Notification systems and methods that consider traffic flow predicament data

• US 8,711,010 B2
• Filed: 01/02/2013
• Issued: 04/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Electronic Communication Technologies LLC (f/k/a Eclipse IP, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Communication Technologies LLC (f/k/a Eclipse IP, LLC)
• Inventors: Horstemeyer, Scott A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T
• Application Number:
  US13/732,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20130124635A1
• Time in Patent Office: 482 Days
• Field of Search: 340/994, 340/995.55, 340/988, 340/989, 340/502, 340/504, 340/506, 340/995.1
• US Class Current: 340/994
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/304 Boats
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3438 Rendez-vous, i.e. searching a destination where several users can meet, and the routes to this destination for these users; Ride sharing, i.e. searching a route such that at least two users can share a vehicle for at least part of the route
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/083 Shipping
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0231 Awarding of a frequent usage incentive independent of the monetary value of a good or service purchased, or distance travelled
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0257 User requested
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 : Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 : Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 : based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 : Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 : Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/127 : to a central station ; Indicators in a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 : Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 : Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 : for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/487 : Arrangements for providing information services, e.g. recorded voice services or time announcements

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for automated notification systems. One representative method, among others, comprises the following steps: monitoring travel data associated with a mobile thing (MT); scheduling a notification communication; analyzing traffic flow predicament data associated with a travel plan of the MT; and rescheduling the notification communication, based upon the traffic flow predicament data. A representative system, among others, comprises a computer or other automated system that is programmed to perform the foregoing steps.

Claims

1. A notification system having a computer-based architecture using one or more computers, the notification system comprising:

one or more memories designed to store computer program code; and

one or more processors designed to execute the computer program code stored in the one or more memories, the computer program code comprising;

code designed to schedule a notification communication session in connection with a personal communications device (PCD) relating to an arrival or departure of a mobile thing (MT) at a stop location;

code designed to monitor travel data associated with the MT;

code designed to analyze traffic flow predicament data pertaining to a travel plan associated with the MT; and

code designed to determine whether or not to reschedule the notification communication session, based upon the traffic flow predicament data.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising code designed to cancel and reschedule the notification communication session.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising code designed to schedule the notification communication session based at least in part upon one or more inputs from the PCD.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising code designed to reschedule the notification communication session based at least in part upon one or more inputs from the PCD.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

code designed to store one or more user preferences relating to a proximity of the MT to the stop location that will cause initiation of the notification communication session; and

code designed to determine when the notification communication session should be initiated, based upon the user preferences and the traffic flow predicament data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the traffic flow predicament data includes one or more of the following:

traffic flow information associated with the travel plan, an environmental condition associated with the travel plan, or a physical condition associated with the travel plan.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising code designed to receive from a user and store one or more user preferences and wherein the code for determining whether or not to reschedule makes a decision based upon the user preferences.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the user preferences include one or more of the following:

a delay acceptance threshold, a time or time period during the day, or an identification of the travel path.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the notification communication session is rescheduled earlier or later in a queue in the one or more memories.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising code designed to request a confirmation input from the PCD to confirm whether or not rescheduling should occur.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising code designed to determine the travel plan to be traveled by the MT based upon a current location of the MT and the stop location.

12. A computer-based notification system, comprising:

one or more memories designed to store computer program code; and

one or more processors designed to execute the computer program code stored in the one or more memories, the computer program code comprising;

code designed to schedule in a call queue a notification communication session with a personal communications device (PCD) to be initiated when a mobile thing (MT) is a predefined proximity in relation to a stop location;

code designed to monitor travel data associated with the MT;

code designed to analyze traffic flow predicament data pertaining to a travel plan associated with the MT; and

code designed to reschedule the notification communication session, based at least in part on the traffic flow predicament data, in order to more accurately time initiation of the notification communication session.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising code designed to reschedule the notification communication session based at least in part upon one or more inputs from the PCD during the notification communication session.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

code designed to store one or more user preferences indicative of a proximity of the MT to the stop location that will cause initiation of the notification communication session; and

code designed to determine when the notification communication session should be initiated, based upon the user preferences and the traffic flow predicament data.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the traffic flow predicament data includes one or more of the following:

traffic flow information pertaining to the travel plan, an environmental condition associated with the travel plan, or a physical condition associated with the travel plan.

16. The system of claim 12, further comprising code designed to store one or more user preferences and wherein the code designed to determine whether or not to reschedule the notification communication session makes a decision based at least in part upon the stored user preferences.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the user preferences include one or more of the following:

a delay acceptance threshold, a time or time period during the day, or an identification of the travel plan.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising code designed to request a confirmation input from the PCD to confirm whether or not to reschedule the notification communication session.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising code designed to determine the travel plan to be traveled by the MT based upon a current location of the MT and the stop location.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the predefined proximity is expressed in terms of time, distance, location, or geographic region and further comprising code that solicits and receives the predefined proximity from the PCD.

21. The system of claim 16, further comprising code that solicits and receives the travel plan from the PCD.

22. The system of claim 16, further comprising code that enables entry or selection of a metric that can be used in conjunction with the traffic predicament data to determine when to initiate the notification communication session.

23. A computer-based notification system, comprising:

one or more memories designed to store computer program code; and

one or more processors designed to execute the computer program code stored in the one or more memories, the computer program code comprising;

code designed to enable scheduling of a first notification communication session to or with a personal communications device (PCD) relating to an arrival or departure of a mobile thing (MT) at a stop location;

code that analyzes traffic flow predicament data associated with a travel plan of the MT;

code that initiates a second notification communication session to or with the PCD, based upon the traffic flow predicament data; and

code that, during the second notification communication session, provides a message indicating a state of traffic flow associated with the travel plan.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising code designed to cancel and reschedule the first notification communication session based upon one or more inputs from the PCD during the second notification communication session.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

code designed to store one or more user preferences indicative of a proximity of the MT to the stop location that will cause initiation of the first notification communication session; and

code designed to determine when the first notification communication session should be initiated, based upon the user preferences and the traffic flow predicament data.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the traffic flow predicament data includes one or more of the following:

traffic flow information pertaining to the travel plan, an environmental condition associated with the travel plan, or a physical condition associated with the travel plan.

27. The system of claim 23, further comprising code designed to receive from the PCD and store one or more user preferences and code designed to determine whether or not to reschedule the first notification communication session based upon the user preferences.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the user preferences include one or more of the following:

a delay acceptance threshold, a time or time period during the day, or an identification of the travel plan.

29. The system of claim 23, further comprising code designed to request a confirmation input from the PCD to confirm whether or not to reschedule the first notification communication session.

30. The system of claim 23, further comprising code designed to determine the travel plan to be traveled by the MT based upon a current location of the MT and the stop location.

31. The system of claim 23, wherein the predefined proximity is expressed in terms of time, distance, location, or geographic region.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising code that solicits and receives the predefined proximity from the PCD.

33. The system of claim 31, further comprising code that solicits and receives the travel plan from the PCD.

34. The system of claim 23, further comprising code that enables entry or selection of a metric that can be used in conjunction with the traffic predicament data to determine when to initiate the second notification communication session.