Method and system for tracking and providing incentives for time and attention of persons and for timing of performance of tasks
First Claim
1. A method of providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of:
- making content available to an individual;
tracking attention of the individual to the content; and
providing rewards to the person based at least in part on the tracked attention.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for tracking and rewarding the desirable activities, including providing time and attention of individuals, and performing of tasks at desired times, includes providing an incentive rewards program. Individuals, groups, companies, or families are enrolled in a program. Interactions, including in-person sales presentations, viewing of pre-recorded videos, visits to stores and other facilities, and connections to internet websites are recorded. The level of attention provided by individuals during interactions may be measured directly or by proxies, and rewards are provided in greater amounts for greater lengths of interactions and for higher levels of attention. The timing of performance of tasks, including for example early payment of bills, particularly utility bills may be tracked, and rewarded. Points may be redeemed for goods and services, including include entry in a drawing, enhanced likelihood of winning in a drawing, and enhanced prizes in a drawing. Various factors may be included in determining the number of time points awarded, including the time of day and day of week of accumulation sessions, the length of the accumulation sessions, the activities and tasks accomplished, and purchases completed. The formula may also award a varying number of time points depending on the individual'"'"'s background profile characteristics, including, but not limited to previous purchase history and previous responses to offers of time points. A central program administrator may maintain records relating to the backgrounds of each enrolled individual, and record awards and administer redemption of awards for earned time points.
481 Citations
46 Claims
-
1. A method of providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of:
-
making content available to an individual;
tracking attention of the individual to the content; and
providing rewards to the person based at least in part on the tracked attention. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
12. A method for providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving identification information relating to an individual at a physical commerce location provided by an individual who is present at the physical commerce location;
correlating received identification information with stored identification information;
recording the time of receipt of identification information;
calculating an award of credits based at least in part on a correlation between the time of receipt of identification information and predetermined time criteria relating to the award of credits.
-
-
20. A method for providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of:
- receiving identification information relating to an individual in connection with an event;
recording information relating to the time of the event, correlating received identification information with stored identification information;
calculating an award based at least in part on a correlation between the time of the event and predetermined time criteria. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
- receiving identification information relating to an individual in connection with an event;
-
31. A method for providing an incentive to an individual for engaging in a desirable activity, comprising the steps of:
-
Recording the information relating to the desirable activity conducted by the individual, Permitting the individual to enter a lottery, and Basing one or more of the number of chances to participate in the lottery, the likelihood of winning, or the size or nature of the prize, on the recorded information. - View Dependent Claims (32)
-
-
33. A method of providing a rewards program comprises the steps of:
-
enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information at a program administrator location maintained by a program administrator;
requiring identification of the individual at a physical commerce location maintained by a program participant, the identification being based on said stored information;
commencing an accumulation session following the identification of the individual;
recording information, including at least the time of day, day of week and information pertaining to purchases made at the physical commerce location during the accumulation session;
forwarding said recorded information to the program administrator;
updating the stored individual profile information at the program administrator location;
calculating the time points accumulated as a result of the accumulation session based on the stored individual profile information and a formula selected by the program participant; and
permitting redemption of earned time points for items of value. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
-
36. A method of identifying customers for enhanced customer service at physical commerce locations includes identifying individual customers upon entry into the physical commerce location based on information contained in a customer database;
-
determining for each of the identified customers the one of at least two categories of customers to which the individual has been assigned;
communicating to store personnel an indication of the category to which at which some of the identified customers have been assigned; and
furnishing differential levels of customer service to different customers depending upon the specific category to which a customer has been assigned and communicated to the store personnel.
-
-
41. A system of providing a rewards program comprises:
-
means for receiving from an individual, identification information upon entry into a physical commerce location;
means for correlating received identification information with stored identification information;
means for commencing an accumulation session;
means for monitoring the tasks and activities accomplished during the accumulation session;
means for calculating time points accumulated specific to the accumulation session, based at least in part on increasing numbers of time points accumulated based on increasing the length of time of the accumulation session.
-
-
42. A system for providing a rewards program comprises:
-
means for enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information at a program administrator location;
means for identifying the individual at a physical commerce location administered by a participant, the identification being based on said stored information;
means for commencing an accumulation session following identification of the individual;
means for recording information, including at least the time of day, the day of week and the duration of the accumulation session, at the participant'"'"'s location;
means for forwarding the recorded information to the program administrator;
means for updating the stored individual information at the administrator location with the forwarded recorded information;
means for calculating the time points accumulated or earned as a result of the accumulation session based on the stored individual information and a formula selected by the participant; and
means to permit the redemption of the earned time points for items of value.
-
-
43. A storage medium, having stored therein a plurality of instructions, is provided wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:
-
receiving identification information following the entry of a customer into a physical commerce location;
correlating received identification information with stored identification information;
commencing an accumulation session;
terminating the accumulation session at the departure of the customer from the physical commerce location;
monitoring the length of time of the accumulation session;
calculating time points accumulated as a result of the accumulation session, based at least in part on awarding credits in increased amounts with increasing the length of the accumulation session.
-
-
44. A storage medium is provided, having stored therein a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:
-
enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information;
requiring identification of the individual after entry into a physical commerce location administered by a participant, the identification being based on said stored information;
commencing an accumulation session following identification of the individual;
receiving recorded information, including at least duration of an accumulation session at a physical commerce location;
updating the stored individual information based on said recorded information;
calculating time points accumulated by the individual as a result of the accumulation session based on the stored individual information and a formula selected by the participant; and
debiting the time points held by the individual based on redemption information.
-
-
45. A method for providing a rewards program comprises the steps of:
-
receiving identification information relating to an individual at a physical commerce location provided by an individual who is present at the physical commerce location;
correlating received identification information with stored identification information;
recording the time of receipt of identification information;
calculating an award of credits based at least in part on a correlation between the time of receipt of identification information and predetermined time criteria relating to the award of credits;
receiving identification information relating to the individual from a client upon the establishment of a connection between the client and a network resource;
correlating received identification information with stored identification information;
commencing an accumulation session;
monitoring the time of the accumulation session;
calculating time points accumulated in the accumulation session, based at least in part on increasing amounts of credits based upon increasing the duration of the accumulation session;
and adding the time points accumulated pertaining to the presence of the individual at the physical commerce location and the credits awarded based on the connection between the client and the network to a time points account associated with the individual.
-
-
46. A method of providing a rewards program comprises the steps of:
-
enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information at a program administrator location maintained by a program administrator;
requiring identification of the individual at a physical commerce location maintained by a program participant, the identification being based on said stored information;
commencing a physical commerce location accumulation session following the identification of the individual;
recording physical commerce location information, including at least the time of day, day of week and information pertaining to purchases made at the physical commerce location during the physical commerce location accumulation session;
forwarding said recorded physical commerce location information to the program administrator;
updating the stored individual profile information at the program administrator location;
calculating number of time points accumulated as a result of the physical commerce location accumulation session based on the stored individual profile information and a formula selected by the program participant;
requiring identification of the individual once a connection to a participant resource has been established, the identification being based on said stored information;
commencing an on-line accumulation session following the identification of the individual;
recording on-line information, including at least the time of day, the day of the week and the duration of the on-line accumulation session, at a participant'"'"'s location during the on-line accumulation session;
forwarding said on-line recorded information to the program administrator;
updating the stored individual information at the program administrator location;
calculating the number of time points accumulated as a result of the on-line accumulation session based on the stored individual information and a formula selected by the participant and permitting redemption of the earned credits for items of value.
-
Specification