Direct mailing in a geo-spatial environment

• US 9,037,516 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2014
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Original Assignee: Fatdoor Incorporated
• Inventors: Abhyanker, Raj
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Huy C
• Application Number:
  US14/262,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20140237062A1
• Time in Patent Office: 388 Days
• Field of Search: 705/319
• US Class Current: 705/319
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A method and system of direct mailing in a geo-spatial environment are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes generating a community network of user profiles, each user profile associated with a verified geographic location and at least one of a contact address, associating a first user with a first user profile, selecting a mail mode, selecting a communication, generating a first display view to include a map view embodied by the community network, at least a portion of the user profiles represented at a location in the map view associated with the verified geographic location of the first user profile, selecting a second user profile from the portion of the user profiles, and generating a mailing of the communication, in a format associated with the mail mode, between the first user profile and the contact address associated with the second user profile.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

generating a community network of user profiles, each user profile of the user profiles verified with a verified geographic location and at least one of a contact address based on a privacy preference;

associating a first user with a first user profile of the user profiles;

selecting a mail mode;

selecting a communication;

generating a first display view to include a map view embodied by the community network, at least a portion of the user profiles represented at a location in the map view associated with the verified geographic location of the first user profile of the user profiles;

selecting a second user profile from the at least a portion of the user profiles; and

generating a mailing of the communication, in a format associated with the mail mode, between the first user profile of the user profiles and the contact address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles, wherein the contact address is based on the mail mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the mail mode comprises:

selecting at least one of a physical mail mode, a facsimile mode, an email mode, and an instant message mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact address is selected from a group comprising:

a physical mailing address associated with the verified geographic location of the user profile, a facsimile number, an email address, and an instant message user identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting a physical mail mode; and

generating the mailing of the communication, in a physical format associated with the physical mail mode, between the first user profile of the user profiles and the contact address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles, wherein the contact address is based on a physical address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting a facsimile mode; and

generating the mailing of the communication, in a facsimile format associated with the facsimile mode, between the first user profile of the user profiles and the contact address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles, wherein the contact address is based on the facsimile number associated with the second user profile of the user profiles.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting an email mode; and

generating the mailing of the communication, in an email format associated with the email mode, between the first user profile of the user profiles and the contact address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles, wherein the contact address is based on the email address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

selecting an instant message mode; and

generating the mailing of the communication, in an instant message format associated with the instant message mode, between the first user profile of the user profiles and the contact address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles, wherein the contact address is based on the instant message user identifier associated with the second user profile of the user profiles.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the location in the map view from a group comprising;

a street address, a city, a county, a state, and a country.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

selecting a radius associated with the location in the map view; and

selecting user profiles of the at least a portion of the user profiles having verified geographic locations included in the radius.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

providing demographics associated with the community network;

associating at least one of the demographics with each user profile of the user profiles;

selecting at least one demographic of the demographics; and

selecting the user profiles of the at least a portion of the user profiles having verified geographic locations included in the radius and having the at least one demographic of the demographics.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the demographics include an age, an age range, a gender, an occupation, an ethnicity, a location of a residence, a location of a business, a marital status, an ownership status, a language, mobility, income, a life cycle, a socioeconomic status, and a lifestyle.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an online commerce transaction associated with the mailing of the communication.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating the online commerce transaction comprises at least one of:

generating an online transaction associated with payment of postage; and

generating an online transaction associated with payment of services related to the mailing of the communication.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

scheduling the mailing of the communication.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the scheduling the mailing of the communication comprises:

determining a number of mailings;

determining a time period; and

generating the number of mailings within the time period.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating the communication.

17. The method of claim 1 in a form of a machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the method of claim 1.

18. A system, comprising:

a geo-spatial environment;

a community network algorithm of the geo-spatial environment, to include user profiles, using a processor and a memory, each user profile of the user profiles to include a verified geographic location and a contact address based on a privacy preference;

a mail mode algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to determine a mail mode;

a communication algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to select a communication;

a display algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to generate a first display view to include a map view embodied by a community network, at least a portion of the user profiles represented at locations in the map view associated with the verified geographic locations of the at least a portion of the user profiles;

a recipient algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to select a user profile from the at least a portion of the user profiles; and

a mail communication algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to generate a mailing of the communication, in a format associated with the mail mode, to a contact address associated with the user profile of the user profiles.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a map algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to include map data which serves as a basis to render a map view in the geo-spatial environment which identifies at least one residence, business, and civic structure having specific geographic locations; and

a commerce transaction algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to generate a commerce transaction associated with elements.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a postage algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to generate an online transaction associated with payment of postage; and

a service payment algorithm of the geo-spatial environment to generate an online transaction associated with payment of services related to mailing the communication.

21. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a location algorithm to select the location, wherein the location is selected from a group comprising;

a street address, a city, a county, a state, and a country.

22. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a radius algorithm to determine a radius based on the location and to display the at least a portion of the user profiles having verified geographic locations included in the radius.

23. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a demographic algorithm to provide demographics associated with the user profiles;

to select at least one demographic of the demographics, and to determine a group of user profiles of the at least a portion of the user profiles, wherein the at least one demographics is associated with each user profiles of the group of user profiles.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the demographic is selected from a group comprising an age, an age range, a gender, an occupation, an ethnicity, a location of a residence, a location of a business, a marital status, an ownership status, a language, mobility, income, a life cycle, a socioeconomic status, and a lifestyle.

25. The system of claim 18, Further comprising:

a scheduler algorithm to schedule the mailing.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the schedule is based on a selected number of mailings per a predetermined time period.

27. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a document creation algorithm to enable creation of a document.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising:

a letter creation algorithm to enable creation of letters; and

a marketing brochure creation algorithm to enable creation of marketing brochures.

29. The system of claim 18, wherein the mail mode is selected from a group comprising a physical mail mode, a facsimile mode, an email mode, and an instant message mode.

30. The system of claim 18, wherein the contact address is selected from a group comprising a physical mailing address associated with the specific geographic location of the user profile, a facsimile number, an email address, and an instant message user identifier.

31. A geo-spatial environment, comprising:

a first instruction set to enable, using a processor and a memory, a community network, to include a map database associated with map data and a user database associated with user profiles, each user profile of the user profiles associated with a verified geographic location identifiable in the map data and a contact address;

a second instruction set integrated with the first instruction embody a private neighborhood community network, to include representations of at least a portion of the user profiles, wherein each representation of a user profile of the at least a portion of the user profiles is displayed at a location in the map view corresponding to the verified geographic location associated with the user profile;

a third instruction set integrated with the first instruction set and the second instruction set to determine a second user profile of the at least a portion of the user profiles, a communication, and a mail mode; and

a fourth instruction set integrated with the first instruction set and the second instruction set and the third instruction set to generate a mailing of the communication, in a format associated with the mail mode, to the contact address associated with the second user profile of the user profiles, wherein the contact address is based on the mail mode.

32. The geo-spatial environment of claim 31, further comprising:

a fifth instruction set to generate a commerce transaction associated with the mailing of the communication.

33. The geo-spatial environment of claim 32, further comprising:

a sixth instruction set to schedule the mailing of the communication.

34. The geo-spatial environment of claim 33, further comprising:

a seventh instruction set to enable creation of the communication.