Roadside assistance

• US 9,584,967 B1
• Filed: 03/02/2016
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Briggs, Ryan M., Kozlowski, Tara Cavallaro, Iqbal, Imran
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelly, Rafferty
• Application Number:
  US15/058,371
• Time in Patent Office: 363 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/553 Data upload
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/15 Information service where the information is dependent on the location of the subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/487 Arrangements for providing information services, e.g. recorded voice services or time announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A mobile computerized apparatus configured to provide membership status in a roadside assistance program after occurrence of a roadside event is disclosed. The apparatus executes instructions that cause/allow the apparatus to receive input related to an electronic membership card, retrieve from a data store membership information associated with the vehicle, and dynamically update the electronic membership card for display on the apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to perform, based on instructions stored in the at least one memory;

receiving, by a computer system, an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a roadside technician;

receiving, by the computer system, technician information about the roadside technician, wherein the technician information is indicative of an identification of the roadside technician;

providing, by the computer system, the estimated time of arrival and the technician information to a communication device associated with a user of a roadside service;

obtaining historical information of the roadside technician, wherein the historical information is indicative of an on-time percentage of the roadside technician over a previous period of time;

receiving a level of confidence for the estimated time of arrival based on the historical information; and

displaying the estimated time of arrival, a confidence indicator indicative of the level of confidence, and the technician information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform:

receiving an updated estimated time of arrival; and

displaying the updated estimated time of arrival.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the technician information includes a picture of the roadside technician.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the technician information includes at least one of a name, a company, and a telephone number for the roadside technician.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the technician information includes a status about the roadside technician.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform:

updating the technician information when the status changes.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the level of confidence is further based on user feedback.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the level of confidence is further based on provided ratings.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the level of confidence is further based on an input from the roadside technician.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the level of confidence is further based on current traffic conditions.

11. A computer-assisted method for providing information about a roadside technician for roadside service, the method comprising:

receiving an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the roadside technician;

receiving technician information about the roadside technician, wherein the technician information is indicative of an identification of the roadside technician;

providing the estimated time of arrival and the technician information to a communication device associated with a user of the roadside service;

obtaining user feedback information about the roadside technician;

receiving a level of confidence for the estimated time of arrival based on the user feedback information; and

displaying the estimated time of arrival, the technician information, and the level of confidence.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor at least to perform operations comprising:

receiving an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a roadside technician;

receiving technician information about the roadside technician, wherein the technician information is indicative of an identification of the roadside technician;

providing the estimated time of arrival and the technician information to a communication device associated with a user of a roadside service;

obtaining user feedback information about the roadside technician;

receiving a level of confidence for the estimated time of arrival based on the user feedback information; and

displaying the estimated time of arrival, the technician information, and the level of confidence.

13. A computer-assisted method for providing location information of a vehicle location of a vehicle for roadside service, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a computer system, an approximate location information of the vehicle;

receiving, by the computer system, an initial satellite image from the approximate location information, the initial satellite image indicative of an approximate vehicle location, wherein the initial satellite image depicts an initial physical surrounding based on the approximate location information of the vehicle;

displaying, by the computer system, the initial satellite image with location indicia indicative of the approximate location information;

including, by the computer system, a displayed adjustable indicator on the initial satellite image, wherein the displayed adjustable indicator is positioned with the initial satellite image based on the approximate vehicle location;

receiving, by the computer system, an input signal that is indicative of improved location information of the vehicle relative to the approximate location information;

displaying, by the computer system, an updated position of the displayed adjustable indicator on the initial satellite image based on the input signal;

updating, by the computer system, the location indicia with the displayed initial satellite image, wherein the updated location indicia is indicative of improved location information; and

sending, by the computer system, an image signal conveying the initial satellite image with the updated location indicia for the roadside service.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, by the computer system, a revised satellite image based on the improved location information, wherein the revised satellite image depicts a revised physical surrounding of the vehicle based on the improved location information; and

including the revised satellite image with the image signal.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a vehicle image of the vehicle; and

including the vehicle image with the image signal.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

deriving the approximate vehicle location of the vehicle from Global Positioning System (GPS) information.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

sending diagnostics results from a diagnostics system of the vehicle.

18. An apparatus comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to perform, based on instructions stored in the at least one memory;

obtaining Global Positioning System (GPS) information;

extracting approximate location information from the GPS information;

receiving an initial satellite image from the approximate location information, the initial satellite image indicative of an approximate vehicle location, wherein the initial satellite image depicts an initial physical surrounding based on the approximate location information of the vehicle;

displaying the initial satellite image with location indicia indicative of the approximate location information;

including a displayed adjustable indicator on the initial satellite image, wherein the displayed adjustable indicator is positioned with the initial satellite image based on the approximate vehicle location;

receiving an input signal that is indicative of improved location information of the vehicle relative to the approximate location information;

displaying an updated position of the displayed adjustable indicator on the initial satellite image based on the input signal;

updating the location indicia with the displayed initial satellite image, wherein the updated location indicia is indicative of improved location information; and

sending an image signal conveying the initial satellite image with the updated location indicia for a roadside service.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform:

sending diagnostics results from a diagnostics system of the vehicle.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform:

receiving a vehicle image of the vehicle; and

including the vehicle image with the image signal.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor at least to perform operations comprising:

obtaining an approximate location information of the vehicle;

receiving an initial satellite image from the approximate location information, the initial satellite image indicative of an approximate vehicle location, wherein the initial satellite image depicts an initial physical surrounding based on the approximate location information of the vehicle;

displaying the initial satellite image with location indicia indicative of the approximate location information;

including a displayed adjustable indicator with the initial satellite image, wherein the displayed adjustable indicator is positioned on the initial satellite image based on the approximate vehicle location;

receiving an input signal that is indicative of improved location information of the vehicle relative to the approximate location information;

displaying an updated position of the displayed adjustable indicator on the initial satellite image based on the input signal;

updating the location indicia with the displayed initial satellite image, wherein the updated location indicia is indicative of improved location information;

receiving a revised satellite image based on the improved location information, wherein the revised satellite image depicts a revised physical surrounding of the vehicle based on the improved location information; and

sending an image signal conveying the revised satellite image with the updated location indicia for a roadside service.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform:

receiving a vehicle image of the vehicle; and

including the vehicle image with the image signal.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to perform:

sending diagnostics results from a diagnostics system of the vehicle.