Patent Application Titled “Synchronized Interactive Voice Response System And Graphical User Interface For Automated Roadside Service” Published Online (USPTO 20210272183): Allstate Insurance Company

2021 SEP 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a patent application by the inventors Banks, Anthony (Northbrook, IL, US); Singh, Brinderjit (Buffalo Grove, IL, US); Turnbull, Paul R. (Chicago, IL, US), filed on May 29, 2020, was made available online on September 2, 2021.

The assignee for this patent application is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Vehicles may become disabled during a trip because of a vehicle malfunction, an accident, weather-related events, etc. A disablement of a vehicle (e.g., a breakdown, malfunction, collision, etc.) can cause a stressful experience for an owner, passenger, or operator of a vehicle. The drivers and/or passengers of the disabled vehicle may contact a towing network or other roadside service provider network for assistance. Service companies may rely on digital tools, such as websites or mobile applications, to reduce labor and other costs. However, in times of distress, drivers and passengers may be more inclined to seek help over the phone rather than over a website or mobile application. Yet, service companies also increasingly rely on interactive voice response (IVR) systems for interactions with callers. This reliance can often lead to user dissatisfaction due to a perception that a user’s needs or concerns are not being met.

“There is therefore a desire for a reliable system and method for providing roadside service that is efficient and operationally cost-effective, but which also assures distressed drivers and/or passengers that their concerns and needs are being met.

“The present disclosure may address one or more of the shortcomings described above.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The following summary presents a simplified summary of certain features. The summary is not an extensive overview and is not intended to identify key or critical elements.

“Systems, apparatuses, and methods for automated roadside service through a synchronized interactive voice response (IVR) system and graphical user interface (GUI) are described herein. The system may include one or more servers, network computing devices, and computing devices associated with user vehicles and service vehicles. The system may receive requests for a roadside service from a caller (e.g., an oral and/or voice request via a telephone call from a driver or passenger of a disabled vehicle), direct the caller to a mobile application with a graphical user interface on the caller’s mobile device (e.g., via a text having a universal resource locator (URL) to access the mobile application), prompt and receive further input concerning information associated with the requested roadside assistance services, and/or manage the dispatch of roadside assistance providers to the disabled vehicle. In some aspects, the prompting and receiving further input may be performed via the graphical user interface while simultaneously interacting with the caller via voice communication over the telephone (e.g., via the interactive voice response system).

“At least one example method may include a computing device having one or more processors receiving, via an interactive voice response system (IVR), an indication of a voice request (e.g., a request communicated orally over the telephone) generated by a first device for a roadside service for a vehicle that has undergone a vehicle incident. The vehicle and the first device may be associated with a user (e.g., a vehicle user), and the indication of the voice request may identify the first device (e.g., to establish communication with the first device). The computing device may send, based on the indication of the voice request, an electronic message (e.g., a text message or SMS message) to the first device. The electronic message may prompt the user to access a roadside assistance application (e.g., via a URL or link). The computing device may receive, via the roadside assistance application, a plurality of parameters associated with the vehicle incident. The computing device may determine, via the first device, a location of one or both of the first device or the vehicle (e.g., via a global positioning system (GPS) of the first device and/or a telematics device associated with the vehicle). The computing device may identify, based on the determined location, and based on the plurality of parameters associated with the vehicle incident, a list of service providers to provide the requested roadside service. The computing device may receive, via the roadside assistance application, a selection of a service provider from the list of service providers. The computing device may establish communications with a second device associated with the selected service provider to monitor service status of the service provider. The computing device may cause a display, via the roadside assistance application, of the service status of the service provider (e.g., on the first device associated with the user). Furthermore, the computing device may receive an indication of the service provider completing the roadside service.

“In accordance with other embodiments of the present disclosure, an example system comprises one or more processors; and a memory storing computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by the one or more processors, the processors may cause the system to perform one or more methods described herein.

“In accordance with other embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more non-transitory computer readable media stores computer-executable instructions. When these computer-executable instructions are executed by a computing device, the computing device may perform one or more of the methods described herein.

“These and other features and advantages are described in greater detail below. The methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions, or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well. The details of these and other embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from the description, drawings, and claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method comprising: receiving, by a computing device having one or more processors and via an interactive voice response system (IVR), an indication of a voice request from a first device for a roadside service for a vehicle that has undergone a vehicle incident, wherein the vehicle and the first device are associated with a user, and wherein the indication of the voice based request identifies the first device; sending, by the computing device and based on the indication of the voice request, an electronic message to the first device, wherein the electronic message prompts the user to access a roadside assistance application; receiving, by the computing device and via the roadside assistance application, a plurality of parameters associated with the vehicle incident; determining, by the computing device and via the first device, a location of one or both of the first device or the vehicle; identifying, by the computing device, based on the location, and based on the plurality of parameters associated with the vehicle incident, a list of service providers to provide roadside service; receiving, by the computing device and via the roadside assistance application, a selection of a service provider from the list of service providers; establishing communications with a second device associated with the service provider to monitor service status of the service provider; causing display, via the roadside assistance application, of the service status of the service provider; and receiving, by the computing device, an indication of the service provider completing the roadside service.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the list of service providers comprises: identifying, from a database of service providers, a set of service providers that satisfy a threshold of proximity to the location; identifying, within the set of service providers and based on the information associated with the vehicle incident, a subset of service providers that are indicated as having the capability to address the vehicle incident; sending, by the computing device and to the subset of service providers, a task request to address the vehicle incident; and receiving, by the computing device and from one or more service providers of the subset of service providers, an acceptance of the task request, wherein the one or more service providers of the subset of service providers comprises the identified list of service providers.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identified list of service providers comprises a single service provider, and wherein the receiving the selection of the service provider comprises: receiving, from the first device, an approval of the single service provider.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the roadside assistance application is managed by the computing device.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the sending the electronic message to the first device, authenticating, by the computing device, the first device that generated the voice request.

“6. The method of claim 5, wherein the authenticating comprises, one or more of: matching, by the computing device and via a database, the user associated with the first device to a registered user; matching, by the computing device and via a database, the vehicle associated with the user associated with the first device to a registered vehicle; or matching, by the computing device and via a database, the first device to an identified device of a registered user or an identified device of a registered vehicle.

“7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to the sending the electronic message to the first device, generating a data structure indicating a task to address the vehicle incident for the vehicle; and after the receiving the indication of the service provider completing the roadside service, updating the data structure to indicate a fulfillment of the task to address the vehicle incident for the vehicle.

“8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location of the first device comprises: receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS) of the first device, the location of the first device.

“9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location of the vehicle comprises one or both of: receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS) of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle; or receiving, via user input into the roadside service application, the location of the vehicle.

“10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: after the receiving the selection of the service provider, prompting the user to send, via the roadside assistance application, an identification of the vehicle and contact information associated with the user; and receiving, from the first device and via the roadside assistance application, the identification of the vehicle and the contact information associated with the user.

“11. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing communications with the second device associated with the service provider to monitor the service status of the service provider comprises: establishing communications with a global positioning system (GPS) of the second device associated with the service provider to monitor movement of the service provider; and wherein the causing the display of the service status of the service provider comprises causing display of one or more of: an estimated time of arrival of the service provider at the location of the vehicle; an indication that the service provider is on the way to the location of the vehicle; an indication that the service provider is arriving at the location of the vehicle; an indication that the service provider has dropped off the vehicle to a second location; the indication of the service provider completing the roadside service; or a map overlaid with an indicator of the service provider to show movement of the service provider.

“12. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of parameters associated with a vehicle incident comprises two or more of: an identification of the vehicle; a cause of the vehicle incident; an type of damage experienced by the vehicle; or a type of roadside service requested.

“13. A system comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: identify, based on a voice communication between a first device and an interactive voice response (IVR) system, a request for a roadside service for a vehicle that has undergone a vehicle incident, wherein the vehicle and the first device are associated with a user; send, based on the identified request, an electronic message to the first device, wherein the electronic message prompts the user to access a roadside assistance application; receive, via the roadside assistance application, a plurality of parameters associated with the vehicle incident; determine, via the first device, a location of one or both of the first device or the vehicle; identify, based on the location and based on the plurality of parameters associated with the vehicle incident, a list of service providers to provide roadside service; receive, via the roadside assistance application, a selection of a service provider from the list of service providers; establish communications with a second device associated with the service provider to monitor service status of the service provider; cause display, via the roadside assistance application, of the service status of the service provider; and receive, an indication of the service provider completing the roadside service.

“14. The system of claim 13, wherein the system further comprises the roadside assistance application.

“15. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to identify the list of service providers by: identifying, from a database of service providers, a set of service providers that satisfy a threshold of proximity to the location; identifying, within the set of service providers and based on the information associated with the vehicle incident, a subset of service providers that are indicated as having the capability to address the vehicle incident; sending, to the subset of service providers, a task request to address the vehicle incident; and receiving, by the computing device and from one or more service providers of the subset of service providers, an acceptance of the task request, wherein the one or more service providers of the subset of service providers comprises the identified list of service providers.

“16. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to determine the location of the first device by: receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS) of the first device, the location of the first device.

“17. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to determine the location of the vehicle by: establishing communications with the global positioning system (GPS) of the vehicle; and receiving, from the GPS of the vehicle, the location of the vehicle.

“18. The system of claim 13, wherein the list of service providers is a list of towing service providers, and wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to: after the receiving the selection of the service provider, prompting the user to send, via the roadside assistance application, an identification of the vehicle and contact information associated with the user; and receiving, from the first device and via the roadside assistance application, the identification of the vehicle and the contact information associated with the user.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For more information, see this patent application: Banks, Anthony; Singh, Brinderjit; Turnbull, Paul R. Synchronized Interactive Voice Response System And Graphical User Interface For Automated Roadside Service. Filed May 29, 2020 and posted September 2, 2021. Patent URL: https://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=%2220210272183%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210272183&RS=DN/20210272183

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