the records marked with “done” are automatically deleted at an appropriate timing such as an instruction from the store 200 or the end of the business hours of the day.

The record update in step S46 is as follows.
After step S36, it can be performed at any time.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the customer 180 has been described as accessing the reservation / call management system 100 using the mobile phone 170. Types of phones may be used. In that case, the customer 180 makes a reservation for the store 200 with a telephone installed at home, and waits for a call from the store 200 at a place where the call can be received (generally at home).

In another embodiment of the present invention, a PDA or other terminal with a communication function can be used when the call with the other party is not required. Such variations are the same for the telephone 190 of the store 200.

Therefore, in this specification, when the term "telephone" is used, these various types of communication devices are included as necessary.

With this system 100, the customer 180
By calling the phone number of the system 100 corresponding to each store 200, or by calling a representative phone of the system and then selecting a predetermined store,
A desired store can be reserved from a plurality of stores. At the same time, the system 100 is connected to a plurality of stores 200, each of which can manage customer reservations and calls individually.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, since the store 200 notifies the customer 180 of a call only when the store 200 becomes vacant, the customer 18
If 0 is away from the store 200,
There may be a case where the store 200 cannot be immediately entered and it is not efficient for the store 200. In such a case, when the customer selection function 122 receives an incoming call from the store 200, the customer selection function 122 selects, for example, the customer 180 two orders ahead of the customer 180 who actually arrived. It is also possible to give a notification such as "it will come in two more pairs."
Furthermore, when a call is received from the store 200 next, the customer 180 who is two orders ahead is notified that "there are two more sets to come" and the customer who made the notification last time. It is also possible to reissue a notification in 180 that "there will be another pair of turns".

Further, in FIG. 2, after the store 200 disconnects the call with the customer 180, the system 100
Was instructed to register customer 180, but customer 18
It is also possible to hold the call with 0 temporarily without disconnecting, instruct the system 100 to register the customer 180, and then release the hold and resume the call with the customer 180.
As a result, the store 200 can immediately notify the customer 180 of information such as the fact that the registration is normally performed.

With this system 100, the customer 180 can enter the telephone number of his / her mobile phone 170 into the store 20.
It is possible to make a reservation and receive a call from the mobile phone 170 from the store 200 without informing 0. Therefore, it is necessary that the system 100 is operated by a reliable company that fulfills confidentiality obligations other than the store 200. For example, it is an independent information service company or a mobile phone service company.

Next, a reservation / call management system 300 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The reservation / call management system 300 shown in FIG.
The call portion between the customer 180 and the store 200 in the system 100 of this embodiment is omitted.

Therefore, the system 100 and the system 300
Have many common parts, and only different parts will be described below.

Upon receiving an incoming call from the customer 380, the reservation registration function 312 confirms the reservation of the customer 380 by using the incoming call automatic response function 330 without calling the store 400.

The incoming call reception function 321 receives an incoming call from the store 400, and the incoming call automatic response function 330 receives a call to the store 400. Also, the call notification function 323 is used by the mobile phone 37 of the customer 380 who is called.
Call 0 to notify you that it is your turn. The incoming call automatic response function 330 is also used for this notification.

As a result, the customer 380 and the store 400
Manages reservations and calls without having any conversation.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a series of processes until the customer 380 makes a reservation at the store 400 will be described. Figure 6
Shows a processing flow relating to the reservation management function 310, and corresponds to FIG. 2 in the system 100.

First, this series of processing is the same as in FIG.
The customer 380 starts by calling a predetermined telephone number of the reservation / call management system 300 (step S60). Therefore, reservation / call management system 300
Receives the call from the customer 380 by the reserved call reception function 311 (step S62).

Next, the reservation registration function 31 of the system 300
2 confirms the reservation intention from the customer 380 by using the incoming call automatic response function 330, and confirms the reservation contents in the waiting table 3
40 (steps S64, S66). The content of registration is the same as the processing of the reservation registration function 112 of the system 100 described with reference to FIG.

The above-mentioned confirmation of the intention of the customer 380 is performed by, for example,
In response to the incoming call from the customer 380, the mobile phone 3 of the customer 380
70, "Do you want to make a reservation for XX store? 1 if yes"
To the customer 380, the mobile phone 3
This is performed by pressing a predetermined button 70 (here, 1 or 0).

At this point, the reservation registration function 312 can refer to the contents of the waiting table 340 to add additional information such as "currently waiting for ΔΔ people" to the guide message.

Then, in steps S68 and S70, the call is disconnected. This is the same as the normal operation of hanging up the telephone, and in FIG. 6, it is described that the disconnection is performed from the system 300 in step S70 for convenience, but either one may be first.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a series of processes from the opening of the store 400 to the calling of the customer 380 will be described. FIG. 7 shows a processing flow relating to the call management function 320, and corresponds to FIG. 4 in the system 100.

First, this series of processing is the same as in FIG.
The store 400 starts by calling the reservation / call management system 300 by telephone 390 (step S8).
0).

Then, when the call reception function 321 receives the call from the store 400 (step S82), the call automatic response function 330 automatically accepts the call procedure from the customer 400 (steps S84 and S8).
6).

The above-described processing for accepting the call to the store 400 is performed by, for example, responding to an incoming call at the store 400,
The phone number 390 of 00 asks "Do you want to call the customer?
Output a guide message such as "1" for "Yes" and 0 for "No", and store 40
0 is pressed by pressing a predetermined button (here, 1 or 0) of the telephone 390. At this point, customer 400 may specify to call several sets of customers simultaneously.

Then, in steps S88 and S90, the call is disconnected. This is the same as the normal operation of hanging up the telephone, and in FIG. 7, it is described that the disconnection is made from the system 400 in step S90 for convenience, but either one may be first.

Next, the system 300 uses the customer selection function 3
22 refers to the waiting table 340 and determines the customer 380 to be called next (step S9).
2). The determination method is the same as that described regarding step S34 in FIG.

After that, the reservation / call management system 30
The 0 call notification function 323 obtains the telephone number of the mobile phone 370 of the customer 380 selected by the customer selection function 322 from the record in the waiting table 340, makes a call to the telephone number, and also automatically receives the incoming call. The response function 330 is used to notify that the order of the customer 380 has arrived, such as "This is a XX store. The customer's turn has arrived" (steps S94 and S96).

The call made in steps S94 and S96 is finished in the same manner as a normal call when the message is over (steps S98 and S100). In FIG. 7, for convenience, the call is disconnected from the system 300 side.

Finally, the call notification function 323 determines in step S102 that the customer 38 who has just received the call.
The item of the status of the record of the waiting table 340 corresponding to 0 is updated from blank to “done”.

An object of the present invention is to provide a system for making a reservation for the stores 200, 400 without knowing the telephone numbers of the customers 180, 380, but the reservation / call management of the second embodiment described above. The system 300 eliminates the need for the customer to even have a conversation with the store and provides a system that provides greater protection of the customer's privacy.

Next, a reservation / call management system 500 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The system 500 is the telephone 390 of the store 400 in FIG.
Is replaced with a personal computer 410 having a display capable of displaying a waiting list. For such an improvement, the call receiving function 321 of the system 300 includes a waiting list providing function 324,
It is replaced by the call acceptance function 325. Therefore, the part of the dotted line block A in the processing flow shown in FIG.
Replaced by these features.

The waiting list providing function 324 receives the request from the personal computer 410 via the public telephone line network 350, or at a predetermined timing, transfers the contents of the waiting table 340 to the personal computer 410 to the public computer. It is provided through the telephone line network 350.

The personal computer 410 edits the content and outputs it as a waiting list on the display. Further, it is preferable that the personal computer 410 is placed in a corner of the store 400 so that a person in charge of calling the store 400 can see the contents of the display at any time.

FIG. 8 shows a waiting list display screen 600 as an example. Waiting list 600
Shows an order list 610 and a call button 620. The order list 610 shows the contents of the waiting table 140 shown in FIG.
80 people waiting, 7 people (group) from order 2 to 8
It turns out that The customer of the first record (order = 1) does not appear in this list because the status = “finished”. Also, the telephone number of each customer 380 is the system 300
Since it is stored so as not to be known to the store 400 side in the waiting table 340, it is naturally not displayed here.

If the reservation is canceled midway,
The record is removed from this list, but you can continue to display it as canceled.

When the call button 620 is pressed when there is a space in the store, the signal is detected by the call acceptance function 325 of the reservation / call management system 300, and the next customer 380 is automatically determined. Its customers 3
Call notification is given to 80.

The order list 610 can instruct the call acceptance function 325 to send a call notification to the customer in the clicked order by clicking the area where the order is displayed with a mouse or the like. Does not require the call button 620.

In addition, one customer 380 who makes a reservation usually represents several customer groups in many cases. If the system 300 is configured so that the group number for each customer is grasped at the time of receiving a reservation and registered in the waiting table 340, this number can be displayed in the order list 610. In this way, if the number of people can be grasped for each customer, the store 400 can consider an efficient calling order other than the customer's reservation order according to the number of vacant seats.

For example, when there is only one seat at the counter seat, when the next customer is a group of four and the second customer is one, skip the customer of four and You can control the second customer to sit at the counter for the time being.

Next, a reservation / call management system 700 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the system 700, the method of notifying the customer 380 that the reservation order has arrived is not via a telephone call as performed by the call notification function 323, but via Internet mail,
This is due to the email available on mobile phones.

Therefore, the part of the dotted line block B in the processing flow shown in FIG. 7 is replaced with the transmission of a message by mail. Therefore, the customer 380 can use the system 700 as long as the customer 380 has a mobile phone capable of receiving mail, a PDA, and other terminals with communication functions. Further, if the system 700 is expanded, the reservation application itself can be performed using mail, and even in this case, the mail address of the customer 380 is not known to the store 400.

This e-mail is, of course, sent to the e-mail address corresponding to the customer's mobile phone or the like. However, if the customer's phone call is made to the system 700,
Since such an e-mail address cannot be acquired, it is necessary to acquire the e-mail address separately at any timing.

Next, a reservation / call management system 900 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The system 900 is configured such that the dedicated adapter 910 (not shown) is connected to the mobile phone 370 of the customer 380 in the reservation / call management system 300 of the second embodiment described above. This adapter 910 is installed in a place such as a store, and the mobile phone 370 is set therein. When a mobile phone is plugged into its adapter 910,
The adapter automatically calls the system 900 using the mobile phone and performs the above-described reservation registration procedure.
When the registration procedure is completed, the connection between the mobile phone 370 and the system 900 is automatically disconnected.

The adapter 910 may be configured to hold the cell phone 370 and make the necessary connections to control the cell phone, or place the cell phone 370 nearby.
It may be configured to be controlled via a simple communication protocol such as bluetooth.

Next, the configuration of the personal computer used to implement the reservation / call management system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Although the system is described herein as running on a personal computer, a host computer, workstation, dedicated computer, and various other computers may be used.

The personal computer 1100 shown in FIG.
Is a CPU 1110, a memory 1120, an external storage device 1
130, input device 1140, output device 1150, recording medium drive device 1160, network interface 1
170 and a bus 1180 interconnecting these components 1110-1170.

The CPU 1110 controls the processing of each component in the personal computer 1100 and realizes each function of this system described above. The memory 1120 temporarily stores a program that controls the CPU 1110 to perform the control and each processing, and data used by the program.

The external storage device 1130 is a storage device such as a hard disk for storing data necessary for this system. The waiting tables 140 and 340 are stored in this external storage device 1130.

The input device 1140 is a device such as a mouse and a keyboard for giving a specific command to the CPU 1110 and inputting data to be stored in the external storage device 1130. Queue table 140, 340 of this system
Is the information obtained by the incoming call from the customers 180, 380,
Also, since the information explicitly indicated by the customer is stored, these input devices 1140 are not required for normal operation.

The output device 1150 is a CRT display or a television monitor, which is not essential for the operation of this system.

The recording medium driving device 1160 is a DVD-R.
The contents of the recording medium 1190 such as the OM, the CD-ROM, the flexible disk, etc. are read and copied to the memory 1120 or the external storage device 1130 as necessary. The program for giving a command to the CPU 1110 to control the system to execute the system may be stored in the recording medium 1190, and loaded into the memory 1120 as necessary. The personal computer 1100 is controlled by the program loaded in the memory 1120, and the CPU 1110 executes various processes according to the instructions of this program to realize the reservation / call management system of the present invention.

Network interface 1170
Connects the personal computer 1100 to the network 1
Connect to 200. The network 1200 is, for example,
It corresponds to the public telephone line networks 150 and 350 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5.

A program for giving a command to the CPU 1110 to realize this system is the network 120.
It may also be loaded into memory 1120 via 0.

The personal computer 410 described for the reservation / call management system 500 according to the third embodiment of the present invention is also the personal computer 1 described above.
The configuration is the same as 100. However, the input device 1140 such as a mouse is used to click the call button shown in FIG. 8, and the output device 1150 such as a CRT display is used to display the waiting list of FIG.

Further, in the personal computer,
The system receives the data for displaying the waiting list from the reservation / call management system 500, edits and displays the data on the display, and further responds to the click of the call button with the mouse or the like.
A program for sending a command to call a customer is loaded in the memory 1120.

[0114]

According to the reservation / call management system of the present invention, reservations and calls can be made between a customer and a store without directly informing the store of personal information such as the customer's mobile phone number. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a functional outline of a reservation / call management system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process flow chart showing a series of processes in which a customer registers a reservation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a waiting table in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a process flow chart showing a series of processes called by a store in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a functional outline of a reservation / call management system 300 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flow chart showing a series of processes in which a customer registers a reservation in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing a series of processes in which a store calls in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a waiting list display screen shown on the shop side in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of a personal computer used in the reservation / call management system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100,300 reservation / call management system 110, 310 Reservation management function 111, 311 Reserved call reception function 112 Incoming connection function 113, 312 Reservation registration function 120, 320 Call management function 121, 321 Call incoming function 122,322 Customer selection function 123 Call connection function 130, 330 Automatic incoming call answering function 140, 340 waiting table 150, 350 Public telephone network 160, 360 base stations 170,370 mobile phones 180,380 customers 190,390 telephone 200,400 stores 323 Call notification function 600 Waiting list display screen 610 ordered list 620 Call button 1100 personal computer 1110 CPU 1120 memory 1130 External storage device 1140 Input device 1150 Output device 1160 Recording medium drive device 1170 Network interface 1180 bus 1190 recording medium 1200 network

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) G06F 17/60 ZEC G06F 17/60 ZEC H04M 3/42 H04M 3/42 E

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. When an incoming call is received from a customer, the caller ID of the call is acquired, and a call to a predetermined store phone number is made to connect the customer call to the store phone. Means, and after disconnecting the connection between the customer's telephone and the store's telephone, connect to the store's telephone, receive the registration instruction from the store's telephone, and set the caller number to store reservation. Reservation registration means for registering in the waiting table as the customer's telephone number to be performed, and when receiving a call instruction from the telephone of the store, the telephone of the store is put on hold and the telephone number of the customer to be called next is stored. Customer selecting means for selecting and acquiring from the waiting table, and call connecting means for calling the acquired customer's telephone number to connect the held phone of the store and the customer's phone. Having A reservation / call management system characterized by and. 2. A call receiving means for acquiring a caller number of the call when a call is received from a customer, and the caller number is reserved for a store when a predetermined instruction is given from the call of the customer. Reservation registration means for registering in the waiting table as the customer's telephone number for performing the, and when receiving a call instruction from the store phone, select the customer's telephone number to be called next from the waiting table, A reservation / call management system, comprising: a customer selecting unit for acquiring; and a call notifying unit for notifying that the customer's telephone is acquired as a customer of the store. 3. The reservation / call management system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reservation registration means and the customer selection means each respond to a voice message provided to the telephone. A reservation / call management system configured to receive an instruction from a telephone by detecting the pressing of a predetermined button when the button is pressed. 4. The reservation / call management system according to claim 1, wherein the customer selecting unit selects a customer in the order registered in the waiting table. Call management system. 5. The reservation / call management system according to claim 4, wherein the reservation registration unit registers additional information other than a customer's telephone number in the waiting table, and the customer selection unit includes the additional information. Is provided to the store, and the store is configured so that the store can select the telephone number of the customer to be called by referring to the additional information. 6. The reservation / call management system according to claim 5, wherein the additional information provided to the store includes the number of customers who make a reservation for the store. system. 7. The reservation / call management system according to claim 2, wherein when the call notification means makes a call to the telephone number of the customer's telephone and the customer's telephone receives the call, the call notification is given by voice. A reservation / call management system characterized by notifying that the user has been called. 8. The reservation / call management system according to claim 2, wherein the call notification means notifies the customer's telephone of the fact that the call has been made in the form of an email. system. 9. The reservation / call management system according to claim 2, wherein the customer's telephone is connected, the telephone is called to the system, and the caller number is registered in a waiting table. The reservation / call management system further comprising an adapter for controlling the customer's telephone so as to cause the system to perform the predetermined instruction. 10. When a call is received from a customer, a caller number of the call is acquired, and a call is made to a phone number of a predetermined store to connect the call from the customer to the phone of the store. A customer who makes a reservation for the store by connecting to the store phone after disconnecting the connection between the customer's phone and the store phone and receiving a registration instruction from the store phone Registering in the waiting table as the telephone number of the store, and when receiving a call instruction from the telephone of the store, the telephone of the store is put on hold and the telephone number of the customer to be called next is stored in the waiting table. Selecting from among and obtaining, and a step of calling the obtained customer's telephone number, and connecting the telephone of the held store and the customer's telephone, each step, 1 A reservation / call management method, which is executed by one or a plurality of computers connected to each other. 11. When a call is received from a customer, a step of acquiring a caller number of the call, and when a predetermined instruction is given from the customer's phone, the caller number is reserved in a store. The step of registering in the waiting table as the customer's telephone number to be carried out, and the step of selecting and obtaining the telephone number of the customer to be called next from the waiting table when receiving a call instruction from the telephone of the store And a step of notifying the acquired customer's phone that the customer has been called as a customer of the store, and each step is executed by one or a plurality of computers connected to each other. A reservation / call management method characterized by the following. 12. When a computer receives a telephone call from a customer, the computer obtains the caller number of the telephone and calls the telephone number of a predetermined store to connect the telephone of the customer with the telephone of the store. Incoming connection means to connect, after disconnecting the connection between the customer's phone and the store's phone, connect to the store's phone, receive the registration instruction from the store's phone, and set the caller's number to Reservation registration means for registering in the waiting table as the telephone number of the customer making the reservation, when receiving a call instruction from the store telephone, the telephone of the store is put on hold and the telephone number of the customer to be called next is Customer selecting means for selecting and acquiring from the waiting table, and call connection for calling the acquired customer's telephone number and connecting the held phone of the store and the customer's phone. A program to function as a means. 13. A computer that receives a call from a customer and receives the caller number of the call. When a predetermined instruction is given from the customer's phone, the caller number is set to a store. Reservation registration means for registering in the waiting table as the telephone number of the customer making the reservation, selecting the telephone number of the customer who should be called next from the waiting table when receiving a call instruction from the telephone of the store A program for causing a customer selecting unit to be acquired and a call notifying unit to notify the acquired customer's phone of being called as a customer of the store.