1. A method comprising:
(a) predicting, by a processor, that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user, wherein, in the predicting step, the processor determines that at least one of (i) a historic bandwidth usage in a selected billing period and (ii) a projected bandwidth usage in the selected billing period is above the bandwidth utilization threshold;
(b) in response, selecting, by the processor, a lower quality codec to be used by a plurality of selected future communications of the first user during the selected billing period; and
(c) thereafter applying the lower quality codec to the selected future communications.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected future communications comprise streaming media and wherein, in step (b), the processor switches from a first type of codec that utilizes a first amount of bandwidth per packet to a second type of codec that utilizes a second amount of bandwidth per packet, wherein the second amount of bandwidth per packet is less than the first amount of bandwidth per packet, and wherein the processor at least one of compresses a real-time transfer protocol (RTP) header and suppresses packets of silence.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the processor determines that the historic bandwidth usage in the selected billing period is above the bandwidth utilization threshold and wherein the historical bandwidth usage in the selected billing period comprises at least one of (i) the amount of total bandwidth utilized in the selected billing period up to a time of prediction and (ii) the amount of voice bandwidth utilized and the amount of data bandwidth utilized in the selected billing period up to the time of prediction.
4. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising processor executable instructions to perform the method of claim 1.
5. A method comprising:
predicting, by a processor, that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
in response, selecting, by the processor, a lower quality codec to be used by selected communications of the first user;
thereafter applying the lower quality codec to the selected communications, wherein the processor determines that the historic bandwidth usage in the selected period is above the bandwidth utilization threshold and the historic bandwidth usage comprises at least one of total bandwidth utilization, voice bandwidth utilization, and non-voice bandwidth utilization;
identifying a line of best fit for at least one of the previous total bandwidth utilization, previous voice bandwidth utilization, and previous non-voice bandwidth utilization;
determining a gradient for the identified line of best fit; and
comparing at least one of:
(i) the gradient of a previous total bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous voice bandwidth utilization;
(ii) the gradient of a previous total bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous non-voice bandwidth utilization; and
(iii) the gradient of a previous voice bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous non-voice bandwidth utilization.
6. A method comprising:
predicting, by a processor, that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
in response, selecting, by the processor, a lower quality codec to be used by a plurality of selected future communications of the first user;
thereafter applying the lower quality codec to the plurality of selected future communications, wherein the processor determines that the historic bandwidth usage in the selected period is above the bandwidth utilization threshold and further comprising:
obtaining historic bandwidth usage from an Internet service provider (ISP);
monitoring streaming media bandwidth utilization; and
storing the monitored streaming media bandwidth utilization and obtained historic bandwidth usage.
7. A system for controlling bandwidth utilization, comprising:
a processor configured to
(a) predict that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
(b) in response, select a lower quality codec to be used during a plurality of selected future communications of the first user; and
(c) thereafter apply the lower quality codec to the plurality of selected future communications, wherein the processor predicts that the bandwidth utilization threshold is likely one of met and exceeded by a first user by determining, at a time during a selected billing period, that at least one of (i) a historic bandwidth usage in the selected billing period, (ii) a projected bandwidth in the selected billing period, and (iii) a degree of network congestion over a selected link is above the bandwidth utilization threshold, and cause at least one communication device to use a decreased amount of bandwidth for the selected period in response to determining that at least one of (i), (ii), and (iii) is true.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of selected future communications comprise streaming media bandwidth and wherein the processor causes at least one communication device to decrease streaming media bandwidth utilization by causing the following to occur:
(i) the at least one communication device to switch from a first type of codec that utilizes a first amount of bandwidth per packet to a second type of codec that utilizes a second amount of bandwidth per packet, wherein the second amount of bandwidth per packet is less than the first amount of bandwidth per packet.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to perform at least one of the following:
(i) a real-time transfer protocol (RTP) header to be compressed; and
(ii) packets of silence to be suppressed.
10. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor predicts that the bandwidth utilization threshold is likely one of met and exceeded by a first user by determining that a historic bandwidth usage exceeds the bandwidth utilization threshold and wherein the historic bandwidth usage comprises at least one of (i) the amount of total bandwidth utilized in the selected period up to a time of the prediction and (ii) the amount of voice bandwidth utilized and the amount of data bandwidth utilized in the selected period up to the time of the prediction.
11. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that decreasing streaming media bandwidth utilization will decrease total bandwidth utilization.
12. A system for controlling bandwidth utilization, comprising:
a processor configured to
(a) predict that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
(b) in response, select a lower quality codec to be used by selected communications of the first user; and
(c) thereafter apply the lower quality codec to the selected communications, wherein the processor predicts that the bandwidth utilization threshold is likely one of met and exceeded by a first user by determining that a historic bandwidth usage exceeds the bandwidth utilization threshold, wherein historic bandwidth usage comprises at least one of total bandwidth utilization, voice bandwidth utilization, and non-voice bandwidth utilization, and wherein the server is further configured to identify a line of best fit for at least one of the previous total bandwidth utilization, previous voice bandwidth utilization, and previous non-voice bandwidth utilization, determine a gradient for the identified line of best fit, and compare at least one of:
(i) the gradient of the previous total bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous voice bandwidth utilization;
(ii) the gradient of the previous total bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous non-voice bandwidth utilization; and
(iii) the gradient of the previous voice bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous non-voice bandwidth utilization.
13. A system for controlling bandwidth utilization, comprising:
a processor configured to
(a) predict that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
(b) in response, select a lower quality codec to be used by selected communications of the first user; and
(c) thereafter apply the lower quality codec to the selected communications, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain an amount of historic bandwidth usage from an Internet service provider (ISP), monitor streaming media bandwidth utilization, and store the monitored streaming media bandwidth utilization and obtained historic bandwidth usage.
14. A method of controlling bandwidth utilization, comprising:
determining that at least one of (i) a historic bandwidth usage in a selected period, (ii) a projected bandwidth in a selected time period, and (iii) a degree of network congestion over a selected link is below a selected threshold; and
in response to determining that at least one of (i), (ii), and (iii) is true, increasing bandwidth utilization for a particular type of bandwidth.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the type of bandwidth comprises at least one of streaming media bandwidth and data transfer bandwidth, wherein increasing streaming media bandwidth utilization comprises switching from a first type of codec that utilizes a first amount of bandwidth per packet to a second type of codec that utilizes a second amount of bandwidth per packet, wherein the second amount of bandwidth per packet is greater than the first amount of bandwidth per packet.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the historical bandwidth usage in the selected period comprises at least one of (i) the amount of total bandwidth utilized in the selected period up to a time of the prediction and (ii) the amount of voice bandwidth utilized and the amount of data bandwidth utilized in the selected period up to a time of the prediction.
17. A method of controlling bandwidth utilization, comprising:
predicting, by a processor, that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
in response, reducing, by the processor, a signal quality to reduce a likely bandwidth usage by the first user, wherein historic bandwidth usage comprises at least one of total bandwidth utilization, voice bandwidth utilization, and non-voice bandwidth utilization;
identifying a line of best fit for at least one of the previous total bandwidth utilization, previous voice bandwidth utilization, and previous non-voice bandwidth utilization;
determining a gradient for the identified line of best fit; and
comparing at least one of:
(i) the gradient of a previous total bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous voice bandwidth utilization;
(ii) the gradient of a previous total bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous non-voice bandwidth utilization; and
(iii) the gradient of a previous voice bandwidth utilization and the gradient of the previous non-voice bandwidth utilization.
18. A method of controlling bandwidth utilization, comprising:
predicting, by a processor, that a bandwidth utilization threshold will likely be one of met and exceeded by a first user;
in response, reducing, by the processor, a signal quality to reduce a likely bandwidth usage by the first user;
obtaining historic bandwidth usage from an Internet service provider (ISP);
monitoring streaming media bandwidth utilization; and
storing the monitored streaming media bandwidth utilization and obtained historic bandwidth usage.
19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising processor executable instructions to perform the method of claim 18.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for utilizing an order request servicing system for transmitting order requests to one or more order request management systems (\u201cORMSs\u201d) and integrating respective ORMS data, the method comprising:
performing using at least a processor of the order request servicing system:
receiving an order request from a client system, wherein the order request includes a request for multiple items;
selecting a plurality of ORMSs based on the order request;
processing the order request into a plurality of processed order requests, wherein each of the plurality of processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
for each of the processed order requests, transmitting the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs;
receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs, wherein ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs is associated with the processed order request transmitted to each selected ORMS; and
integrating the received ORMS data from the ORMSs.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein each item is a member of a group consisting of a good or a service.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the order request into multiple processed order requests further comprises:
splitting the order request into the multiple processed order requests.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting the plurality of ORMSs further comprises selecting the ORMS prior to processing the order request into the plurality of processed order requests.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein selecting a plurality of ORMSs further comprises:
using electronically stored routing rules to select an ORMS from business relationships between a client and fulfillment partners associated with the ORMS of the fulfillment partners.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
generating a fulfillment plan which pairs each item in the order request with one of the ORMSs of fulfillment partners.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the order request is a request to view information related to orders including ORMS catalog information.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining an order status for the received order request from the received ORMS data associated with the processed order request.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the order request servicing system is a hub in an order servicing organization and a first ORMS comprises a spoke in the order servicing organization and further comprises another order request servicing system, the method further comprising using the order request servicing system of the first ORMS to:
(a) select one or more ORMS based on the processed order request of the first ORMS;
(b) process the processed order request of the first ORMS into multiple processed order requests, wherein each of the multiple processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
(c) for each of the multiple processed order requests in (a), transmitting the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs in (a);
(d) receive from each of the ORMSs in (c) ORMS data associated with the processed order request transmitted to the ORMS in (c); and
(e) integrate the received ORMS data from the ORMSs in (d).
10. The method of claim 1 wherein:
receiving an order request includes receiving the order request through a gateway, each gateway being selected from a group comprising:
an electronic data interchange (EDI) gateway;
transmitting each processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs includes using a communication link to the selected ORMS;
receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs includes receiving respective ORMS data via the communication link; and
the communication link is selected from a group comprising at least one of the following:
the Internet; and
one or more direct communication links.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein:
receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs includes at least one of the following:
receiving respective ORMS data from each of the ORMSs individually; and
receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs in a batch in response to a transaction transmitted from the order servicing system to each of the ORMSs.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the client system includes at least one of the following:
a computer system with a client interface that is used by customers to place order requests;
the order request servicing system recursively calling itself; and
a first order request servicing system transmitting one or more processed order requests to an ORMS, the ORMS including a second order request servicing system.
13. An order servicing organization system for routing order requests to multiple order request management systems (\u201cORMSs\u201d) of fulfillment partners and integrating respective ORMS data from at least a plurality of the multiple ORMSs, the order servicing organization system comprising:
a first order request servicing system having an interface to receive an order request from a client system;
a processor;
a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes code stored thereon and executable by the processor to:
select a plurality of ORMSs based on the order request;
process the order request into a plurality of processed order requests, wherein each of the plurality of processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
for each of the processed order requests, transmit the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs;
receive respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs, wherein ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs is associated with the processed order request transmitted to each selected ORMS; and
integrate the received ORMS data from the ORMSs.
14. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein each item is a member of a group consisting of a good or a service.
15. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code to process the order request into multiple processed order requests comprises code to:
split the order request into the multiple processed order requests.
16. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code to select the plurality of ORMSs comprises code to:
select the ORMS prior to processing the order request into the plurality of processed order requests.
17. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code to select a plurality of ORMSs based on the order request comprises code to:
use electronically stored routing rules to select an ORMS from business relationships between a client and fulfillment partners associated with the ORMS of the fulfillment partners.
18. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
generate a fulfillment plan which pairs each item in the order request with one of the ORMSs of fulfillment partners.
19. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the order request is a request to view information related to orders including ORMS catalog information.
20. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 further comprising:
the client system having a client interface; and
a communication link between the client system and the first order request servicing system.
21. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the client interface is selected from a group comprising an Internet terminal.
22. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the first order request servicing system is a hub in the order servicing system, the order servicing organization system further comprising:
N order request servicing systems which form order servicing system spokes from the first order request servicing system, wherein:
N is a positive integer;
each of the N order request servicing systems includes (i) an interface to receive a processed order request from the first order request servicing system, (ii) a processor, and (iii) a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes code stored thereon and executable by the processor to:
(a) select one or more ORMS based on the processed order request of the first ORMS;
(b) process the processed order request of the first ORMS into multiple processed order requests, wherein each of the multiple processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
(c) for each of the multiple processed order requests in (a), transmitting the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs in (a);
(d) receive from each of the ORMSs in (c) ORMS data associated with the processed order request transmitted to the ORMS in (c); and
(e) integrate the received ORMS data from the ORMSs in (d).
23. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
receive the order request through a gateway, each gateway being selected from a group comprising:
an electronic data interchange (EDI) gateway;
use a communication link to the selected ORMSs;
receive respective ORMS data via the communication link; and
the communication link is selected from a group comprising at least one of the following:
the Internet; and
one or more direct communication links.
24. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code to receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs includes code to cause the processor to perform at least one of the following:
receive respective ORMS data from each of the ORMSs individually; and
receive respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs in a batch in response to a transaction transmitted from the order servicing system to each of the ORMSs.
25. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the client system includes at least one of the following:
a computer system with a client interface that is used by customers to place order requests;
the order request servicing system recursively calling itself; and
a first order request servicing system transmitting one or more processed order requests to an ORMS, the ORMS including a second order request servicing system.
26. The order servicing organization system of claim 13 wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
determine an order status for the received order request from the received ORMS data associated with the processed order request.
27. A transaction processing system having an order request servicing system for routing order requests to multiple order request management systems (\u201cORMSs\u201d) of fulfillment partners and integrating respective ORMS data from ORMSs of each fulfillment partner, the transaction processing system comprising:
means for receiving an order request from a client system, wherein the order request includes a request for multiple items;
means for selecting a plurality of ORMSs based on the order request;
means for processing the order request into a plurality of processed order requests, wherein each of the plurality of processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
for each of the processed order requests, means for transmitting the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs;
means for receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs, wherein ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs is associated with the processed order request transmitted to each selected ORMS; and
means for integrating the received ORMS data from the ORMSs.
28. A tangible, computer readable medium storing code to cause a processor to route multiple orders to multiple order request management systems (\u201cORMSs\u201d) of fulfillment partners and integrating respective ORMS data from at least a plurality of the multiple ORMSs, wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
receiving an order request from a client system, wherein the order request includes a request for multiple items;
select a plurality of ORMSs based on the order request;
process the order request into a plurality of processed order requests, wherein each of the plurality of processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
for each of the processed order requests, transmit the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs;
receive respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs, wherein ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs is associated with the processed order request transmitted to each selected ORMS; and
integrate the received ORMS data from the ORMSs.
29. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein each item is a member of a group consisting of a good or a service.
30. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code to process the order request into multiple processed order requests comprises code to:
split the order request into the multiple processed order requests.
31. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code to select the plurality of ORMSs comprises code to:
select the ORMS prior to processing the order request into the plurality of processed order requests.
32. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code to select a plurality of ORMSs based on the order request comprises code to:
use electronically stored routing rules to select an ORMS from business relationships between a client and fulfillment partners associated with the ORMS of the fulfillment partners.
33. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
generate a fulfillment plan which pairs each item in the order request with one of the ORMSs of fulfillment partners.
34. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the order request is a request to view information related to orders including ORMS catalog information.
35. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the first order request servicing system is a hub in the order servicing system, The tangible, computer readable medium further comprising:
N order request servicing systems which form order servicing system spokes from the first order request servicing system, wherein:
N is a positive integer;
each of the N order request servicing systems includes (i) an interface to receive a processed order request from the first order request servicing system, (ii) a processor, and (iii) a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes code stored thereon and executable by the processor to:
(a) select one or more ORMS based on the processed order request of the first ORMS;
(b) process the processed order request of the first ORMS into multiple processed order requests, wherein each of the multiple processed order requests represents a request for a subset of the items in the order request received;
(c) for each of the multiple processed order requests in (a), transmitting the processed order request to one of the selected ORMSs in (a);
(d) receive from each of the ORMSs in (c) ORMS data associated with the processed order request transmitted to the ORMS in (c); and
(e) integrate the received ORMS data from the ORMSs in (d).
36. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
receive the order request through a gateway, each gateway being selected from a group comprising:
an electronic data interchange (EDI) gateway;
use a communication link to the selected ORMSs;
receive respective ORMS data via the communication link; and
the communication link is selected from a group comprising at least one of the following:
the Internet; and
one or more direct communication links.
37. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code to receiving respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs includes code to cause the processor to perform at least one of the following:
receive respective ORMS data from each of the ORMSs individually; and
receive respective ORMS data from each of the selected ORMSs in a batch in response to a transaction transmitted from the order servicing system to each of the ORMSs.
38. The tangible, computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein the code is further configured to cause the processor to:
determine an order status for the received order request from the received ORMS data associated with the processed order request.