Managing hotel guest departures within an automated guest satisfaction and services scheduling system
AssigneeThe Hotel Communication Network, Inc.
InventorsKevin Bidner, James M. Behmke
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Abstract
The techniques herein are directed generally to managing hotel guest departures within an automated guest satisfaction and services scheduling system. In particular, in the present disclosure, for instance, the techniques herein provide a method and system to allow guests to easily manage and schedule their departure (check-out) through the interactive interface. The interface may include various modal notifications regarding check-out options, such as requesting the guest to enter their departure time preferences. The system also facilitates notification of a housekeeping services scheduler, and further allows the hotel to incentivize or monetize different check-out times.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a server;
- a property management system (PMS);
- and
- a plurality of communication terminals in communication with the server via a local area network (LAN), each of the plurality of communication terminals having a graphical user interface (GUI) and being associated with a respective room of a plurality of hotel rooms of a hotel;
- the server configured to:
- i) receive registration information from the PMS when a guest checks into the hotel, the registration information including an identification of the guest and a particular assigned room of the plurality of hotel rooms;
- ii) identify a particular communication terminal of the plurality of communication terminals that is associated with the particular assigned room;
- and
- iii) manage configuration of the particular communication terminal to load an interactive interface for a date of departure of the guest;
- and
- the particular communication terminal configured to:
- i) present, on the GUI within the interactive interface, checkout information for the guest for the date of departure;
- ii) detect that the guest is still within the particular assigned room after passage of a particular checkout time;
- iii) in response to detecting that the guest is still within the particular assigned room after passage of the particular checkout time, notify the guest of the passage of the particular checkout time within the interactive interface;
- iv) present, within the interactive interface, a checking out option;
- v) receive a selection of the checking out option;
- and
- v) share the selection of the checking out option with the server.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a server from a property management system (PMS), registration information when a guest checks into a hotel, the registration information including an identification of the guest and a particular assigned room of a plurality of hotel rooms of the hotel;
- identifying, by the server, a particular communication terminal of a plurality of communication terminals in communication with the server that is associated with the particular assigned room, wherein each of the plurality of communication terminals has a graphical user interface (GUI) and is associated with a respective room of the plurality of hotel rooms of the hotel;
- managing, by the server, configuration of the particular communication terminal to load an interactive interface for a date of departure of the guest;
- presenting, on a corresponding GUI of the particular communication terminal, checkout information for the guest for the date of departure;
- detecting that the guest is still within the particular assigned room after passage of a particular checkout time;
- in response to detecting that the guest is still within the particular assigned room after passage of the particular checkout time, notifying the guest of the passage of the particular checkout time within the interactive interface;
- presenting, within the interactive interface, a checking out option;
- receiving a selection of the checking out option;
- and
- sharing the selection of the checking out option with the server.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.