FIE LD OF TH E INVENTION

The present invention relates to accommodation systems.

BACKG ROUND TO THE INVEN TION

The accommodation industry is generally concerned with providing accommodation to guests.

In the accommodation industry, accommodation units are each typically provided with a printed services guide. Such guides often provide information to the guest detailing services and products that can be purchased within the accommodation facility as well as information regarding how to use or access in-room facilities. As part of the information detailing services and products, the guest may be provided with a room service menu.

Printed guides also generally provide an internal dial number or speed dial code for the guest to order in-house services and products. Guests are required to dial the in-house number or press the appropriate speed dial button to ring an associated service number. With such service numbers guest's calls can either ring out or be put on hold. This can be very frustrating to guests particularly during busy periods when there may be long delays and call congestion. Furthermore, when the guest's call is answered and the guest is put in contact with a suitable assistant, the guest usually has to verbally convey the nature of the services being sought. This can be particularly challenging when the guest is not fluent in the local language or when the guest or the assistant has a strong accent.

Requesting external or out-of-house services presents the guest with an even greater challenge. Firstly, the guest has to negotiate the task of obtaining an outside line, dialling a relatively long phone number and verbally discussing aspects of the guest's desired purchase of products or services. Secondly, the guest also faces the challenge of conveying his or her name and other contact details.

It is against this background and the problems and difficulties associated therewith that the present invention has been developed. S U MMARY O F THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of preferred embodiments herein described there is 'provided an accommodation system comprising:

a plurality of terminals located in at least one accommodation venue, each terminal being located in a corresponding accommodation unit of the at least one accommodation venue; the terminals being adapted to display information about a plurality of providers external to the at least one accommodation venue;

each terminal being configured to provide a portal, the portal providing a first interface providing a plurality of components wherein activating any one of the components provides a corresponding group subl interface, the group subl interface providing a plurality of group components;

each group component being associated with a particular attraction, venue or activity further wherein activating a group component provides an attraction, venue or activity detail sub2-interface.

Preferably the sub2-interface provides featured item component details, and the sub2- interface or a sub interface thereof provides a contact component providing a call back facility wherein upon a call back request initiated by a guest using a terminal, the call back facility provides a request for a voice connection to be established.

Preferably an external provider is associated with each group component, and the voice connection comprises a desirably direct connection between an external provider associated with the group component from which the call request was initiated and the guest initiating the call back request, which when the voice connection is established, allows the guest to interact with the external provider rather than a concierge of the associated accommodation venue.

Preferably the call back facility is adapted to provide the voice connection from the external provider to an independent telephone located in the accommodation unit of the terminal using which the guest initiated the request.

Preferably the call back facility is adapted to provide a network voice connection between the external provider and the terminal.

Preferably the network voice connection comprises an internet VOIP connection. Preferably the accommodation system includes a database facility for storing voice connection indicators associated with the accommodation units or terminals.

Preferably the database is adapted to provide a phone number indicator associated with a particular accommodation unit.

Preferably the database is adapted to provide a phone number indicator associated with a particular terminal.

Preferably the sub2-interface includes an overview component and featured item component details, the featured item component details being provided as a list of items each having an image component, a title component, a price component and a detail component.

Preferably the call back facility includes a call back request button provided on the sub2- interface or a sub interface thereof.

Preferably the sub2-interface or a sub interface thereof provides a SMS component

Preferably the subs2-interface provides feature component item details and, upon a request initiated by a guest using a terminal, the SMS component is adapted to provide contact or feature item component details to the guest's mobile phone.

Preferably the sub2-interface or a sub interface thereof provides a map component providing a map facility wherein activating the map facility provides a map illustrating a route from the accommodation venue of the accommodation unit associated with the guest to a location associated with the particular external provider.

Preferably the map facility is adapted to provide a list of itemized directions with a summary of distance and travel time with the route being shown on a topographic map.

According to a second aspect of preferred embodiments herein described there is provided a concierge method comprising: providing a plurality of terminals in respective accommodation units of at least one accommodation venue; providing a portal on each terminal, the portal having a first interface providing a plurality of components; upon activation of one of the components, providing a group sub l interface having a plurality of group components each associated with a particular attraction, venue or activity; and upon activation of a group component providing an attraction, venue or activity detail sub2 interface.

Preferably the method includes providing feature item component details on the sub2- interface, and on the subs2-interface or a sub interface thereof providing a contact component adapted to provide a call back facility wherein upon a call back request initiated by a guest using a terminal, the call back facility provides a request for a voice connection to be established.

Preferably an external provider is associated with each group component, and providing the voice connection comprises providing a desirably direct connection between an external provider associated with the group component from which the call request was initiated and the guest initiating the call back request, which when the voice connection is established, allows the guest to interact with the external provider rather than a concierge of the associated accommodation venue.

Preferably the method includes providing the voice connection from the external provider to an independent telephone in the accommodation unit providing the terminal using which the guest initiated the request.

Preferably the method includes providing the voice connection as a network voice connection between the external provider and the terminal.

Preferably the network voice connection is provided as an internet VOIP connection. Preferably the method includes providing a database facility and storing voice connection indicators, the voice connection indicators being associated with the accommodation units or terminals.

Preferably the method includes generating a phone number indicator associated with a particular accommodation unit or terminal as part of providing the desirably direct connection.

Preferably the method includes providing, as part of the sub2-interface, an overview component and featured item component details, the featured item component details being provided as a list of items each having an image component, a title component, a price component and a detail component Preferably the method includes providing a call back request element on the sub2- interface or a sub interface thereof.

Preferably the method includes providing, on the sub2-interface or a sub interface thereof, an SMS component.

Preferably the method includes providing, on the subs2-interface, feature item component details and, upon a request from a terminal initiated by a guest, the SMS component providing contact or the feature item component details to the guest's mobile phone.

Preferably the method includes providing, on the sub2-interface or a sub interface thereof, a map component wherein upon activation of the map component the method includes a providing a map illustrating a route from the accommodation venue of the accommodation unit associated with the guest to a location associated with the particular external provider.

Preferably the method includes providing a list of itemized directions with a summary of distance and travel time with the route being shown on a topographic map.

According to a third aspect of preferred embodiments herein described there is provided an accommodation system comprising:

a plurality of terminals located in an accommodation venue, the terminals being respectively located in a plurality of accommodation units of the accommodation venue; the terminals being adapted to display information about a plurality of providers external to the accommodation venue;

each terminal being able to provide a primary portal associated with the accommodation venue, the portal having a parent interface providing a plurality of components including at least a tourist attraction type component wherein activating the tourist attraction type component provides a tourist attraction subl interface, the sub/ interface providing a plurality' of tourist components;

each tourist component being associated with an particular attraction further wherein activating a tourist component provides an attraction detail sub2 interface, the subi interface having an overview component and a featured items component, the featured items component providing a list of items each having an image component, a title component, a price component and a detail component; the sub2 interface providing a contact component providing a call back facility wherein activating the call back facility provides a request to allow for a voice connection to be established where the voice connection provides a desirably direct connection between ah external provider associated with the tourist component and the guest associated with the corresponding accommodation unit;

wherein the accommodation system includes a phone number facility for providing a phone number indicator of a venue unit telephone of the particular accommodation unit in the accommodation venue for the establishment of the desirable direct voice connection between the venue unit telephone and the external provider.

As will be discussed, in further detail below, there are considered to be a number of preferred arrangements of the present invention that advantageously:

(i) Allow a guest in an accommodation venue to readily contact an external provider, where the guest can provide a contact request using an accommodation sub2/3 interface with there being established a desirably direct voice connection such that the guest does not have to explain what they require to an intermediary such a concierge.

(ii) Allow a guest in an accommodation venue to advantageously contact an external provider providing out of house services without having to dial outside lines for outside services.

(iii) Allow accommodation venue staff to readily update accommodation information without having to replace pages in accommodation brochures.

(iv) Allow a guest in an accommodation venue to only be able to contact authorised external providers with the use of the accommodation system so as to thereby advantageously reduce the likelihood of the guest experiencing unfortunate incidents due to their lack of general or local knowledge.

BRI E F D ESCRIPTION OF DRAW I NG S

In order to facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, several preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 to 9 illustrate a preferred method according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 10 to 16 illustrate a preferred system according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 17 provides a schematic diagram of a computer system configured to provide preferred arrangements of systems and methods of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTI ON O F D RAWING S

It is to be appreciated that each of the embodiments is specifically described and that the present invention is not to be construed as being limited to any specific feature or element of any one of the embodiments. Neither is the present invention to be construed as being limited to any feature of a number of the embodiments or variations described in relation to the embodiments.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a method 10, according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. The method is provided for use in a number of accommodation venues 12 and is considered to provide an arrangement in which a desirably direct voice connection is provided.

Referring to Figure 1, the method 10 includes providing a plurality of terminals 14 in respective accommodation units 16 of two accommodation venues 12. Referring to Figure 2, a portal 18 is provided on each terminal 14 where, the portal provides a first interface 20 providing a plurality of components 22.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the method 10 includes providing a group subl interface 24 having a plurality of group components 26 each associated with a particular attraction, venue or activity. As shown in Figure 4, in the method 10 at block 28, the subl interface 24 is provided upon activation of a component 30. Furthermore in the method 10 at block 32, upon activation of a group component 34, there is provided an attraction, venue or activity detail sub2 interface 36.

The sub 2 interface 36.includes feature item component details .38. In addition, at block 32 the method 10 includes providing a contact component 40 in the form of a button 42. ^■ Activation of the button 42 advantageously provides a sub3 interface 44 illustrated in Figure 5. In the embodiment the sub3 interface 44 is provided as layer which is positioned on top of the sub2 interface 36 to only partly cover the sub2 interface 36. The sub3 interface provides a call back request facility 46 in the form of a button 48.

Referring to Figure 6, a guest 50 is able to use a terminal 52 in an accommodation unit 54 of the accommodation venues 12 to initiate a call back request 56 . On the generation of the call back request 56, a distributed call back facility 57 establishes a voice connection 58 through a disturbed computer and public switched telephone network environment 60 with the terminals 14 forming part thereof. The voice connection 58 is provided between the guest 50 and a particular external provider 62 associated with the group component 34.

In the embodiment the external provider 62 comprises an external balloon operator. As shown in Figures 1 and 6, the external provider 62 is one of several external providers 64. Each of the external providers 64 is associated with a group component 26 which is respectively associated with a component 22. The component 30 of the components 22, comprises a tourist attraction type component. The group components 22 are each associated with a tourist attraction type.

In such a context the voice connection 58 provides several advantages. Firstly with an external provider being associated with each group component 26, the voice connection 58 is provided as a desirably direct connection between the external provider 58 and the guest 50. As opposed to having to interact through a concierge familiar with local external service providers, the guest is able to locate and directly communicate with the external providers 64. This arises due to the voice connection 58 being provided from the external provider 62 to an independent telephone 66 (independent of the terminal 52) in the accommodation unit 54.

Advantageously, in the method 10 the system automatically sends details to the external provider who is provided, in this embodiment by email and SMS, with the respective room telephone number of the telephone 66 so as to allow for the expedient provision of a voice communication channel without the guest 50 having to call the provider 62. In other embodiments the voice connection is provided as a VOIP connection to the terminal 52. In such embodiments the terminal 52 in effect provides a virtual room telephone associated with the accommodation unit 54.

In the method 10 a database facility 68 is provided in which voice connection indicators 70 are stored. The voice connection indicators 70 are associated with the terminals 14 on a one to one basis. Given that a single terminal 14 is located in each accommodation unit 16 the voice connection indicators 70 are associated the accommodation units 16 on a one to one basis as well. Of course in some other embodiments two terminals 14 could possibly be placed in a single accommodation unit 16.

In the method 10 the call back request 56 advantageously includes a terminal identifier 72. The terminal identifier 72 is used in the database 66 to generate the phone number indicator 72 of the telephone 66 by locating the corresponding voice connection indicator 70. Various database table arrangements can of course be used to provide such a system. By sending only a terminal identifier the database can be centralised and can receive no guest information thereby limiting privacy concerns. Nonetheless the call back request 56 may contain information relating to the guest that is provided by an accommodation facility associated with the particular accommodation venue 12. Such information may include the name of the guest and other information such as the length of the guest's stay at the accommodation venue 12.

In addition the database preferably stores accommodation venue and unit location details such that deliveries can be made direct to the guest without the guest having to enter or verbally communicate location details. The system preferably operates across a number of accommodation venues by providing an external supply facility and a local supply facility which integrate together to provide a seamless system. The terminals preferably comprise tablets that are portable within the room. Portable tablets may be fitted with security measures to prevent theft and relocation between rooms..

As shown in Figure 7, as part of the method 10, the sub2 interface 36 includes an overview component 74 and feature item component details 76. The feature item component details 76 are provided as a list of items 77 each having an image component 78, a title component 80 , a price component 82 and a detail component 84. As shown in Figure 8, the sub3 interface 44 includes the call back request facility 46 in the form of the button 48.

The method 10 further includes providing on the sub3 interface an SMS component 86 providing an SMS facility 88. By entering mobile phone details into the form element provided by the SMS component 86 contact and feature item component details 76 can advantageously be sent to the guest's mobile phone. Advantageously the feature item component details 76 are not obscured by the sub3 interface 44 which is provided as a layer over the overview component 74.

The sub2 interface 36 also includes a map request component 90. The map request component 90 is provided in the form of a tab element shown in Figure 7. On activation of the map request component 90, the method 10 includes providing a topographic map 92 illustrating a route 94 from the accommodation venue (A) of the accommodation unit to a particular location (B) associated with the external provider 62. Alongside the topographic map 92 there is provided a list of itemized directions 96 with a summary of distance and travel time.

Referring to Figure 10 there is shown an accommodation system 110 including a number of accommodation venues. In this embodiment there is provided a first accommodation venue 112 and a second accommodation venue 1 14.

As shown in Figure 11 the accommodation system 110 includes a plurality of terminals 116 located in the accommodation venue 112. The terminals 116 are respectively located in a plurality of accommodation units 118. As will be described in further detail below, the terminals 116 are adapted to display information about a plurality of external providers 120 that provide out-of-house services to the accommodation venues. The terminals 116 are advantageously provided as tablets that are mobile within each accommodation unit 118 and have appropriate security measures to assist with preventing theft.

Referring to Figure 12, each terminal 16 is adapted to provide a primary portal 122' associated with the accommodation venue 112. In this embodiment the accommodation venue 112 comprises the 'Hotel International ^* as indicated at item 125. In addition, in this embodiment the terminals 1 16 are provided as tablets in each of the accommodation units 124 of the hotel 125.

The portal 22 provides a parent interface 126 providing a plurality of components 128 including a tourist attraction type component 130, a retail type component 132, an entertainment component 134 and so forth. The parent interface 122 is adapted to be automatically presented on a reset of the respective tablet 116. The parent interface 122 is adapted to be automatically presented after the respective tablet 116 has been idle for a predetermined period of time. The portal 122 is considered to be a primary portal in that no other portal is set as the 'home' interface. Internet access may be provided through the tablets 116 as a secondary system that has an associated time rate charge.

Activating the tourist attraction type component 130 provides a tourist attraction subl interface 136 shown in Figure 13. The subl interface 136 is a first child interface providing a plurality of tourist components 138. Each tourist component 138 is associated with a particular attraction. Activating one of the tourist components 138 provides an attraction detail sub2 interface 140 shown in Figure 14. The sub2 interface 140 provides an overview component 142 above a featured items component 144. The featured items component 144 provides a list of items 146 in the tabular form show. Each item 146 has an image component 148, a title component 150, a price component 152 and a detail component 154.

The sub2 interface 140 provides a contact component 156 that provides a call back facility 158 and personal phone facility 160 in a sub3 interface 161 superimposed above the sub2 interface 140 in a position in which the featured items component 144 is still advantageously visible.

Activating the call back facility 158 provides a request that allows for a voice connection providing a desirably direct connection to be established. This is illustrated in Figure 16 where, in the accommodation system 110, a request 162 is sent to a server facility 164. The server facility 164 subsequently processes the request 162 to allow for a voice connection 166 to be established where the voice connection 166 provides a desirably direct connection between an external provider 168 associated with the tourist component 138 and the guest 169 associated with the corresponding accommodation unit 170. In the embodiment, the server facility 164 includes a phone number facility 172 for providing a phone number indicator of a venue unit telephone 174 of the particular accommodation unit 170 in the accommodation venue 112 for the establishment of the desirable direct voice connection between the venue unit telephone 174 and the external provider 168. In the present embodiment the venue unit telephone 174 comprises a fixed telephone 176 of the hotel. Of course the tablet 182 could be used as the venue unit telephone.

In one embodiment the phone number of the fixed telephone 176 is sent as part of the request 162. Nonetheless, in this embodiment the phone number facility 172 comprises an associator 178 that has a database which is used to automatically associate the request 162 with the number of fixed telephone 176. The phone number that is located by the associator 178 is sent using a web protocol or otherwise to the external provider 168. Advantageously, in this embodiment, the server facility 164 is able to inform the external provider 168 using several technologies including a direct graphical interface, email messaging and phone messaging. This is illustrated in Figure 16. All external providers certified by the system administrator to protect accommodation guests.

Thus it is considered that the preferred systems and methods of the present invention advantageously allow:

(i) Allow a guest in an accommodation venue to readily contact an external provider, where the guest can provide a request using an accommodation sub2/5 interface with there being established a desirably direct voice connection such that the guest does not have to explain what they require to an intermediary such a concierge.

(ii) Allow a guest in an accommodation venue to advantageously contact an external providing provider out of house services without having to dial outside lines for outside services.

(iii) Allow accommodation venue staff to readily update accommodation information without having to replace pages in accommodation brochures.

(iv) Allow a guest in an accommodation venue to only be able to contact authorised external providers with the use of the accommodation system so as to thereby advantageously reduce the likelihood of the guest experiencing unfortunate incidents due to their lack of general knowledge.

The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Applications 201 1900397, 2010905176 and 2010903135 respectively entitled 'Accommodation Systems', 'Electronic Referral System (II)' and 'Electronic Referral System', the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

For example 2010905176 relates to an electronic referral system and in particular to an electronic referral system for products and/or services. In the document it is explained that the printed guest services guide is ubiquitous in the accommodation industry. Furthermore, generally such guides provide information to the guest on how to use or access in-room facilities as well as services and products that can be purchased within the accommodation facility. These services and products may include information in the form of a room service menu for food and beverage, concierge contact information (e.g. for restaurant /cafe and entertainment recommendations), medical services and in-house restaurant information (e.g. bookings at restaurants located within or associated with the accommodation facility).

Several problems are noted and the system described therein is said to seek to provide a system that presents an alternative to the traditional printed guest services directory. It is further noted that the discretionary spending of the accommodation facility guest currently is undirected with the guests left to fend for themselves and thus experiencing many unfortunate incidents due to their lack of local general knowledge. The system described therein is said to provide a platform where the suppliers may be approved by the accommodation facility and so provide the patron with an entertaining, safe and secure experience. As described herein preferred embodiments of the present invention are considered to be similarly advantageous.

Currently the suppliers of the products and/or services benefit from the discretionary spending of the accommodation facility guest without cost. Embodiments of the present invention preferably direct the guest to the accommodation facilities' preferred supplier who in turn will pay various fees for the opportunity. Embodiments may obtain the information on the discretionary spending habits of the accommodation facility guests. This information may be used to enhance the profitability of the accommodation facility or other various commercial uses.

In such embodiments the accommodation system and methods advantageously facilitate the purchase of products and/or services. The referral system that facilitates the connection of one supplier's (e.g. hotel) customer (e.g. guest) to another supplier (e.g. restaurant) and allows the customer to view information and make requests for products and/or services whilst undertaking the services of the- original supplier. The preferred systems may in effect provide a computerised referral system, having at least one interface device available to a user at a locus; processing means providing controlled content to the interface device(s), the controlled content comprising user selectable information relating to at least one product and/or service available from at least .one preselected provider, optionally the processing means includes predetermined recording of the user's selection of the at least one product and/or service; and a network for communication between the at least one interface device and the processing means.

The locus may be a private or semi-private area. The locus may be a room, apartment, building or house. The locus may be a sporting or recreational club. The locus may be a room or apartment in an accommodation facility, for example, a hotel, motel, serviced apartment, resort, recreational facility, aged care facility and the like for use by paying guests accommodated within the facility. The locus may be a sporting club with members.

In a particularly advantageous form of the referral system of the present invention, the referral system is. operated by an entity separate from the entity providing any service at the locus. For instance, where the locus is associated within an accommodation facility, the referral service is operated by an entity other than the entity or entities (e.g. hotel chain) providing accommodation services at the locus.

Preferably, the referral system is self-contained in that it does not rely on any third party computerised service administration systems, other than communication network(s), available at the locus, for its operation. For example, where the locus is within an accommodation facility, the system of the present invention will not rely on any computerised administrative infrastructure owned and used by the accommodation facility for its day-to-day operation (e.g. record systems used for collection of information concerning usage and consumption for billing purposes).

The referral system of the present invention may, however, co-opt any existing electronic communication network at the locus for its operation, for example, a Wi-Fi distribution network.

The controlled content is preferably determined by the entity operating the referral system. The controlled content is preferably such that the user is presented predominately with a choice of products and/or services available from the preselected suppliers as opposed to predominantly facilitating the user's use of the interface device as means for internet access. The referral system of the invention may be such that the control led content does not allow the user to use the device to access the internet directly.

The process means may allow user access to one or more "mini" applications within the controlled content including but not limited to room service, clock, alarm, digital radio, weather, newspapers, hotel guide, other hotel services and/or help. The controlled content to the interface device may be provided by a user "facing" application running on the processing means.

At least one of the predetermined suppliers is preferably a supplier other than the entity operating the locus to provide the user further options for obtaining products or services. All predetermined suppliers may be other than the locus operator.

The or each interface device may have a unique identifier. The unique identifier may be, for example, a room number or a locally stored key. The unique identifier may allow the interface device to authenticate itself with the processing means. The interface device may display a customised user interface for a given key.

The processing means may comprise one or more application(s). The processing means may include electronic means for communicating an interface device user's selection of produces) .and/or service(s) to the relevant preselected provider(s) of those produces) or service(s). The electronic communication means may be SMS, MMS, Email or like electronic messaging.

Preferably the processing means records the user's selection of the at least one product and/or services. For example, this may involve recording the aser's request for particular service(s) for the purposes of providing the preselected suppliers) and/or the locus operator with information regarding user selection of products and/or services relevant to the supplier and/or locus operator. The recorded information may be used by the operator of the referral system for billing of the supplier and/or locus operator.

The processing means may include means for allowing a third party and/or the referral system operator to access information concerning a user's selections. The third party maybe the operator of the locus. This access may be provided by an "administrator facing application", which may provide information relating to user activity on the interface device.

The processing means may be at least in part internet hosted. The processing means may be entirely internet hosted.

Such referral systems may comprises a facility providing at least one service to at least one customer; at least one interactive device available for use by the at least one customer; one or more preselected providers) of at least one product and/or service; and computerised means for providing controlled content to the at least one interactive device, the controlled content comprising customer accessible information concerning the produces) and/or service(s) available from the preselected providers); wherein the customer may use the interactive device to select the product(s) and/or service(s), and wherein the customer selection is forwarded to computerised means, whereupon the computerised means: (i) makes available to the interactive device, information enabling the customer to make an order for the selected produces) and/or service(s) directly with the preselected provider thereof, or (ii) forward the customer's selection of produces) and/or service(s) to the preselected provider thereof together with information enabling the provider to contact the guest regarding the selected product(s) and/or service(s).

The facility may be an accommodation facility providing accommodation to at least one guest The facility may be a sporting club providing membership services to members.

The information enabling the customer to make a direct order may be a map showing location of and/or telephone numbers for the supplier of the selected product(s) and/or service(s). The customer's request for such information may be recorded. A further example of referral system comprises: (a) a centralised, hosted customer facing application (b) at least one interface device (c) a network for communication between (a) and (b); and optionally (d) a centralised hosted administrator facing application wherein: the interface device communicates with the customer facing application and: (i) authenticates itself using a locally stored key or user input; and (ii) displays a customised user interface for the given key.

Examples of customer accessible services that may be made available to the customer by the referral system of the present invention are described below.

Room Service: The room service application allows the user to browse a list of hotel services and businesses in the local area that will deliver to the user's room such as eateries, laundry and beauty services. Services selected on the interface device may be communicated with the hosted application which will send an electronic message to the service provider, for example an email or SMS.

Entertainment Services: An entertainment services application(s) may provide streaming television and/or video entertainment, for example feed from satellite or cable pay TV (e.g. Foxtel)

Clock: A clock will be provided using a time zone saved against the interface device key, the interface device will regularly contact the hosted application to check and update the displayed time if required.

Alarm: The user will be able to specify an alarm time at which the interface device will play an alarm tone or radio.

Digital Radio: A number of preset digital radio stations will be saved against the interface device key allowing the user to play music on the interface device.

Weather: The interface device will display weather forecasts for the location saved against the interface device key.

Newspapers: Users may browse newspapers on the interface device.

Hotel Guide: If the interface device is installed in a hotel, that hotel may put a digital version of their hotel guide into the hosted application and have it appear in the UI. The digital hotel guide will contain information and pictures and may be customised allowing the hotel to create their own headings and content. Other Hotel Services: Contains a list of local businesses. Users may browse each businesses details and products if available. They may also view contact details and directions from the hotel to the business.

Help: A help icon is available throughout the user interface allowing users to find more information on each mini application.

The user interface may also display interactive advertisements to the user. These advertisements may be displayed during periods of inactivity or where the user indicates a request to view the advertisements.

Other applications that may be included are entertainment, internet browsing, automated hotel checkout, etc.

Business appearing in the Room Service and Other Hotel Services applications may be, for example, beauty (e.g. hairdressing, spa, massage, nail technicians, botox), communication suppliers (e.g. mobile telephone retailers, broadband suppliers), education (e.g. primary, secondary and tertiary education), emergency services (e.g. ambulance, police fire), entertainment (e.g. bar, gaming, cinema, theatre, adult services), exercise (e.g. gymnasium, personal trainer, pool), family entertainment (e.g. aquarium, Luna Park, Puffing Billy, zoo), finance (e.g. bank, finance broker, financial advisor, stockbroker), food (e.g. room service, Chinese, Italian, Thai, Indian, Greek, Mexican, Japanese restaurants), laundry (e.g. dry cleaning, clothing alterations, ironing service), medical (e.g. doctor, dentist, chemist), professionals (e.g. accountant, legal advisor, immigration agent, estate agent), retail stores (e.g. clothing, department shoes, electronics, florist, jewellery, newsagent, supermarket, sports), sport activities (e.g. AFL, NRL, NRU, Golf, Cricket Soccer, Tennis), tourism entertainment (e.g. local, international), transport (e.g. taxi, vehicle rental, air, train, bus), wineries (e.g. local) and the like.

The referral system may include a hosted administrator facing application, which may provide information relating to user activity on the interface device. User activity may be recorded allowing reports to be generated for each business advertising in the Room Service and Other Hotel Services applications, allowing them to see the number of general views, contact detail views and map/direction views. The user interface may be available in a number of languages other than English (i.e. multilingual) and the user may select a language with which he or she is most familiar.

A further example of the invention provides a referral system comprising: at least one interface device; one or more servers in communication with at least one interface device; wherein the interface device can be used by a user to indicate a request for produces and/or service(s), wherein the servers) provide(s) an interactive user interface to be displayed on the interface device, the interactive user interface indicating the services and/or products offered by at least one supplier and wherein the servers) accept(s) user requests) for products(s) and/or service(s) from the user interface device and forwards the user requests) to at least one supplier of the produces) and/or service(s) by means of an electronic message.

The system of the present invention is particularly suited for deployment of interactive device(s) in an accommodation facility, for example, a hotel, motel, serviced apartments, resort, aged care facility and the like for use by guests accommodated within the facility. The interactive device(s) may be deployed in facilities providing membership facilities, for example, sporting clubs.

The interface device(s) and the hosted application may be connected to a network infrastructure such as a LAN (Local Area Network), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network). These connections may be physically embodied as wired connections (e.g. Ethernet or Token Ring) or wireless connections (e.g. IEEE 802.1 1 (WiFi) 15 or Bluetooth) or a combination of wired and wireless connections.

Preferably, the network infrastructure is wireless. The wireless network may be an infrastructure mode wireless network bridging a wireless network to a wired Ethernet network providing wireless access points (APs). Infrastructure mode wireless also ^• supports central connection points for WLAN clients. Alternatively, the wireless network may be an ad-hoc wireless network where all wireless devices within range of each other to discover and communicate in peer-to-peer fashion without involving central access points or an infrastructure mode wireless network. The communication between the user interface(s) and the processing means may utilize any industry standard protocols and technologies, for example, TCP/IP, HTTP HTTPS, HTML, Java, XML, Macromedia Flash, SSL, TLS, FTP, GOPHER or the like to deliver an intuitive user interface to the interface device(s). The use of a browser-based application on the interface device(s) has the advantage of the software not being hardware or operating system dependent. Non-limiting examples of browser-based applications include Internet Explorer, Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, Android Browser etc. The interface device may include an operating system e.g. Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Solaris, Linux, GNU or Google Android OS.

The interface device preferably has a graphical user interface (GUI) display. The interface device may have a colour display. Non-limiting examples of suitable interface devices include: An ultrathin client (also called zero client) device that does not run a full operating system but has sufficient software and/or firmware to begin a networking protocol and handle the display of the front end server's output. A thin client (sometimes also called a lean or slim client) device, that is, a device that depends heavily on the front end server to perform computational requirement of the system. The thin client device may have an operating system for the purpose of connecting to the front end server.

A standard network client device, which has a full operating system, has processing capacity to handle processing functions or share such functions with the front end server. An advantage of thin and ultrathin devices is that they may be produced from cheaper hardware components as well as requiring less power to run than standard network client devices. The interface device may have Kiosk like software installed to safeguard the device from user manipulation.

In one particular embodiment of the present invention, the interface device is a wireless device utilizing wireless technology, for example, EEE 802.11 (WiFi) or Bluetooth. A user may interact with the interface device user interface by means of an input device associated with the interface device, for example, a keyboard and/or mouse or touch screen.

The interface device may incorporate a touch screen providing an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touch screen can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus. The touch screen may be based on any suitable technology, for example, capacitive sensing, infrared, strain gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition or coded LCD technologies.

The interface device is preferably of a size and shape that offers mobility and ease of handling so that a user may use the device, at any desired location. The interface device may be in the form of a tablet The mobility of the device can be enhanced by making the device wireless and providing a battery, which may be rechargeable. When not in use, the interface device may be placed in a cradle or on a stand provided with a power source for charging the battery of the interface device. The in-room device may be a battery operated portable interface. The battery in the in room device may be recharged by an induction charging process.

The interface device may be associated with means to allow for payment for produces) and/or service(s). For example, the interface device may be associated with credit and/or debit card swipe and/or "tap" reading means. The card means may be incorporated into the interactive device itself. An example of services that may involve use of a card is to purchase tourist services. The operator of the referral system may accept payment (e.g. including a service charge) for such services and the entity operating the referral system may make a separate payment to the service provider. The entity operating the referral system may then forward the receipt and service details electronically (e.g. by email) to the locus operator (e.g. hotel reception) for passing on to the customer (e.g. guest). Users may pay for services using a credit/debit card by entering card details into the device. These details may be sent to a third party payment gateway e.g. Camtech Secure Payor eWay, which will authorize the transaction with the referral system entities financial institution (e.g. bank) and the customer's card issuer and may produce a response based on the financial institution's authorization of the transaction.

The facility in which the interface devices are located may be an accommodation facility having a number of rooms available for guests. The accommodation facility may be, for example, a hotel, motel, serviced apartments, resort or nursing facility. In this context, an interface device may be made available in each of a number of rooms. The facility may comprise separate buildings (e.g. bungalows), in which case an interface device may b located in each of a number of buildings.

The interface device may run a browser and/or custom software that communicates with the hosted application to display the user interface. The user may be requested to provide personal identifying information, for example the user's surname, to assist the supplier of the products or services to contact the user for purposes of making an appointment or ordering the products or services. The hosted application and/or interface device may store information identifying the geographic location of the access device again for the purpose of assisting the supplier to contact the user. Examples of geographic information include GPS coordinates, room number/ID or street address. The IP address of the interface device may also be recorded to ensure any communication with the hosted application is originating from an approved network.

The hosted application may be located remotely from the interface device. The hosted application provides a central repository for the all interface devices and allows updates to be reviewed and sent every interface device. The hosted application may run on any web application stack such as a LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, HTTP server, PHP and MySQL) to receive communications from the interface devices, process them, store them and respond. Preferably the hosted application is connected the every interface device via a network such as the internet.

The referral system includes a database containing information on the at least one preselected supplier of the produces) and/or service(s). Advertisers may be sent electronic messages requesting products or services. The electronic message may contain user contact information and/or details of the products or services requested by the user. The amount of information concerning the user's request may be tailored to suit the needs of each supplier. Once composed, the hosted application sends the electronic message to the supplier of the requested product or services. The electronic message may be in the form of an SMS, MMS or email. The hosted application may send SMS and MMS messages via a mobile gateway. The hosted application may record the date and time sending the message to the supplier so that it can be added to the reporting for that supplier. The interface device may poll the hosted application to determine the send status of the electronic message and report this to the relevant user interface. Requests for products may be finalised offline by being charged to the user's room or by the user paying cash on delivery. They may also be finalised online by entering credit card details or other electronic funds transfer such as Paypal.

The interface device may regularly report its status to the hosted application or other infrastructure monitoring application such as Nagios. If the monitoring application does not receive a status message from the interface device a message will be sent to an administrator indicating that one of the interface devices has gone offline and may have been stolen or in need or maintenance so they can act appropriately.

Upon the receipt of the referral by the supplier, the supplier may contact the user to confirm and negotiate the terms of the transaction for the product and/or service the interface user has selected on the interface device.

An administration area (e.g. administration facing application) will be made available to hotels and can be accessed on any internet enabled PC. A nominated administrator may log in to this area with a user name and password. In this area hotels will be able to access user activity reports and update their content using a series of online forms.

Reports may include a breakdown of the number and details of any requests for products, the number of requests for contact details, the number of views of directions to the supplier and the number of general views of the supplier's page. The reports can be filtered by room or supplier to provide detailed statistics of usage throughout the hotel. Reports may be made available to download in pdf, csv and/or Microsoft Excel formats.

Income may be generated from the system of the present invention in several ways. For example, the suppliers may pay a fee based on the number of interface devices installed at a location and/or the number of enquiries/views made by the user of the interface device for services or products provided by the supplier. Income may also be generated from those suppliers wishing to advertise on the interface devices. The advertisement may be an interactive advertisement displayed during periods of user inactivity or when the user request to view them. Income may also be generated by the number of views by the interface user/s of each supplier's web page. Income may be generated by a referral fee from the supplier for each enquiry for the suppliers' products and/or services by the accommodation facility guest It will be readily apparent that the system of the present invention has advantages over the traditional printed guest services guide. As shown in Figure 1 of 2010905176 a four party structure outlines the flow of information, reporting, contractual agreements and orders. This is based on the process when involving a single advertising and initial supplier however it can involve a number of advertising and/or initial suppliers dependant on the circumstances. The main points of this system is that the user is currently utilising the service of the initial supplier and whilst doing so is linked to another supplier by the Lahris system. Lahris also has no contractual agreement with the supplier and all reporting, invoicing etc. is passed on via the initial supplier.

A possible architecture for the system is shown in Fig. 2 of 2010905176. The system comprises a hosted application 10. The hosted application runs on a physical or virtual server with the following applications installed: CentOS Linux; Apache; PHP; MySQL;

Tablet PCs 16a, 16b and 16c are each located in hotel rooms. The specifications of the 10 tablet PCs are as follows: Size: 10" touch screen; OS: Google Android; Browser: Android Browser.

The tablet PCs are wireless and have a touch screen. The tablet PCs are connected to the hosted application 10 over a WiFi network or similar local network setup 14. Network infrastructure wireless with access points as required, and 20 all HTTP requests routed to the front end server.

The hosted application 10 accepts HTTP requests from tablets 16a, 16b and 16c and serves the system back to the tablets. The hosted application and interface devices may also be connected to various web services 18a and 18b.

Figure 3 of 2010905176 shows a schematic showing the make up of a typical LAMP stack, the hosted application is written in the programming language PHP which accesses the database application MySQL and runs on the Web Server Apache. Apache and MySQL run on the Operating System Linux.

Figure 4 of 2010905176 is a schematic showing tablet operation. When a tablet is turned on it automatically joins the network and opens a full screen browser window. As the front end server responds to all HTTP requests by serving the system, the browser automatically displays the system. The Browse Mode allows guest to browse all categories, suppliers and items.

After a period of inactivity, the tablet switches to Advertising Mode where it will play a series of interactive advertisements. The guest can return to Browse Mode using the Close button. The Advertising Mode can also be accessed from Browse Mode by clicking or touching the "View Show Reel" button. The Browse Mode is shown schematically in Fig. 3.

Fig.6 of 2010905176 illustrates a possible layout of the Browse Home screen. Categories and suppliers may be ordered alphabetically or by another algorithm based on popularity or according to the conditions of the arrangement with the participating supplier.

Referring to Figure 17 there is shown a schematic diagram of a computer system 220 that is configured to provide preferred arrangements of systems and methods described herein. The computer system 220 is provided as a distributed computer environment containing a number of individual computer systems 222 (computers/computing devices) that cooperate to provide the preferred arrangements described. In other embodiments the computer system 220 is provided as a single computer or another device.

As shown, a first one of the computing devices 222 includes a memory facility 224. The memory facility 224 includes both 'general memory ^' ' and other forms of memory such as virtual memory. The memor facility 224 is operatively connected to a processing facility 226 including at least one processor. The memory facility 224 includes computer information in the form of executable instructions and/or computer data. The memory facility 224 is accessible by the processing facility 226 in implementing the preferred arrangements.

As shown each of the computing devices 222 includes a system bus facility 228, a data store facility 230, an input interface facility 232 and an output interface facility 234. The data store facility 230 includes computer information in form of executable instructions and/or computer data. The data store facility 230 is operatively connected to the processing facility 226. The data store facility 230 is operatively connected to the memory facility 224. The data store facility 230 is accessible by the processing facility 226 in implementing the preferred arrangements. Computer information may be located across a number of devices and be provided in a number of forms. For example the data store facility 230 may include computer information in the form of executable instructions and/or computer data. The computer data information may be provided in the form of encoded data instructions, data signals, data structures, program logic for server side operation, program logic for client side operation, stored webpages and so forth that are accessible by the processing facility 226.

On one level, input interfaces allow computer data to be received by the computing devices 222. On another level, input interfaces allow computer data to be received from individuals operating one or more computer devices. On one level, output interfaces allow for instructions to be sent between computing devices. On another level, output interfaces allow computer data to be sent to individuals. The input and output interface facilities 232, 234 provide input and output interfaces that are operatively associated with the processing facility 226. The input and output facilities 232, 234 allow for communication between the computing devices 222 and individuals.

The computing devices 222 provide a distributed system were several devices are in communication over network and other interfaces to collectively provide the preferred arrangements. Preferably there is provided at least one client device in the system of computing devices 222 where the system is interconnected by a data network.

The client device may be provided with a client side software product for use in the system which, when used, provides systems and methods where the client device and other computer devices 222 communicate over a public data network. Preferably the software product contains computer information in the form of executable instructions and/or computer data for providing the arrangements.

Input interfaces associated with keyboards, mice, trackballs, touchpad's, scanners, video cards, audio cards, network cards and the like are known. Output interfaces associated with monitors, printers, speakers, facsimiles, projectors and the like are known. Network interfaces in the form of wired or wireless interfaces for various forms of LANs, WANs and so forth are known. Storage facilities in the form of floppy disks, hard disks, disk cartridges, CD-ROMS, smart card, RAID systems are known. Volatile and non-volatile memory types including RAM, ROM, EEPROM and other data storage types are known. Various transmission facilities such as circuit board material, coaxial cable, fibre optics, wireless facilities and so forth are known.

It is to be appreciated that systems, components, facilities, interfaces and so forth can be provided in several forms. Systems, components, facilities, interfaces and so forth may be provided as hardware, software or a combination thereof. The present invention may be embodied as computer readable memory, a personal computer and distributed computing environments.

In addition the present invention may be embodied as: a number of computer executable operations; a number of computer executable components; a set of process operations; a set of systems, facilities or components; a computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing computer implemented methods and/or providing computer implemented systems: and so forth. In the case of computer executable instructions they preferably encode the systems, components and facilities described herein. For example a computer-readable medium may be encoded with one or more facilities configured to run an application configured to carry out a number of operations. Computer readable mediums preferably participate in the provision of computer executable instructions to one or more processors of one or more computing devices.

Computer executable instructions are preferably executed by one or more computing devices to cause the one or more computing devices to operate as desired. Preferred data structures are preferably stored on a computer readable medium. The computer executable instructions may form part of an operating system of a computer device for performing at least part of the preferred arrangements. One or more computing devices may preferably implement the preferred arrangements. The computer readable medium is preferably operatively associated with computer based transmission facilities for the transfer of computer data. Computer readable mediums may provide data signals.

Components, systems and tasks may comprise a process involving the provision of executable instructions to perform a process or the execution of executable instruction within say a processor. Applications or other executable instructions may perform method operations in different orders to achieve similar results. It is to be appreciated that the blocks of systems and methods described may be embodied in any suitable arrangement and in any suited order of operation.

It is to be recognised that various alterations and equivalent forms may be provided without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. This includes modifications within the scope of the appended claims along with all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents. There is no intention to limit the present invention to the specific embodiments shown in the drawings. The present invention is to be construed beneficially to the applicant and the invention given its full scope.

In the present specification, the presence of particular features does not preclude the existence of further features. The words 'comprising', 'including' and 'having' are to be construed in an inclusive rather than an exclusive sense.

It is to be recognised that any discussion in the present specification is intended to explain the context of the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that the material discussed formed part of the prior art base or relevant general knowledge in any particular country or region.