Patent Issued for Systems and methods for using hardware transmitters to improve customer service (USPTO 11669878): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
2023 JUN 28 (NewsRx) -- By a
The patent’s inventors are
This patent was filed on
From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “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.”
Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters 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 interfacing with an in-store server located within a brick-and-mortar property, wherein the in-store server interfaces with a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property that executes a customer information application, 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, (i) a digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) information associated with an account of the customer, the account related to the brick-and-mortar property; and transmitting, via the network connection, the digital image depicting the customer and the information associated with the account of the customer to the in-store server, the in-store server transmitting, to the computing machine within the brick-and-mortar property, (i) the digital image depicting the customer and the information associated with the account of the customer, 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 information associated with the account of the customer.
“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 digital image and the information to the in-store server comprises: transmitting, via the wide area network connection, the digital image and the information to the in-store server.
“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the information associated with the account of the customer comprises: accessing at least one of: a name of the customer, an address of the customer, a date of a past visit to the brick-and-mortar property, or a purchase history of the customer.
“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device detects the hardware transmitter via a personal area network.
“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the hardware transmitter is installed within the brick-and-mortar property.
“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the request to initiate the customer information application on the computing machine further causes the computing machine to display a selection for more information.
“7. A system for interfacing with an in-store server located within a brick-and-mortar property, comprising: a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property 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, (i) a digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) information associated with an account of the customer, the account related to the brick-and-mortar property, the backend server accessing the digital image and the information associated with the account based upon an identification of the customer and an identification of a hardware transmitter being sent to the backend server by an electronic device in response to the electronic device detecting the hardware transmitter, and transmit, to the computing machine, (i) the digital image depicting the customer, (ii) the information associated with the account of the customer, and (iii) a request to initiate the customer information application; wherein the computing machine is configured to: receive, from the in-store server, (i) the digital image depicting the customer, (ii) the information associated with the account of the customer, and (iii) a 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 information associated with the account of the customer.
“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the transceiver communicates with the backend server via a wide area network connection.
“9. The system of claim 7, wherein the information associated with the account of the customer comprises at least one of: a name of the customer, an address of the customer, a date of a past visit to the brick-and-mortar property, or a purchase history of the customer.
“10. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor further receives a purchase history for the customer in a location of the brick-and-mortar property associated with the hardware transmitter.
“11. The system of claim 10, wherein the computing machine further displays, via the user interface associated with the customer information application, the purchase history for the customer.
“12. The system of claim 7, wherein the computing machine further displays, via the user interface associated with the customer information application, a selection for more information.
“13. 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 backend server accessing, from a database using the identification of the customer, (i) a digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) information associated with an account of the customer, the account related to the brick-and-mortar property; receiving, by an in-store server from the backend server via a network connection, (i) the digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) the information associated with the account of the customer; transmitting, by the in-store server to a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property, (i) the digital image depicting the customer, (ii) the information associated with the account of the customer, and (iii) a request to initiate the customer information application; initiating, by the computing machine, the customer information application; and concurrently displaying, by the computing device via a user interface associated with the customer information application, the digital image depicting the customer and the information associated with the account of the customer.
“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein receiving the digital image and the information comprises: receiving, by the in-store server from the backend server via a wide area connection, (i) the digital image depicting the customer, and (ii) the information associated with the account of the customer.
“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein receiving the information associated with the account of the customer comprises: receiving, by the in-store server from the backend server via the network connection, at least one of: a name of the customer, an address of the customer, a date of a past visit to the brick-and-mortar property, or a purchase history of the customer.
“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving, by the in-store server from the backend server via the network connection, a purchase history for the customer in a location of the brick-and-mortar property associated with a hardware transmitter.
“17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising: displaying, by the computing device via the user interface, the purchase history for the customer.
“18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, further comprising: displaying, by the computing device via the user interface, a selection for more information.”
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