Apparatus and method for broadcasting messages to selected group(s) of users

• US 8,532,609 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2011
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AI-CORE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: One-12 Group LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Spector, Shelley J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gonzalez, Amancio
• Application Number:
  US13/154,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20110256842A1
• Time in Patent Office: 826 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/412.1, 455/426.1, 455/414.1
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/00 Alarm systems in which the alarm condition is signalled from a central station to a plurality of substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services

Abstract

There is disclosed a method and apparatus for transmitting a message to at least one group of users selected from a population of the users. The method comprises the steps of assigning to each member of the one group a common characteristic or indication, collecting from each member of the population an address to which the message may be sent, selecting the common characteristic of a group of message recipients and determining therefrom the users of a particular group or groups based upon the selected common characteristic, whereby messages may be quickly and efficiently sent to all of the users of the selected group(s).

Claims

1. A method of sending messages due to an occurrence of an event, comprising:

identifying, from a population of individuals registered in at least two groups to receive messages associated with a predetermined type of event, a first group of individuals having a first common characteristic, based on information stored in relation to the population of individuals, wherein the messages include a first message associated with the first group of individuals; and

transmitting the first message to the first group of individuals due to the occurrence of the predetermined type of event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the event has occurred independently of any actions by the individuals within the identified first group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is one of a predefined message, a customized predefined message, and a newly created message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is one of a text message, an e-mail, an SMS message, and a voice message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first common characteristic is one of a region, a zip code, a job function, a job title, a job rank, a security ownership interest, and a specific interest of an individual.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering an individual with the population of individuals upon receiving contact information of the individual, address identification information for at least one terminal associated with the individual, and at least one characteristic indicative of types of events for which the individual is to receive messages.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an individual of the population of individuals with access to respective information stored in association with the individual; and

updating the respective information in response to an instruction received from the individual to change the respective information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, from the population of individuals, a second group of individuals having a second common characteristic different from the first common characteristic, based on the information stored in relation to the population of individuals, wherein the messages include a second message associated with the second group of individuals and different from the first message; and

transmitting the second message to the second group of individuals due to the occurrence of the predetermined type of event.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second message is different in content from the first message.

10. A method of sending messages due to an occurrence of an event, comprising:

identifying, from a population of individuals preregistered to receive messages associated with one or more predetermined types of events, a group of individuals with a common characteristic, based on information stored in a registration database in relation to the population of individuals, wherein the common characteristic has been preselected based on the occurred event;

generating a message related to the event;

prioritizing the individuals of the identified group into at least a first subgroup and a second subgroup, the first subgroup having a higher priority than the second subgroup; and

transmitting the generated message to terminals, preregistered by individuals within the identified group for receiving broadcast messages, the transmitting including;

transmitting the message first to terminals preregistered by individuals within the first subgroup; and

transmitting the message to terminals preregistered by individuals within the second subgroup at a later time than to the first subgroup.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the prioritizing of the individuals of the identified group comprises prioritizing using one or more of a job rank, a job title, a job function, a region, and a zip code.

12. A method of sending messages due to an occurrence of an event, comprising:

identifying, from a population of individuals preregistered to receive messages associated with one or more predetermined types of events, a group of individuals with a common characteristic, based on information stored in a registration database in relation to the population of individuals, wherein the common characteristic has been preselected based on the occurred event;

generating a message related to the event, wherein the generating comprises generating a first message related to the event and a second message related to the event different from the first message; and

transmitting the generated message to terminals, preregistered by individuals within the identified group for receiving broadcast messages, wherein the transmitting comprises;

transmitting the first message to terminals preregistered by individuals within a first subgroup of the identified group; and

transmitting the second message to terminals preregistered by individuals within a second subgroup of the identified group.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the individuals of the first subgroup have higher priority than the individuals of the second subgroup.

14. A system for broadcasting messages in response to an occurrence of an event, comprising:

a registration database configured to store information about a population of individuals preregistered in at least two groups to receive messages associated with a predetermined type of event; and

a server configured to;

identify from the population of individuals a first group of individuals having a first common characteristic, based on the information stored in the registration database, wherein the first common characteristic has been preselected based on the occurred event and the messages include a first message associated with the first group of individuals; and

transmit the first message to the first group of individuals due to the occurrence of the predetermined type of event.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is further configured to register an individual with the registration database upon receiving contact information of the individual, address identification information for at least one terminal associated with the individual, and at least one characteristic indicative of events for which the individual is to receive messages.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is further configured to:

provide an individual with access to respective information stored in the registration database in association with the individual via a terminal, pre-registered with the registration database by the individual for receiving messages; and

update the respective information based on an instruction received from the individual to change the respective information.

17. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

an administrator terminal configured to enable;

selecting the common characteristic at the server due to the occurrence of the event;

creating the first message by one of selecting a predefined message, customizing another predefined message, and entering a new message regarding the occurred event; and

indicating that the message is ready to be transmitted to the individuals of the first group.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is further configured to:

identify, from the population of individuals, a second group of individuals having a second common characteristic different from the first common characteristic, based on the information stored in the registration database, wherein the messages include a second message associated with the second group of individuals and different from the first message; and

transmit the second message to the second group of individuals due to the occurrence of the predetermined type of event.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the second message is different in content from the first message.

20. A method of broadcasting messages in response to an occurrence of an event, comprising:

generating a message related to occurrence of an event; and

transmitting the generated message to terminals that are preregistered to receive messages associated with the event once occurred, the terminals having an association with a common characteristic, based on information stored in a registration database in relation to the terminals, wherein the common characteristic has been preselected based on the occurred event

wherein the generating step comprises generating a first message related to the occurred event and a second message related to the occurred event different from the first message;

wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting the first message to at least one of the terminals preregistered within a first subgroup of an identified group, and transmitting the second message to at least one of the terminals preregistered within a second subgroup of the identified group; and

wherein the message transmitted to the at least one of the terminals of the first subgroup has a higher priority than the message transmitted to the at least one of the terminals of the second subgroup.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the individuals of the first subgroup have higher priority than the individuals of the second subgroup.

22. A computer-implemented method of sending messages due to occurrence of an event, comprising:

receiving from a data provider, through an electronic interface viewable on a display, information of occurrence of an event;

selecting, on the electronic interface, recipients of a message associated with the occurrence of the event;

selecting, on the electronic interface, a first message associated with the occurrence of the event; and

sending, via a command issued via the electronic interface, the selected first message to the selected recipients;

wherein the selecting of the recipients includes selecting the recipients as a group from a plurality of recipient groups presented on the electronic interface, each of the plurality of recipient groups being identifiable by a common characteristic unique among the plurality of recipient groups;

wherein the first message is one of a plurality of messages presented on the electronic interface.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, further comprising:

selecting, on the electronic interface, a second message of the plurality of messages presented on the electronic interface, the second message being associated with the occurrence of the event and different from the first message; and

sending, via a command issued via the electronic interface, the selected second message,

wherein the selecting of the recipients includes selecting recipients of a first group from the plurality of recipient groups presented on the electronic interface for receipt of the selected first message, and selecting recipients of a second group from the plurality of recipient groups presented on the electronic interface for receipt of the selected second message.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the recipients of the first group have higher priority than the recipients of the second group.

25. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that configure a computing device on execution to:

select, from a population registered in at least two groups to receive messages associated with one or more types of events, a first group of members having a first common characteristic, in response to an input and based on information stored in relation to the population, wherein the first common characteristic has been preselected based on one of the one or more types of events and each member of the first group of members has an address that is stored in the registration database in relation to the each member;

generate a first message relating to the event;

capture the stored address of each member of the selected first group of members;

insert the captured address into the generated first message; and

transmit the generated first message to each member of the first group preregistered for receiving the generated first message.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein to transmit the generated first message to each member of the first group preregistered for receiving the generated first message, the computer-executable instructions further configure the computing device on execution to:

transmit the generated first message to each member of a first subgroup of the group preregistered for receiving the generated first message; and

transmit the generated first message to each member of a second subgroup of the group preregistered for receiving the generated first message, at a later time than to the first subgroup.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the computer-executable instructions further configure the computing device on execution to:

select from the population a second group of individuals having a second common characteristic different from the first common characteristic, based on the information stored in relation to the population;

generate a second message relating to the event and different from the first message;

capture the stored address of each member of the selected second group of members;

insert the captured address into the generated second message; and

transmit the generated second message to each member of the second group preregistered for receiving the generated second message.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the second message is different in content from the first message.