SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCURING TAXICAB SERVICE

• US 20090037194A1
• Filed: 07/30/2007
• Published: 02/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: ROCHE, MARK
• Granted Patent: US 10,453,107 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching

Abstract

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a dispatch system having a controller element to receive from a communication device a first wireless message including a location coordinate and a request for taxicab service, and determine available taxicab services according to the location coordinate and the request. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium in a communication device, comprising computer instructions for:

transmitting to a dispatch center a first wireless message, wherein the first wireless message comprises a location coordinate and a description of a taxicab service requested; and

receiving from the dispatch center a second wireless message, wherein the second wireless message comprises a taxicab arrival time.

2. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first wireless message comprises a destination, and wherein the second wireless message comprises a taxicab service fee for delivery of at least one passenger to said destination.

3. The storage medium of claim 2, wherein the second wireless message comprises a request for acceptance of the taxicab service fee, wherein the storage medium comprises computer instructions for:

presenting the second wireless message; and

transmitting to the dispatch center a response to the request for acceptance.

4. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first wireless message comprises a proposed fee for the taxicab service, and wherein the second wireless message comprises a response to the proposed fee.

5. The storage medium of claim 4, wherein the response comprises one among an acceptance of the proposed fee and counteroffer fee.

6. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the second wireless message comprises the taxicab arrival time and at least one among a description of accommodations and a service fee for each of a plurality of taxicabs.

7. The storage medium of claim 6, comprising computer instructions for:

selecting one of the plurality of taxicabs according to the taxicab arrival time and at least one among the description of accommodations and the service fee for each of the plurality of taxicabs; and

transmitting to the dispatch center a third wireless message identifying the selected taxicab and fulfillment information to pay for the taxicab service fee.

8. The storage medium of claim 6, wherein the description of accommodations comprises information associated with at least one among a number of passengers that can be transported by each taxicab, an automobile description for each taxicab, a year, make and model of each taxicab, and amenities available in each taxicab.

9. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the description of the taxicab service requested comprises at least one among a desired pickup time, an automobile preference type, a destination, a number of passengers to be transported to said destination, ages or gender of said passengers, and a preferred taxicab driver.

10. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the first wireless message corresponds to one among an email message, an instant messaging (IM) message, a short messaging service (SMS) message, and a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message.

11. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for receiving the location coordinate from a global positioning system (GPS) receiver of the communication device.

12. The storage medium of claim 1, comprising computer instructions for:

transmitting a wireless query message to one or more taxicab dispatch centers requesting taxicab service information; and

selecting the dispatch center from information wirelessly supplied by one or more dispatch centers responding to the wireless query message.

13. A dispatch system, comprising a controller element to:

receive from a communication device a first wireless message comprising a location coordinate and a request for taxicab service; and

determine available taxicab services according to the location coordinate and the request.

14. The dispatch system of claim 13, wherein the controller element selects one or more taxicabs from a plurality of taxicabs according to the location coordinate and the request.

15. The dispatch system of claim 14, wherein the request comprises a description of the taxicab service.

16. The dispatch system of claim 15, wherein the description of the taxicab service requested comprises at least one among a desired pickup time, an automobile type, a destination, a number of passengers to be transported to said destination, and a preferred taxicab driver.

17. The dispatch system of claim 13, wherein the controller element exchanges wireless messages with the communication device, wherein said wireless messages correspond to a negotiation of a fee for the requested taxicab service.

18. The dispatch system of claim 17, wherein the negotiation corresponds to a reverse auction initiated from the communication device.

19. The dispatch system of claim 13, wherein the controller element exchanges wireless messages with one or more communication devices in a corresponding one or more taxicabs

20. The dispatch system of claim 19, wherein said wireless messages comprise at least one among a message exchange to determine a location coordinate of each of the one or more taxicabs, a message exchange to determine which of the one or more taxicabs matches or nearly matches the request, and a message exchange to negotiate the requested taxicab service.

21. The dispatch system of claim 13, wherein the controller element transmits to the communication device a second wireless message comprising a proposal associated with the requested taxicab service, wherein said proposal indicates an extent to which the request for taxicab service matches the proposal, and wherein said proposal is presented at a user interface of the communication device.

22. A method, comprising selecting a taxicab according to a wireless message transmitted by a communication device, wherein the wireless message comprises a location coordinate and description of a desired taxicab service.

23. The method of claim 22, comprising searching for a match or near match between the desired taxicab service and services offered by a plurality of taxicabs in a vicinity of the location coordinate.

24. The method of claim 23, comprising detecting at least one of the plurality of taxicabs that matches or nearly matches the desired taxicab service.

25. The method of claim 24, comprising notifying the communication device of the at least one detected taxicab.