Apparatus, and associated method, for automatically notifying a mobile station of occurrence of a triggering event

• US 6,647,272 B1
• Filed: 11/19/1999
• Issued: 11/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Asikainen, Jussi
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Nguyen T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Iqbal, Khawar
• Application Number:
  US09/444,330
• Time in Patent Office: 1,453 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/414, 455/566, 455/406, 455/407, 455/458, 455/412, 455/408, 455/403, 455/413, 455/404, 705/26, 705/21, 704/270, 704/274, 379/88.12, 379/68, 379/67.1
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/32 using wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/42 Confirmation, e.g. check or permission by the legal debtor of payment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/425 using two different networks, one for transaction and one for security confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/12 Card verification
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 3/003 Anti-theft control theft alarms G08B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/08 between user and terminal device

Abstract

Apparatus, and an associated method, automatically notifies a mobile station operable in a radio communication system of the occurrence of a triggering event. Responsive thereto, the mobile station generates an audible alert to alert a user of the mobile station of the triggering event. When implemented at a bank service provider, a user of the mobile station is alerted automatically of the occurrence of, for example, a debit or a credit to the account of a user of the mobile station.

Claims

1. In a radio communication system having a radio part including a mobile station and radio network infrastructure and having a network part to which a transaction service provider device is coupled, a communication path formable between the transaction service provider device and the mobile station, an improvement of apparatus for automatically sending a notification message to the mobile station responsive to a triggering event and for alerting a user of the mobile station of the triggering event, said apparatus comprising:

a triggering event storage element positioned at the transaction service provider, said triggering event storage element for storing indicia identifying at least one triggering event formed of a first triggering event and at least a second triggering event;

a triggering event detector coupled to detect occurrences at the transaction service provider device of the at least one triggering event;

a notification message generator coupled to said triggering event detector, said notification message generator for generating a first notification message when said triggering event detector detects the occurrence of the first triggering event and for generating at least a second notification message when said triggering event detector detects the at least the second triggering event;

a notification message detector coupled to receive indications of reception of the first notification message and the at least the second notification message at the mobile station; and

an alerting transducer coupled to said notification message detector, said alerting transducer for generating a first audible alert, responsive to detection by said notification message detector of the reception of the first notification message at the mobile station and for generating at least a second audible alert responsive to detection of the reception of the at least the second notification message.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the transaction service provider device comprises a transaction service provider computer server, wherein the network part of the radio communication system comprises a hatchet-switched network, wherein the radio communication system further comprises a SMS (short message service) center, and wherein the notification message generated by said notification message generator comprises a SMS notification message, the communication path between the transaction service provider computer server and the mobile station including the SMS center.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the indicia identifying the at least on triggering event is selected at the mobile station and a SMS triggering-event message, generated at the mobile station, and communicated to the transaction service provider computer servicer contains the indicia identifying the at least one triggering event to be stored thereat.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the transaction service provider device comprises a banking service provider device and wherein the at least one triggering event comprises at least one banking service-related event.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the banking service provider device is associated with a banking service provider, wherein the banking service provider provides services related to an account associated with a user of the mobile station and wherein the at least one banking service-related event forming the at least one triggering event comprises at least one account-related event pertaining to the account associated with the user.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the account-related event comprises a credit to the account associated with the user.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the account-related event comprises a debit to the account associated with the user.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said triggering event detector detects occurrence of the at least one account-related event.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the indicia identifying the at least one triggering event is selected at the mobile station and a triggering-event message containing the indicia identifying the at least one triggering event is forwarded, by way of the communication path, to the transaction service provider device to be stored thereat.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the mobile station includes a user actuator, actuable by a user, and wherein the at least one triggering event, selected at the mobile station, is selected by user actuation of the user actuator.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the mobile station has associated therewith operational presets and wherein the indicia identifying the at least one triggering event is selected from the operational presets associated with the mobile station.

12. In a method for communicating in a radio communication system having a radio part including a mobile station and radio network infrastructure and having a network part to which a transaction service provider device is coupled, a communication path formable between the transaction service provider device and the mobile station, an improvement of a method for automatically sending a notification message to the mobile station responsive to a triggering event, and for alerting a user of the mobile station of the triggering event, said method comprising:

storing, at the transaction service provider device, indicia identifying at least one triggering event formed of a first triggering event and at least a second triggering event;

detecting occurrence of any of the first triggering event and at least a second triggering event;

generating a first notification message responsive to detection during said operation of detecting of the first triggering event and at least a second notification message responsive to detection during said operation of detecting of the at least the second triggering event;

sending any of the first notification message and the at least the second notification message, generated during said operation of generating responsive to detection, respectively, of any of the first triggering event and the at least the second triggering event, upon the communication path;

detecting, at the mobile station, the any one of the first notification message and the at least the second notification message sent during said operation of sending; and

generating a first audio alert at the mobile station to notify a user of the mobile station of the occurrence of the first triggering event responsive to detection of the first notification message and at least a second audible alert responsive to detection of the at least the second notification message.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the transaction service provider device comprises a banking service provider device and wherein the at least one triggering event stored during said operation of storing comprises at least one banking service-related event.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the banking service provider device is associated with a banking service provider, wherein the banking service provider provides services related to an account associated with a user of the mobile station and wherein the at least one banking service-related event stored during said operation of storing comprises storing at least one account-related event pertaining to the account associated with the user.