CONDITIONAL LOCATION-BASED REMINDERS

• US 20130031169A1
• Filed: 07/29/2011
• Published: 01/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Fitoussi, Hen, Axelrod, Elinor
• Granted Patent: US 8,700,709 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72451 according to schedules, e.g. using calendar applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Architecture that enables conditional location-based notifications. One or multiple factors (filter criteria) can be considered, and triggering of a notification can be based on some or all of the factors. Those factors can be static (e.g., time based) or dynamic (e.g., a previous user location) and extend the ability to filter unnecessary notifications, and thus, increase user satisfaction. The filter criteria can include checking user back balance, and calendar as prerequisites to sending a notification.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system, comprising:

a notification component that operates to generate a notification based on geographic location of a user, the notification component associated with a location-based notification infrastructure;

a filter component that processes filter criteria to manage operation of the notification component in association with the user location; and

a processor that executes computer-executable instructions associated with at least one of the notification component or the filter component.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter criteria includes at least one of a constraint, personal information of the user, or information obtained from a website.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter criteria includes a time constraint that when processed manages generation of the notification by the notification component based on temporal information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter criteria includes a constraint that when processed manages generation of the notification based on a previous route traveled by the user relative to the location.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter criteria includes a constraint that when processed manages generation of the notification based on financial account information.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter criteria includes personal information that comprises calendar-based information which allows or blocks sending of the notification based on a concurrent calendar event.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the filter criteria prevents the location-based notification infrastructure from generating the notification based on the filter criteria.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a management component that enables manual and automatic configuration of the filter criteria for a given location.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising acts of:

identifying a user;

applying notification filter criteria to a location-based notification system based on the identity of the user;

processing communication of a notification to the user based on filter criteria; and

utilizing a processor that executes instructions stored in memory to perform at least one of the acts of identifying, applying, or processing.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising applying filter criteria that constrain a point in time or time range at which the notification can be communicated.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising automatically applying filter criteria that constrain communication of the notification based on calendar events associated with the user.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising automatically applying filter criteria that prevent communication of the notification based on an immediately preceding route traveled by the user to get to the location.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising automatically applying filter criteria that constrain communication of the notification based on financial account information of the user.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising configuring the filter criteria to include personal information of the user, information from websites, and constraints.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising preventing the notification system, which is a geo-fence, from triggering the notification based on the filter criteria.

16. A computer-implemented method, comprising acts of:

identifying that a geographical location of a user has reached a trigger location based on a geo-fence;

processing filter criteria based on the trigger location;

checking personal information of the user as part of processing the filter criteria;

processing communication of a notification to the user based on status of the personal information; and

utilizing a processor that executes instructions stored in memory to perform at least one of the acts of identifying, processing, or checking.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising applying filter criteria that prevent communication of the notification based on an immediately preceding route traveled by the user to get to the trigger location.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising automatically applying filter criteria to manage communication of the notification based on the personal information, which is financial account balance information.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising automatically applying filter criteria to manage communication of the notification based on the personal information, which is user calendar.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising preventing the geo-fence from triggering at the trigger location based on the filter criteria.