Patent Issued for Simplified interactive user interface (USPTO 11720974): United Services Automobile Association

2023 AUG 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Covin, D’Andre Nepoleon (San Antonio, TX, US), Gutierrez, Elisabeth Rose (San Antonio, TX, US), James, David (San Antonio, TX, US), Pflug, David John (San Antonio, TX, US), Smith, Irvin Lee (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on May 11, 2022, was published online on August 8, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11720974 is assigned to United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “An insurance claim is a formal request to an insurance company asking for a payment based on the terms of the insurance policy. The insurance company reviews the claim for its validity and then pays out to the insured or requesting party (on behalf of the insured) once approved. As placing a claim presupposes that the insured as experiences a loss, frequently the circumstances surrounding placing a claim are stressful. Further, for particular individuals losses are relatively rare, a person may (and typically do) go years between claims. Therefore, during this period of relatively high stress the individual needs to engage in a process with which they are fundamentally unfamiliar. It is easy for the individual to make mistakes, get frustrated, and potentially abandon the process only to attempt to pick it up later.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In general, innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods that includes act of receiving, from a mobile device, a request to start an insurance claim, the mobile device including an application configured to guide the user through the claim process. The methods include the act of triggering a push notification from the customer service representative’s system to the member’s mobile device to establish a session between a computer of a customer service representative and the mobile device. The method includes the act of displaying, on the computer, images of the user interface of the mobile device. The method includes the act of receiving information concerning the insurance claim from the mobile device, the information provided by the user in response to prompts provided on the mobile device. The method includes the act of displaying the information on the computer. The method includes the act of enabling the customer service representative to alter the information or request additional information be provided. The method includes enabling the customer service representative to enter information that is more easily entered through a keyboard. The method also includes the act of adding the information to a data record regarding the insurance claim in response to an indication that the customer service representative has completed the initial claim? The method includes the ability to use the application in tandem with a phone call, allowing the customer service representative to talk the user through the process.

“Implementations can optionally include one or more of the following features. Receiving information may include receiving information from a camera on the mobile device. The application may include guides displayed on the user interface that indicate where the user should center a focus of the image. The application may use object recognition to acquire data from the images taken by the user. The computer of the customer service representative may receive information from the mobile device in response to a specific action taken with the mobile device. The computer of the customer service representative may receive information from the mobile device on a periodic basis. The application may enable the customer service representative to ask the user of the mobile device to provide additional information.

“Other implementations of any of the above aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs that are configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices. The present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium coupled to one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations in accordance with implementations of the methods provided herein. The present disclosure further provides a system for implementing the methods provided herein. The system includes one or more processors, and a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations in accordance with implementations of the methods provided herein.

“Implementations of the present disclosure provide one or more of the following advantages. Data may be more accurately provided allowing for a more efficient process. Processing may be improved. A customers experience may be improved.

“It is appreciated that aspects and features in accordance with the present disclosure can include any combination of the aspects and features described herein. That is, aspects and features in accordance with the present disclosure are not limited to the combinations of aspects and features specifically described herein, but also include any combination of the aspects and features provided.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method performed by at least one processor, the method comprising: receiving, from a mobile device of a user, a request to start an insurance claim, the mobile device including a mobile application configured to guide the user through a claim process; in response to receiving the request, causing the mobile application to automatically start a process of collecting information for the insurance claim; in response to the mobile application automatically starting the process of collecting information for the insurance claim, establishing, by a data processing system, over one or more networks, a live electronic communications session between a computer of a customer service representative and the mobile device through the mobile application for collecting information for the insurance claim; and during the live electronic communications session between the computer of the customer service representative and the mobile device of the user for collecting information for the insurance claim: displaying, on the computer of the customer service representative, a plurality of images of the user interface of the mobile device of the user, the displaying comprising displaying the plurality of images sequentially based on a time of capture for each image, receiving information concerning the insurance claim from the mobile device, displaying the information on the computer of the customer service representative, enabling the customer service representative to alter the information or request additional information be provided, and writing to a data record accessed from memory the information regarding the insurance claim in response to an indication that the customer service representative has verified the information.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the information includes receiving information from a camera on the mobile device.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the application includes guides displayed on the user interface that indicate where the user should center a focus of an image.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer of the customer service representative receives information from the mobile device in response to a specific action taken with the mobile device.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computer of the customer service representative receives information from the mobile device on a periodic basis.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing the mobile application to automatically start the process of collecting information for the insurance claim includes: sending a push notification to the mobile device to cause the mobile application to automatically start the process.

“7. A system, comprising: a computer; a memory coupled to the computer, the memory including programing instructions that cause the computer to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a mobile device of a user, a request to start an insurance claim, the mobile device including a mobile application configured to guide the user through a claim process; in response to receiving the request, causing the mobile application to automatically start a process of collecting information for the insurance claim; in response to the mobile application automatically starting the process of collecting information for the insurance claim, establishing, over one or more networks, a live electronic communications session between a second computer of a customer service representative and the mobile device through the mobile application for collecting information for the insurance claim; and during the live electronic communications session between the second computer of the customer service representative and the mobile device of the user for collecting information for the insurance claim: displaying, on the second computer of the customer service representative, a plurality of images of the user interface of the mobile device of the user, the displaying comprising displaying the plurality of images sequentially based on a time of capture for each image, receiving information concerning the insurance claim from the mobile device, displaying the information on the second computer of the customer service representative, enabling the customer service representative to alter the information or request additional information be provided, and writing to a data record accessed from memory the information regarding the insurance claim in response to an indication that the customer service representative has verified the information.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations for receiving information include receiving information from a camera on the mobile device.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the application includes guides displayed on the user interface that indicate where the user should center a focus of an image.

“10. The system of claim 7, wherein the second computer of the customer service representative receives information from the mobile device in response to a specific action taken with the mobile device.

“11. The system of claim 7, wherein the second computer of the customer service representative receives information from the mobile device on a periodic basis.

“12. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations for causing the mobile application to automatically start the process of collecting information for the insurance claim include: sending a push notification to the mobile device to cause the mobile application to automatically start the process.

“13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a mobile device of a user, a request to start an insurance claim, the mobile device including a mobile application configured to guide the user through a claim process; in response to receiving the request, causing the mobile application to automatically start a process of collecting information for the insurance claim; in response to the mobile application automatically starting the process of collecting information for the insurance claim, establishing, over one or more networks, a live electronic communications session between a computer of a customer service representative and the mobile device through the mobile application for collecting information for the insurance claim; and during the live electronic communications session between the computer of the customer service representative and the mobile device of the user for collecting information for the insurance claim: displaying, on the computer of the customer service representative, a plurality of images of the user interface of the mobile device of the user, the displaying comprising displaying the plurality of images sequentially based on a time of capture for each image, receiving information concerning the insurance claim from the mobile device, displaying the information on the computer, enabling the customer service representative to alter the information or request additional information be provided, and writing to a data record accessed from memory the information regarding the insurance claim in response to an indication that the customer service representative has verified the information.

“14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein receiving information includes receiving information from a camera on the mobile device.

“15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the application wherein the application includes guides displayed on the user interface that indicate where the user should center a focus of an image.

“16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the computer of the customer service representative receives information from the mobile device in response to a specific action taken with the mobile device.

“17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the computer of the customer service representative receives information from the mobile device on a periodic basis.

“18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the operations for causing the mobile application to automatically start the process of collecting information for the insurance claim include: sending a push notification to the mobile device to cause the mobile application to automatically start the process.

“19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the operations for displaying the plurality of images of the user interface of the mobile device of the user comprise displaying the plurality of images sequentially based on a time of capture for each image.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Covin, D’Andre Nepoleon. Simplified interactive user interface. U.S. Patent Number 11720974, filed May 11, 2022, and published online on August 8, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11720974)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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