METHOD FOR ACTIVATING SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH A PRODUCT VIA A SERVICE CENTER SUPPORTING A VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

• US 20130073403A1
• Filed: 09/15/2011
• Published: 03/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teletech Holdings Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Teletech Holdings Incorporated
• Inventors: Tuchman, Kenneth D., Sharpe, Bruce A., Truong, Henry D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,173,090 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/265 for initial activation of new user

Abstract

A service center receives a request for activating a subscribed service on a first device that has been registered with the service center, where the service center provides services to a plurality of products on behalf of a plurality of product providers. In response to the request, device information about the registered first device is retrieved from an internal database, where the device information was collected when the first device was registered with the service center. Subscription information including credentials of a user who has subscribed the subscribed service is obtained for authentication. The device information and the credentials are transmitted to a service provider that provides the subscribed service to allow the service provider to activate the subscribed service on the first device, without having the user to directly contact the service provider for activating the subscribed service.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for activating a service, comprising:

receiving, at a service center, a request for activating a subscribed service on a first device that has been registered with the service center, wherein the service center provides services to a plurality of products on behalf of a plurality of product providers;

in response to the request, retrieving device information about the registered first device from an internal database, wherein the device information was collected when the first device was registered with the service center;

obtaining subscription information including credentials of a user who has subscribed the subscribed service for authentication; and

transmitting, over a network on behalf of the user, the device information and the subscription information to a service provider that provides the subscribed service to allow the service provider to activate the subscribed service on the first device, without having the user to directly contact the service provider for activating the subscribed service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscription information is obtained from the internal database, wherein the subscription information was collected when the subscribed service was registered with the service center.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an electronic receipt of the first device which was automatically sent from a remote point of sale (POS) location where the first device was acquired; and

automatically registering the first device with service center by communicating with a product provider that provides the first device to compile the device information based on the electronic receipt.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

identifying the subscribed service that can be activated on the first device based on the device information; and

transmitting a notification to a mobile device of the user indicating that the first device has been automatically registered and requesting whether the user wishes to activate the identified subscribed service on the first device, wherein the request for activating the first device is received from the mobile device based on a positive response from a user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising upon having successfully activated the subscribed service on the first device, transmitting a video stream to the mobile device providing illustration of operating the first device with the subscribed service.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the video stream is retrieved from a remote facility associated with a provider of the first device or a service provider of the subscribed service without user directly accessing the remote facility.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, at the service center, whether a number of existing devices activated with the subscribed service reaches a predetermined threshold; and

deactivating the subscribed service from a second device of the existing devices such that the first device can be activated replacing the second device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

transmitting a notification to the mobile device notifying the user that the number of the existing devices associated with the subscribed service reaches the predetermined threshold; and

causing the mobile device to prompt the user which of the existing devices should be deactivated.

9. A machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for activating a service, the method comprising:

receiving, at a service center, a request for activating a subscribed service on a first device that has been registered with the service center, wherein the service center provides services to a plurality of products on behalf of a plurality of product providers;

in response to the request, retrieving device information about the registered first device from an internal database, wherein the device information was collected when the first device was registered with the service center;

obtaining subscription information including credentials of a user who has subscribed the subscribed service for authentication; and

transmitting, over a network on behalf of the user, the device information and the subscription information to a service provider that provides the subscribed service to allow the service provider to activate the subscribed service on the first device, without having the user to directly contact the service provider for activating the subscribed service.

10. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the subscription information is obtained from the internal database, wherein the subscription information was collected when the subscribed service was registered with the service center.

11. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an electronic receipt of the first device which was automatically sent from a remote point of sale (POS) location where the first device was acquired; and

automatically registering the first device with service center by communicating with a product provider that provides the first device to compile the device information based on the electronic receipt.

12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying the subscribed service that can be activated on the first device based on the device information; and

transmitting a notification to a mobile device of the user indicating that the first device has been automatically registered and requesting whether the user wishes to activate the identified subscribed service on the first device, wherein the request for activating the first device is received from the mobile device based on a positive response from a user.

13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises upon having successfully activated the subscribed service on the first device, transmitting a video stream to the mobile device providing illustration of operating the first device with the subscribed service.

14. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the video stream is retrieved from a remote facility associated with a provider of the first device or a service provider of the subscribed service without user directly accessing the remote facility.

15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

determining, at the service center, whether a number of existing devices activated with the subscribed service reaches a predetermined threshold; and

deactivating the subscribed service from a second device of the existing devices such that the first device can be activated replacing the second device.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting a notification to the mobile device notifying the user that the number of the existing devices associated with the subscribed service reaches the predetermined threshold; and

causing the mobile device to prompt the user which of the existing devices should be deactivated.

17. A data processing system of a service center, comprising:

an application programming interface (API) to receive a request for activating a subscribed service on a first device that has been registered with the service center, wherein the service center provides services to a plurality of products on behalf of a plurality of product providers; and

a service activation module coupled to the API to

retrieve device information about the registered first device from an internal database, wherein the device information was collected when the first device was registered with the service center,

to obtain subscription information including credentials of a user who has subscribed the subscribed service for authentication, and

to transmit, over a network on behalf of the user, the device information and the subscription information to a service provider that provides the subscribed service to allow the service provider to activate the subscribed service on the first device, without having the user to directly contact the service provider for activating the subscribed service.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the subscription information is obtained from the internal database, wherein the subscription information was collected when the subscribed service was registered with the service center.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising a registration module configured to

receive an electronic receipt of the first device which was automatically sent from a remote point of sale (POS) location where the first device was acquired, and

automatically register the first device with service center by communicating with a product provider that provides the first device to compile the device information based on the electronic receipt.

20. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, a notification received from a service center over a network indicating that a device acquired by a user of the mobile device has been registered with the service center, wherein the service center provides support services to a plurality of products on behalf of a plurality of product providers;

in response to the notification, display on the mobile device a list of one or more subscribed services that are eligible to be activated on the device, wherein the one or more subscribed services have been subscribed and registered with the service center by the user, and wherein each of the displayed subscribed services is associated with a selectable control for selecting the subscribed service; and

in response to a user selection of one of the one or more subscribed service, transmitting a service identifier of the selected subscribed service to the service center to allow the service center to activate the selected subscribed service on the device on behalf of the user without having the user to directly contact a service provider of the selected subscribed service.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the device is automatically registered with the service center without user intervention, wherein the service center is configured to compile device information based on an electronic receipt automatically received from a remote point of sale (POS) location where the device was acquired by the user.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

upon having successfully activated the subscribed service on the device, downloading a media stream from the service center; and

playing using a media player of the mobile device the media stream to demonstrate operations of the device with the activated subscribed service.