Patent Issued for Virtual Collaboration (USPTO 10,657,599)
2020 JUN 01 (NewsRx) -- By a
The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,657,599, is
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “When an insurance claim is filed to cover damage to insured property, the property owner often has the damage appraised by a claims adjuster who can determine an appropriate estimate of compensation to the owner.
“However, making the property available for the adjuster’s appraisal can be inefficient and time-costly. Either the property must be conveyed to the other’s location or vice versa, and a mutually agreeable time for the appraisal must be determined beforehand.
“Traditional customer service systems may allow contact between claims adjusters and owners without travel or making appointments, but telephonic communication is virtually useless for allowing an accurate appraisal by remote means. Sending pictures is similarly deficient, especially if the owner does not understand how best to portray the damage.”
In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the description below.
“Aspects of the disclosure relate to methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for providing two-way audiovisual communication between a property owner and a claims adjuster, using a camera and microphone of a mobile computing device of the property owner and a camera and microphone of a computer of the adjuster remote from the property owner.
“Claims adjusters may be organized in a queue ranked by amount of time spent waiting to answer an owner’s call. Upon an owner’s calling in, an adjuster may be selected, and may be able to use one or more cameras of the owner’s mobile computing device to view and appraise property. The adjuster may converse with the owner to ask questions or instruct the owner to change camera angles, and at the conclusion of the call, may cause the owner to be compensated for damage to the property or may dispatch an appraiser to the property based on infeasibility of thorough or accurate remote examination.
“Managers may be able to watch over the queue and to manage individual adjusters by modifying their attributes in order to keep the queue balanced with demand for adjusters appropriate to the distribution of owners currently calling.
“Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the additional description provided herein.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“We claim:
“1. A method, comprising: determining, by a virtual collaboration server, a queue position of a first claims adjuster in a first queue, the queue position being based on a first amount of time the first claims adjuster has been waiting in the first queue, wherein the first queue is associated with a first property type; determining, by the virtual collaboration server, a queue position of a second claims adjuster in a second queue, the queue position of the second claims adjuster being based on a second amount of time the second claims adjuster has been waiting in the second queue, wherein the second queue is associated with a second property type; receiving, from a mobile computing device comprising a camera, a microphone, and a speaker, and by the virtual collaboration server, a request to initiate a communication session, wherein the request is associated with a second property type; modifying, by the virtual collaboration and based on determining that the second amount of time is below a threshold, the queue position of the first claims adjuster in the first queue to a modified queue position in the second queue; selecting, by the virtual collaboration server based on the modified queue position, a computing device associated with the first claims adjuster; transmitting, by the virtual collaboration server and to the computing device of the first claims adjuster, the request to initiate the communication session; responsive to receiving an indication that the first claims adjuster has accepted the request to initiate the communication session, transmitting video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the computing device of the first claims adjuster, wherein the video comprises video of damaged property for evaluation; based at least in part on the transmitted video and audio, determining an amount of compensation to provide to an owner of the damaged property; and transferring the determined amount of compensation for the damaged property displayed within the video to the owner of the damaged property.
“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second property type comprises an automotive claim type.
“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first claims adjuster associated with the selected computing device is a claims adjuster assigned the second property type who has been in the second queue longer than any other claims adjuster in the second queue.
“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to transferring compensation, transmitting, to a computing device of another claims adjuster in a location remote from the first claims adjuster, instructions to physically inspect the damaged property.
“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster is additionally selected based at least in part on one or more statistics concerning previous calls of the first claims adjuster.
“6. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster is additionally selected based at least in part on an experience level of the first claims adjuster.
“7. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster is additionally selected based at least in part on comparison of a numerical score for the first claims adjuster with that of other claims adjusters in the second queue.
“8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: subsequent to transmitting video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the computing device of the first claims adjuster, terminating transmission, selecting a computing device associated with the second claims adjuster, and transmitting video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the computing device associated with the second claims adjuster.
“9. A system, comprising: a first computing device; and a second computing device comprising a microphone and a camera and associated with a first claims adjuster, wherein the first computing device has memory containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the first computing device to: determine a queue position of the first claims adjuster in a first queue, the queue position being based on a first amount of time the first claims adjuster has been waiting in the first queue, wherein the first queue is associated with a first property type; determine a queue position of a second claims adjuster in a second queue, the queue position of the second claims adjuster being based on a second amount of time the second claims adjuster has been waiting in the second queue, wherein the second queue is associated with a second property type; receive, from a mobile computing device comprising a camera, a microphone, and a speaker, a request to initiate a communication session wherein the request is associated with a second property type; modify, based on determining that the second amount of time is below a threshold, the queue position of the first claims adjuster in the first queue to a modified queue position in the second queue; select, based on the modified queue position, the second computing device; transmit, to the second computing device, the request to initiate the communication session; responsive to receiving an indication that the first claims adjuster has accepted the request to initiate the communication session, transmit video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the second computing device, wherein the video comprises video of damaged property for evaluation; and based at least in part on the transmitted video and audio, determine an amount of compensation to provide to an owner of the damaged property; and transfer the determined amount of compensation for the damaged property displayed within the video to the owner of the damaged property.
“10. The system of claim 9, wherein the second property type comprises an automotive claim type.
“11. The system of claim 9, wherein the first claims adjuster associated with the selected second computing device is a claims adjuster assigned the second property type who has been in the second queue longer than any other claims adjuster in the second queue.
“12. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions further comprise: prior to transferring compensation, transmitting, to another claims adjuster in a location remote from the first claims adjuster, instructions to physically inspect the damaged property.
“13. The system of claim 9, wherein the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster is additionally selected based at least in part on one or more statistics concerning previous calls of the first claims adjuster.
“14. The system of claim 9, wherein the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster is additionally selected based at least in part on an experience level of the first claims adjuster.
“15. The system of claim 9, wherein the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster is additionally selected based at least in part on comparison of a numerical score for the first claims adjuster with that of other claims adjusters in the second queue.
“16. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions further comprise: subsequent to transmitting video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the computing device associated with the first claims adjuster, terminate transmission, select a computing device associated with a second claims adjuster, and cause transmission of video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the computing device associated with the second claims adjuster.
“17. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions further comprise: receiving a command to edit one or more attributes of the first claims adjuster; and updating the one or more attributes of the first claims adjuster.
“18. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media containing instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to: determine, a queue position of a first claims adjuster in a first queue, the queue position being based on a first amount of time the first claims adjuster has been waiting in the first queue, wherein the first queue is associated with a first property type determine a queue position of a second claims adjuster in a second queue, the queue position of the second claims adjuster being based on a second amount of time the second claims adjuster has been waiting in the second queue, wherein the second queue is associated with a second property type; receive, from a mobile computing device comprising a camera, a microphone, and a speaker, a request to initiate a communication session wherein the request is associated with a second property type; modify, based on determining that the second amount of time is below a threshold, the queue position of the first claims adjuster in the first queue to a modified queue position in the second queue; select, based on the modified queue position, a second computing device associated with the first claims adjuster; transmit, to the second computing device, the request to initiate the communication session; responsive to receiving an indication that the first claims adjuster has accepted the request to initiate the communication session, transmit video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the second computing device, wherein the video comprises video of damaged property for evaluation; and based at least in part on the transmitted video and audio, determine an amount of compensation to provide to an owner of the damaged property; and transfer the determined amount of compensation for the damaged property displayed within the video to the owner of the damaged property.
“19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the second computing device is additionally selected based at least in part on one or more statistics concerning previous calls of the first claims adjuster.
“20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device, further cause the computing device to: subsequent to transmitting video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the second computing device, terminating transmission, selecting a third computing device associated with a second claims adjuster, and transmitting video and audio bidirectionally between the mobile computing device and the third computing device.”
For more information, see this patent: Beavers, Sean; Gutsell,
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