Region-associated ratings of wireless carriers

• US 8,369,338 B1
• Filed: 05/25/2010
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Peng, Shih-Ta, Johnson, Charles Steven, Rubenson, Aaron C., Moulton, Gregor Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): WONG, XAVIER S
• Application Number:
  US12/787,048
• Time in Patent Office: 987 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/395.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/51 for resellers, retailers or service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/83 Notification aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/85 characterised by the type of condition triggering a notification
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/851 Determined tariff
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for collecting and presenting region-associated ratings of wireless carriers. Customer ratings for a plurality of wireless carriers are collected in one or more computing devices. Each of the customer ratings is associated with a corresponding geographic location. A target geographic location is obtained from a client. A network page is generated including one or more maps showing a region encompassing the target geographic location. The maps indicate an aggregate customer rating for one or more of the wireless carriers for the region. The aggregate customer rating is determined based at least in part on a subset of the customer ratings that are associated with geographic locations that are encompassed by the region.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, the program comprising:

code that collects a plurality of customer ratings for a plurality of wireless carriers, each of the customer ratings being associated with a corresponding geographic location and evaluating one of the wireless carriers on a plurality of dimensions;

code that determines a target region according to data obtained from a client;

code that provides a subset of the customer ratings that are associated with a subset of the wireless carriers that offer service to the target region, the subset of customer ratings also being associated with geographic locations that are encompassed by the target region;

code that encodes for rendering by the client at least one map showing the target region, the at least one map indicating an aggregate rating in each one of the dimensions for each of at least two of the subset of the wireless carriers in the target region, the aggregate rating being determined from the subset of the customer ratings; and

code that sends a network page including the at least one map to the client.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the network page includes at least one component configured to obtain a user selection of one of the dimensions in order to select the aggregate ratings that are indicated by the at least one map.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the network page includes at least one component configured to obtain a user selection of one of the subset of the wireless carriers in order to select the aggregate ratings that are indicated by the at least one map.

4. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device;

a rating collection application executable in the at least one computing device, the rating collection application comprising;

logic that obtains a plurality of user ratings for a plurality of wireless carriers, each of the user ratings being associated with a corresponding geographic location; and

a rating presentation application executable in the at least one computing device, the rating presentation application comprising;

logic that identifies a target region according to data obtained from a client;

logic that encodes at least one map depicting at least the target region for rendering in the client, the at least one map graphically indicating an aggregate user rating for the at least one of the wireless carriers, the aggregate user rating being determined based at least in part on a subset of the user ratings that are associated with geographic locations that are encompassed by the target region; and

logic that generates a network page including the at least one map.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the rating presentation application further comprises logic that obtains a selected subset of a plurality of dimensions used in rating the wireless carriers from the client.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein at least some of the dimensions correspond to features offered by at least one of the wireless carriers.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the rating presentation application further comprises logic that generates a recommendation for one of the wireless carriers based at least in part on the selected subset of the dimensions and an availability of service in the target region from the one of the wireless carriers, and the network page includes the recommendation.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one of the user ratings is obtained from a wireless device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the geographic location associated with the at least one of the user ratings corresponds to a geographic location of the wireless device determined when the at least one of the user ratings is obtained from the wireless device.

10. The system of claim 4, wherein at least some of the geographic locations associated with the user ratings each correspond to a service location of a respective user.

11. The system of claim 4, wherein the target region is defined according to a postal code.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the target region is defined according to a distance from a geographic location.

13. The system of claim 4, wherein the network page includes a plurality of user comments associated with the subset of the user ratings.

14. The system of claim 4, wherein the aggregate user ratings for a plurality of the wireless carriers are graphically indicated on one of the at least one map.

15. The system of claim 4, wherein a first one of the at least one map graphically indicates the aggregate user rating for the at least one of the wireless carriers in a first dimension, and a second one of the at least one map graphically indicates the aggregate user rating for the at least one of the wireless carriers in a second dimension.

16. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one map depicts the target region and at least one other contiguous region.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one map graphically indicates a different aggregate user rating for at least one of the wireless carriers for the at least one other contiguous region determined based at least in part on a subset of the user ratings that are associated with geographic locations that are encompassed by the at least one other contiguous region.

18. The system of claim 4, wherein the rating collection application further comprises logic that generates a map that facilitates a user specification of the geographic location for a corresponding at least one of the user ratings.

19. A method, comprising the steps of:

collecting, in at least one computing device, a plurality of customer ratings for a plurality of wireless carriers, each of the customer ratings being associated with a corresponding geographic location;

obtaining, in the at least one computing device, a target geographic location from a client; and

generating, in the at least one computing device, a network page including at least one map showing a region encompassing the target geographic location, the at least one map indicating an aggregate customer rating for at least one of the wireless carriers for the region, the aggregate customer rating being determined based at least in part on a subset of the customer ratings that are associated with geographic locations that are encompassed by the region.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of verifying, in the at least one computing device, an identity of a customer before collecting a customer rating for one of the wireless carriers from the customer.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein each one of the at least one map corresponds to a respective one of the at least one of the wireless carriers.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein each one of the at least one map is configured to be selectable by a user for rendering in a common display region of the network page.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the at least one of the wireless carriers is determined to provide service to the region.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one map shows a plurality of regions, and the at least one map indicates a corresponding aggregate customer rating for at least one of the wireless carriers for each of the regions, each aggregate customer rating being determined based at least in part on a subset of the customer ratings that are associated with geographic locations that are encompassed by the corresponding region.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the customer ratings is multi-dimensional.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one map is configured to indicate at least a selected one of a plurality of dimensions associated with the aggregate customer rating.