Selecting a messaging protocol for transmitting data in connection with a location-based service

• US 10,212,536 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2015
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Chheda, Deepti, Cobb, Nicholas, Noffsinger, Adam, Aggarwal, Nikunj, Fong, Vincent, Narducci, IV, Domenic Anthony, Haque, Osman, Neurgaonkar, Ashwin
• Primary Examiner(s): Keller, Michael A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moreau, Austin J
• Application Number:
  US14/796,309
• Publication Number:
  US 20170012920A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,320 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system can receive a request for a transport service from a first device. The request can include a user identifier associated with a first user of the first device, contact information associated with a second user, and a pickup location information. The system can make a determination whether a user account associated with the second user is stored in a user database using the contact information in the request. Based on the determination, the system can select a messaging protocol to transmit data to a second device associated with the contact information. The system can transmit a message corresponding to the transport service to the second device using the selected messaging protocol.

Claims

1. A method of generating and transmitting data, the method being performed by one or more processors of a computing system and comprising:

receiving, from a first computing device, a request for a transport service, the request including (i) a user identifier for a first user of the first computing device, (ii) a location of the first user and (iii) a pickup location;

based on the first computing device determining that a distance between the location of the first user and the pickup location exceeds a predetermined threshold, receiving contact information for a second user from the first computing device;

searching a user database to make a determination as to whether a user account corresponding to the contact information for the second user is stored in the user database;

based on the determination, selecting a messaging protocol to transmit data to a second computing device associated with the contact information; and

transmitting, from the computing system, a message corresponding to the transport service to the second computing device using the selected messaging protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a record associated with the transport service, the record including the user identifier associated with the first user;

wherein when the user account for the second user is stored in the user database, the record includes a second user identifier for the second user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein textual content included in the message is also based on the determination.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

arranging the transport service to be provided by a driver based on the pickup location;

wherein the message is transmitted to the second computing device after the transport service is arranged, and wherein the message includes textual content that identifies the first user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein when the user account for the second user is determined to not be stored in the user database, the message also includes (i) textual content that identifies the driver and a vehicle of the driver, and (ii) a link to a web page to view a status of the transport service.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

transmitting, from the computing system, data corresponding to the transport service to the first computing device after the transport service is arranged.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected messaging protocol corresponds to one of (i) a text message protocol, (ii) a multimedia message protocol, (iii) an electronic mail protocol, or (iv) a push notification protocol.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein when the user account for the second user is determined to be stored in the user database, the selected messaging protocol corresponds to the push notification protocol, and wherein the message, when selected by the second user on the second computing device, causes a designated application to be launched on the second computing device and causes information about the transport service to be displayed by the designated application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device prompts the first user to input the contact information for the second user in response to determining that the distance between the location of the first user and the pickup location exceeds the predetermined threshold.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to:

receive, from a first computing device, a request for a transport service, the request including (i) a user identifier for a first user of the first computing device, (ii) a location of the first user and (iii) a pickup location;

based on the first computing device determining that a distance between the location of the first user and the pickup location exceeds a predetermined threshold, receive contact information for a second user from the first computing device;

search a user database to make a determination as to whether a user account corresponding to the contact information for the second user is stored in the user database;

based on the determination, select a messaging protocol to transmit data to a second computing device associated with the contact information; and

transmit, from the computing system, a message corresponding to the transport service to the second computing device using the selected messaging protocol.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to:

generate a record associated with the transport service, the record including the user identifier associated with the first user;

wherein when the user account for the second user is stored in the user database, the record includes a second user identifier for the second user.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein textual content included in the message is also based on the determination.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to:

arrange the transport service to be provided by a driver based on the pickup location;

wherein the message is transmitted to the second computing device after the transport service is arranged, and wherein the message includes textual content that identifies the first user.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein when the user account for the second user is determined to not be stored in the user database, the message also includes (i) textual content that identifies the driver and a vehicle of the driver, and (ii) a link to a web page to view a status of the transport service.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the computing system to:

transmit, from the computing system, data corresponding to the transport service to the first computing device after the transport service is arranged.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the selected messaging protocol corresponds to one of (i) a text message protocol, (ii) a multimedia message protocol, (iii) an electronic mail protocol, or (iv) a push notification protocol.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein when the user account for the second user is determined to be stored in the user database, the selected messaging protocol corresponds to the push notification protocol, and wherein the message, when selected by the second user on the second computing device, causes a designated application to be launched on the second computing device and causes information about the transport service to be displayed by the designated application.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the first device prompts the first user to input the contact information for the second user in response to determining that the distance between the location of the first user and the pickup location exceeds the predetermined threshold.

19. A computing system, comprising:

one or more communication interfaces;

one or more processors coupled to the one or more communication interfaces; and

one or more memory resources storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing system to;

receive, from a first computing device, a request for a transport service, the request including (i) a user identifier for a first user of the first computing device, (ii) a location of the first user and (iii) a pickup location;

based on the first computing device determining that a distance between the location of the first user and the pickup location exceeds a predetermined threshold, receive pickup contact information for a second user from the first computing device;

search a user database to make a determination as to whether a user account corresponding to the contact information for the second user is stored in the user database;

based on the determination, select a messaging protocol to transmit data to a second computing device associated with the contact information; and

transmit, from the computing system, a message corresponding to the transport service to the second computing device using the selected messaging protocol.

20. The computing system of claim 19, wherein the first device prompts the first user to input the contact information for the second user in response to determining that the distance between the location of the first user and the pickup location exceeds the predetermined threshold.