Patent Application
20060046740
The invention relates to a communications system and method, and more particularly to a system and method for delivering advertisements and services to a user of an information assistance service.
A traveler is in constant need of information concerning weather, traffic, flight schedules, directions, local accommodation, entertainments, etc. to ensure a smooth trip. For example, a traveler who is driving may utilize a mobile phone to call an information assistance service for such information, in addition to traditional directory assistance. Because of use of a mobile phone, the traveler's location may be determined by well known mobile handset location techniques such as a wireless network triangulation technique, a global positioning system (GPS) technique, etc. In fact, a wireless telephone carrier utilizes one such technique to determine an emergency “911” caller's location, in accordance with the U.S. federal mandate of the “E911” initiative.
A driving traveler may also participate in a roadside assistance program, such as an OnStar® service provided by General Motors Co, which offers help during a trip. An OnStar® participant has a GPS receiver installed in his/her vehicle, and a wireless phone connection to an OnStar® service agent. For example, when the participant realizes that the vehicle is low on fuel, he/she initiates a wireless communication to an OnStar® service agent, containing the GPS information concerning the current location of the vehicle, and requests the agent to locate the closest gas station.
The invention is premised upon a recognition that a user who is “roaming” (as determined, e.g., by his/her use of a mobile phone, or the travel directions being obtained by him/her) or is in otherwise unfamiliar territory, should be provided with additional services in an anticipatory manner to minimize unpleasant surprises, and to make the trip go as smoothly as possible. In accordance with the invention, an information assistance service may track a user's whereabouts, anticipate circumstances which the user may encounter, and proactively suggest and/or offer goods or services to the user according to the circumstances. For example, knowing the approximate location of the user and the route the user is on, the information assistance service may monitor conditions along the route, e.g., whether a bridge on the route is temporarily closed, whether the road ahead is congested, etc. The information assistance service not only informs the user of upcoming circumstances which may affect the user, but also suggests to the user activities that were not originally planned. In view of the circumstances, the information assistance service may offer to make a restaurant reservation for the user and provide advertising information concerning local restaurants to the user when it is close to mealtime. This is helpful especially when the user finds himself or herself in an area that he/she is not familiar with, and cannot efficiently obtain the desired services or products.
Thus, in accordance with the invention, after receiving a communication from the user, which includes a request for a service, an information assistance service determines that the user is traveling to a destination based on the requested service. In addition, it determines the location of the user each time when the user communicates with the information assistance service to track the user's progress to the destination. In response to a detection of an event affecting the user's progress to the destination, the information assistance service communicates, to the user, selected information to cope with a circumstance caused by the event.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, in which:
The invention is directed to providing an information assistance service to proactively assist a user along his/her way to a destination. The invention is premised upon a recognition that a user who is “roaming” (as determined, e.g., by his/her use of a mobile phone, or the travel directions being obtained by him/her) or is in otherwise unfamiliar territory, should be provided with additional services in an anticipatory manner to minimize unpleasant surprises, and to make the trip go as smoothly as possible. In accordance with the invention, an information assistance service may track a user's whereabouts, anticipate circumstances which the user may encounter, and proactively suggest and/or offer goods or services to the user according to the circumstances. For example, knowing the approximate location of the user and the route the user is on, the information assistance service may monitor conditions along the route, e.g., whether a bridge on the route is temporarily closed, whether the road ahead is congested, etc. The information assistance service not only informs the user of upcoming circumstances which may affect the user, but also suggests to the user activities that were not originally planned. To better serve the user, a provider of the information assistance service, e.g., an operator, is selected, who possesses local knowledge of the area in which the suggested activities will take place.
In a first illustrative embodiment of the invention, after a user requests travel directions, his/her progress along the route defined by the travel directions is monitored. The information assistance service also monitors conditions along the planned route, and if an event (e.g., bridge closing, congested traffic, etc.) is detected that may affect the user's progress along the route, the user is contacted and notified of the event, e.g., by phone. During one such call, the information assistance service may additionally deliver to the user one or more advertisements pertaining to goods or services available in the vicinity of a section of the route, and/or offer to order or reserve such goods or services for the user to cope with the circumstances caused by the event. For instance, the information assistance service may offer to make a restaurant reservation for the user, and provide advertising information concerning local restaurants to the user when it is close to mealtime. This is helpful especially when the user finds himself/herself in an area that he/she is not familiar with, and cannot efficiently obtain the desired goods or services.
In a second illustrative embodiment, an information assistance service also provides concierge services including, e.g., reserving a hotel room, rental car, a table at a restaurant, etc., and ordering event tickets, flower delivery, or other goods or services for a user. Upon receiving a user call for a concierge service, e.g., reserving movie tickets for an 8:00 pm movie at a particular cinema, the information assistance service determines that the user most likely will be at the cinema or in its vicinity at 8:00 pm. Knowing such destination and time of arrival, the user's location may be monitored in case an event is detected which may affect the user's travel to the cinema. The information assistance service may rely on a mobile handset location technique (e.g., GPS, wireless network triangulation, etc.) to learn the user's current location each time when the user contacts the information assistance service. It should be noted that the user may contact the information assistance service not only for travel directions and concierge services, but also other services including obtaining directory assistance, and weather, traffic, horoscope, flight schedule and other information; accessing the user's private calendars and directories maintained by the information assistance service; etc. If it is determined that an event may affect the user's travel to the cinema, the user is informed, e.g., by phone of the event and also advertisements or offers for selected goods or services relevant to the user's current circumstances. For example, if it is determined that the event would delay the user's arrival at the cinema for the scheduled movie, the information assistance service may offer to contact the cinema and change the tickets for a later showtime.
In the first embodiment of the invention, a user may contact the information assistance service for travel directions, e.g., driving directions, to a desired destination. The user may obtain the driving directions in installments using a communications device, e.g., a telephone, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), facsimile receiver, pager, short message service (SMS) device, etc. The technique of providing travel directions in installments through an information assistance service is fully described, e.g., in copending, commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 09/826,122 filed on Apr. 4, 2001, whose disclosure is incorporated hereinbelow.
Information hub 10 may include one or more processors, such as personalized information server 28, which is accessible by the operators in system 30, and one or more databases, such as database 20, in which, among others, identifying information about each user is stored and maintained. Each subscriber account may include one or more individual users. For example, a single account established by a subscriber (e.g., a parent) may include multiple members of a family as users (e.g., children). Similarly, a single account established by a business subscriber may include multiple employees of the business as users.
A subscriber folder may be associated with one or more communications identifications of the respective subscriber's communications devices that the subscriber has registered with system 30. For example, the communications identification may be a phone number of a subscriber's wireline or wireless phone. The presence or absence of a subscriber folder corresponding to a phone number or other such identifying data may be used to indicate whether a caller is an authorized user of the system or not.
The subscriber folder may include user profiles of the subscriber and other users of the subscriber account. Each user profile may contain preferences of the user associated therewith, as described in co-pending, commonly assigned application Ser. No. 10/323,287, filed on Dec. 19, 2002 (“the '287 application”), incorporated herein by reference. A user may specify in a user profile his/her preferred types of events, areas of interest, food, goods, services, manufacturers, merchants and other personal preferences, e.g., preferred music, fashion, sports, restaurants, seating on a plane, frequent flyer number, frequent stay number, sizes of jackets, etc. Such a profile may be used by a server to tailor the content of information delivered automatically to the user as soon as the information becomes available. The user may also specify in the profile the preferred method of handling his/her information assistance call, e.g., use of a special skilled operator, such as a Spanish speaking operator, to answer such a call. Thus, by using a user profile, the user is automatically provided with an individualized service, without the need of otherwise repeating the preferences each time when calling an operator to obtain information and assistance. The user profiles in the subscriber folder may contain a voiceprint sample of the users associated with the account, respectively. The voiceprint sample may be compared to a voiceprint received from a caller to verify the identity of the caller, enabling greater personalization of services based on the caller's user profile, as described further below.
The personal preferences in a user profile may be specified by a user during registration with system 30 via a phone call, for example, in response to registration questions posed by an operator or a voice response unit (VRU). Personal preferences may also be entered and changed via a web page. A subscriber will typically also register the phone number of each phone that may be used to call system 30, and identify the type of phone as a wireline or wireless phone. A phone that is used as a speakerphone may also be identified as such.
One or more voiceprints may be obtained during the registration process and subsequent calls between a user and system 30 to derive a voiceprint sample, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, as discussed further below. If there are multiple users to an account, each user may provide a voiceprint during registration by speaking on the phone in turn, or at a later date.
Subscriber folders and other such information may also be stored locally at one or more of the information/call centers 21 through 27, as described in the '287 application. Local storage may speed access to the information by a respective information/call center 21 through 27. The folders and information at different information/call centers may be synchronized. Synchronized databases provide necessary backup as well as support to roaming mobile device users.
While information assistance service system 30 in this example includes a plurality of information/call centers 21 through 27, the invention may be implemented in a system including a single information/call center coupled to an information hub.
As shown in
Information/call center 100 also includes profile gateway 159 coupled to data network 124. Profile gateway 159 communicates with information hub 10 to request user preferences, as recorded in a user profile. Center 100 may receive an incoming information assistance call from one of the carrier networks through a carrier switching center therein. It also places outgoing calls through one of the carrier networks which may be different than that used for the incoming call.
Switch 114 is conventional which includes digital signal processing circuitry providing the requisite conference capability, and DTMF and multi frequency (MF) tone generation/detection capabilities. In this illustrative embodiment, switch 114 supports digital T1 connectivity. The operation of switch 114 is governed by instructions stored in switch host computer 128.
Each incoming information assistance call from a user is received by switch 114 in center 100 which connects it to an available operator's telephone. If no operator is available when a call is received, the call is queued in a conventional manner until an operator becomes available. The queuing and call distribution in this instance is in accordance with a standard Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) algorithm. Operators may utilize database server 126 to provide information assistance including searching for a user's desired party and determining the appropriate destination number of the party.
VRU 130 is used to play the constant repeated parts of an operator's speech, namely, the various greetings and signoffs (or closings). VRU 130 is connected via data network 124 to switch host computer 128 and via one or more T1 spans to switch 114. At appropriate stages in a call progression, switch host computer 128 initiates a voice path connection between VRU 130 and switch 114 such that the user, or the user and the operator, are able to hear whatever pre-recorded speech is played on that connection by VRU 130. Computer 128 then instructs VRU 130, via data network 124, what type of message to play, and passes data parameters that enable VRU 130 to locate the message appropriate to the call state.
In an alternative embodiment, all necessary functionality and data by the remote map server are incorporated into directions server 145, thereby obviating the need of remote access to such functionality and data.
It should be noted that a conventional text-to-speech converter is not particularly feasible for delivering the directions here because of the peculiar language usage and local speech in verbalizing certain direction terms. Converter 315 is modified from one such conventional converter by incorporating thereinto context rules to adapt its output to common usage and local speech. In accordance with such rules, converter 315 looks for and replaces in directions file 371 selected direction terms, although textually correct in grammar and spelling, with words which are more “phonetically understandable,” resulting in a speech more readily understood by the human ear. For example, in the United States when given a three digit highway number where the 10's digit is a zero, e.g., Highway 205, one typically pronounces the highway number as “two oh five,” rather than “two hundred and five” as a conventional text-to-speech converter would pronounce without regard for the fact that it is a highway number. In addition, where the 10's digit of a three digit highway number is not a zero, e.g., Highway 217, one typically pronounces the highway number as “two seventeen,” rather than “two hundred and seventeen” as a conventional converter would pronounce. Thus, converter 315 also preprocesses the text from directions file 317 to, among others, look for specific words which indicate a road and which are normally followed and identified by a number such as “highway,” “freeway,” “parkway,” “route,” and their abbreviations “hwy,” “pkwy,” “rte,” etc., as indicated at step 405 in
In addition, converter 315 also screens for certain word patterns from directions file 317 and modify them to make them more phonetically understandable. For example, the word pattern “2a” as in route 2a, exit 2a and apartment 2a is replaced by “2 <space> eh,” and the word “Oregon” is replaced by “Oregun.” In addition, the abbreviations such as “hwy,” “pkwy,” and “rte” are replaced by their non-abbreviated versions such as “highway,” “parkway” and “route,” respectively. These word patterns, together with their replacements, are stored in a look-up table in converter 315. Such a table is developed through experience, usage and local knowledge, and thus may vary from one information/call center to another depending on the actual local region served thereby.
The user may interact with IVR unit 131 by communicating certain commands thereto, e.g., by pressing selected keys on the keypad. In addition, with speech recognizer 317, IVR unit 131 in this instance is receptive to the user commands via voice. Recognizer 317 affords continuous voice recognition with an optional cut-through feature so that a user can utter a command while the directions are being read by IVR unit 131. IVR unit 131 would then recognize the command, interrupt the text being read, and perform the appropriate function according to the command. In case of a noisy environment, the cut-through feature may be disabled to avoid false detection of a command.
By way of example, let's say a particular user named Mary while driving uses a mobile phone to call an information assistance provider, e.g., an operator, requesting the phone number and address of, and directions to, a desired destination, e.g., the Green Gables Motel in Atlantic City, N.J. In this example, the call is routed to information/call center 100 where an operator at an operator terminal 120 performs the requested search. Utilizing database server 126, the operator locates the motel at 72 Rembert Street, Atlantic City, N.J., and the phone number thereof. The motel's phone number and address are displayed on terminal 120 and then provided to Mary in a conventional manner. In this instance, the operator also invokes the aforementioned daemon process in directions server 145, which prompts for an origination and a destination for which the directions are sought. In response, the operator inputs the motel address at the destination prompt by transferring the already displayed motel address to the prompt, thereby obviating the need of transcribing it. Mary also communicates to the operator that she is currently located at 515 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, Md. Accordingly, the operator inputs the received address at the origination prompt.
Once the origination and destination addresses are entered, processor 201 formulates a directions request and transmits same to the aforementioned map server over the Internet.
Request 500 is then communicated to the map server over the Internet through communications interface 205. In response to request 500, the map server devises a route connecting the origination address to the destination address, and the directions for realizing that route. The map server then formats the directions in a file and transmits the resulting directions file, in this instance file 371, to directions server 145, along with Mary's MDN. Instructed by map interface program 253, processor 201 assigns to file 371 a filename which may take the form nnnnnnnnnnn.<route_id>, where nnnnnnnnnn represents the digits of the user's MDN, and <route_id> represents a file extension for further identifying the requested route in case the same mobile phone user requests more than one route. Processor 201 causes file 371 to be opened on terminal 120, enabling the operator to view the directions for the requested route, along with the assigned name of file 371. The operator may briefly check the directions to see whether they correspond to the given origination and destination addresses. After the addresses are verified, the operator provides the telephone number for accessing IVR unit 131 and <route_id > file extension of file 371 to Mary for her later retrieval of directions directly from IVR unit 131. A copy of file 371 is thereafter transmitted to IVR unit 131. A copy of file 371 is provided to user locator 160 described below. Processor 301 in unit 131 processes the received file, places it in memory 320, and operates text-to-speech converter 315 to process file 371 in the manner described before and read from file 371 the requested directions and information, in an automated voice, to Mary over the established phone connection. However, it should be noted that instead of having IVR unit 131 deliver such directions and information, a user can always call and request an operator to communicate same to him/her verbally.
The Beginning of File indicator may include the name of file 371, e.g., “5032345678.A1” in this instance where “5032345678” is the Mary's telephone number (her MDN in this instance), and “A1” is the assigned <route_id> file extension. This filename, and the memory address of the Beginning of File indicator, i.e., 1160, are stored by processor 301 in a look-up table which associates the filename with the memory address.
Continuing the above example, data concerning the origination point of the subject route, i.e., 515 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, Md., is stored at memory address 1168 (or offset address 0008). Data concerning the destination point of the subject route, i.e., 72 Rembert St., Atlantic City, N.J., is stored at memory address 1176 (or offset address 0016). Data concerning the total number of directions for the subject route, e.g., 19 in this instance, is stored at memory address 1184 (or offset address 0024). Data concerning the total distance of the subject route, e.g., 234.7 miles in this instance, is stored at memory address 1192 (or offset address 0032). Data concerning the estimated driving time, e.g., 4 hours, 22 minutes in this instance, is stored at memory address 1200 (or offset address 0040). Pointer 873 to be described is located at memory address 1208 (or offset address 0048). It should be noted that the offset addresses allocated for the origination point, destination point, number of directions, total distance of the route, estimated driving time and pointer 873 in a directions file are predetermined, thereby allowing processor 301 to readily locate and retrieve such data.
In addition, a “Beginning of Directions” indicator is stored at memory address 1216, followed by addressable directions. For example, at memory address 1224, the first direction includes directive 805, and mileage information 810 which pertains to directive 805. Thus, as processor 301 parses the directive 805 and mileage information 810 at memory address 1224, it causes text-to-speech converter 315 to read in an automated voice the first direction, e.g., “Start out going east on Rowe Boulevard towards Monroe Lane for 0.1 mile.” Similarly, the directive and mileage information comprising the second direction is stored at memory address 1232; the directive and mileage information comprising the third direction is stored at memory address 1240; and so on. The directive and mileage information comprising the final direction is stored at memory address 1360.
Pointer 873 includes direction offset/memory address field 875 and end-of-directions memory address field 877. Field 875 is used to store the offset address of the direction that was last read to the user. Thus, in computer programming parlance, pointer 873 is said to “point” at the last read direction in file 371. The offset address in field 875 is initially set to “0000.” Field 877 is used to store the memory address of the final direction. After file 371 is placed in memory 320, processor 301 locates the Beginning of Directions indicator and the final direction therein, and identifies their respective memory addresses, i.e., 1216 and 1360 in this instance. The Processor 301 then adds the memory address of the Beginning of Directions indicator, i.e., 1216, to the offset address in field 875 to obtain the memory address of the last read direction. This memory address is temporarily stored in field 875. Processor 301 also stores the memory address of the final direction, i.e., 1360, in field 877. While text-to-speech converter 315 is reading the directions to the user, the value of field 875 changes continually to keep track of the memory address of the last read direction. Changes to field 875 are also reported to user locator 160 to enable user locator 160 to keep track of users' progresses along their planned routes.
As the directions are being read to the user, the user may issue navigation commands to navigate through directions file 371. Examples of the navigation commands are tabulated in
Refer now to
Continuing the above example, let's say after hearing a first installment consisting of the first three directions, the user hangs up and manages to follows those directions. The user then needs a second installment of directions. In accordance with the invention, the user can call IVR unit 131 directly for subsequent installments using the IVR unit access phone number previously provided to him/her by the operator. When the user calls the access phone number, communications interface 305 in IVR unit 131 picks up the call. Processor 301 obtains from interface 305 an automatic number identifier (ANI) of the call, which is the user's MDN in this instance. Based on the user's ANI, processor 301 identifies from the aforementioned look-up table any directions file having the nnnnnnnnnn portion of the filename matches the user's ANI. If there is only one such file, processor 301 automatically requests the directions file from directions server 145. If there is more than one as the user may have requested directions for different routes, processor 301 queries the user for the <route_id> file extension of the desired file previously provided to him/her by the operator. Alternatively, processor 301 causes recitations of all possible <route_id> file extensions one by one to refresh the user's memory. If the user cannot recall the <route_id> file extension, processor 301 compiles a list of the directions files pertaining to the user, arranged chronologically with the first file in the list from which directions are most recently read to the user. The user can select the desired file by pressing a designated key on the telephone keypad, or by saying “Select this file.” Otherwise, the user can say “No,” or press another designated key on the keypad to signal processor 301 to skip to the next file.
Once the desired directions file is identified, say, file 371, processor 301 requests a copy of the file from directions server 145. Since the third direction was last read to the user in this instance, field 875 of pointer 873 in file 371 currently contains the offset address of the third direction, i.e., 0080. After converting such an offset address in field 875 to the corresponding memory address in the manner described before, based on this memory address, processor 301 causes converter 315 to read the second installment starting from the next, fourth direction, in accordance with the direction reading routine of
The service of providing directions to a user can be enhanced with the knowledge of the user's geographic location at the time the user requests the service. To that end, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver may be incorporated in the user's communication device, e.g., mobile phone in this instance. Other well known mobile handset location techniques may be incorporated, instead, which include, e.g., a wireless network based triangulation technique. In a conventional manner, the GPS receiver receives signals from a constellation of GPS satellites, and based on the received signals determines the geographic coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude) of the current location of the user's mobile phone, and thus the user. When the user utilizes the mobile phone incorporating the GPS device to call an operator in information/call center 100 or IVR unit 131, GPS information concerning the location of the user is automatically communicated thereto, along with other call set-up signals such as an ANI. In this illustrative embodiment, the GPS coordinates of all location points covered by each direction, including the start point and endpoint thereof, are also provided in the directions file. It should be noted that the endpoint of each direction is the same as the start point of the next direction. After accessing the appropriate directions file in a manner described before, processor 301 in IVR unit 131 identifies the most relevant direction in the directions file to the received user's location. A direction is said to be the most relevant if, of all of the directions in the file, that direction covers a location point closest to the user's location. For example, processor 301 may identify the most relevant direction having an endpoint closest to the user's location, and causes converter 315 to start reading from that direction. Any GPS information concerning a user's current location is provided as well to user locator 160.
By way of example, let's say the user has listened to a first installment of directions to the Green Gables Motel in file 371 described before. The last direction read to the user by IVR unit 131 is the third direction, i.e., “Take MD. Route 3 North Towards Baltimore.” Thus, field 875 of pointer 873 at this point contains the memory address of the third direction, i.e., 1240. Let's further assume that the user had a prior experience driving to the Green Gables Motel via a similar route, and after following the first installment of directions, the user partly recalls the route to the motel. Thus, the user proceeds without calling IVR unit 131 for the remaining directions. However, after getting on highway I-95 North, the user is no longer sure about the route. The user then calls the IVR unit 131 via his/her mobile phone, incorporating the aforementioned GPS receiver therein which provides the GPS coordinates of the phone, and thus the user. After interface 305 receives the call which includes information concerning the ANI and the user's GPS coordinates, processor 301 accesses the appropriate directions file, say, directions file 371, in a manner described before. Processor 301 compares the GPS coordinates of the user with those of the endpoint of each direction in file 371, thereby identifying a particular endpoint which is closest to the user's location. Processor 301 further identifies the direction having that particular endpoint, and causes converter 315 to start reading from the identified direction. Processor 301 then adjusts the value of field 875 of pointer 873 to the memory address of the identified direction. In this example, processor 301 determines that the user is closest to the endpoint of the eleventh direction “Take New Jersey Turnpike North and Proceed.” Thus, processor 301 causes converter 315 to read the eleventh direction, and accordingly changes the value of field 875 to the memory address of the eleventh direction, i.e., 1304 in this instance. Converter 315 continues to read the remaining directions to the user, in accordance with the direction reading routine of
The knowledge of the user location is important especially when the user significantly deviates from the planned route and is assumed lost, or when the user realizes that he/she has gotten lost. In either case, when the user calls IVR unit 131 for a new installment of directions, processor 301 compares the GPS coordinates of the user with those of the location points of each direction in file 371, and determines that the user deviates from the closest location point by more than a predetermined distance. Processor 301 may then warn the user of the significant deviation and suggest that the user retrace his/her path back to the planned route. Processor 301 may thereafter deliver to the user an installment starting from the last read direction to help refresh the user's memory of some of the roads that the user may have traveled before his/her “lost” state. As an alternative, processor 301 may transmit the GPS coordinates of the user and those of the closest location point in the planned route to directions server 145 via the daemon process, and request same to formulate another route to help the user to return from his/her lost location to the planned route. In either event, as soon as the user is back on the planned route, upon request by the user for an installment of directions, processor 301 delivers an installment starting from the most relevant direction as described before.
As a second alternative, a new route may be formulated from the lost user location to the same destination as the original planned route as if the user started a new trip from such a location. In that case, for example, when the user calls an operator and declares that he/she has gotten lost, the user's GPS coordinates from the call can be directly imported to directions server 145 as the origination point, provided that the map server is GPS based. Otherwise, a translation of the GPS coordinates to the actual address needs to be performed. The destination point may be imported from file 371 if it can be readily identified by the user. Otherwise, the user may provide the destination address again. The whole process is performed as if the user were planning a new route. The resulting route is then read to the user by IVR unit 131 in the manner described before.
The installments of directions may be obtained with various communication and information services. For example, the installments may be obtained using a “StarBack” feature in a directory assistance service. To fully appreciate the StarBack feature, let's assume a user calls an operator in an information/call center (e.g., center 100) for directory assistance, e.g., requesting a desired destination number and a transfer to that number. As mentioned before, when the user calls an operator in center 100, the user's call is connected to switch 114 therein. It should be noted that such a connection to switch 114 is intact even after the call is transferred to the destination number as long as the user does not hang up. A DTMF receiver is allocated in switch 114 to monitor for a predetermined signal from the user connection for the entire duration of the call in case the user may require further operator assistance. By way of example, the predetermined signal is a DTMF signal generated by pressing a “*” (star) key on the phone. Thus, the “StarBack” feature enables a user, who called for operator assistance, to re-summon an operator by pressing a “*” key as long as the user never hangs up. When the DTMF receiver detects the “*” key signal, the re-summoning of an operator appears as a fresh call to the ACD logic. This in turn results in the user being connected to an available operator. Note that the operator to whom the call is connected is allocated according to the ACD logic, and may or may not be the operator that previously handled the user's call. The StarBack feature can be repeatedly invoked in a call connected through switch 114 before the user hangs up.
Thus, by taking advantage of the StarBack feature, the user can obtain directions in installments. For example, after the user calls an operator in information/call center 100, and receives a first installment of directions from the operator, he/she can summon further installments as needed along the route simply by pressing the “*” key. (Although in this example the directions are read by an operator, it is apparent from the disclosure heretofore that IVR unit 131 can readily take the place of an operator to read the directions.) In such an implementation, the user's connection to information/call center 100, and in particular switch 114 therein, is maintained during the course of the trip. However, the operator can attend to other users while the traveling user does not need the operator's immediate attention. Similar to directions file 371, a file, e.g., in hypertext markup language (HTML), from which the directions are read by the operator to the user has a pointer associated therewith, which is used to indicate the last read direction within that file. This HTML file is cached after the operator delivers to the user the requested installment so that the file can be promptly retrieved and opened upon detection of a StarBack signal. Since “StarBack” may return the user to a second, different operator, this second operator at terminal 120 may enter a “last route” command to pick up where the last operator left off. In response, the HTML file is retrieved and opened on terminal 120 and the last read direction therein is automatically marked by the associated pointer. The second operator then delivers a second installment starting from the next direction in the file. While driving between operator directions, the user is simply kept in a “hold” state. Of course, instead of utilizing the StarBack feature to keep the current call on hold, the user can repeatedly call an operator anew, e.g., using the “last number dialed” feature on the phone, to achieve the same result.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, a user's progress along his/her planned route defined by the directions requested by the user is tracked. At the same time, conditions along the user's route are monitored, and if an event is detected that may affect the user's progress, the user is contacted and a message is delivered notifying him/her of the event. In addition, one or more advertisements, offers and/or suggestions of goods or services in view of the event are delivered to the user along with the message.
Users' progresses along their planned routes are tracked by user locator 160.
User locator 160 also maintains user route table 1130 to track the progress of various users along their planned routes.
Processor 162 additionally maintains a set of key terms (or GPS coordinates) representing location points of the unfinished portion of the planned route to be traversed by the user starting from the estimated current location in field 1142. Included among such location points are the endpoints of all directions concerning the unfinished portion of the planned route. Processor 162 populate these key terms (or GPS coordinates) in route element fields 1148-1, 1148-2, 1148-3, etc., where route element field 1148-1 contains the same key term (or GPS coordinates) as estimated current location field 1142. It should be noted that fields 1142, 1148-1, 1148-2, 1148-3, etc. are updated each time when pointer 873 is updated, reflecting the user's supposed progress along the planned route. At such time, the contents of the route element fields of the user route record in table 1130 are shifted from right to left until field 1148-1 contains the same content as field 1142, which would have been updated in the manner described above in response to an update of pointer 873. As a result, the route elements which the user presumably has passed are eliminated from the user route record.
By running directions analysis program 167, processor 162 may examine the directions in a user's directions file and extract key terms representing location points, i.e., certain points/sections of roads, highways, bridges, etc., of the planned route mentioned in the file. Thus, for example, processor 162 may access Mary's user location folder 1010 based on her identifier “5032345678,” which is Mary's telephone number. Processor 162 then examines the directions file in record 1020, and extracts the names of roads, highways, and other words descriptive of various location points of the planned route in the directions file.
Referring to user route record 1135-1, which is associated with Mary identified by her telephone number “5032345678” in field 1141, her estimated current location is denoted CL-1 in field 1142. Mary's destination is the Green Gables Motel in Atlantic City, N.J., denoted DEST-1 in field 1144. Route element fields 1148-1, 1148-2, 1148-3, . . . contain key terms representing points/sections of roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, etc. that are located along the Mary's itinerary starting from the estimated current location in field 1142. In this instance, the route elements in fields 1148-1, 1148-2, 1148-3 . . . are CL-1, Monroe Lane, Md. Route 3 . . . , respectively.
Event monitor 163 in
If a notable event is detected, event monitor 163 sends an event message to user locator 160 containing a description of the event, a set of GPS coordinates representing the location of the event, and a set of route elements that may be affected by the event. Event monitor 163 applies a predetermined set of business rules to map information stored, e.g., in database 20, to identify route elements that may be affected by a given event. The map information stored in database 20 stores data representing roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, etc., in one or more regions. Roads and highways are divided into sections corresponding to route elements. The map information also includes GPS coordinates representing each route element.
For example, supposing that a storm causes the Delaware Memorial Bridge (D.M.B.) to be temporarily closed, event monitor 163 may generate an event message such as that shown in
Upon receiving event message 1225, processor 162 in user locator 160 retrieves from field 1232 the GPS coordinates of the event, and the affected route elements, e.g., from fields 1233a, 1234a, 1235a, etc., and uses this information to determine which users should be contacted and notified of the event in question. As processor 162 identifies users that may be affected by the event (referred to as affected users), the affected users are added to affected user list 1440 stored in memory 166.
To determine which users may be affected by the event in question, processor 162 accesses user route table 1130 and examines the user route records therein. Referring to
In this example, processor 162 continues to examine route elements in record 1135-1 until it determines that “Route I-95 Section 34,” contained in field 1148-11, is listed in event message 1225. Accordingly, the routine proceeds to step 1355 where processor 162 adds Mary's identification data to affected user list 1440.
Returning to
Instructed by advertisement criteria program 164, processor 162 regularly checks affected user list 1440 and contacts selected users therein. Referring to
At step 1640, processor 162 applies a set of predetermined inferential rules to the context information and the objective information to determine criteria for relevant advertisements, suggestions and offers to the user. For example, processor 162 may infer from context information and objective information that an advertisement for a restaurant in the vicinity of the matching route element may be appropriate to the user's needs, because it is close to lunch time. Alternatively, processor 162 may determine that an advertisement for hotel accommodations in the vicinity of the matching route element is appropriate because of inclement weather or lateness at night.
By way of example, processor 162 in this instance determines from record 1460 that Mary may experience delays when she arrives at the matching route element, i.e., Route I-95 Section 34. Processor 162 additionally consults user record 1135-1 in table 1130 and determines that Mary is headed toward Atlantic City, N.J., which is several hours travel time from Route I-95 Section 34. To supplement this context information, processor 162 additionally considers the time of day. Supposing the time is 11:30 a.m., processor 162 may determine that advertisements for restaurants in the vicinity (e.g., within five miles) of Route I-95 Section 34 is appropriate for Mary. Supposing, on the other hand, that the time of day is 1:00 a.m., processor 162 may determine instead that advertisements for hotels or lodging in the vicinity of Route I-95 Section 34 is appropriate. Once advertisement criteria have been determined, processor 162 transmits the advertisement criteria, and Mary's telephone number, to concierge server 171 (step 1650). Processor 162 may transmit the advertisement criteria in the form of a message denoted 3300 in
An object of the invention is to limit the number of advertisements sent to a user, and at the same time provide useful information to the same. To that end, processor 162 may individualize the advertisement criteria to tailor the advertisement(s) further to the user's needs. For example, knowing from Mary's user profile (described below) that she prefers Italian cuisine, processor 162 may individualize the advertisement criteria by adding an additional field specifying Italian cuisine to message 3300 to be transmitted to concierge server 171. The resulting advertisement criteria specify those advertisements of Italian restaurants within five miles of Route I-95 Section 34.
In another embodiment, knowing Mary's language preference, i.e., Spanish in this instance, processor 162 may further cause the advertisements to be delivered to Mary be in Spanish. In addition, record 1500 contains information concerning a user's personal interests 1540, which may be used for tailoring advertisements to the user. For example, at the conclusion of an information assistance call, such advertising information may be “pushed” to the user, subject to any opt-out provision 1555 in the profile record. In this instance, Mary specifies as part of personal interests 1540 preferred music, e.g., Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc.; fashion, e.g., Versace, Donna Karen, etc.; sports events, e.g., Knicks basketball games, PGA Golf tournaments, etc.; and cuisine, e.g., Italian.
The advertisements may also be delivered to the user via alternative forms and/or methods, e.g., SMS, e-mail, WAP, voicemail, facsimile, paging, instant messaging, text messaging, video phone, picture phone, etc. For example, the actual method(s) of delivery of the advertising information may be specified by the user in user profile record 1500, shown as information delivery method preferences 1550. Such information delivery method(s) may be established in the initial registration by the user in response to such direct questions as “How do you want advertising information to be transmitted to you from an information assistance service?” The answers to such direct questions may make up preferences 1550. The specified delivery methods may be prioritized in accordance with the user's preferences.
After identifying one or more relevant advertisements, processor 193 in concierge server 171 retrieves the selected advertisement(s) or suggestion(s) of goods or services from advertisement database 197. Processor 193 then causes IVR unit 131 to contact Mary, e.g., using her telephone number, and deliver a notification of the event in question, e.g., “This is the ABC information assistance service. We are calling to inform you that the Delaware Bridge is closed.” Processor 193 also causes IVR unit 131 to provide the selected advertisement(s) or suggestion(s) of goods or services to Mary during the event notification call.
In one embodiment, an advertisement or a goods or services suggestion delivered to a user is accompanied by an offer to order or reserve the goods or services for the user, e.g., an offer to make a restaurant or hotel reservation for the user. In the illustrative example, concierge server 171 may cause the following advertisement/offer to be delivered to Mary subsequent to the event notification during the same call:
Supposing that Mary presses ‘1,’ in response concierge server 171 may further assist Mary by requesting the number of parties to realize the reservation, asking whether she needs directions to the restaurant, etc. Of course, the call may also be transferred to an operator anytime, say, by pressing “0,” for additional assistance. Preferably, the call is transferred to a selected operator who possesses extensive knowledge of local custom, language, culture, geography, etc. of the area in which the user is anticipated to need guidance. In general, concierge server 171 is used by the information assistance service to provide concierge services, which include, inter alia, restaurant guide and reservation services, event information, ticketing and reservation services, hotel reservation and availability services, travel or flight reservation and ticketing services, ordering specific items such as flowers or food delivery, arranging transportation, and accessing entertainment guides. In particular, relying on concierge server 171, an information assistance service provider may make a reservation at a selected restaurant or hotel at a user's request. For details on concierge services by an information assistance service provider which involve conducting on-line reservations and transactions for a user, one may refer to copending, commonly-assigned application Ser. No. 10/366,816, filed Feb. 14, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Concierge service inquiries, reservations and transactions are handled by concierge server 171. The information concerning providers of desired products or services, e.g., their names, addresses, business hours, URLs, contacts, etc. may be shown and formatted in fields of a graphical user interface (GUI) appearing on the display of an operator's terminal 120. Similarly, the specifications, prices and schedules, etc. of desired products or services are also shown and formatted in fields of a GUI. Concierge server 171 in this instance also keeps records as to what products or services, and what product or service providers have advertisements thereof in advertisement database 197 to be “pushed” to the users under contractual terms with advertisers. The actual advertisements may be stored in different forms (e.g., audio, text, graphics, video, etc.) in advertisement database 197. An advertisement indicating field may be provisioned next to a product, a service, or a product or service provider located and shown on a GUI to indicate whether an advertisement is available therefor.
In the second embodiment of the invention, when a user calls the information assistance service, information concerning the current location of the user handset is received by information/call center 100, along with other call set-up signals such as ANI. As mentioned before, such location information may be generated by the user's communications device incorporating, e.g., a GPS receiver, or by other means including use of the wireless network triangulation technique. Let's say the user during an information assistance call requests a concierge service, e.g., reserving for the user movie tickets at a specified cinema, for a desired showtime. Knowing such destination (the specified cinema) and time of arrival (the desired showtime), the information assistance service may track the user's progress to the destination, in accordance with the invention. Such tracking is realizable if the user makes additional calls to the information assistance service, thus providing additional GPS information concerning the user's location accompanying the calls. It is likely that the user frequently calls the information assistance service to take advantage of the many different services offered thereby including, e.g., providing directory assistance, concierge services, directions and weather, traffic, horoscope, flight schedule and other information, and access to the user's private calendars and directories maintained by the information assistance service. If an event is detected that may affect the user's travel toward the cinema or delay the showing of the movie itself, a call will be placed to the user, notifying the user of the event. In addition, one or more advertisements, suggestions and/or offers for goods and services according to the circumstances are delivered to the user during the call.
By way of example, suppose that a user named Emeric calls the information assistance service using a GPS-enabled mobile phone, and requests that the operator reserve tickets for the movie “Star Wars” at the Plaza Cinema in White Plains, N.Y. Specifically, Emeric requests two tickets for the 8:00 p.m. show. During the call, signals from Emeric's telephone containing GPS coordinates of his current location and ANI are received. In response to Emeric's request, the operator utilizes concierge server 171 to reserve two tickets for the requested movie. After the service has been rendered, concierge server 171 transmits a message to user locator 160 containing information about the user and the requested concierge service. Specifically, concierge server 171 transmits a message containing Emeric's telephone number derived from the received ANI, GPS coordinates of his destination (i.e., the Plaza Cinema in White Plains), GPS coordinates of his current location, the time of the information assistance call, the type of service provided, and the contact information concerning the vendor providing the desired product or service, e.g., the telephone number of the Plaza Cinema in this instance.
To maintain information about users of the information assistance provider's concierge services, a concierge customer table denoted 2009 in
Subsequently, if Emeric calls the information assistance service for any reason using the same GPS enabled telephone, another set of GPS coordinates indicating his current location is received by the information assistance service, and is used to update his last known location in field 2016 of record 2062. For example, he may set out to the cinema in his car, and on the way decide to contact a colleague from work. Not having his colleague's telephone number, he calls the information assistance service to obtain directory assistance to contact his colleague. During this second call, ANI and updated GPS coordinates are received from Emeric's call. The ANI is used by user locator 160 to retrieve record 2062 by matching the telephone number in field 2015 of the record. The received GPS coordinates are used to update the content of field 2016 of record 2062. The time of the second call is registered in field 2017.
Suppose now that event monitor 163 generates an event message denoted 2700 in
Supposing that Emeric's destination is located within 10 miles of the event, processor next determines whether Emeric has yet arrived at his destination. If he has, the event in question apparently does not affect his arrival thereat. In this example, processor 162 assumes that a user has arrived at the destination if the user was within 15 miles of the destination more than 30 minutes ago. Pursuant to this assumption, processor 162 at step 2140 determines whether the user's last known location (registered in field 2016) is within 15 miles of the destination (registered in field 2018) more than 30 minutes ago (by comparing the time in field 2017 and the present time). It will be appreciated that other assumptions or criteria may be used, instead, by a person skilled in the art to determine whether a user has arrived at a destination. By way of example, let's say this determination is negative in the case of Emeric. Thus, it is assumed that Emeric has not yet arrived at his destination, and may be affected by the event in question. As such, Emeric is added to the affected customer list (step 2150), and the routine then proceeds to block 2160. Otherwise, if it is determined that the user has arrived at the destination, the routine proceeds directly to block 2160 from step 2140. Referring to block 2160, the above-described routine is repeated until all customer records are examined.
Instructed by advertisement criteria program 164, processor 162 regularly checks affected customer list 2240 and contacts users listed therein. Referring to
At step 2430, processor 162 applies a set of predetermined inferential rules to the context information and to the objective information to determine criteria for advertisements and offers. For example, in this instance processor 162 may infer from context information and objective information that Emeric may encounter delays due to the traffic accident indicated in event message 2700, and that therefore an offer to change the original ticket reservation to a later showtime may be appropriate. Once the criteria have been determined, processor 162 sends such criteria, and Emeric's telephone number to concierge server 171 (step 2450).
Upon receiving the criteria, along with Emeric's telephone number, from user locator 160, concierge server 171 prepares an offer for concierge services based on the criteria, or searches advertisement listing database 1137 for advertisements that satisfy the criteria. In the illustrative example, processor 193 prepares an offer to call the movie theater and change Emeric's movie ticket reservation to a later showtime. For this purpose, concierge server 171 may query user locator 160 for the telephone number of the cinema originally called, for example. User locator 160 retrieves the number from concierge customer table 2009 and provides this information to concierge server 171 in a response. Alternatively, server 171 may search its own records for the record concerning the ticket reservation made earlier for Emeric, which is identifiable by Emeric's telephone number, and which contains details about the earlier reservation including the telephone number of the cinema.
Processor 193 in concierge server 171 then causes IVR unit 131 to call Emeric using his telephone number and deliver a notification message such as “This is the ABC information assistance service. We are calling to inform you that there has been a traffic accident on Route 684. Traffic around White Plains may be delayed.” Processor 193 also causes IVR unit 131 to announce an offer to call the Plaza Cinema and change his reservation to a later showtime in the same call, which Emeric may accept or decline, e.g., by pressing the appropriate key on his telephone.
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous other arrangements which embody the principles of the invention and are thus within its spirit and scope.
For example, in the second embodiment, the destination of a user is determined in the context of a movie ticket reservation (i.e., the cinema). However, the user's destination can similarly be determined in the context of a restaurant reservation (i.e., the restaurant), in the context of a hotel reservation (i.e., the hotel), in the context of a car rental reservation (i.e., the cities in which the rental car is picked up and dropped off), in the context of a flight reservation (i.e., the cities in which the user boards the flight and lands), in the context of a purchase of a merchandise in a department store (i.e., the department store), so on and so forth.
It is also well understood by those skilled in the art that various components of the system for implementing the invention can either be located in a single location, or be geographically distributed and in communication with one another through individual connections or a network.
Finally, information/call center 100 is disclosed herein in a form in which various functions are performed by discrete functional blocks. However, any one or more of these functions could equally well be embodied in an arrangement in which the functions of any one or more of those blocks or indeed, all of the functions thereof, are realized, for example, by one or more appropriately programmed processors.
