Patent Issued for Systems and methods for using hardware transmitters to improve customer service (USPTO 11023940)

2021 JUN 18 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Delong, Stephanie (Bloomington, IL, US), Dieckman, Connor (Bloomington, IL, US), Harris, Amber (Bloomington, IL, US), Littleton, Alex (Bloomington, IL, US), Shah, Nihal (Bloomington, IL, US), Zadoks, Alex (Bloomington, IL, US), filed on October 21, 2016, was published online on June 1, 2021.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11023940, is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Numerous businesses benefit from their customers visiting a retail store or location, as the customer visits may be a vital contribution to increased revenue and customer retention. This is especially the case for businesses that emphasize personalized customer service, such as for insurance agents and their customers, department or “big box” stores, and other similar businesses. However, employees, representatives, or agents of these businesses must rely on their memories or on manually accessing company records to identify customers who may enter the retail locations.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The present embodiments may, inter alia, facilitate the communication of various customer information. For instance, the present embodiments may automatically and dynamically determine when a customer is located within or otherwise on the premises of a retail store, branch, or other type of business. An electronic device of the customer may detect a signal that is broadcast by a hardware transmitter located within the business. The electronic device may communicate an identification of the customer to a backend server which may retrieve a set of information associated with the customer. The backend server may send the set of information to an in-store server or otherwise an electronic device accessible by an employee, representative, or agent of the business. The electronic device may initiate an application and display the set of information in an interface of the application. As a result, the employee, representative, or agent may effectively and efficiently review the set of information to assist in serving the customer.

“In one aspect, a computer-implemented method of facilitating a set of actions with a server within a place of business using a network connection may be provided. The server may implement a customer information application and at least one hardware transmitter may be disposed within the place of business. The method may include, with the customer’s permission or affirmative consent, receiving, at a backend server from an electronic device, an identification of a customer, the electronic device sending the identification of the customer in response to detecting the at least one hardware transmitter; accessing, by the bank end server from a database using the identification of the customer, a set of information associated with the customer; and/or transmitting, via the network connection, the set of information to the server within the place of business, the server within the place of business transmitting the set of information to a computing machine within the place of business to cause the computing machine to display the set of information within the customer information application. As a result, an online or other type of customer experience may be enhanced.

“In another aspect, a system for communicating relevant information associated with customers within a place of business may be provided. The system may include a hardware transmitter installed within the place of business and detectable by an electronic device of a customer, and a computing device comprising a transceiver configured to communicate with a backend server, a display device configured to display content, and a processor interfaced with the transceiver and the display device. The processor may be configured to, with the customer’s permission or affirmative consent, receive, from the backend server via the transceiver, a set of information associated with the customer, the set of information retrieved by the backend server based upon an identification of the customer sent to the backend server by the electronic device in response to the electronic device detecting the hardware transmitter, and cause the display device to display the set of information. As a result, an online or other type of customer experience may be enhanced.

“In a further aspect, a computer-implemented method of communicating relevant information associated with customers within a place of business may be provided. The method may include, with customer permission or affirmative consent, broadcasting, by a hardware transmitter via a short range communication, a signal detectable by an electronic device, the electronic device configured to send an identification of a customer to a backend server in response to detecting the signal. The method may further include receiving, from the backend server via a network connection, a set of information associated with the customer, the set of information retrieved by the backend server based upon the identification of the customer sent to the backend server by the electronic device in response to the electronic device detecting the hardware transmitter, and displaying, on a display device, the set of information. As a result, an online or other type of customer experience may be enhanced.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method of facilitating a set of actions with an in-store server located within a brick-and-mortar property, wherein the in-store server interfaces with (i) a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property that executes a customer information application and (ii) a hardware transmitter disposed at a location within the brick-and-mortar property, the method comprising: receiving, at a backend server from an electronic device via a network connection, (i) an identification of a customer and (ii) an identification of a hardware transmitter, the electronic device sending the identification of the customer and the identification of the hardware transmitter in response to detecting the hardware transmitter; accessing, by the backend server from a database using the identification of the customer and the identification of the hardware transmitter, a set of information associated with the customer and comprising (i) a digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) a purchase history identifying a set of items or policies that the customer purchased in a section of the brick-and-mortal property associated with the location at which the hardware transmitter is disposed; and transmitting, via the network connection, the set of information to the in-store server, the in-store server transmitting, to the computing machine within the brick-and-mortar property, (i) the set of information and (ii) a request to initiate the customer information application on the computing machine to cause the computing machine to (i) initiate the customer information application, and (ii) concurrently display the digital image depicting the customer and the purchase history within the customer information application.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the network connection is a wide area network connection, and wherein receiving, at the backend server from the electronic device, the identification of the customer comprises: receiving, at the backend server from the electronic device via the wide area network connection, the identification of the customer; and wherein transmitting the set of information to the in-store server comprises: transmitting, via the wide area network connection, the set of information to the in-store server.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the set of information associated with the customer comprises: accessing at least one of: a name of the customer, an address of the customer, a date of last visit, or insurance policy information.

“4. A system for communicating relevant information associated with customers within a place of business, comprising: a hardware transmitter installed at a location within the place of business and detectable by an electronic device of a customer; a computing machine located within the place of business and configured to execute a customer information application; and an in-store server comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a backend server, and a processor interfaced with the transceiver and configured to: receive, from the backend server via the transceiver, a set of information associated with the customer and comprising (i) a digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) a purchase history identifying a set of items or policies that the customer purchased in a section of the place of business associated with the location at which the hardware transmitter is installed, the set of information retrieved by the backend server based upon (i) an identification of the customer and (ii) an identification of the hardware transmitter sent to the backend server by the electronic device in response to the electronic device detecting the hardware transmitter, and transmit, to the computing machine, the set of information and a request to initiate the customer information application; wherein the computing machine is configured to: receive, from the in-store server, the set of information and the request to initiate the customer information application, initiate the customer information application, and concurrently display, via a user interface associated with the customer information application, the digital image depicting the customer and the purchase history.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the hardware transmitter is configured to broadcast a signal identifying the hardware transmitter via a short range communication, the signal detectable by the electronic device.

“6. The system of claim 4, wherein the set of information further comprises at least one of: a name of the customer, an address of the customer, a date of last visit, or insurance policy information.

“7. A computer-implemented method of communicating relevant information associated with customers within a brick-and-mortar property, the method comprising: broadcasting, by a hardware transmitter via a short range communication, a signal detectable by an electronic device, the electronic device configured to send (i) an identification of a customer and (ii) an identification of the hardware transmitter to a backend server in response to detecting the signal, the hardware transmitter disposed at a location within the brick-and-mortar property; receiving, by an in-store server from the backend server via a network connection, a set of information associated with the customer and comprising (i) a digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) a purchase history identifying a set of items or policies that the customer purchased in a section of the brick-and-mortal property associated with the location at which the hardware transmitter is disposed, the set of information retrieved by the backend server based upon the identification of the customer and the identification of the hardware transmitter sent to the backend server by the electronic device in response to the electronic device detecting the hardware transmitter; transmitting, by the in-store server to a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property, the set of information and a request to initiate a customer information application installed on the computing machine; initiating, by the computing machine, the customer information application; and concurrently displaying, by the computing machine via a user interface associated with the customer information application, the digital image depicting the customer and the purchase history.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein broadcasting the signal detectable by the electronic device comprises: broadcasting the signal identifying the hardware transmitter.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the set of information further comprises at least one of: a name of the customer, an address of the customer, a date of last visit, or insurance policy information.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving, by the computing machine, a request to view more information associated with the customer; accessing additional information associated with the customer; and displaying, by the computing machine, the additional information associated with the customer.”

For more information, see this patent: Delong, Stephanie. Systems and methods for using hardware transmitters to improve customer service. U.S. Patent Number 11023940, filed October 21, 2016, and published online on June 1, 2021. 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=11023940.PN.&OS=PN/11023940RS=PN/11023940

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)