WO2010003181A1 - Method and system for collecting child care data - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a system and method for collecting care data pertaining to clients of one or more care providers, the system being in part accessible and operable by said clients or on behalf of said clients by respective agents of said clients. The care may be childcare and the clients children.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COLLECTING CHILD CARE DATA

RBLATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims the benefit of the filing date of AD application no. 2008903486 filed 7 July 2008, the content of which as filed is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and system for collecting child or other care provider data, of particular but by no mean exclusive application in providing authorities (such as government authorities) with child care (or other care) supply and usage data, particularly in the form of a web-based application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In existing systems, childcare centre staff manually enter a child' s details into a database with childcare centre management software. Information is gathered from parents directly, from waitlist application forms and from enrolment forms. This is time consuming, especially as a child's details may change without the Childcare Provider (CCP) being informed.

The CCP staff identify the children who are in attendance in the software, and control the software to print invoices for parents. These invoices are settled manually by cash or card payment.

Thus, existing systems require individual items and pieces of information to be manually entered by staff.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for collecting care data, such as childcare data, pertaining to clients of one or more care providers, wherein the system is in part accessible and operable by the clients or on behalf of the clients by respective agents of the clients.

The care may be is childcare and the clients children. The agents may be parents or guardians.

In one embodiment, the system comprises a module for generating an interface accessible by the care providers over the internet.

Xn another embodiment, the system comprises a module for generating an interface accessible by the clients or the agents over the internet.

Xn one embodiment, the system includes or is adapted to receive data pertaining to the clients from one or more input mechanisms selected from the group comprising: a manual input mechanism; a swipe input mechanism; a touch input mechanism; a mobile device input mechanism; a biσiuetric input mechanism; and an electronic signature input mechanism.

The manual, mobile device, touch, biometric and electronic signature input mechanisms typically operate by a methodology that identifies which clients are absent, while the tag, touch and mobile input mechanisms may operate by a methodology that identifies which clients are in attendance. In both methodologies, a list or data indicative of absent clients on a particular day of care is preferably generated; a list or data indicative of clients in attendance on that day may also be generated.

The one or more input mechanisms may be operable by the clients or by the agents. In one embodiment, the system is adapted to provide an interface displayable over the internet, and operable by the clients or the agents to input attendance information pertaining to the respective clients to the system.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to maintain first data indicative of one or more of the clients expected to attend the care for a specific period, and to receive second data indicative of one or more of the clients absent or expected to be absent for the specific period, wherein attendance for the specific period can be determined from a comparison of the first and second data.

The specific period may comprise, for example, a particular day; the specific period may be input or defined by a first day and a last day of the specific period.

In one embodiment, the system comprises an interface displayable over the internet, and operable by the clients or the agents to input absence information pertaining to the respective clients .

In another embodiment, the system comprises a swipe input mechanism, wherein the swipe input mechanism includes a plurality of RFID tags (which may be contactless) and one or more tag readers adapted to read the tags.

In one embodiment, the system comprises a mobile device input mechanism, adapted to receive attendance or absence data (such as in short messaging service messages) from mobile communications devices (such as mobile telephones) .

in one embodiment, the system includes a signup module that is adapted to construct or assemble data indicative of one or more of the clients expected to attend the care for a specific period from respective enrolment registrations or schedules of the clients.

In a certain embodiment, the system includes a signup module that is remotely operable by the clients or the agents remotely over the internet to receive details of the clients and of any desired guardians of the clients for storage in the system.

In one embodiment, the system comprises a waitlist module operable by the clients or the agents via the internet and operable to receive waitlist applications pertaining to the clients indicative of care desired for the respective clients. The waitlist module may be operable by or on behalf of one or more of the clients to amend or cancel the respective waitlist application.

In another embodiment, the system comprises a touch input mechanism that comprises one or more touch screens and is operable to receive attendance or absence information by operation of the touch screens.

In one embodiment, the system comprises an attendance reminder module for constructing and transmitting electronic reminders to one or more care providers, the reminders identifying those of the clients due to attend at a time specified in the respective reminder.

In another embodiment, the system comprises an absence indicator module operable by a user to tag one or more clients as absent or expected to be absent on a specified day or for a specified period.

In a particular embodiment, the system comprises a colour coding status identifier module configured to control displaying respective statuses of the clients to be colour coded. Bach respective name of the client may be colour coded or displayed against a colour coded field, for example. The colour coding status identifier module may be configured to colour code clients in attendance differently from absent clients.

In another embodiment, the system comprises an allocation module operable by drag and drop to allocate respective clients to respective groups . The groups may correspond to respective rooms. The allocation module may be adapted to colour code the groups or the clients according to allocated group.

According to another broad aspect, the invention provides a method for collecting care data pertaining to clients of one or more care providers, comprising receiving data pertaining to the clients from the clients or from respective agents of the clients .

The method may include generating an interface displayable to the care providers over the internet.

The method may include generating an interface displayable to the clients or the agents over the internet.

The method may include receiving the data pertaining to the clients from one or more input mechanisms selected from the group comprising: a manual input mechanism; a swipe input mechanism; a touch input mechanism;

. a mobile device input mechanism; a biometric input mechanism; and an electronic signature input mechanism.

The one or more input mechanisms may be operable by the clients or by the agents. The method may include displaying an interface over the internet, the interface being operable by the clients or the agents to submit attendance information pertaining to the respective clients.

The method may include maintaining first data indicative of one or more of the clients expected to attend the care for a specific period, and receiving second data indicative of one or more of the clients absent or expected to be absent for the specific period, wherein attendance for the specific period can be determined from a comparison of the first and second data.

The method may include displaying an interface over the internet for operation by the clients or the agents to input absence information pertaining to the respective clients .

The method may include receiving the data from swipe input mechanism, the swipe input mechanism including a plurality of RFID tags and one or more tag readers adapted to read the tags.

The method may include receiving the data from a mobile device input mechanism, the mobile device input mechanism being adapted to receive attendance or absence data from mobile communications devices.

The method may include constructing or assembling data indicative of one or more of the clients expected to attend the care for a specific period from respective enrolment registrations or schedules of the clients.

The method may include receiving waitlist applications pertaining to one or more of the clients indicative of care desired for the respective clients from the clients or the agents via the internet. The method may include tagging one or more of the clients as absent or expected to be absent on a specified day or for a specified period.

The method may include displaying respective statuses of the clients as colour coded.

The method may include receiving group allocation data pertaining to the clients by a drag and drop mechanism.

The invention also provides software for controlling a computing system to perform the above-described method.

It should be noted that each of the various features of each of the above aspects of the invention can be combined as suitable and desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OP THE DRAWING In order that the invention may be more clearly ascertained, embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a system for collecting childcare data according to an embodiment of the present invention, together with an input mechanism, user terminals, and interfaces with education authorities and local government/non-profit organizations;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of data flow in the system of figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic view of the manual input mechanism of the system of figure 1;

Figure 4 is a schematic view of an exemplary attendance page of the system of figure 1; Figure 5 is a schematic view of the swipe input mechanism of the system of figure 1;

Figure 6 is a schematic view of the touch input mechanism of the system of figure 1;

Figure 7 is a schematic view of the mobile input mechanism of the system of figure 1;

Figure 8 is a schematic view of an exemplary home page of a Care Provider website of the system of figure 1;

Figure 9 is a schematic view of an exemplary child registration form of the system of figure 1; and

Figure 10 is a schematic view of an exemplary children page of the system of figure 1; Figure 11 is a schematic view of an exemplary allocation page of the system of figure 1; and

Figure 12 is a schematic view of an exemplary attendance and payment view page of the system of figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A system for collecting care data in the form of childcare data according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown schematically at 100 in figure 1, together with- an input mechanism 102, user terminals 104, and interfaces with related parties in the form of education authorities 106 and local government/non-profit organizations 108. System 100 also assists Care Providers, in this embodiment in the form of Childcare Providers (CCPs) , to supply the relevant authorities with accurate information regarding childcare supply and usage. It will be appreciated that system 100 is equally suitable, in some instances will straightforward modification, for use in other care provision environments, including environments that include at least a component of care provision, such as certain medical facilities, psychiatric facilities, retirement homes, aged care facilities and schools.

System 100 has six input mechanisms 102, namely: - a manual input mechanism;

- a swipe (either contact or contactless) input mechanism; - an touch input mechanism;

- a mobile device input mechanism;

- a biometric input mechanism; and

- an electronic signature input mechanism.

All six mechanisms use a core Web Application of the system, the difference being the process in which attendance information is reported on.

In this embodiment, the manual, mobile, biometric and electronic signature input mechanisms implement a common methodology for indicating absent clients (in this embodiment in the form of children) , and the swipe and touch mechanisms implement a common methodology for indicating children that have attended. All, input mechanisms have a comparable outcome (viz . a list or data indicative of absent children, and a list or data indicative of children who attended, on a particular day) , the methodology of indicating which children are absent from a list of expected attendances is especially advantageous .

Following is a detailed description of how each of the six individual input mechanisms work.

a) Manual Input Mechanism

The manual input mechanism (shown schematically in figure 3) is the most basic of the input mechanisms. If a child is absent, the Childcare Provider (CCP) logs into a web application of the system via a web browser (from, for example, a desktop computer or mobile device) , and identifies the absent child' s name from an attendance page generated by the web application. An exemplary attendance page is shown schematically at 120 in figure 4. The attendance page 120 is automatically populated by the web application with the names 122 of the children who are enrolled at the childcare facility for on the current day. By default, the web application indicates all children as being in attendance, and marks them with a tick; that is, the attendance page constitutes a list of expected attendances. Selecting a child's name (such as by clicking on it with a mouse) is used to indicate that the child is in fact absent, and prompts the web application to mark the child's name with a cross and to shade the background of that child in red (see figure 4 at, for example, 124) . The web application's interface expands to provide a free entry field in which the CCP can enter a reason for the absence.

This is repeated for each absent child. Once this task has been completed, the CCP clicks a * submit' button to securely send this information to system 100 via the Internet. System 100 captures this information to database 112, and passes it to the relevant outside party, in this embodiment in the form of the education authorities (typically an Education Department or the like) 106 through the SOAP API (not shown) of system 100.

For each child marked and hence recorded as being in attendance, system 100 retrieves the enrolment schedule for the respective child and automatically fills in the hours attended. This information is used to calculate fees and charges for the child's attendance.

The combination of a list of expected attendances on a day of care (constructed using each child's enrolment schedule) and the methodology of indicating absence rather than attendance makes this especially advantageous.

b) Swipe Input Mechanism

The swipe input mechanism (shown schematically in figure 5) uses swipe cards in the form of RFID contactless key tags and a reader to automate the process of creating attendance information. The CCP issues each child's agent (i.e. parent or other guardian) with a swipe card for each child. The card contains a unique number either encoded or stored on a chip, which is correlated within the system to a single child enrolled for childcare. These numbers are stored against the child's name within the system.

Each parent or other guardian swipes his or her card pertaining to a particular child at one of the swipe terminals located at the relevant childcare facility each time the parent signs that child in or out of care.

The unique card number is transmitted to the system along with the time and date the card was swiped (wither in or out) . This information is added to the child' s record in real time to signify that the child has attended or departed care. The Care Providers can view this attendance information live. The total time the child has spent in care is calculated and used to automatically calculate fees charged for the child's attendance. The absence of swipe information for a child who is enrolled on a day of care indicates the child was absent from care.

Periodically, in this embodiment at the end of a day of care, system 100 sends the attendance information for that day to education authorities 106 securely through the SOAP API of system 100.

As mentioned above, the swipe cards of system 100 are contactless RFID tags, but any suitable swipe card - including magnetic stripe swipe cards or KFID equipped cards, key fobs and wrist bands, and whether employing contact or contactless reading - may be employed. Similarly, the card readers may be wired and/or wireless.

The CCP staff are issued with spare cards to supply to parents in the case the parents lose or forget their cards. CCPs can also login to the web interface of system 100 if a parent (or other guardian) forgets to swipe his or her child in, and manually record the attendance information.

The combination of a list of expected attendances on a day of care (constructed using each child's enrolment schedule) and the data collected from swipe card use to indicate attendance makes this mechanism especially advantageous .

c) Touch Input Mechanism

The touch input mechanism (shown schematically in figure

6) uses touch screen technology to automate the process of creating attendance information. A child's enrolment details are synchronised with touch screens (such as in a childcare centre) , allowing parents or other guardians to sign children in and out of care via the touch screen interface.

Each parent or other guardian is provided with a unique PIN, of - in this embodiment - four digits. This PIN is used to authenticate the parent or other guardian, rather than a specific child, though the system associates the PIN of a particular parent or guardian with all the children of that parent or guardian.

The parent or guardian confirms the attendance of a child by entering the parent or guardian' s PIN on the touch screen. If there is more than one child at the provider registered with the parent or guardian indicated by a particular PIN, system 100 prompts the parent or guardian to identify which one or more children they wish to enter information for. If the parent or guardian has not yet signed in a particular child for the day, system 100 records each child' s attendance as commencing at the time the parent or guardian enters the child's details. If this is the second time the parent or guardian has logged into the touch screen and selected a particular child, the system records that child's attendance as ceasing at the time the parent or guardian enters or selects the child's details. The parent or guardian is prompted to confirm this commencement or cessation when signing in or out a second or subsequent child.

System 100 is operable by staff at the Care Provider to receive one or more messages to appear in the Login section of the user interface, and to display such messages accordingly.

After a parent or guardian has entered information about a child or children, the parent or guardian is prompted to Logout by the system. Logout finishes the process of signing their child into or out of care.

As with the swipe input mechanism, the exact time and date is recorded so that accurate records on attendance are kept.

Any type of touch screen, including but not limited to wired touch screens interfaced directly into a LAN at the premises of the Care Provider (and hence to the internet) , and wireless touch screens can be used with this mechanism.

The combination of a web interface, the use of electronic touch screen terminals, and parental login to indicate attendance makes this mechanism especially advantageous.

d) Mobile Input Mechanism

The mobile input mechanism shown schematically in figure 7) uses hand held devices to automate the process of creating attendance information. The mobile input mechanism is especially suitable when a single carer looks after several clients and must report information to a care provider.

Each Carer using mobile input mechanism 102 is issued with a hand held device, such as a mobile telephone, in order to report child attendance details to the child's CCP. Each child in care is allocated a unique code (such as "Nevada Wright = COPP23") . This code is automatically- generated, but can be edited in the respective child's record on the children's page within the web application. A list of codes is used to indicate the various types of or reasons for absence. For example: illness = 01, holiday = 02, unknown = 03.

Xf a child does not attend care, the Carer submits (via SMS, web browser or email) the child's code, the absence code and the reason for the child's absence (if applicable) to system 100. System 100 parses each message to record attendance and absence information for each child.

A second submission allows carers to update attendance times at the end of a day of care. For example if Nevada Wright was scheduled to attend from 08.30 to 17.30 but only attended from 10.00 to 15.30, the carer would message the web application with the actual attendance time, in the form of a message such as "COPP23, 10.00, 15.30"

In the event that all children attend according to their attendance schedule, no additional submission is required to be sent. The web application automatically records their attendance using their attendance schedule. System 100 also allows for multiple children's details to be sent in the same Absence or Attendance message.^' The carer is sent a confirmation message for each message they successfully submit to the web application.

The combination of system 100 and the mobile input mechanism 102 is useful in Local Government 108 for Family Day Care, or for remote Care Providers and Related Parties and in State and National Governments for compliance criteria in all forms of Care and Responsibility sectors . System 100 allows a Local Government 108 to log in and view attendance and waitlist information in real time. All levels of Government (including Local Government 108) , Care Providers and Related Parties can also export this information to their own servers for their own record keeping purposes.

Any mobile device, including but not limited to mobile phones and PDAs, can be used to facilitate this mechanism.

As a contingency measure, Carer Providers and Related

Parties are also provided with a login allowing them to manually update children' s information in the invention via a web browser. This is for use should the Care Provider or Related Party experience mobile phone network failure or has not been issued with a hand-held device.

e) Biometric Input Mechanism

The biometric input mechanism employs the Biometric Verification Module described below.

f) Electronic signature input mechanism.

The electronic signature input mechanism operates essentially as does the biometric input mechanism, but by identifying a parent or guardian (and, if of sufficient ability, a child) by signature. The signature is made on a scanner comparable to that of the Biometric Verification Module, similarly verified, and used to sign in and out each day.

The combination of a list of expected attendances on a day of care (constructed using each child's enrolment schedule) , the methodology of indicating absence rather than attendance, the use of a mobile device, and the mobile text format makes this approach especially advantageous.

System Modules

System 100 includes the following modules.

1.0 Web-Based Module. This embodiment of the invention provides a web based application that allows Care Providers (such as CCPs) and Related Parties (such as Local Governments 108) to access system 100 from any device that has an Internet connection and web browser.

No software need to be installed, and regular backups are performed on behalf of each CCP . It is written in the Ruby (trade mark) programming language using the Rails web application framework.

By .using internet (and ideally Web 2.0) technology, in this embodiment for childcare, the regulation of record keeping is intelligently automated. User intervention is minimized, so regulation can be fulfilled to it maximum potential.

1.1 Website nodule. Each Care Provider is provided with its own website 110 as a portal for communication that provides : i) Information about the Childcare Provider with the ability to change information and graphics via the proprietary Content Management System. ii) A secure login for staff (of tlie Care Provider) to share, record and view information (such as enrolments, fees. Government Benefits (e.g. childcare benefits or CCB) , absences, medical information, PIM codes, communication portal, portfolios, etc) on the children, iii) Access to an online Waitlist (See 1.2}

An exemplary home page of a website 110 is shown schematically at 130 in figure 8.

1.2 Online Waitlist Module. This module of system 100 provides each Childcare Provider with its own waitlist, which is made accessible via and displayable on that respective Childcare Provider' s website 110. Parents or guardians seeking Childcare for their children can sign up via website 110 to book a place for their child. Thus, the Waitlist Module is configured to generate this waitlist of children seeking childcare from the information entered into registrations forms (as described below) .

The Waitlist Module is controllable by the Care Provxueib to sort the respective waitlist in order of priority - according to specific Government criteria (such as single parent or client at risk or indigenous preferences) . System 100 is configured to intelligently analyse the registration forms and identify if there are any specific Government or Related Party criteria that have been met.

The Waitlist Module of system 100 is operable by the Care Providers or Local government/Non-profits 108 to send and receive invitations from other Care Providers' systems to combine waitlists so there is one centralised waitlist instead of many distributed waitlists.

Using a mapping system with information on the location of every Centre (of a Care Provider organisation) , Care Provider and Related Party uβing system 100, Care Providers can preview other local Care Provider centres with which they may merge waitlists. The waitlist page includes a map of the local area (whether municipality, council, city, state, territory or country) and is controllable to delineate the region for sharing waitlists . Care Providers can click on a state or province, for example, to reveal a drilled down map displaying the regions within it. From here the Care Providers can click on a region to reveal all the centres and Care Providers (including of type) with similar waitlists. The number and placement of Related Parties' client registrations may also be indicated. It will also indicate where on the waitlist a respective client is, including the basis of any priorities.

Waitlist Module of system 100 is controllable to send invitations sent to the centres or Care Providers thus identified with the hope of merging waitlists. System 100 encompasses an internal messaging system to track all sent and received waitlists invitations.

Upon signing up to a waitlist, parents or guardians are issued a login so they can login time to change their waitlist details and/or Care Provider preference list. The combination of an online waitlist incorporated into system 100 with the unique mapping and message tracking system makes this module especially advantageous .

1.3 Online Payment Module. Parents and guardians can log in via a Care Provider's website 110 and can view detailed fee and charge information relating to their child. They can pay any fees instantly via credit card or nominate a bank account in order for the Care Provider to directly debit fees, or indicate another method of payment. The online payment module of system 100 automatically recognises if a family is overdue with their payments and is adapted to email them a reminder, via which the parent or other guardian is provided with a *1 click to pay* link. All online transactions can be exported to the Care Provider's and relative Related Parties (such as Local government/Non-profit 108) preferred accounting package.

1.4 Parent Signup Module. Every child in care has to be enrolled within system 100 before attendance information can be recorded for them. instead of the Care Provider entering in the details of every child, the parent or other guardian does this by registering and filling out an online form. An exemplary form is shown schematically at 140 in figure 9.

It is in the interest of the parent or other guardian to fill in the form correctly, as failure to do could result in default elimination from (or non-conversion to) receipt of grants, subsidies and compliance related assistance from all tiers of Government, Care Providers or Related Parties, and hence potentially no CCB payments. The option for a Care Provider to manually enrol a child in system 100 is also available as a contingency in the case where a parent or other guardian has not or cannot do so (such as owing to not having access to a computer) .

If any changes to the registration/waitlist form are made, the relevant party or parties (parent, guardian or Care Provider) are alerted and prompted to confirm the change; in response to this confirmation, system 100 updates database 112 on the basis of those changes.

Arranging system 100 to allow parents and guardians' to sign up and enter their own and their children' s details and to verify changes to those details (rather than having the Care Provider manually enter such information in a database) is especially advantageous. 1.5 Registration Verification Module. All parent or guardian registration forms (or at least the data contained therein) are sent to system 100 where they can be viewed until they are either approved or denied by the Care Provider. Registrations only become active once they have been approved by the Care Provider. The combination of a parent registration and Care Provider approval or denial of registration makes this module especially advantageous .

1.6 Attendance Reminder Module. Care Providers can opt-in to be automatically emailed once a day the list of children who are scheduled to be in attendance for that day. This email constitutes a friendly reminder that the Care Provider should update its attendance records for that day. The Attendance Reminder Module can be used to configure the email reminders to be sent at any time during the day or they can be turned off.

1.7 One-Click Absence Indicator Module. One click of the mouse is all that is required to indicate a child is absent on any given, specific day or for any specific period. By default all children who should and are expected to in attendance, based on normal attendance records, are displayed with a green background to indicate that they are expected to be in attendance. One click on each child that is or will be absent turns the background or surrounding field red (as described above) , indicating that the respective child is or will not be present. This procedure coupled with the method of only indicating absent children rather than all children who are attending reduces the time required to submit attendance data, and makes this module especially advantageous.

1.8 Colour coding status identifier module. System 100 uses a colour coding system to easily identify the status of children. As explained above, the Attendance page (see figure 4) uses green to signify that a child is attending care for that day whilst red is used to signify a child is absent from care. The Client page (in this embodiment in the form of a Children page, an example of which is shown schematically at 150 in figure 10) uses purple (shown with shading in figure 10) to signify that a child's enrolment has been formalised. Orange (shown unshaded in figure 10) , optionally with an orange exclamation mark, is used to identify that a child's enrolment remains informal, meaning that it lacks some information. Colour coding allow ready examination of the status of children in care at any given time.

This module makes it faster and more effective by the eye of the user being able to scan rather than read the information on the' page.

This functionality employs variables stored in system 100. For Care Provider, variables indicative of Related Party, National compliance or Sector compliance criteria are uniquely coded for all clients (in this example, children) .

1.9 Drag and Drop Room/Group Allocation Module. Once a child registration form from a parent or other guardian is accepted by the Care Provider, the child is added to the unassigned list of children under an 'Allocation' page of website 110 of system 100, visible to respective Care

Providers . Figure 11 is a schematic view of an exemplary Allocation page 160 of system 100. To allocate a child to a room, unit, section or group, the Care Provider drags and drops the respective child from a list 162 of unassigned children into one of the predefined (but editable) rooms, units, sections or groups (in this example, rooms 164) . A Care Provider can define as many rooms, units, sections or groups as required, and perform as many such allocations as required. The combination of using a drag and drop technology with assigning children to rooms is especially advantageous.

Each allocation prompts system 100 to update the respective child's variable. As a result, the information held by the Care Provider (and possibly forwarded to the Related Parties) is rich in content and analytical data.

2.0 Accounting Interfacing Module. System 100 can interface directly with the accounting packages of the Care Provider or Local government/Non-profit 108, provided those packages have an API. All fee transactions can be imported directly into the accounting package for immediate reporting.

System 100 has an accounting and cashbooks module that is specific to the Care Provider's sector and integrative in total with the rich content and data variables of the system 100. This means that Care Providers can integrate and share data more accurately with Government, Parents/Guardians and Related Parties.

2.1 No Charge code limit Module. System 100 is configured to receive input from the Care Provider indicative of an practically unlimited number of customized charge codes, so that Care Providers (and their centres) , even with complicated fee structures, can continue to charge as they wish.

2.2 Parent Access Module. Parent Access Module of system 100 allows parents or other guardians to log in and access invoices, fee summaries, CCB statements. Government compliance and non-compliance criteria, subsidies, direct debit/credit card information, attendance and medical information, bookings, quality assurance absence totals and further information from Related Parties. Parents and other guardians can also keep their details up to date, including by changing such details online, and share this information - if desired - with Care Providers and Related Parties .

Government services are thus made more accessible by allowing parents and other guardians to link directly to Government service databases or servers from the Parent Access Module.

The combination of allowing parents and guardians to directly access this information online and to keep their information up to date by giving them write access to change payment, medical information and authoritative rights and information sharing makes this module especially valuable.

2.3 Adaptable Scenario Module . System 100 is adapted to suit any sized organization, from the smallest care centre up to the largest Care Providers and Related Parties. The modules and input mechanisms 102 can be applied to any Care Provider's circumstances.

2.4 Colour layered attendance and payment view module. System 100 uses a unique colour layered attendance and - payment view to make identifying Attendance times and fees as easily as possible.

Figure 12 is a schematic view of an exemplary attendance and payment view page 170 of system 100, showing the details pertaining to a selected child (in this example, "Alice Wright"). Each child's normal attendance schedule is layered first in yellow (shown unshaded at, for example, 172) . If a child attends care then the chargeable time he or she attend is layered on top in green (shown shaded at, for example, 174) with the fee attacked (and shown within the green field) . If a child fails to attend, a red layer (shown chequered at, for example, 176) is superimposed on the yellow attendance time to signify he or she was not in care and a zero fee is attached.

2.5 Biometric Verification Module. System 100 also offers biometric verification to Care Providers in the form of fingerprint or iris scanning. This mechanism works in a similar way to the swipe input mechanism except that the clients - here, children - sign themselves in and out (with the assistance of their parent or guardian if necessary) . Parents and guardians have each of their children present a finger (or eye) for scanning by one of_t a number of readers. This identifies the child to system 100, which then has a record indicating that the child is attending care and at what time the child signed in. The child again present a finger (or eye) for scanning by a reader when - and to effect - signing out, prompting system 100 to automatically calculate the time for which the child attended care.

2.6 Online training videos to application switch Module. Online training videos are provided to Care Providers via website 110 of system 100. At anytime in a training video the Care Provider user can click a ^ΛTry now' button embedded in the video to be taken to the precise screen of system 100 so the user can try out in real time what has just be viewed in the training video.

Transferring the user from the online user module straight into a working model provides greater application of the training to the user's current situation.

2.7 Auto populating data Module. A Care Provider that wishes to transfer to system 100 can do so easily. The Education authorities 106 provide a copy of the Care Provider's data file, which system 100 receives, reads and uses to populate its database 112. All children's records, transaction history and attendance data are automatically populated. No manual re-entering of data by the Care Provider should be necessary.

2.B Multi -Language Support Module. System 100 supports a variety of languages. A Care Provider can select a language from a drop down box displayable by system 100, which immediately and automatically translates the user interface of system 100 into the selected language.

This module is also available to every parent or guardian that has registered to use system 100. During the registration process system 100 prompts parents and guardians for a preferred language. System 100 then retrieves the relevant record relating to that preference and accordingly displays the user interface in the preferred language each time the respective parent or guardian logs in.

This feature allows system 100 to interpret data received from the parent or guardian appropriately. Multi-Language Support Module of system 100 translates to and from the nominated, preferred language, so that the parent or guardian can enter personal information in that preferred language. This module allows for privacy of information without operators being the interface for private information.

The Module thus has the ability to translate in real time input from Care Providers and Related Parties, and translate back to other Care Providers or Related Parties. Many variables apply across the Care sector, and this Module includes algorithms to effect accurate translation.

3.0 Instant Assistance Module. An icon is provided on the user interface of system 100 that Care Providers can click to receive immediate assistance from a help desk. When a Care Provider clicks on the icon (displayed on website 110) , system 100 transmits the telephone number of the respective Care Provider to .the help desk telephone system, which is configured to immediately dial that Care Provider .

3.1 CCP Data Download Module. System 100 is adapted to allow Care Providers to store their data onsite as well as on a second database 114 of system 100. This allows a service or carer to download to their own computer all their transaction history, including:

- Parent or guardian and Child Information - Enrolment History

- Payment History

- Attendance History

- Account Statements for Parents for Parent, Carer and Service - CCB or other benefit claim data

- Account History

Data is provided in a . csv (Comma Delimited File) format and/or printer friendly PDF format so that those who wish to can:

- Print detailed history reports

- Create their own customised reports

- Export data into any other reporting system

- Provide offline storage of information

3.2 Advanced Charge Module. System 100 includes a Advanced Charge Module, which allows Care Providers to charge parents and guardians for specified periods in advance. This module combines the variables for subsidies, grants, fee exclusions and Government compliance criteria in any territory and the client's regular attendance schedule and the associated fees to calculate advance charges. In addition, this module recognizes if there are any ^client free' or 'no charge' days in the specified future time period; this allows an accurate figure to be calculated. This module is accessed from the Administration page {by clicking "Administration" button 126) of system 100.

Advantageously, advanced charges can thus be calculated using current and accurate information, rather than being based on previous information or averages.

3.3 Booking System Module. System 100 includes a Booking System Module that allows parents and guardians to book a care place for their children online. Care Providers can input the number of available places for each day.

Parents and guardians can view the number of available places, once logged in, and immediately book and pay for a vacancy for their child.

System 100 uses the variables stored in association that child to search for the most appropriate of the vacancies. The Care Provider and parent or guardian may control system 100 to *try again' , that is, to search for the most appropriate vacancy again but now to exclude the previous selection (s) (and optionally those similar to the previous selection (s) ). Care Providers can also control this module to manually override the selection. System 100 is provided with algorithms to determine such placements.

3.4 Vital Information Module. Vital Information Module handles vital information, that is, information that all Care Providers should be aware ■ of , including information concerning allergies, medical conditions, religious affiliations and requirements, illnesses and important routines. This module of system 100 is configured to forward alerts pertaining to such vital information to the Care Provider (such as when a forthcoming religious holiday or the contents of a proposed meal matches entries in the vital information pertaining to one or more children) . Vital Information is extracted from each registration form during the registration process, and checked by this module whenever relevant alerts might be required, making this module especially advantageous.

3.5 Cashbook Module. The functionality of this module is available to each Care Provider and parent or guardian. The Cashbook Module allows users to keep track of finances and integrities through website 110. All income and expenses are recorded and detailed reports can then be produced from this information. Cashbook Module saves regular input and subsequently prompts the user like inputs. Budgeting, Tax and Government reporting are all handled by the Cashbook Module.

Additional Modules

1.0 Additional Logins. Care Providers are able to assign additional logins (such as to their staff members) through the Administration page (by clicking "Administration" button 126) .

1.1 Access Audits. Access Audits can be run on any user who has accessed the system. All logins are date and time recorded and a login trail is kept for security reasons. Audits can be conducted for custom date ranges or for individual users .

1.2 Workflows. Users are provided with workflows to make the job of completing tasks that much easier. Workflows assist the user by listing the various steps involved for a task one by one. Users can then feel confident that they are doing the right thing.

This module thinks on behalf of the user, speaking in a language that: suits the user. Xt identifies the user from family, operator, administrator and occupation, then specific language is integrated to the workflow to make the user's understanding of the operations easier.

1.3 Backups. System 100 provides complete backups every hour. A Care Provider can request a copy of their information at any time through the user interface 104 of its respective website 110 of system 100.

1.4 Reports. System 100 is operable to provide various reports for Care Providers or Local government/Non-profits 108, including Income, Outstanding Payments, Government Payments, Attendance, Utilisation and Sign in/out sheets'.

1.5 Additional Information. System 100 allows for additional information such as medical details, emergency contacts, and immunisation records to be kept for each child. This information is stored in the respective child's record (in database 112), which is based principally in the information received in the child's registration form, and is only visible if the relevant button (such as a * +' sign) or tab (such as a * Registration Form' tab) is clicked. This is so the user is not presented with too much information.

Modifications within the scope of the invention may be readily effected by those skilled in the art. It is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described by way of example hereinabove .

in the claims that follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise owing to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense. that is, to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Further, any reference herein to prior art is not intended to imply that such prior art forms or formed a part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other country.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for collecting care data pertaining to clients of one or more care providers, wherein said system is in part accessible and operable by said clients or on behalf of said clients by respective agents of said clients .

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said care is childcare and said clients are children.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said agents . are parents or guardians.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a module for generating an interface accessible by said care providers over the internet.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a module for generating an interface accessible by said clients or said agents over the internet.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1, including or adapted to receive data pertaining to said clients from one or more input mechanisms selected from the group comprising: a manual input mechanism; a swipe input mechanism; a touch input mechanism; a mobile device input mechanism; a biometric input mechanism; and an electronic signature input mechanism.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein said one or more input mechanisms are operable by said clients or by said agents.

8. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system is adapted to provide an interface displayable over the internet, and operable by said clients or said agents to input attendance information pertaining to said respective clients to said system.

9. A system as claimed in claim 1, configured to maintain first data indicative of one or more of said clients expected to attend said care for a specific period, and to receive second data indicative of one ox more of said clients absent or expected to be absent for said specific period, wherein attendance for said specific period can be determined from a comparison of the first and second data.

10. A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein said specific period comprises a particular day.

11. A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein said specific period is input or defined by a first day and a last day of said specific period.

12. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising an interface displayable over the internet, and operable by said clients or said agents to input absence information pertaining to said respective clients.

13. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a swipe input mechanism, wherein said swipe input mechanism includes a plurality of RFID tags and one or more tag readers adapted to read said tags.

14. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said tags are contactless.

15. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a mobile device input mechanism, wherein said mobile device input mechanism is adapted to receive attendance or absence data from mobile communications devices.

16. A system as claimed in claim 15, wherein said mobile device input mechanism is adapted to receive said attendance or absence data in short messaging service messages.

17. A system as claimed in claim 15, wherein said mobile communications devices are mobile telephones.

18. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system includes a signup module that is adapted to construct or assemble data indicative of one or more of said clients expected to attend said care for a specific period from respective enrolment registrations or schedules of said clients.

19. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system includes a signup module that is remotely operable by said clients or said agents remotely over the internet to receive details of said clients and of any desired guardians of said clients for storage in said system.

20. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a waitlist module operable by said clients or said agents via the internet and operable to receive waitlist applications pertaining to said clients indicative of care desired for said respective clients.

21. A system as claimed in claim 20, wherein said waitlist module is operable by or one behalf of one or more of said clients to amend or cancel said respective waitlist application.

22. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a touch input mechanism, wherein said touch input mechanism comprises one or more touch screens and is operable to receive attendance or absence information by operation of said touch, screens .

23. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising an attendance reminder module for constructing and transmitting electronic reminders to one or more care providers, said reminders identifying those of said clients due to attend at a time specified in said respective reminder.

24. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising an absence indicator module operable by a user to tag one or more clients as absent or expected to be absent on a specified day or for a specified period.

25. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a colour coding status identifier module configured to control displaying respective statuses of said clients to be colour coded.

26. A system as claimed in claim 25, wherein each respective name of said client is colour coded or displayed against a colour coded field.

27. A system as claimed in claim 25, wherein said colour coding status identifier module is configured to colour code clients in attendance differently from absent clients.

28. A system as claimed in claim 1, comprising an allocation module operable by drag and drop to allocate respective clients to respective groups.

29. A system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said groups correspond to respective rooms.

30. A system as claimed in claim 28, wherein said allocation module is adapted to colour code said groups or said clients according to allocated group.

31. A method for collecting care data pertaining to clients of one or more care providers, comprising receiving data pertaining to said clients from said clients or from respective agents of said clients.

32. Λ method as claimed in claim 31, wherein said care is childcare and said clients are children.

33. A method as claimed in claim 31, wherein said agents are parents or guardians.

34. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising generating an interface displayable to said care providers over the internet.

35. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising generating an interface displayable to said clients or said agents over the internet.

36. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising receiving said data pertaining to said clients from one or more input mechanisms selected from the group comprising: a manual input mechanism; a swipe input mechanism; a touch input mechanism; a mobile device input mechanism; a biometric input mechanism; and an electronic signature input mechanism.

37. A method as claimed in claim 36, wherein said one or more input mechanisms are operable by said clients or by said agents.

38. A method as claimed in claim 31, including displaying an interface over the internet, said interface being operable by said clients or said agents to submit attendance information pertaining to said respective clients .

39. Λ method as claimed in claim 31, comprising maintaining first data indicative of one or more of said clients expected to attend said care for a specific period, and receiving second data indicative of one or more of said clients absent or expected to be absent for said specific period, wherein attendance for said specific period can be determined from a comparison of the first and second data.

40. A method as claimed in claim 39, wherein said specific period comprises a particular day.

41. A method as claimed in claim 39, wherein said specific period is input or defined by a first day and a last day of said specific period.

42. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising displaying an interface over the internet for operation by said clients or said agents to input absence information pertaining to said respective clients.

43. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising receiving said data from swipe input mechanism, said swipe input mechanism including a plurality of RFID tags and one or more tag readers adapted to read said tags .

44. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising receiving said data from a mobile device input mechanism, said mobile device input mechanism being adapted to receive attendance or absence data from mobile communications devices.

45. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising constructing or assembling data indicative of one or more of said clients expected to attend said care for a specific period from respective enrolment registrations or schedules of said clients.

46. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising receiving waitlist applications pertaining to one or more of said clients indicative of care desired for said respective clients from said clients or said agents via the internet.

47. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising tagging one or more of said clients as absent or expected to be absent on a specified day or for a specified period.

48. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising displaying respective statuses of said clients as colour coded.

49. A method as claimed in claim 31, comprising receiving group allocation data pertaining to said clients by a drag and drop mechanism.