AU2011100160A4

AU2011100160A4 - Portal synchronisation technology

Info

Publication number: AU2011100160A4
Application number: AU2011100160A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Roger Glasson; Philip Miller
Original assignee: Gobookings Systems Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Miller Holdings (international) Pty Ltd; Rhaz Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2010-06-10
Filing date: 2011-02-07
Publication date: 2011-03-03
Anticipated expiration: 2018-06-10
Also published as: AU2011100160B4; AU2010100588A4

Description

1 A SYSTEM FOR BOOKING A TIME PERIOD FOR UTILISING A TIME BASED SERVICE OR RESOURCE 5 FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a system for booking a time period for utilising a time based service or resource provided by a resource/service provider. The invention also relates to a method for booking a time period for utilisation of a time based 0 resource or service over a communication network. The invention also extends to a computer software code for integrating a provider of an online hosted booking system and a software program implementing the software code or booking a time based service or resource. 5 The invention has particular but not exclusive application to a system for booking an appointment on the world wide web with a service provider such as an accountant, a lawyer, or a medical service provider from a selection of available appointment times for that service. The invention also has particular application to a system for booking a time period on the world wide web for utilising a resource such 0 as a meeting room, a sports facility, or a piece of equipment from a selection of available appointment times for that resource. DEFINITIONS 25 In this specification the term 'time period' shall be understood to mean an amount of time that is allocated or set aside for a time based activity such as an appointment or a use of a resource. The time period may conveniently be referred to as a time slot and may be a half hour time slot or a longer or shorter period of time. For example where the time based activity is a professional consultation then the 30 period of time may for example be half an hour or one hour. However the term 'time period' is to be interpreted broadly and includes time periods of any duration.

2 BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The reference to any prior art in this specification is not and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the referenced prior art 5 forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia. Browser applications typically include simple office software (word processors, online spreadsheets, and presentation tools), and can also include more advanced applications such as project management, computer-aided design, video editing and 0 point-of-sale. These applications have become omnipresent tools for accessing the vast amounts of information that are available via computer networks, such as the World Wide Web via the Internet or on mobile communication devices. At its basic level of operation, the browser permits a user to connect to a given network site, and download informational content from that site, such as an HTML document, for 5 display at the user's computer. To view additional information, or a different type of information, the user designates a new network address, e.g. a different HTML file, whose contents then replace the previously displayed information on the user's computer. o To alleviate the need to navigate from one network site to another to view different types of informational content has seen the introduction and development of portals. In general, a portal is an entry point or gateway for access to Internet web sites, or the like. One of the prominent advantages of a portal is the fact that information stored at a plurality of different network addresses, including different 25 sites, can be simultaneously viewed on the display, rather than limiting the user to information from one site at a time. Most companies and organizations provide different types of portals for a variety of purposes, including portals for the general public, intranet portals for their employees, and extranet portals for their customers, vendors, supplies and other parties with whom they transact business. 30 Providers of Internet based scheduling booking systems, relating to the booking of appointments, services or resources, currently aggregate information from their system users for display on a single Internet based directory or portal with 3 perhaps some synchronization capability in place. Therefore these Internet based online business directories or portal type web sites (portals) and Internet based online scheduling booking systems (systems) are limited to a one-to-one relationship, whereas user's time slots can only be published to one portal. This means that the 5 current technology only allows for the business owner to integrate with a specific portal which limits their reach to bring in new business. Usually this portal is supplied by the provider of the scheduling booking system. Also it should be noted that the vast majority of service oriented businesses 0 that sell an inventory of time-slots (e.g. restaurants, golf courses, spas, health professional, etc.) still mainly use "pencil and paper" systems to keep track of their reservations/appointments. Unlike eCommerce retailers selling goods over the Internet, these merchants are only in recent times started to participate in the Internet revolution. 5 Clearly it would be advantageous if a process could be devised that helped to at least ameliorate some of the shortcomings described above. In particular, it would be advantageous if a process could be devised for time-based businesses to maximize their exposure to attract new business to meet anticipated future 0 scheduling booking needs for that business. It would also be highly desirable if a computer program could be developed for these time-based businesses to maximize their exposure to attract new business to meet anticipated future scheduling booking needs for that business. 25 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a system for booking a time period for utilising a time based resource or service provided by a 30 resource/service provider, including: a provider arrangement on which at least one resource/service provider can indicate available time periods within which they are able to provide a resource or service to a user; 4 at least one user directory or portal which indicates time periods of the service or resource provider/s that are available to be booked by a user, and which facilitates booking of one or more of the available time periods by a user through the directory or portal; and 5 a synchronization and communications arrangement which communicates with the user directory or portal and the provider arrangement over a communication network, whereby to communicate the booking of an available time period made by a user through the directory or portal to the corresponding time period on the provider arrangement and to update the available time periods on the provider arrangement 0 and the user directory or portal to indicate that this time period is booked. The time period for utilising a time based resource or service timer period may be an appointment with a service provider. In particular it may be an appointment for a certain length of time such as half an hour or an hour. 5 Instead the time period for utilising a time based resource or service time period is an opportunity to utilise a resource such as a meeting room Said synchronization and communications arrangement may further send a 0 message to the service/resource provider to advise that the time period has been selected. For example the communications arrangement sends an SMS message or an email message to the resource/service provider's mobile communication device. The service/resource provider may communicate with the synchronization and 25 communications system to cancel certain time periods that they have previously indicated as being available from the pool of available time slots, and the synchronization and communications system may then cause these cancelled time periods to be removed from the portal or directory. 30 The communications network may be the world wide web.

5 Said synchronization and communications arrangement may further indicate to the service/resource provider which portal or directory has been used by the user to make the booking. 5 Each directory or portal may have a user interface that enables a user to access and view the available time periods of the service/resource provider and book an available time period with a service/resource provider. According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method for 0 booking a time period for utilisation of a time based resource or service provided by a service/resource provider over a communications network, the method including: indicating time periods for provision of resources or services by a resource/services provider that are available to be booked on a provider arrangement; 5 facilitating access to at least one user directory or portal on which the available time periods are ascertainable to a user; booking an available time slot on the user directory or portal; and communicating the booking to the provider arrangement, whereby to communicate each booking appointment of an available time period made by a user 0 through the directory or portal to the corresponding time period on the provider arrangement and to update the available time periods on the provider system and the user directory or portal to indicate that this time period is booked. The method may include having the resource/service provider select a portal 25 or directory in which to indicate available time periods within which they are able to provide a resource to a user. The method may be implemented using the system defined in the preceding aspect of the invention above. 30 According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a computer software code for integrating a provider of an online hosted scheduling booking system with at least one online directory or portal which is accessed by a user, 6 wherein the code allows a user to select a time period from available time slots for that provider on the online directory or portal and make a booking on the portal which is then communicated to the provider. 5 According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a software program implementing the software code defined in the preceding aspect of the invention for carrying out the method for booking an appointment for a time period for utilisation of a time based resource defined in the second aspect of the invention above. 0 According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product for implementing a portal synchronization technology, the computer program product comprising: a World Wide Web based scheduling booking system operating on a 5 communications platform; a user system which communicates with said portal synchronization technology on the World Wide Web to allow the user to select a time-slot of available appointments or services, said time-slots being made available across at least one Internet based directory or portal which are capable of being selected to indicate a 0 booking; a synchronization program used to synchronize both the portal synchronization technology and the at least one Internet based directory or portal as the time-slots are selected while simultaneously removing the time-slot from the available time-slots. 25 The user system may communicate with the portal synchronization technology to add or remove time-slots, to reschedule time-slots, to add or remove a recurring time-slot or to add or remove multiple time-slots. 30 The computer program product for implementing the portal synchronization technology system may use a 128/256 bit SSL encryption to protect the portal synchronization technology and the Internet based directories or portals.

7 According to a further aspect, the present invention provides a computer program comprising a source code to functionally implement a portal synchronization technology within an online hosted scheduling booking system, the computer program comprising: 5 a user system program allowing a user to login into their user system and communicate with the scheduling booking system to select at least one time-slot of available appointments or services; a program to automatically upload available time-slots to multiple public-facing fully integrated online business directories or portal web sites, the multiple public 0 facing fully integrated online business directories or portal web sites being selected by the user; wherein the user selects to add or remove time-slots from the multiple public facing fully integrated online business directories or portal web sites from within the user system program. 5 The computer program may further comprise allowing third party online portals to integrate with the scheduling booking system to develop a computer program which is produced according to the present invention but may be labelled or branded as owned by the third party online portal. 0 The user system program may further comprise providing the user to continue to use their own scheduling program as a standard online scheduling booking system or any other licensed software, said system able to make time-slots available or unavailable internally or make time-slots available or unavailable over the Internet 25 from an Internet link or URL connected to the user system. The computer program may further comprise displaying available time-slots by a user accessing their online scheduling booking system, selecting available time slots and the directories or portals they wish the selected time-slots to be displayed 30 on, the selected directories or portals will instantly display the selected time-slots available for booking by other users or customers.

8 The computer program may further comprise allowing a user to select time slots not to be listed on the online business directories or portal web sites or to select some time-slots which are set to be available on a recurring basis on the online business directories or portal web sites. 5 Each online business directory or portal web site are automatically integrated with the computer program so that changing availability of time-slots within the system occurs in real-time as bookings of available time-slots are made either via the online business directories or portal web sites or if the user system program changes 0 a time-slot. The changes to the bookings of available time-slots may be automatically booked, removed or updated with the user system able to see which online business directories or portal web sites have changed the time-slot. 5 The online portals may be existing or new online Portals. For example, most business management systems with an inbuilt off-line appointment system can be integrated with the computer program for the portal synchronization technology to show tagged results of bookings coming in from the various portals or directories 0 which the user system is listed on. The user system program will see which portal delivered the booking. A user system can add or remove time slots from a portal from within their user system. The portal synchronization technology may be used to include any related or 25 unrelated existing or future portal offering persons, services or resources based on booking time slots within a day, and may be synchronised with the scheduling booking system to become part of the portal list for the user system to select from. To receive the available appointments or services from each user system a 30 number of online portals may be established to target specific industry types. Using the portal synchronization technology each portal may be integrated with user systems belonging to a user wishing to make time slots available for the booking of appointments or resources.

9 Existing portals may be invited to use the portal synchronization technology to allow their listings to become more interactive so the businesses listed on their portals can take advantage of this technology. 5 The 'Portal Synchronization Technology' defined in this application allows the user of any Internet based scheduling booking system based on desktop, server, web, or mobile platforms, to list the same time slot across at least one of Internet based directories or portals, with synchronization taking place as bookings are completed on either the Internet based scheduling booking system or a participant 0 Internet based directory or portal. Time based businesses need better exposure on the internet and a way of attracting new business without being restricted to just one portal or business directory which may or may not be effective. In today's competitive business 5 environment there is a commercial need for time-based businesses to maximise their exposure to attract new business. There is also the advantage to the public users of a plurality of competitive portals to search and book from an amalgamation of time-based professionals and 0 resources online. In addition authorised medical and emergency agencies would benefit from a quick search method of a number of portal databases carrying all listings appearing on other portals in the case of a local or national emergency requiring available medical personnel nation-wide. 25 To avoid double bookings it is important for each portal or business directory to be synchronised in real-time or some time increment with the scheduling booking system. It is also important for the users business to know from which portal the booking has come from. It is also important for existing third party portals to be able to participate in using this technology by way of access to "white label" versions of 30 the technology and software which they can rebrand or label as their own. The "white label" versions need to have the ability for the look and feel to be customised to suit the user's needs.

10 The present invention provides the advantages of being developed by way of programming new source code and producing software to enable a business to be presented with a list of many business directories or portals from which they can select any number of portals or business directories to list their available time-slots 5 on, for the public to book appointments or services. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed 0 description given hereinafter and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which, however, should not be taken to be limitative to the invention, but are for explanation and understanding only. Figure 1 shows a block diagram representing an embodiment of the present 5 invention; Figure 2 shows a flow chart representing the portal synchronization technology method steps of the present invention; Figure 3 shows a screen capture of a time based management system; Figure 4 shows a further screen capture of the time based management 0 system of Fig. 3; Figure 5 shows a screen capture of an online booking search system; Figure 6 shows a screen capture of a provider of time based service using the system in accordance with the present invention; Figure 7 shows a screen capture of a list of time periods available for a time 25 based service in accordance with the present invention; Figure 8 shows a screen capture of a portal allocation of the list of Figure 7; Figure 9 shows a screen capture of the confirmation screen showing the time period allocated to a portal in accordance with the present invention; Figure 10 shows a screen capture of a portal search engine in accordance 30 with the present invention; Figure 11 shows a screen capture of the results screen output from the search carried out in Figure 10; 11 Figure 12 shows a screen capture of the appointment made on the portal of Figure 10; Figure 13 shows a screen capture of the confirmation of details of the appointment made on the portal of Figure 10; 5 Figure 14 shows a screen capture of the provider of time based service showing the appointment made on the portal of Figure 10; Figure 15 shows a screen capture of a directory service search engine in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 16 shows a screen capture of the results screen output from the search 0 carried out in Figure 15. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a system for booking a time period for 5 utilising a time based resource or service provided by a resource/service provider in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The system includes a provider arrangement on which at least one resource/service provider can indicate available time periods within which they are 0 able to provide a resource or service to a user. The system also includes at least one user directory or portal which indicates time periods of the service or resource provider/s that are available to be booked by a user, and which facilitates booking of one or more of the available time periods by a user through the directory or portal. The directory or portal has a user interface that enables a user to access and view 25 the available time periods of the service/resource provider and make a booking. The system also includes a synchronization and communications arrangement which communicates with the user directory or portal and the provider arrangement over a communication network that is the world wide web. This 30 communicates the booking of an available time period made by a user through the directory or portal to the corresponding time period on the provider arrangement. This also updates the available time periods on the provider arrangement and the user directory or portal to indicate that this time period is booked. The 12 synchronization and communications arrangement further sends a message to the service/resource provider to advise it that the time period has been selected. It further indicates to the service/resource provider which portal or directory has been used by the user to make the booking. 5 Further the service/resource provider can communicate with the synchronization and communications system to cancel certain time periods that they have previously indicated as being available from the pool of available time slots. The synchronization and communications system then causes these cancelled time 0 periods to be removed from the portal or directory. The first step in the process as shown at reference numeral 1 is for the service provider or user who has an Internet based scheduling booking system on their communications platform or preferably, a desktop, server, web, or mobile 5 platforms that interface with the portal synchronization technology according to the present invention. A service provider or user at reference numeral 2 has the ability to allocate their available time to several Internet based directories or portals. For the purpose of this example the user will utilise three Internet based directories or portals, however, there can be any number of Internet based directories or portals 0 available to the user. In this example the user has chosen to allocate and publish at reference numeral 3 their available time amongst three Internet based directories or portals in varying combinations as shown below. A) For Mar 1, 2011 from 9 am to 10 am, the user has chosen to allocate 25 and publish their available time only to the "Professionals 'R' Us Web Portal" Portal; B) For Mar 1, 2011 from 11 am to 12 pm, the user has chosen to allocate and publish their available time only to the "Business Directory" Portal; C) For Mar 1, 2011 from 1 pm to 5 pm, the user has chosen to allocate and publish their available time only to the "Find a Professional" Portal; 30 D) For Mar 1, 2011 from 5 pm to 6 pm, the user has chosen to allocate and publish their available time to both the "Professionals 'R' Us Web Portal" and "Find a Professional" Portals; and 13 E) For Mar 2, 2011 from 8 am to 4 pm, the user has chosen to allocate and publish their available time to all three portal, namely "Professionals 'R' Us Web Portal", "Find a Professional", and "Business Directory". 5 Portal synchronized technology enabled Internet based scheduling booking systems will allocate and publish at reference numeral 4 the selected available times and selected portals into the portal synchronization technology using custom web services on the Internet. The portal synchronization technology as shown at reference numeral 5, comprises a custom web service code and databases which 0 receive the time allocation from the user and publishes it to each respective Internet based online business directories or portal type web sites. Each of the Internet based directories or portals is also interfaced with the portal synchronization technology services and as shown at reference numeral 6, subscribe to the portal synchronization technology service to display the respective times of the user that 5 have been allocated. When an "Internet based directory or portal User" selects an available time slot the available time is then booked as shown at reference numeral 7 by the hosting Internet based directory or portal using the portal synchronization technology services; and the appointment is reserved on the originating Internet based scheduling booking system. On the Internet based scheduling booking 0 system the time-slot status of 'available' changes and displays details of the booking, whilst the 'available' time slot listing is removed simultaneously from each Internet based directory or portal displaying the allocated listing. Figure 2 shows a flow chart of the method in accordance with the present 25 invention. The service provider or user who has an Internet based scheduling booking system 10 on their communications platform or preferably, a desktop, server, web, or mobile platforms that interface with the portal synchronization technology 30 according to the present invention. A service provider or user using their own scheduling booking system 10 have the ability to allocate their available 30 time-slots 20 to several Internet based directories or portals 40. The portal synchronization technology 30 comprises a custom web service code and databases which receive the time-slot 20 allocation from the user and 14 publishes it to each respective Internet based online business directories or portal type web sites 40. A portal or web portal 40, also known as a links page which presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from a standard search engine feature, web portals may offer other services such as e-mail, news, 5 stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether. An online directory is simply a way of keeping information about files. For example, the yellow pages directory is an electronic directory which 0 contains multiple folders in file cabinets that contains folders that contain files of information about phone numbers and businesses. A portal user 50 will select or book a time-slot for an appointment or services through the online directories or portals 40. A time-slot is simply a time assigned on 5 a schedule or agenda; for example a time period from 9.00am to 10.00am has a defined time slot which runs for a definite length of time marked off by two instants namely a first or start instance and a second or finish instance. In order to avoid double bookings the portal synchronization technology 30, 0 the directories and portals 40 and the user's scheduled booking system 10 are synchronized 60. In this case synchronizing 60 is taken to mean the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. That is in order to ensure that when a time slot is booked 50 the synchronization software 60 will prevent any double bookings by synchronizing the portal synchronization technology 30, the directory or portal 40 25 and the user's scheduling booking system 10. When a time-slot is booked it is then simultaneously removed 70 from the directory or portal 40 and a confirmation of the booked appointment as well as which directory or portal 40 has taken the booking is sent to the user's scheduled booking system 10. 30 The confirmation to the user's scheduled booking system 10 may be in the form of an electronic message such as an email or may include a short message service (SMS) text communication service component on a phone, web or mobile 15 communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices. The present invention has been developed in the form of computer software 5 program with source code functionality for the implementation of a portal synchronization technology system 30 which can be integrated within an online hosted scheduling booking system allowing a user or service provider to log-in to their scheduling booking system 10 and select time slots 20 for available appointments or services to be automatically uploaded as available time slots on 0 multiple public-facing directories or fully integrated Portal web sites 40, which the user or service provider selects. From within their user scheduled booking system 10 a user or provider of a business can add time-slots to directories or portals 40 or remove time-slots from directories or portals 40. This may also include to add or remove a recurring time-slot or to add or remove multiple time-slots. 5 The online directories or portals 40 may be existing or new online directories or portals 40. Most business management systems with an inbuilt off-line appointment system can be integrated with the system and portal synchronization technology 30 to show tagged results of bookings 50 coming in from the various 0 directories or portals 40 the business is listed on. The business will see which directory or portal 40 has delivered the booking. With this system any related or unrelated existing or future directory or portal 40 offering persons, services or resources based on booking time-slots within a day, 25 can be synchronised 60 with the portal synchronization technology 30 to become part of the directory or portal list 40 for businesses or users to select from. To receive the 'available time listings' from each business or user a number of online directories or portals 40 will be established to target specific industry types. 30 With this system each directory or portal 40 can be integrated with systems belonging to a business wishing to make time-slots available for the booking of appointments or resources.

16 In addition existing directories or portals 40 will be invited to use the system to enable their listings to become more interactive so that the businesses listed on their directories or portals 40 gain the additional exposure afforded by this technology. 5 The following list shows an example of online directories or portals 40 (with time-based businesses) which may be established using this system. e Business Portal; e Accountants Portal; 0 e Lawyers Portal; e Beauty Care Portal; e Wellness Portal Meeting Room Portal; * Sporting Facilities Portal; e Equipment Hire Portal; 5 e Medical Portal; and e Health Care Portal This list is simply an example selection of the different portals or directories 40 which can be implemented and a range of other portals or directories 40 could be 0 implemented. Using this system the online directories or portals 40 integrated with the system will provide a valuable service whereby the public (Customers) will be able to search for specific listed services, in a given location. The customer will then be able 25 to book a time-slot to make an appointment or book at time-based resource or service in real-time with instant confirmation. As an example an accountancy Business using a System may opt-in to list time-slots for appointments on two directories or portals namely - The Accountants 30 Portal and the XYZ Business Directory. Time-slots made available in the system by the business which are not to appear on the online directories or portals 40 will still be available for booking online, 17 by the public or from other non-portal media. The system can continue to be deployed as a standard online scheduling booking system 10 able to take bookings over the internet from an internet link or uniform resource locator (URL) that specifies where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it is 5 connected to the system operated by the business 10. For purposes of clarification, the business has the option of making available, time-slots on their system 10, for automatic and instant listing in real-time by selecting directories or portals 40 listed within their system 10. 0 Each online directory or portal 40 will allow for any number of competing businesses with systems 10 to display their available times to attract new customers. The process for displaying their available times is simplified for the business whereby all they need to do is enter their system 10 and select the directories or portals 40 they wish available times to be displayed on. The business also has the option on 5 the system 10 for some available times not to be listed on the directories or portals 40. Each selected online directory or portal 40 automatically integrates with the business system 10 changing availability within their system 10 in real-time as 0 bookings are made via the selected directories or portals 40. In this application real time is taken to mean a system that responds to events or signals within a predictable time after their occurrence. For example, the changing of bookings will typically occur at a time period dependent upon the polling time of the portal or directory 40. This polling time may be set by the portal synchronization technology 25 30 or some time period agreed upon by both the portal synchronization technology 30 or the owners of the portals and directories 40. Once a time-slot 20 is booked 50 then it is automatically removed from all directories or portals 40 and appears instantly with the booking details on the system 30 10 belonging to that business. Portal synchronization technology 30 ensures there is no chance of duplicate bookings by implementing the synchronization program 60.

18 The online directories or portals 40 selected by the business will display selected available times from the business system 10 for booking by customers. Using secure payment technology the system provider and/or each directory or portal 40 may charge the customer and/or the business a booking fee for the service. 5 Portal synchronization technology 30 enables a competitive environment between directories and portals 40 vying for listings and for the customers to make bookings. To protect the security of data 128/256 bit SSL encryption is used throughout the portal synchronization technology 30. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a cryptographic protocol that provides communications security over the Internet. 0 Figures 3 to 5 shows screen captures of a time based management system and search engine By contrast Figures 6 to 16 show screen captures of the time based system in 5 accordance with the present invention. Figures 6 to 14 show screen captures of the time based system using a portal. Figures 15 and 16 show screen captures of the time based system using a directory. One of the advantages provided for Businesses with the portal 0 synchronization system 30 is the online directories or portals 40 are capable of delivering new business at times selected by the business without affecting or impacting on times made available for existing customers. The instant a booking is made the business simultaneously receives an email confirmation with an optional SMS confirmation. Details of the booking automatically appear instantly in their 25 system 10 and the available time-slot is simultaneously removed from the directory or portal 40. Multiple directories or portals 40 to choose from means there will be a competitive environment within the portal sphere to list available times for a business for commercial return perhaps based on results. 30 An advantage of this system for the customer is that the online directories or portals 40 provide a quick and easy way of searching for, locating and booking a service in real time across a number of competing businesses in a given location with instant confirmation and reminder email and optional reminder SMS text message.

19 A system for enabling the synchronization 60 between Internet based scheduling booking systems 10 and Internet based directories or portals 40 facilitating the allocation of one or many available times from within their Internet 5 based scheduling booking system 10 to one or many Internet based directories or portals 40. These include: (a) Internet based scheduling booking systems 10, utilising the portal synchronization technology services 30; and 0 (b) Internet based directories or portals 40, utilising the portal synchronization technology services 30. (c) An intermediary server operable to connect to server data to both the Internet based scheduling booking systems 10 and Internet based directories or portals 40, and a database. 5 The system of this invention provides a publish facility that is operable to enable a user of an Internet based scheduling booking system 10 to: (a) selectively determine and allocate one or many available time-slots 20 0 from within their Internet based scheduling booking system 10 to one or many Internet based directories or portals 40; and (b) a query facility to allow the retrieval of confirmed (booked), reserved, or cancelled appointments, services, or resources. 25 The system of this invention provides a subscribe facility that is operable to enable an Internet based directories or portals 40 to: (a) publish the Internet based scheduling booking system 10 appointments, services, and resources; and 30 (b) a confirm (book), reserve, or cancel facilities to schedule the appropriate appointments, services, and resources accordingly.

20 Portal synchronization technology allows the user of any Internet based scheduling booking system based on desktop, server, web, or mobile platforms, to list the same time slot across one, or a plurality of Internet based directories or portals, with synchronization taking place as bookings are completed on either the 5 Internet based scheduling booking system or a participant Internet based directory or portal. The portal synchronization technology in accordance with this invention comprises an intermediary system, computer program, and method for enabling the 0 synchronization between Internet based scheduling booking systems (systems) and Internet based directories or portals (portals) facilitating the allocation of one or many available times from within a user's Internet based scheduling booking system to one or many Internet based directories or portals. 5 An Internet Portal is defined as a system that provides an entry point or gateway, (such as a web portal or an online business directory) to provide users with an easy, intuitive, customizable interface to access and consume information; this information is typically catalogued and organised and is obtained from multiple sources for dissemination to users according to their specific privileges, needs and 0 relevance and interests. The Portal Synchronization Technology includes innovative web service applications and server databases and provides a publish facility that is operable to enable a user of an Internet based scheduling booking system to: selectively 25 determine and allocate one or many available times from within their Internet based scheduling booking system to one or many Internet based directories or portals; and a query facility to allow the retrieval of confirmed (booked), reserved, or cancelled appointments, services, and resources. As an example, but without being limited to the following; an appointment may be with a person, a service may be an insulation 30 installer or an electrician whereas a resource may be an item of equipment or a tennis court.

21 The portal synchronization technology also provides a subscribe facility that is operable to enable an Internet based directory or portal to: publish Internet based scheduling booking system appointments, services, or resources; and confirm (book), reserve, or cancel facilities to schedule the appropriate appointments, 5 service, and resource accordingly. In one example the Internet based scheduling booking systems will poll the portal synchronization technology web services applications to synchronise the schedules of the latest appointments, services, or resources from the Internet based 0 directories or portals, such as bookings, and cancellations, new time slots, rescheduled time slots, recurring timeslots (eg every Monday), multiple bookings, group bookings and general booking related information. In another example the providers of Internet based scheduling booking 5 system will utilise the portal synchronization technology web service applications to allow their clients to list one or many available times from within their Internet based scheduling booking system to one or many Internet based directories or portals. In yet another example the Internet based directories or portals will poll the 0 portal synchronization technology web services applications to publish/display the Internet based scheduling booking system appointments, services or resources; In a further example the Internet based directories or portals will utilise the portal synchronization technology web service applications by posting information to 25 confirm (book), reserve, or cancel facilities to schedule the appropriate appointments, services, and resources accordingly. In the specification the term "comprising" shall be understood to have a broad meaning similar to the term "including" and will be understood to imply the inclusion 30 of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. This definition also applies to variations on the term "comprising" such as "comprise" and "comprises".

22 Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to exemplary embodiment thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto, without departing from the scope of the present invention. 5 Therefore, the present invention should not be understood as limited to the specific embodiment set out above but to include all possible embodiments which can be embodied within a scope encompassed and equivalent thereof with respect to the feature set out in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A system for booking a time period for utilising a time based resource or service provided by a resource/service provider, including: 5 a provider arrangement on which at least one resource/service provider can indicate available time periods within which they are able to provide a resource or service to a user; at least one user directory or portal which indicates time periods of the service or resource provider/s that are available to be booked by a user, and which facilitates 0 booking of one or more of the available time periods by a user through the directory or portal; and a synchronization and communications arrangement which communicates with the user directory or portal and the provider arrangement over a communication network, whereby to communicate the booking of an available time period made by a 5 user through the directory or portal to the corresponding time period on the provider arrangement and to update the available time periods on the provider arrangement and the user directory or portal to indicate that this time period is booked.

2. A system for booking a time period according to claim 1, wherein the time 0 period for utilising a time based resource or service timer period is an appointment with a service provider that is a specific length of time.

3. A system for booking a time period according to claim 1, wherein said synchronization and communications arrangement further sends a message to the 25 service/resource provider to advise that the time period has been selected, wherein the message is an SMS message or an email message.

4. A method for booking a time period for utilisation of a time based resource or service provided by a service/resource provider over a communications network, the 30 method including: 24 indicating time periods for provision of resources or services by a resource/services provider that are available to be booked on a provider arrangement; facilitating access to at least one user directory or portal on which the 5 available time periods are ascertainable to a user; booking an available time slot on the user directory or portal; and communicating the booking to the provider arrangement, whereby to communicate each booking appointment of an available time period made by a user through the directory or portal to the corresponding time period on the provider 0 arrangement and to update the available time periods on the provider system and the user directory or portal to indicate that this time period is booked.

5. A computer software code for integrating a provider of an online hosted scheduling booking system with at least one online directory or portal which is 5 accessed by a user, wherein the code allows a user to select a time period from available time slots for that provider on the online directory or portal and make a booking on the portal which is then communicated to the provider.