Systems and methods for a social network for roadside assistance

• US 9,203,897 B1
• Filed: 01/28/2014
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Billman, Bradly J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shafi, Muhammad
• Application Number:
  US14/166,053
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 701/33, 701/117, 701/24, 701/29.6, 701/32.3, 455/411, 455/404.2, 455/404.1, 455/414.2, 455/415, 705/75, 705/72, 705/62, 705/317, 705/27.1, 705/38, 705/26.61, 705/35, 705/26.41
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A system for facilitating assistance requests may comprise at least one subsystem that receives an assistance request from a requester, at least one subsystem that identifies a current location of the requester, and at least one subsystem that identifies members of an assistance network that are within a particular area relative to the current location of the requester.

Claims

1. A network-based system for facilitating road-side assistance requests comprising:

at least one subsystem that receives an assistance request from a requester;

at least one subsystem that identifies a current location of the requester;

at least one subsystem that identifies members of an assistance network that are within a particular area relative to the current location of the requester;

at least one subsystem that receives selection criteria from the requester;

at least one subsystem that routes the assistance request to an entity selected from the group consisting of emergency services, parents, and other registered users available for providing assistance in the area of the requester'"'"'s current location;

wherein if the requester is a minor, a parent of the requester may be notified according to the requester'"'"'s selection criteria;

at least one subsystem that receives selection criteria from the identified members of the assistance network;

at least one subsystem that sends the assistance criteria to one or more the identified members of the assistance network;

at least one subsystem that receives responses from at least one of the one or more identified members of the assistance network; and

at least one subsystem that sends an acceptance to at least one of the one or more identified members of the assistance network.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising at least one subsystem that sends the one or more responses to the requester.

3. A computer-implemented method for facilitating network-based road-side assistance requests comprising:

an assistance network receiving an assistance request from a requester;

the assistance network identifying a current location of the requester;

the assistance network identifying members of the assistance network that are within a particular area relative to the current location of the requester;

the assistance network receiving selection criteria from the requester;

the assistance network routing the assistance request to an entity selected from the group consisting of emergency services, parents, and other registered users available for providing assistance in the area of the requester'"'"'s current location;

wherein if the requester is a minor, a parent of the requester may be notified according to the requester'"'"'s selection criteria;

the assistance network receiving selection criteria from the identified members of the assistance network;

the assistance network sending the assistance request to one or more identified members of the assistance network;

the assistance network receiving responses from at least one of the one or more identified members of the assistance network; and

the assistance network sending an acceptance to at least one of the one or more identified members of the assistance network.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising sending the one or more responses to the requester.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for facilitating computer network-based road-side assistance requests comprising computer readable instructions for:

receiving an assistance request from a requester;

identifying a current location of the requester;

identifying members of an assistance network that are within a particular area relative to the current location of the requester;

receiving selection criteria from the requester;

routing the assistance request to an entity selected from the group consisting of emergency services, parents, and other registered users available for providing assistance in the area of the requester'"'"'s current location;

wherein if the requester is a minor, a parent of the requester may be notified according to the requester'"'"'s selection criteria;

receiving selection criteria from the identified members of the assistance network;

sending the assistance request to one or more identified members of the assistance network;

receiving responses from at least one of the one or more identified members of the assistance network; and

sending an acceptance to at least one of the one or more identified members of the assistance network.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 5 further comprising computer readable instructions for sending the one or more responses to the requester.