FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments herein relate to a convertible software application management system, platform, method, and display thereof, and more specifically to a method and system having a shared data-access layer in a distributed structure system for customizable data processing for a user application at least in the transportation, home healthcare, hotel, shipping, food, entertainment, and other service industries.

BACKGROUND

Booking a trip or requesting other services through mobile applications (apps) is a well-known process that is becoming increasingly more popular. High demand within regional markets has motivated car service companies and other service-related businesses to look for companies that promise apps with a short development-to-market time-line. As a result, such businesses often work with outside software development agencies that sell out-of-the-box solutions, also known as “white label” apps. In today's digital world, white label often refers to a product or software app whose development and branding can be customized according to the particular requirements and branding needs of a reseller.

Conventionally, there have been two approaches to building white label apps. First, a company would maintain its original back-end codebase but change the front-end of the app to give a different appearance which matches or complies with the reseller's branding needs. Second, a company would create a multi-user or multi-tenant app (i.e., where the app instance would remain the same for each tenant, but each tenant would receive its own app with a slightly different set of features). Typically, this multi-user model is used for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) (i.e., a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts apps and makes them available to customers over the Internet) and can be more complex to build and maintain. Irrespective of the approach used to develop the white label app, such white label service or dispatching apps often come in packages that include at least an app for service providers and/or an app for customers.

In most cases, white label apps have limited customization. In other words, white label apps tend to include a set of core features that can only be partially customized, such as labelling, color schemes, etc. (i.e., with respect to the front-end of the app). At the same time, white label apps often have a very basic set of features that are optimal for an average app of their type, and therefore, will not suffice for a company requiring complex business logic. On the customer side, it is often inconvenient to download a plurality of different dispatching apps, and/or to download a single dispatching app with access to only one service company having a limited number of service providers (i.e., a driver, home aid, etc.) who may or may not be available or able to meet the user's needs for a particular service request. Even if the customer (i.e., a passenger, a patient, etc.) downloads multiple apps, he/she may need to separately contact multiple service companies through these multiple apps in order to find suitable service. Moreover, a plurality of apps can take up space on smartphones, shorten battery life, and potentially cause confusion for the customer. In particular, space on the display screen of a mobile phone is a limited resource which is often filled with too many apps. Users frequently have to swipe their screen to a new blank screen or a partially filled screen in order to fit more apps. When a mobile phone has a number of different applications, the user often has to locate and start each application, and then needs to navigate various functionalities and figure out how they work, which can be time consuming. The inability of customers to quickly and efficiently have regular access to a number of private entities, and the need to download a plurality of apps, complete many registrations, navigate multiple apps, and/or repeatedly input user information for access thereto, is a technical problem in the mobile application and mobile e-commerce and on-line e-commerce industries. Improved and simplified user interfaces and functionalities which allow for quicker and more efficient data access are needed in the art.

In an on-line e-commerce context, one of the problems a small or mid-sized business entity encounters when contracting with a marketing company to market the business entity's brand on, for example, a popular online purchasing site, is that the marketing company is typically most interested in marketing its own brand or the brand of the entity which owns the online purchasing site. The business entity's logo may be inconspicuously listed in small font and/or displayed at the bottom of a long list of other businesses providing the same goods. In certain situations, the business entity's goods may be conspicuously displayed (e.g., an enlarged picture of a chair), but the business entity's brand/logo or name may be in small font and the marketing company's logo or the logo of the entity which owns the online purchasing site may be enlarged or otherwise conspicuous. Consumers who purchase, for example, the business entity's goods through the online purchasing site may not know or remember that they are purchasing goods from the business entity, and the business entity may be less likely to retain the consumer as a future customer, even if the customer likes the product. In future transactions, the consumer may, for example, go to the purchasing site, do an additional search for the good, and make a selection from another business entity. As a result, small and mid-sized companies are often taken advantage of by large companies in that they are unable to build their direct customer base, and must instead rely on business through the larger company's online website. Technology is needed in the art by which smaller companies can gain a better footing in the market through establishing direct and ongoing connections with online consumers who are satisfied with their products and services.

It will therefore be appreciated that an improved system and method is needed in the art to address these deficiencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This summary is not intended to identify or point to essential features or limit the scope of the subject matter claimed herein. The inventive disclosure relates to an improved convertible software application management system, platform, method, and display thereof, having a shared data-access layer in a distributed structure system for customizable data processing for a user application at least in the transportation, home healthcare, hotel, shipping, food, entertainment, and other service industries, with at least the following objectives:

To provide an improved dispatching application that enables dispatching service entities or providers (DSPs) and/or connection to business entities which provide goods and/or services (e.g., transportation bases, entertainment companies, hotel, home healthcare companies, shipping companies, restaurants, entertainment companies, etc.) using white label applications to work together, in the same or different industries, under an application having a shared or common back-end software code;

To provide a combined or otherwise linked system of dispatching apps (i.e., DSP apps with white label apps) in order to create a more streamlined and efficient dispatching method and system for both the DSPs and the white label dispatching companies through mobile apps;

To provide a user convertible software application management system and method having a shared data-access layer in a distributed structure system for providing customizable data processing for user applications in various services-related industries (e.g., transportation bases, entertainment companies, hotel real estate companies, home healthcare companies, shipping companies, restaurants, entertainment companies, etc.);

To provide an efficient mobile app to promote a cooperative relationship between DSPs, service providing entities, and service entities or bases using white label apps;

To provide, in the base-customized customer app, a customer conversion option to request service from the same base service providers, from one or more other base company service providers or entities, or from all the service entities registered with the DSP's system;

To provide a customized back-end codebase configured such that all white label apps may communicate with or through a single back-end codebase of the software application;

To provide a service entity app enabling the base company to configure the app remotely such that its service entities may accept jobs or service requests from the same base's users or customers, from one or more other bases' users or customers, or from all DSP users or customers;

To provide an app whereby administrators for the base company can customize or modify the configuration of the white label app through the DSP app or web portal;

To provide a user app enabling the customer to prioritize service requests to the base service providers, and optionally, to request service from the DSP system or from one or more additional base service providers;

To provide a service entity app enabling the service providers to prioritize receiving service requests from its own base company, or from other base companies;

To provide a user app and/or service entity app whereby the app's configuration may be established by default using a support number or email;

To provide a convertible user or customer app which provides access to service providers from a plurality of service entities, white label companies, and/or DSPs, all using the same back-end dispatch software, thus increasing the probability of and the efficiency in a customer finding a suitable service provider for his/her needs and allowing for a more uniform dispatching service encompassing multiple companies;

To enable simplified importation and exportation of data to and from the server or database in a combined or otherwise linked system of dispatching apps;

To provide a service entity app having a customized front-end such that the app name, icon, store logo, screenshots, description, etc., are customized according to the base service entity's needs, and such that the base company has its own play store page or app store page to promote or encourage its users and service providers to use the service entity app;

To enhance brand building for small, mid-size, and starting e-commerce businesses, and to allow such businesses to compete with larger e-commerce businesses through access to the back end applications of other e-commerce businesses;

To enable each e-commerce business to release its own convertible user application on an App Store where users download the app;

To allow connected business entities to restrict one another other with regard to which of their connected business entities may be displayed to customers;

To allow a business entity to obtain business from other of its connected business entities who have their own books of business (e.g. customers who have downloaded their own “white label” apps), and who may route customer(s) to their connected business entities if they do not have the current capacity, personnel, or capability of handling particular customer requests; and

To provide adjustable search parameters in the menu of a user interface to allow users to conduct searches based on keywords, price, ratings, certifications, walking distance, walking time, etc.

The disclosed invention provides a computing device comprising a display screen, the computing device configured to: display, on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the computing device, an application image representative of a first application program having a customizable front-end, wherein the first application program is associated with a service entity; upon selection of the application image by a user, launch the application program by displaying on the GUI an interactive electronic interface depicting at least a toggle selectable by the user to switch between a first application state and a second application state; and one of display, in response to a selection of the first application state, an interactive electronic interface including identifications of one or more available objects of the service entity that match a service request associated with the user; or display, in response to a selection of the second application state, the interactive electronic interface including identifications of one or more available objects of a plurality of service entities that match the service request associated with the user, wherein the plurality of service entities are communicatively coupled via a network.

In certain embodiments, the disclosed invention provides a computing device further configured to, in response to the selection of the second application state: display on the interactive electronic interface a selectable menu comprising the plurality of service entities; and display, in response to a selection of at least one of the plurality of service entities, identifications of one or more available objects that match the service request associated with the user, wherein the one or more available objects correspond to the selected one or more of the plurality of service entities. The device may also be configured to, in response to the selection of the first application state or the second application state: display on the interactive electronic interface a menu depicting at least one or more adjustable search parameters, each of the one or more parameters being selectable to launch a display function for each of the one or more parameters to be simultaneously seen on the display screen, wherein, in response to one or more inputs from the user indicative of at least one of the one or more search parameters, display the interactive electronic interface including the identifications of the one or more available objects of the plurality of service entities, wherein the one or more sets of indicators are selectable by the user. The device may alternatively be configured to, in response to the one or more inputs by the user: display on the interface, in accordance with the one or more adjustable search parameters selected by the user, one or more sets of indicators corresponding to each of the one or more available objects of the plurality of service entities, wherein the one or more available objects are matched with the service request based on one or more service relevant factors for (i) the one or more available objects, (ii) a service entity, or (iii) the user associated with the service request, the one or more service relevant factors including at least one of: (a) one or more optionally preset preferences of the one or more available objects, or the service entity; (b) one or more optionally preset limitations, a favorite user list, a preferred user list, or a user blacklist of the one or more available objects, or the service entity; or (c) one or more optionally preset preferences, a favorite object list, a favorite service entity list, a preferred object list, a preferred service entity list, an object blacklist, or a service entity blacklist, of the user.

In yet another embodiment, the computing device may be further configured to, prior to displaying the identifications of the one or more available objects: receive the service request via an application program and store the service request in a database; and (i) in response to the selection of the first application state, query, via the application program, at least a portion of the database allocated to the service entity to identify one or more available objects associated with the service entity; or (ii) in response to the selection of the second application state, query, via the application program, one or more portions of the database allocated to the plurality of service entities to identify one or more available objects associated with the plurality of service entities, and wherein the device may further be configured to, when assigning the one object of the one or more objects to the service request: preclude at least (i) one object or (ii) one service entity from being assigned the service request for being incompatible based on the service relevant factors; match the service request with one object of the one or more available objects based on the service relevant factors; and assign the one object of the one or more available objects to the service request based on a plurality of predetermined rules. In still another embodiment, the computing device may be further configured to: determine a proximity, via global positioning system (GPS) tracking, of the one or more objects in relation to a location of the user associated with the service request; transmit the service request to one of the one or more objects based on the proximity to the location; receive an acceptance from the one of the one or more objects; and assign the one of the one or more objects to the service request, wherein the first application program and each application program associated with the plurality of service entities have independent and customizable front-ends, wherein the independent and customizable front-ends are expressed as at least one of: an application name, an icon, a company logo, screenshots, or a description, and wherein the interactive electronic interface comprises an interactive electronic map interface.

The disclosed invention also provides a computing platform linked to a database for customizable data processing and having a shared data-access layer in a distributed structure system, the platform comprising: a server communicatively coupled to a network and including a processor, an apportioned database containing portions allocated to at least a first service entity and a second service entity, and at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored therein, wherein the processor executes the computer-readable instructions to: display, on a GUI of a remote computing device of a user, an application image representative of a first application program or a second application program, wherein the first application program is associated with the first service entity and the second application program is associated with the second service entity, and wherein the first application program and the second application program have independent and customizable front-ends; upon receiving a selection of the user to launch the first application program, display an interactive electronic interface depicting at least a toggle selectable by the user to switch between a first application state and a second application state, wherein: (i) in response to a selection of the first application state by the user, display the interactive electronic interface including identifications of one or more available objects of the first service entity that match a service request associated with the user; or (ii) in response to a selection of the second application state by the user, display the interactive electronic interface including identifications of the one or more available objects of the first or second service entities that match the service request, wherein the one or more available objects correspond to at least one of the first service entity or the second service entity; receive a selection of one object of the one or more available objects by the user; and assign the one object to perform a service request of the user.

In another embodiment, the first application program and the second application program of the computing platform may be communicatively linked via the network to at least partially shared back-end server containing a shared back-end application software codebase. The computing platform may also, in response to the one or more inputs by the user, further executes the computer-readable instructions to: display on the interface, in accordance with one or more inputs provided by the user for the one or more adjustable search parameters, one or more identifications of: (i) a maximum number of the one or more available service providers, (ii) the one or more available service providers within a time span for arrival to a location of the user, (iii) the one or more available service providers within a distance span for arrival to the location, or (iv) one or more additional users within the time span or the distance span.

The disclosed invention also provides a computing platform linked to a database for customizable data processing and having a shared data-access layer in a distributed structure system, the platform comprising: a server communicatively coupled to a network and including a processor, an apportioned database containing portions allocated to at least a first service entity and a second service entity, and at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored therein, wherein the processor executes the computer-readable instructions to: receive a service request via a first application program, wherein the first application program corresponds to the first service entity and is communicatively linked, via the network, to the server; store the service request via the first application program in the database; query, via the first application program in a first application state, at least a first portion of the database allocated to the first service entity to identify one or more objects associated with the first service entity that match the service request; in response to not identifying the one or more objects in the first portion of the database, switch to a second application state of the first application program to query at least a second portion of the database allocated to the second service entity to identify one or more objects associated with the second service entity; in response to identifying the one or more objects associated with the second entity, retrieve, from the second portion of the database, one or more service relevant factors for (i) the one or more objects associated with the second service entity, (ii) the second service entity, or (iii) a user associated with the service request; match the service request with one object of the one or more objects associated with the second service entity based on the one or more service relevant factors; and assign the one object to the service request based on the match and in accordance with a plurality of predetermined rules.

In yet further embodiments of the computing platform, the processor may further execute the computer-readable instructions to: in response to not identifying the one or more objects associated with an entity or failing by the entity to assign the one object to the service request, apply one or more entity preference rules, preset by the entity, for searching the database for one or more objects associated with one or more other entities of the platform, wherein the one or more entity preference rules dictate at least one condition of the entity, and wherein default rules of the platform apply as a result of the entity lacking the one or more entity preference rules. In another embodiment, the computing platform may, upon determination that the first entity failed to identify the one or more objects or failed to assign the one of the one or more objects, further execute the computer-readable instructions to: generate a communication between the user associated with the at least one service request and the platform, wherein the communication requests permission from the customer to query at least a second portion of the database allocated to the second service entity to identify one or more objects associated with the second service entity, or track an application program originally used by the user to submit the service request, wherein the service request was the initial service request submitted through the application program, and periodically provide an origination reward, in accordance with the plurality of predetermined rules, to an entity associated with the application program.

In yet a further embodiment, the computing platform may, when assigning the one of the one or more objects, further execute the computer-readable instructions to: establish a weighted priority for the one or more objects associated with the first or the second service entity, wherein the weighted priority is based on assigned weights for each of the one or more service relevant factors in accordance with a plurality of predetermined rules; generate a data table for the one or more objects including a priority assignment for each object of the one or more objects, wherein the data table contains, in accordance with the plurality of predetermined rules, a ranked compatibility, expressed in terms of weights, between the service request and each object of the one or more objects based on the weighted priority and another factor comprising at least one of: availability of an object to accept the service request, an object type for the service request, or a user type for each object of the one or more objects; and assign the one of the one or more objects associated with the first or second service entity to the service request in accordance with the weighted priority and the plurality of predetermined rules. Alternatively, the computing platform may include a platform application program associated with the platform, a first application program, and a second application program each having independent and customizable front-ends that may be expressed as at least one of: an application name, an icon, a company logo, screenshots, or a description.

Other objects, features, and characteristics of the inventive disclosure, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related structural elements, and the combination of parts and economies of development and manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.

