Patent Issued for Systems and methods for intercepting communications (USPTO 11438460): United Services Automobile Association

2022 SEP 22 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Camacho, Gualberto (San Antonio, TX, US), Tuomikoski, David (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on August 10, 2020, was published online on September 6, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11438460 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: “The present disclosure relates generally to intercepting a communication to a provider, and more particularly to intercepting the communication and establishing communication with a relevant provider department, authenticating a user, and/or performing a transaction.

“This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to help provide the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

“Typically, when a user initially communicates with a provider of a good or service (e.g., insurance, finance, utility, communication, entertainment, commerce, security, and the like), the provider will direct the user to an interactive voice response system that uses automated audio prompts to elicit information from the user. The interactive voice response system may then direct the user to an appropriate department of the provider or enable the user to perform a transaction via the interactive voice response system based on the information provided by the user. In many cases, the user communicates with the provider via a mobile electronic device that includes a visual input device, such as a smartphone, wearable device, tablet, and the like. However, these electronic devices may include capabilities that may simplify or provide additional functionality when compared to the interactive voice response system.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

“The present disclosure relates generally to intercepting a communication to a provider, and more particularly to intercepting the communication and establishing communication with a relevant provider department, authenticating a user, and/or performing a transaction. In some embodiments, when the user initiates a voice call with the provider using a mobile electronic device (e.g., a smartphone), a visual interface may be displayed on the electronic device that enables establishing communication (e.g., establishing voice communication via a standard phone call) with the relevant provider department. The visual interface may also enable authenticating the user, for example, by using an authentication feature of the electronic device. In alternative or additional embodiments, the visual interface may enable performing a transaction (e.g., completely via the visual interface), such as the transaction that the user desired to perform when initiating the call. In this manner, establishing communication to the relevant provider department and/or performing the desired transaction may more quickly and efficiently be achieved without tediously navigating through an interactive voice response system. For example, a user may attempt to make a voice call via the smartphone to a bank to transfer funds and the call may be intercepted (e.g., based on identification of the phone number) and a user-interface (e.g., the visual interface) may be activated on the smartphone to facilitate authenticating the user, establishing communication with a relevant provider department, and/or completing the transaction.

“Various refinements of the features noted above may be made in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for call diversion and authentication, comprising: intercepting an outgoing telephone call from an electronic device by using a communication intercept application of the electronic device to block the outgoing telephone call before the outgoing telephone call is sent over a network to a recipient associated with the outgoing telephone call; displaying a visual interface of the communication intercept application on the electronic device, in response to intercepting the outgoing telephone call, wherein the visual interface provides data corresponding to the outgoing telephone call; prompting input of authentication information at the visual interface; and in response to verifying the authentication information and before the outgoing telephone call is sent over the network to the recipient associated with the outgoing telephone call, performing an action using the visual interface.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the action comprises transferring funds, changing a policy, making a payment, or any combination thereof, via the visual interface.

“3. The method of claim 1, comprising displaying a dial pad, wherein initiating the outgoing telephone call occurs via entry of a telephone number on the dial pad.

“4. The method of claim 1, comprising determining that a telephone number associated with the outgoing telephone call has a correlation to a stored telephone number stored in one or more memories of the electronic device and intercepting the outgoing telephone call based on the correlation.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication information comprises a personal identification number, facial recognition data, a password, a pattern, biometric data, or any combination thereof.

“6. The method of claim 1, comprising: intercepting an additional outgoing telephone call from the electronic device by using the communication intercept application of the electronic device to block the additional outgoing telephone call before the additional outgoing telephone call is sent over the network and occurs subsequent to intercepting the outgoing telephone call; displaying a second visual interface of the communication intercept application on the electronic device, in response to intercepting the additional outgoing telephone call, wherein the second visual interface provides second data corresponding to the second outgoing telephone call; prompting input of second authentication information at the second visual interface; and in response to rejecting the second authentication information, exiting the second visual interface.

“7. One or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media comprising instructions configured to cause one or more processors of an electronic device to: receive a communication request for a first mode of communication; deny the communication request by using a communication intercept application of the electronic device to block communication via the first mode of communication before the communication is sent over a network to a recipient associated with the communication request; display a visual interface of the communication intercept application on the electronic device using a second mode of communication; prompt a pattern to be drawn on the visual interface; in response to authenticating the pattern and before the communication is sent over the network to the recipient associated with the communication request, perform an action using the visual interface; and in response to rejecting the pattern, exit the visual interface.

“8. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to allow a threshold number of incorrect input pattern entries before exiting the visual interface.

“9. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein the communication request is directed to an entity, and wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to alert the entity in response to rejecting the pattern.

“10. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein the communication request is directed to an entity, and wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to send user information associated with the electronic device to the entity.

“11. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the user information comprises a device identification number of the electronic device, a telephone number associated with the electronic device, a member identification number associated with the entity, or any combination thereof.

“12. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to identify a user based on the user information, wherein the pattern is associated with the user.

“13. An electronic device comprising: a display; and a controller communicatively coupled to the display, wherein the controller comprises one or more processors and one or more memory devices, wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions that, when executed by one or more of the processors, cause the one or more processors to: detect a communication request via a first mode of operation; block the communication request by using a communication intercept application of the electronic device to block communication via the first mode of operation before the communication is sent over a network to a recipient associated with the communication request; display a visual interface of the communication intercept application on the electronic device via the display in a second mode of operation, wherein the visual interface comprises a prompt to provide authentication information; in response to confirming the authentication information and before the communication is sent over the network to the recipient associated with the communication request, performing an action using the visual interface; and in response to rejecting the authentication information, exiting the visual interface.

“14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the communication request comprises a text message.

“15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the visual interface comprises a page configured to enable selection of a department from a plurality of departments.

“16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the page comprises a topic selection control, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to populate the topic selection control with a plurality of topics based on the selection of the department.

“17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to populate the topic selection control with a second plurality of topics based on a second selection of a second department of the plurality of departments, wherein the second plurality of topics is different from the plurality of topics.

“18. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the page comprises an option selection control, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to populate the option selection control with a plurality of options based on a second selection of a topic of the plurality of topics, wherein each option of the plurality of options facilitates performing the action with the department.

“19. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the authentication information comprises a password and, in response to authenticating the password, the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to continue communicating via the second mode of operation using the visual interface.

“20. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein, in response to confirming the authentication information, the instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to continue communicating via the first mode of operation.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Camacho, Gualberto. Systems and methods for intercepting communications. U.S. Patent Number 11438460, filed August 10, 2020, and published online on September 6, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11438460.PN.&OS=PN/11438460RS=PN/11438460

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