SMART REMINDERS

• US 20110148632A1
• Filed: 02/27/2011
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Chin, Peter G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,626,554 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/540
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

Systems and methods for scheduling appointment reminders are based on multiple conditions including estimated travel time. An estimate of the time needed to travel between the user'"'"'s location and the location of the appointment cam be determined by retrieving location information from a global address list (GAL), a local address book of a calendaring application, from a map service, or other location determining technology. Users can subscribe to alert service to receive information regarding recent events such as traffic problems, flight delays, weather conditions, etc., which is then used in setting or modifying reminder times. Notifications can be generated for timing conflicts based on the estimated travel time. If the estimated travel time would require the user to leave a previous appointment early, or be late for a subsequent appointment, a notification can be generated to the user.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium that stores computer-executable instructions for determining when to send a reminder for an appointment, comprising:

determining an estimated travel time for a user to travel to an appointment location; and

determining a first reminder time at which a first reminder notification is to be issued based on the estimated travel time to the appointment location and working hours of the user, and when the first reminder time is outside of the working hours of the user then issuing at a second reminder time a second reminder notification in addition to the first reminder notification for the appointment.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising determining the second reminder time at which the second reminder notification is issued to a time that is a previous day to the appointment.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising setting the first reminder time to be during the user'"'"'s working hours previous to the appointment when an appointment start time for the appointment is outside of the user'"'"'s working hours.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising setting the first reminder time to be during the user'"'"'s working hours previous to the appointment when the determined first reminder time is outside of the user'"'"'s working hours.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising modifying the first reminder time in response to information contained in an alert provided by an alerting service.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining a location associated with the user comprises accessing location information from one or more of a global address list (GAL), a global positioning system (GPS), a map service, a local map application, or a local address list.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining the first reminder time comprises determining the first reminder time using a predetermined lead-time in addition to the travel time.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising issuing a notification in response to a determination that the travel time causes a conflict with another appointment;

wherein the another appointment is located in time either before or after the appointment.

9. A method executing on a processor for determining when to send a reminder for an appointment, comprising:

determining an estimated travel time for a user to travel to an appointment location; and

determining a first reminder time at which a first reminder notification is to be issued based on the estimated travel time to the appointment location and working hours of the user, and when the first reminder time is outside of the working hours of the user then issuing at a second reminder time a second reminder notification in addition to the first reminder notification for the appointment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second reminder time is a time that is a previous day to the appointment.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising setting the first reminder time to be during the user'"'"'s working hours previous to the appointment when an appointment start time for the appointment is outside of the user'"'"'s working hours.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising setting the first reminder time to be during the user'"'"'s working hours previous to the appointment when the determined first reminder time is outside of the user'"'"'s working hours.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising modifying the first reminder time in response to information contained in an alert provided by an alerting service.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein determining a location associated with the user comprises accessing location information from one or more of a global address list (GAL), a global positioning system (GPS), a map service, a local map application, or a local address list.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the first reminder time comprises determining the first reminder time using a predetermined lead-time in addition to the travel time.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising issuing a notification in response to a determination that the travel time causes a conflict with another appointment.

17. An apparatus to determine a time to send a reminder for an appointment, comprising:

a processor;

a participant locator using the processor in determining a location of a user and a location of an appointment;

a travel time estimator using the processor in determining an estimated travel time for travel between the location of the user and the location of the appointment;

a reminder time generator using the processor in determining a first reminder time at which a first reminder notification is to be issued based on the estimated travel time and working hours of the user, and when the first reminder time is outside of the working hours of the user then issuing at a second reminder time a second reminder notification in addition to the first reminder notification for the appointment.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising setting the first reminder time to be during the user'"'"'s working hours previous to the appointment when an appointment start time for the appointment is outside of the user'"'"'s working hours.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising setting the first reminder time to be during the user'"'"'s working hours previous to the appointment when the determined first reminder time is outside of the user'"'"'s working hours.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising modifying the first reminder time in response to information contained in an alert provided by an alerting service.