System and method for questionnaires and user interactions with a plurality of mobile device recipients

• US 9,100,800 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2013
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualtrics LLC (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Qualtrics LLC (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Rao, Bindu Rama
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, MAHENDRA R
• Application Number:
  US14/059,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20140045469A1
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 455/2.01, 455/406, 455/414.1, 455/466, 705/7.32, 709/206, 715/716
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• 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

A questionnaire system in which a mobile device is used by user to create questionnaires and send it to other recipients. The questionnaire is created by user of a mobile device using audio inputs for a questionnaire preamble and question preambles. A server in the network incorporates other generic portions of the questionnaire as necessary. Thus, a user can make adhoc questionnaires, send them to recipients and receive the results provided by the recipients from their respective mobile devices.

Claims

1. A method performed by a system comprising a server communicatively coupled wirelessly to a plurality of mobile devices, the server comprising a processor, memory and storage, wherein each of the plurality of mobile devices comprise a corresponding mobile display, mobile processor and mobile memory, the method comprising:

creating a video input on one of the plurality of mobile devices and communicating it to the server to be distributed as part of a questionnaire;

receiving, by the server, the questionnaire created on the one of the plurality of mobile devices by a corresponding pre-registered user;

analyzing, by the server, the questionnaire and the video input;

modifying the questionnaire, by the server, as needed;

distributing, by the server, the modified questionnaire with the video input, to a list of recipients for display and sharing, wherein the list of recipients corresponds to at least one of the plurality of mobile devices;

wherein the server selectively communicates a notification to the list of recipients providing information on the questionnaire and selectively conducts billing;

wherein the list of recipients for the questionnaire is specified by picking one or more recipients from a contact list, by identifying a mailing list or by identifying a list of phone numbers; and

receiving, by the server, a user response or feedback from the at least one of the plurality of mobile devices.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the video input is a streaming video content provided as part of the questionnaire.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the questionnaire is an adhoc query created by a user.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

sending a notification, by the server, to target devices among the plurality of mobile devices, the target devices corresponding to the list of recipients, wherein the notification provides information on the questionnaire.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

managing, by the server, the lifecycle of the questionnaire.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

managing, by the server, user accounts setup by registered users.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

charging, by the server, based on the number of recipients to whom the questionnaire is communicated.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

charging, by the server, based on the number of recipients from whom the user response is received.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

waiting, by the server, for a duration of a predetermined time for the arrival of the user responses from the list of recipients before reporting the collection of user responses.

10. A server infrastructure comprising a processing circuitry and memory coupled to the processing circuitry, the server infrastructure communicatively coupled wirelessly to a plurality of mobile devices, wherein each of the plurality of mobile devices comprise a corresponding mobile display, mobile processor and mobile memory, the server infrastructure comprising;

an interface circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry for communicating information to and from the server, wherein the processing circuit, memory, and interface circuitry interoperate to enable the following;

a first interface to receive a questionnaire created by an application on one of the plurality of mobile devices wherein the questionnaire comprises a video input created or provided by the one of the plurality of mobile devices, wherein the one of the plurality of mobile devices is associated with a pre-registered user;

the first interface configured to analyze the questionnaire;

the first interface configured to communicate the questionnaire to at least one of the plurality of mobile devices for display or sharing based on a recipient list, wherein the recipients list corresponds to the at least one of the plurality of mobile devices;

the first interface configured to receive responses or feedback from one or more of the at least one of the plurality of mobile devices;

the first interface configured to communicate a collection of responses to the one of the plurality of mobile devices; and

wherein the first interface communicates the collection of responses or feedback individually as they are received, or sends them as sets of responses and communicates a billing event to a billing system.

11. The server infrastructure of claim 10 wherein the recipients list is received from the one of the plurality of mobile devices along with the questionnaire.

12. The server infrastructure of claim 11 wherein the recipients list is determined by the server.

13. The server infrastructure of claim 10 wherein the first interface is further configured to capture user responses provided by the at least one of the plurality of mobile devices.

14. A method performed by a downloadable interaction client application in a mobile device communicatively coupled wirelessly to a server in a system for questionnaires, the mobile device comprising a processor circuitry and memory coupled to the processor circuitry collectively capable of executing the downloadable interaction client, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a first questionnaire from the server for displaying to a user, wherein the first questionnaire comprises a video input;

analyzing the first questionnaire for display and user interaction by a pre-registered user;

facilitating user interactions with the first questionnaire even while displaying video input, wherein user interactions comprises textual data entry, multiple choice selections, recording an audio message, recording a video message, taking a digital image employing a camera, and selecting an entry from a list;

communicating a user response or feedback collected to the first questionnaire based on the user interactions; and

communicating a billing event to a billing system to selectively charge, based on policies and preferences, for the user response provided to the first questionnaire.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

facilitating creation of a second questionnaire wherein the second questionnaire comprises multiple questions, each question with a preamble, a multiple choice section and user prompts soliciting user inputs;

storing the second questionnaire at the server, for dissemination to a list of recipients;

receiving a collated user response set from the server; and

presenting the collated user response set for review by a user.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the preamble is a textual preamble with an audio component, and wherein at least one of the user prompts solicits a digital photo, a video or an audio input.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the user response collected to the first questionnaire comprises at least one of an audio response, a video response, an image response, and a text response.

18. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

sending a the list of recipients to the server, wherein the list of recipients for the first questionnaire is specified by picking one or more recipients from a contact list, by identifying a pre-configured mailing list that provides an identification or a reference to the recipients, or by identifying a preconfigured list of phone numbers.

19. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

communicating with a billing system to selectively charge, based on policies and preferences, for the user response provided to the first questionnaire;

initiating a charge activity causing a questioner sender to pay a questionnaire fee; and

selectively causing a list of recipients to be paid an incentive payment.

20. The method of claim 14 wherein the video input is a streaming video content comprising one or more of a questionnaire preamble, a question preamble, supplementary information for a question, details describing the choices available, details associated with multiple-choice selection items, and information regarding the questions in a questionnaire and instructions on how best to respond to them.