A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to receive from a mobile device a request regarding a stranded vehicle. The request is processed to determine the location of the stranded vehicle. Additional information regarding the stranded vehicle may be retrieved. The location of the stranded vehicle and the additional information may be communicated as a dispatch request. The location of the stranded vehicle relative to a dispatched vehicle is delivered to the mobile device.
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0. 27. A method comprising:
receiving, at a mobile device, a request for assistance with a stranded vehicle;
transmitting, from the mobile device and to a server, the request and additional information for a policy associated with the stranded vehicle;
in response to receiving the request from the mobile device, determining, at the server, a first location of the stranded vehicle, the first location of the stranded vehicle determined by at least communicating the request to a mobile device location service;
transmitting, from the server and to a remote computer, a dispatch request, the dispatch request comprising the first location and the additional information;
dispatching, by the remote computer, a rescue vehicle to the stranded vehicle, the dispatch of the rescue vehicle comprising delivering, to a vehicle dispatch center, the dispatch request, the dispatch request delivered in response to the remote computer determining, based at least on the additional information, that the policy associated with the stranded vehicle includes the dispatch of the rescue vehicle;
delivering, by the server and to the mobile device, a map including the first location of the stranded vehicle relative to a second location of the rescue vehicle, the map generated by the remote computer based at least on a dispatch request result received from the vehicle dispatch center; and
presenting, on a graphical user interface presented on a graphical display of the mobile device, the map including the first location and the second location.
0. 11. An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory including executable instructions which when executed provide operations comprising:
receiving, at the apparatus, a request for assistance with a stranded vehicle;
transmitting, to a server, the request and additional information for a policy associated with the stranded vehicle;
in response to transmitting the request and the additional information for the policy associated with the stranded vehicle, receiving, from the server, a map including a first location of the stranded vehicle relative to a second location of a rescue vehicle, the first location being determined by the server by at least communicating the request to a mobile device location service, the rescue vehicle being dispatched by a remote computer in response to the server transmitting, to the remote computer, a dispatch request comprising the first location and the additional information, the remote computer dispatching the rescue vehicle by at least delivering, to a vehicle dispatch center, the dispatch request, the dispatch request being delivered in response to the remote computer determining, based at least on the additional information, that the policy associated with the stranded vehicle includes the dispatch of the rescue vehicle, and the map being generated by the remote computer based at least on a dispatch request result received from the vehicle dispatch center; and
presenting, on a graphical user interface presented on a graphical display of the apparatus, the map including the first location and the second location.
1. A non-transient computer readable storage medium comprising executable instructions to at least:
receive from, at a mobile device, a request regarding for assistance with a stranded vehicle;
process transmit, from the mobile device and to a server, the request to determine the location of and additional information for a policy associated with the stranded vehicle;
in response to receiving the request from the mobile device, determine, at the server, a first location of the stranded vehicle, the first location of the stranded vehicle determined by at least communicating the request to a mobile device location service;
transmit, from the server and to a remote computer, a dispatch request, the dispatch request comprising the first location and the additional information;
dispatch, by the remote computer, a rescue vehicle to the stranded vehicle, the dispatch of the rescue vehicle comprising delivering, to a vehicle dispatch center, the dispatch request, and the dispatch request delivered in response to the remote computer determining, based at least on the additional information, that the policy associated with the stranded vehicle includes the dispatch of the rescue vehicle;
deliver, by the server and to the mobile device, a map including the first location of the stranded vehicle relative to a dispatched a second location of the rescue vehicle, wherein the executable instructions to deliver include executable instructions to automatically deliver a graphical the map of location updates associated with the dispatched vehicle relative to the stranded vehicle generated by the remote computer based at least on a dispatch request result received from the vehicle dispatch center; and
present, on a graphical user interface presented on a graphical display of the mobile device, the map including the first location and the second location.
2. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of
3. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of
4. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of
5. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 3 4, wherein the executable instructions to process the request further comprise executable instructions to automatically provision the dispatched vehicle to a user based on the additional information and the location of the stranded vehicle includes coverage information.
6. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of
0. 7. A non-transient computer readable storage medium comprising executable instructions to:
receive from a mobile device a request regarding a stranded vehicle;
process the request to determine the location of the stranded vehicle;
obtain vehicle insurance policy information for the user of the mobile device;
perform an evaluation of the vehicle insurance policy information to confirm a coverage level to cover the cost of dispatching a vehicle to the stranded vehicle; and
selectively dispatch a vehicle to the stranded vehicle based upon the evaluation.
8. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 7 further comprising executable instructions to 1, wherein the server generates the map by at least accessing a map service.
9. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of
0. 10. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of
0. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the request received at the apparatus is received through a mobile web application.
0. 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the request and the additional information are transmitted to the server over a wireless communications channel.
0. 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the dispatch request further comprises the additional information for the policy associated with the stranded vehicle.
0. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the additional information includes a vehicle status information of the stranded vehicle.
0. 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the additional information includes coverage information for the stranded vehicle.
0. 17. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising transmitting, using a short message service (SMS), an update to the second location of the rescue vehicle.
0. 18. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising transmitting, using an email message, an update to the second location of the rescue vehicle.
0. 19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:
facilitating an input, by a user and through the mobile device, of the first location.
0. 20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether the first location can be resolved.
0. 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:
resolving the first location by at least accessing the mobile device location service provided by a cellular service provider.
0. 22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:
presenting, at the apparatus, a user interface at which the first location can be provided, in response to the first location failing to be resolved.
0. 23. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:
presenting, at the apparatus, a user interface at which an acknowledgement of the first location can be provided.
0. 24. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:
presenting, at the apparatus, a user interface at which an indication of an accuracy of the first location can be provided.
0. 25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise:
providing, at the apparatus, information to enable the apparatus to contact the rescue vehicle, in response to the first location failing to be resolved.
0. 26. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus comprises a smart phone.
0. 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the dispatch request, received at the mobile device, is received from a web application.
0. 29. The method of claim 27, wherein the dispatch request further comprises the additional information for the policy associated with the stranded vehicle.
0. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the additional information includes a vehicle status information of the stranded vehicle.
0. 31. The method of claim 29, wherein the additional information includes coverage information for the stranded vehicle.
0. 32. The method of claim 27, further comprising transmitting, using a short message service, an update to the second location of the rescue vehicle.
0. 33. The method of claim 27, further comprising transmitting, using an email message, an update to the second location of the rescue vehicle.
0. 34. The method of claim 27, further comprising: facilitating an input, by a user through the mobile device, of the first location.
0. 35. The method of claim 27, wherein the request for assistance is received in response to a selection of an icon representative of a road side assistance request, wherein the icon is presented at a user interface of the mobile device.
0. 36. The method of claim 27 further comprising: resolving the first location.
0. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the first location is resolved by at least accessing the mobile device location service provided by a cellular service provider.
0. 38. The method of claim 36 further comprising:
presenting, at the mobile device, a user interface at which the first location can be provided in response to the first location failing to be resolved.
0. 39. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
presenting, at the mobile device, a user interface at which an acknowledgement of the first location can be provided.
0. 40. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
presenting, at the mobile device, a user interface at which an indication of an accuracy of the first location can be provided.
0. 41. The method of claim 36 further comprising:
providing, at the mobile device, information to enable the mobile device to contact the dispatched vehicle, in response to a failure to resolve the first location.
0. 42. The method of claim 27, wherein the mobile device comprises a smart phone.
0. 43. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising executable instructions to at least:
facilitate an input, by a user through the mobile device, of the first location.
0. 44. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 43, wherein facilitating the input comprises:
presenting, on the graphical display of the mobile device, the map;
receiving, through an interaction with the graphical display by the user, the first location.
0. 45. The non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the first location is determined by the mobile device location service based on a set of Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates data obtained by the mobile device.
0. 46. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the facilitating of the input comprises:
presenting, on the graphical display of the apparatus, the map;
receiving, through an interaction with the graphical display by the user, the first location.
0. 47. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first location is determined by the mobile device location service based on a set of Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates obtained by the mobile device.
0. 48. The method of claim 34, wherein the facilitating of the input comprises:
presenting, on the graphical display of the mobile device, the map;
receiving, through an interaction with the graphical display by the user, a first location.
0. 49. The method of claim 34, wherein the first location is determined by the mobile device location service based on a set of Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates obtained by the mobile device.
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The instant application is an application for reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 8,583,320, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/493,103, filed Jun. 26, 2009.
This invention relates generally to vehicle roadside assistance. More particularly, this invention relates to a vehicle roadside assistance apparatus and method for automatically provisioning a dispatched vehicle to a stranded vehicle.
Vehicle roadside assistance is typically used to provide emergency services to vehicle owners experiencing problems that have rendered their vehicles inoperable. In the case of a vehicle breakdown or an emergency, a vehicle owner is typically required to call a roadside assistance coverage center such as the vehicle owner's insurance company to request roadside assistance. The vehicle owner is subsequently directed to a service representative at a vehicle dispatch center to process the request. Upon receiving the request, the vehicle dispatch center selects a vehicle to dispatch to the vehicle owner by identifying the nearest vehicles with respect to a given address associated with the vehicle requiring roadside assistance. Thereafter, a dispatched vehicle is directed to the stranded vehicle.
With the widespread use of mobile devices, vehicle owners are able to conveniently place requests for roadside assistance from their vehicle. It would be desirable to develop a technique by which roadside assistance can be automatically procured by the vehicle owner via the mobile device. It would also be desirable to develop a technique by which a vehicle can be automatically provisioned to the vehicle owner using key inputs at a mobile device.
A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to receive from a mobile device a request regarding a stranded vehicle. The request is processed to determine the location of the stranded vehicle. Additional information regarding the stranded vehicle may be retrieved. The location of the stranded vehicle and the additional information may be communicated as a dispatch request. The location of the stranded vehicle relative to a dispatched vehicle is delivered to the mobile device.
The invention is more fully appreciated in connection with so the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The server computer 104 includes standard components, such as a network connection circuit 120, input/output devices 121 and a central processing unit 122, which are linked by a bus 124. In one embodiment, the server computer 104 is configured to provide roadside assistance services. The server computer 104 includes a web service module 126 stored in a memory 125, which is connected to the bus 124. The web service module 126 includes executable instructions to process the request from the mobile web application 116 and determine the location of the stranded vehicle. The server computer 104 also includes a dispatch request delivery module 128 and a dispatch request display module 130. The dispatch request delivery module 128 includes executable instructions to deliver a dispatch request to the remote computer 106. The dispatch request display module 130 includes executable instructions to route a graphical map of the location of the stranded vehicle relative to a dispatched vehicle for display on the mobile device 102.
The remote computer 106 also includes standard components, such as a network connection circuit 132, input/output devices 134 and a central processing unit 136, which are linked via a bus 138. The remote computer 106 includes a dispatch request processing module 142 stored in a memory 140, which is connected to the bus 138. The dispatch request processing module 142 includes executable instructions to process the dispatch request from the dispatch request delivery module 128. In one embodiment, a graphical map of the location of the stranded vehicle relative to the dispatched vehicle is delivered to the server computer 104.
It should also be noted that the executable modules stored in memory units 114, 125 and 140 are exemplary. Additional modules, such as an operating system module or GUI module may also be included. It should be appreciated that the functions of the modules may be combined. In addition, the functions of the modules may be distributed across the network 100 in any number of ways. The operations performed by the executable modules in memory units 114, 125 and 140 are discussed in greater detail below.
Initially, a request regarding a stranded vehicle is received on the mobile device 102. A variety of techniques may be used to receive the request. In one embodiment, the mobile web application 116 in the mobile device 102 includes executable instructions to receive the request. The mobile web application 116 may include, for example, a Rich Internet Application (RIA) utilizing Silverlight or Active X configured to receive the request via a graphical user interface provided by the mobile device 102.
The web service module 126 includes executable instructions to receive the request from the mobile web application 116. In one embodiment, the web service module 126 includes executable instructions to communicate the request to a mobile device location service 150, such as AT&T or Sprint, associated with the mobile device 102 to determine the location of the stranded vehicle. In a particular embodiment, the web service module 126 includes executable instructions to display the location as a set of GPS coordinates on the display screen of the mobile device 102. In certain embodiments, the web service module 126 also includes executable instructions to pass the set of GPS coordinates as input parameters to a mobile location mapping service 152. The mobile location mapping service 152 may include, for example, a mapping service such as Microsoft's Virtual Earth™. The web service module 126 further includes executable instructions to receive a graphical map of the location of the stranded vehicle from the mobile location mapping service 152 and route the graphical map for display on the display screen of the mobile device 102.
Returning to
The dispatch request delivery module 128 includes executable instructions to receive the location of the stranded vehicle and the additional information from the web service module 126 and deliver the location and the additional information as a dispatch request to the remote computer 106. In one embodiment, the dispatch request delivery module 128 includes executable instructions to deliver the dispatch request via a dispatch request application programming interface (API) call to the remote computer 106.
The dispatch request processing module 142 in the remote computer 106 includes executable instructions to receive the dispatch request from the server computer 104 and communicate the dispatch request to a vehicle dispatch center 158 via the dispatch request API. The dispatch request is received by an appropriate vehicle provider in the vehicle dispatch center 158. The dispatch request processing module 142 further includes executable instructions to receive a dispatch request result from the vehicle dispatch center 158, via the dispatch request API. The dispatch request result may include information regarding a dispatched vehicle provisioned for the user, such as the location of the dispatched vehicle, the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of the dispatched vehicle, etc. In one embodiment, the dispatch request processing module 142 further includes executable instructions to generate a graphical map of the location of the stranded vehicle relative to the dispatched vehicle. The graphical map may be delivered to the dispatch request display module 130 in the server computer 104.
The dispatch request display module 130 includes executable instructions to route the graphical map of the location of the stranded vehicle relative to the dispatched vehicle for display on the mobile device 102. In certain embodiments, the mobile web application 116 in the mobile device 102 includes executable instructions to periodically poll the server computer 104 to get real-time location information updates associated with the dispatched vehicle relative to the stranded vehicle. Alternately, the server computer 104 can periodically push this information to the mobile device 102. The dispatch request display module 130 further includes executable instructions to display an updated graphical map of the location updates on the mobile device 102. In another embodiment, the dispatch request display module 130 includes executable instructions to display real-time location updates associated with the dispatched vehicle relative to the stranded vehicle via short message service (SMS) or email messages on the mobile device 102.
In certain embodiments, the web service module 126 may also include executable instructions to determine if the graphical map of the location displayed to the user (in operation 188) is accurate. If the graphical map of the location is not accurate, executable instructions in the web service module 126 determine if the accurate location of the stranded vehicle can be directly obtained from the user. If the accurate location cannot be directly obtained from the user, then executable instructions in the web service module 126 provide the user with information to directly contact a service representative for provisioning a vehicle to the user.
Returning to
Those skilled in the art will recognize a number of advantages associated with the disclosed embodiments. The disclosed embodiments enable the provisioning of a vehicle programmatically via software modules that integrate the functionality provided by a vehicle dispatch center with the services provided by a vehicle roadside assistance center. The communication and processing of dispatch requests programmatically via the dispatch request API enables the automatic provisioning of a vehicle to the user. Accordingly, information regarding a provisioned vehicle is automatically displayed on the user's mobile device, without the user having to contact a service representative at a vehicle dispatch center to obtain the information. This results in increased cost savings to the user. In addition, the programmatic display of location updates of a dispatched vehicle relative to a stranded vehicle on the mobile device via the software modules enables the user to view the status of a request in real-time on the mobile device, thereby creating enhanced user experience and satisfaction.
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer storage product with a computer-readable medium having computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations. The media and computer code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to: magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and execute program code, such as application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), programmable logic devices (“PLDs”) and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter. For example, an embodiment of the invention may be implemented using Java, C++, or other object-oriented programming language and development tools. Another embodiment of the invention may be implemented in hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combination with, machine-executable software instructions.
The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed; obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, they thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the following claims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.
Harris, Frederick Miles, Srinivasan, Deepak Kumar, Swift, Philip James, Sykes, Paul David
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| Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
| Jun 19 2009 | SRINIVASAN, DEEPAK KUMAR | ESURANCE INSURANCE SERVICES, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 037142 | /0568 | |
| Jun 21 2009 | SYKES, PAUL DAVID | ESURANCE INSURANCE SERVICES, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 037142 | /0568 | |
| Jun 23 2009 | HARRIS, FREDERICK MILES | ESURANCE INSURANCE SERVICES, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 037142 | /0568 | |
| Jun 24 2009 | SWIFT, PHILIP JAMES | ESURANCE INSURANCE SERVICES, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 037142 | /0568 | |
| Nov 12 2015 | Esurance Insurance Services, Inc. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
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