Patent Application Titled “Notification System” Published Online (USPTO 20200320484)

2020 OCT 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Daily Marketing News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventor West, Alan (Camarillo, CA), filed on May 27, 2020, was made available online on October 8, 2020.

No assignee for this patent application has been made.

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present disclosure relates generally to data communications, and more particularly to the deployment of image-based identifiers on mobile devices for user data exchange.

“Due to its portability and continuously expanding feature set, smartphones have a nearly ubiquitous presence in everyday life, and its adoption is now widespread. Fundamentally, the smartphone is a general purpose computer with a data processor that can execute pre- programmed instructions to generate an output based upon or in response to inputs. The primary input and output modality of smartphones is the combined touch screen display, which allows the user to interact directly with the graphical elements displayed in the screen.

“The smartphone primarily serves as a communications device, and therefore includes various wireless communications modalities such as a mobile telephone/cellular module for placing and receiving telephone calls and sending and receiving text messages, a WiFi module for establishing short-range local area network data links, and a Bluetooth module for wirelessly connecting personal peripheral devices such as smart watches, headsets, and the like. Using either the cellular network or WiFi, smartphones can connect to the Internet. In addition to websites that may be accessed with web browser applications that are running on the smartphone, specialized mobile device-optimized software applications, also known in the art as ‘apps,’ may use the Internet connection to retrieve data from a remote server that can be presented via the app.

“These apps run on a mobile operating system or platform such as Apple iOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows Mobile, all of which provide a common application programming interface for apps targeted thereto. In addition to the touch screen displays and wireless modules, smartphones include other peripheral devices such as GPS (global positioning system) receivers and cameras, extending the functionality to navigation, video capture, photography, and so on. Furthermore, with the improved data processing capabilities and faster data communication speeds, developers can create apps that go well beyond personal digital assistant (PDA) type functionality such as calendaring, to-do lists, memo creation, and contact management. The smartphone is thus well-suited for automating, streamlining, and otherwise improving various processes encountered throughout work and daily living.

“For example, when going to a crowded restaurant, guests without reservations often give their name, the number in their party, and are put on a waiting list. In some cases, the restaurant gives the guest an electronic pager, which goes off when their table is ready, so the guest returns to the hostess stand to be seated. JTech Communications, Long Range Systems, and PagerTec are just a few of the companies offering such pager systems.

“Other companies have also offered pager systems that use a guest’s cellular phone, allowing the restaurant to send a text to the guest’s mobile number. These systems allow the restaurant to obtain personal information and access to the guest’s mobile phone for future offers, tracking, or other uses that benefit the restaurant or its marketing partners.

“These systems lack the ability for a guest to put himself on the lists of other nearby restaurants or business establishments, to allow the guest to determine whether he would rather dine at an alternative business. In addition, guests may not want to provide their mobile phone number or other personal information to the business or its marketing partners.

“The same problems may arise with any waiting list or customer waiting line. For example, hotel guests often wait for hotel rooms to be ready, and may seek to do other things during that wait. Similarly, customers often wait in lines at banks, delis, hair salons, etc. Customers also wait in lines at government agencies, such as the motor vehicle department or embassy offices for visa applications. It would be helpful to these persons to be notified of their waiting list status without physically being in a line or in a specific location, or having to disclose personal information.

“While waiting in hospitals, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, clinics, and other medical facilities, patients are typically asked to fill out a variety of forms for providing medical history, billing/insurance information, etc. Filling out forms is not limited to medical matters; new employees must fill out various forms for the human resources department, new enrollees and parents of enrollees of schools and activities must likewise fill out forms for recordkeeping purposes, and so on. Indeed, forms processing represent a substantial portion of the country’s workforce, with medical recordkeeping alone constituting as much as $335 billion. By some estimates, inefficiencies in medical form processing is close to $165 billion, or almost fifty percent being wasted.

“Due to the prevalence of forms in the medical field, there has been much movement towards paperless information capture therefor. There are some mobile apps that integrate with medical practice management software and can be downloaded to patients’ mobile devices. However, the forms that a typical practice, clinic, or hospital requests that its patients fill out may span multiple areas, not all of which a single practice management solution may be configured to handle. Accordingly, there may be a number of different vendors that specialize in each area, thus resulting in a fractured form processing environment where one set of information is provided in one mobile app, and another set of information is provided in a different mobile app. The patient may therefore need to download multiple apps, and enter in the same information multiple times into different apps.

“Tracking time for employment/billing purposes is another potential area of improvement where a smartphone may prove valuable. For as long as employees have been compensated an hourly basis, various systems and devices have been developed to track the hours on the job as accurately as possibly while minimizing inconvenience. A timecard filled out by the employee to record the time in and the time out is one of the earliest methods, but is susceptible to erroneous recordation and possibly fraud. Machines that stamp the timecards can reduce the error in timekeeping, but still vulnerable to fraud, where one employee ‘clocks in’ on behalf of another without that employee being present, and other deceptions that may be counteracted if there is an effective way to ensure that each employee is at a known physical location at the time of clocking in or clocking out. Authentication/validation procedures that rely on biometrics such as fingerprints can reduce fraud incidents, as can devices such as keycards with RFID tags that are tied to specific individuals. However, each of these systems incurs additional costs, and requires significant infrastructure upgrades. It would be beneficial to utilize devices that are typically not shared with others, and are known to be carried by a person on a regular basis, such as smartphones.

“For the foregoing reasons there is a need for a new device that will allow guests to put their name on one or more waiting lists without providing any personal information, and be notified of their waiting list status using a personal communication device. There is also a need in the art for a device that will improve medical and other form data input and processing, as well as a device that can better track the working time of employees.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a system that would allow users to place themselves on a waiting list and be notified of their status through a communication device such as a smart phone or tablet, without providing the user’s cell phone number or other identifying information. Other embodiments are directed to a system that clocks in and clocks out workers through a communication device with the location thereof being verified. Moreover, there are embodiments directed to a system that collects form data from multiple independent applications on the communication device.

“One purpose for the present invention is to allow anyone with a smart phone or cell phone, or tablet to be put quickly on a list in the order arrived, and notified when their order or turn is up. A second purpose is to expand the range of notification to a person waiting by utilizing a cell phone. A third purpose is to allow for anonymity when getting put on list. A fourth purpose is to allow the guest to determine how he wants to be notified when it is the guest’s turn. A fifth purpose is to allow the user to be put on multiple lists at the same time. A sixth purpose is to facilitate clocking in and clocking out while ensuring the employee is doing so from an expected location. A seventh purpose is reducing inefficiencies with form processing, particularly in the medical field. These purposes are non-exhaustive and exemplary only, and not all embodiments need to fulfill each.

“The first problem solved is allowing a person to be put on a list either attended or unattended without getting a ticket or giving out recognizable information. The second problem solved is not having to type personal information into a form to be notified, which takes time. The third problem solved is to allow a guest to give out information quickly if wanted. The fourth problem solved is allowing the guest to be delayed being called or moved in a list if held up for some reason. The fifth problem solved is disconnecting the guest from all lists at one source using one account. The sixth problem to be solved is to electronically provide a user’s general information to a third party, regardless of being used for a list. The seventh problem solved is the expediting the clocking in and clocking out of an employee. The eight problem to be solved is using a call back system that is tied to a specific location and the identifier of the phone at such location. A ninth problem solved is the reduced cost to the employer. The tenth problem solved is creating a streamlined process for gathering information. The eleventh problem solved is to facilitate an expedient way to get the forms on to a mobile device of the user to be filled out. Again, these problems solved are non-exhaustive and presented by way of example only. Not all embodiments need solve each of the problems.

“These purposes and problems are solved by using (1) the Activator, (2) the Service, and (3) the Logger. The Activator may be comprised of (a) an activator application and (b) a communication device, such as a smart phone, or application and a tablet device, or a display card and cell phone to communicate with the Service or the Logger.

“The Service may be connected to a network, such as the Internet, for example, through a cloud-based server that has database account management and a messaging system. The messaging system may be able to send mails, text messages, and/or use push technologies to smart phones or other devices that can notify an application. The system may also use standard phone calls or text messages to non-smart phones.

“The Logger may comprise a ‘smart’ device, such as a camera/computer, smart phone, or tablet device. The Logger may be connected to a network, such as the Internet. The logger may have an application that can send information to the Service, by communicating with the server.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1-30. (canceled)

“31. A method for aggregating form data input to a mobile device of a user, the method comprising the steps of: displaying, on the mobile device, a display code corresponding to an account defined by one or more account record fields created on a service server and including an account identifier associated with the account encoded in the display code, the display code being deployed to the mobile device in response to an independent account creation request transmitted from the mobile device; reading the display code from the mobile device with a logger; extracting the account identifier from the display code; transmitting to the service server the account identifier extracted from the display code, the service server transmitting multiple application invocation messages to the mobile device in response based upon a correlation of the account identifier with the mobile device associated with the account identifier in the account; and transmitting multiple sets of form data to an aggregate database, each of the sets of form data being input to a separate application on the mobile device invoked from a respective one of the multiple application invocation messages each including an application identifier corresponding to a specific one of the applications.

“32. The method of claim 31, further comprising: receiving, on the mobile device, input data for at least one of the one or more account record fields; and transmitting the input data to the service server.

“33. The method of claim 31, wherein the logger is a portable computing device including a camera for capturing the display code displayed on the mobile device.

“34. The method of claim 33, wherein the portable computing device is a tablet.

“35. The method of claim 33, wherein the portable computing device is a smartphone.

“36. The method of claim 31, wherein the application invocation message is transmitted to the mobile device as a short message service (SMS) message.

“37. A form data aggregator system, comprising; a logger device configured to capture a display code displayed on a mobile device of a user and deployed thereto by a service server in response to an independent account creation request transmitted from the mobile device; a service server in communication with the logger device, the captured display code and the location identifier being received by the service server from the logger device, in response to the receipt of the display code, the service server transmits an application invocation message including multiple application identifiers to the mobile device of the user based upon a correlation of an account identifier associated with the mobile device; and a form data server in communication with the mobile device of the user and receptive to multiple sets of form data input to separate applications on the mobile device each invoked from the application invocation message and corresponding to a respective one of the multiple application identifiers in the application invocation message.

“38. The form data aggregator system of claim 37, wherein the application invocation message is transmitted to the mobile device as a short message service (SMS) message.

“39. The form data aggregator system of claim 37, wherein the display code is a machine-readable quick response (QR) code.

“40. The time tracking system of claim 37, wherein the display code is a machine-readable bar code.”

For more information, see this patent application: West, Alan. Notification System. Filed May 27, 2020 and posted October 8, 2020. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220200320484%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20200320484&RS=DN/20200320484

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