Location visit detail services for wireless devices

• US 7,292,865 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2004
• Issued: 11/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Contractor, Sunil H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phu; Sanh D.
• Application Number:
  US10/926,203
• Publication Number:
  US 20050026629A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,168 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/411, 455/457, 342/357.1, 705/1, 705/6, 340/992, 340/993
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 1/10 together with the recording, indicating or registering of other data, e.g. of signs of identity
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A location visit detail service, typically provided by a wireless carrier to a subscriber, includes a portable wireless device, a location identification means and a central processor. The central processor periodically receives location data generated by the location identification means. The central processor data transforms the location data into time and position data pairs that identify the location of the portable wireless device at a particular time. Through a geographic information system database, the position data is converted to street address data. The details data is provided by the wireless carrier to the subscriber, which can use the details data to provide a summary report describing the activity of the service person. This summary report can be used for preparation of bills or for gathering statistics on (individual or group) service person efficiency. Alternatively, the wireless carrier can prepare the report that is then transmitted to the subscriber.

Claims

1. A system for tracking personnel of a subscriber, comprising:

a portable wireless device associated with a service person of the subscriber, the portable wireless device including operability to automatically transmit a signal to the location means based upon a predetermined signaling event;

a location system operable to initiate contact with the portable wireless device and to receive location information associated with the service person of the subscriber transmitted by the portable wireless device;

a processor operable to convert positions based on the location information to specific location information which is used to track and monitor the service person, the processor utilizing the specific location information to gather service information about the service person;

the processor utilizing thresholds to determine service information about the service person, wherein one threshold corresponds to a distance parameter and another threshold corresponds to a time parameter; and

the processor determining a difference distance between a predetermined location visited by the service person and a scheduled location to be visited, and also determining a difference time between the time parameter and an actual time duration of a visit to the predetermined location, and confirming the visit if the difference distance is less than the distance parameter and the actual time duration is greater than the time parameter.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the service information further comprises missed appointment data, efficiency statistics, or billing information.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a report generation means for generating a service person track report based at least in part on the service information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the location information is based on a wireless network-based time difference of arrival (TDOA) computation, a wireless network-based angle of arrival (AOA) computation, a combination of wireless network-based time difference of arrival (TDOA) and angle of arrival (AOA) computations, a location pattern matching (LPM) computation, or a global positioning system (GPS) computation.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the location system acquires location information based in part upon a periodic time interval.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the service person track report includes duration of time information relating to an amount of the actual time duration that the service person was at a specific location.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the location system acquires location information based on the detection of a specific phone number associated with tracking service personnel or the detection of an emergency phone number.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor determines the difference distance only with respect to a subset of the predetermined locations having an expected time of arrival that falls within a predetermined time window of the present time at which the processor determines the difference distance.

8. A system for tracking personnel of a subscriber, comprising:

a portable wireless device associated with a service person of the subscriber, the portable wireless device operable to receive and transmit signals;

a location means operable to interact with the portable wireless device gathering location information associated with the service person of the subscriber;

processing means operable to convert positions based on the location information to specific location information which is used to track and monitor the service person, the processing means utilizing a threshold in part to determine service information about the service person;

a schedule containing one or more entries corresponding to predetermined visit sites, each entry in the schedule corresponding to a location to be visited, the service information utilized for comparison purposes with respect to the schedule;

the processing means utilizing thresholds to determine service information about the service person, wherein one threshold corresponds to a distance parameter and another threshold corresponds to a time parameter; and

the processing means determining a difference distance between a predetermined location visited by the service person and a scheduled location to be visited, and also determining a difference time between the time parameter and an actual time duration of a visit to the predetermined location, and confirming the visit if the difference distance is less than the distance parameter and the actual time duration is greater than the time parameter.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the portable wireless device is further operable to automatically transmit information to the location means based upon a predetermined signaling event.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the location information is based on a wireless network-based time difference of arrival (TDOA) computation, a wireless network-based angle of arrival (AOA) computation, a combination of wireless network-based time difference of arrival (TDOA) and angle of arrival (AOA) computations, a location pattern matching (LPM) computation, or a global positioning system (GPS) computation.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the location means is operable to obtain the location information on a periodic time basis or by predicting whether the service person is near a predetermined location.

12. A method for tracking service personnel of a subscriber, comprising:

associating a portable wireless device with a service person;

causing the portable wireless device to automatically transmit a signal, wherein the signal includes location information associated with the service person of the subscriber;

acquiring the location information associated with the service person of the subscriber;

converting positions based on the location information to specific location information which is used to track and monitor the service person;

utilizing thresholds in part to determine service information about the service person;

creating a schedule containing one or more entries corresponding to predetermined visit sites, each entry in the schedule corresponding to a location to be visited, the service information utilized for comparison purposes with respect to the schedule;

one threshold corresponding to a distance threshold and another threshold corresponding to a time threshold;

determining a difference distance between the actual location visited and a location associated with an entry in the schedule, and also determining a difference time between the time parameter and an actual time duration of a visit to a particular location;

confirming the visit if the difference distance is less than the distance threshold and if the actual time duration is greater than the time threshold; and

generating a service person track report based in part on the specific location information.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising causing the portable wireless device to automatically transmit information based upon a predetermined event.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising preparing a bill based on the service person track report.