Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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REMOTE INITIATION OF INTERACTION BY A COMPUTING ENTITY
BACKGROUND
If item information corresponding to an item to be delivered by a
carrier/transporter
requires a signature for delivery to be authorized and/or that the item be
delivered to an
individual in person, the carrier/transporter may make multiple failed
attempts to deliver the
item. The time required for a delivery vehicle driver to park a delivery
vehicle, retrieve the item
from the delivery vehicle, walk to the service point from the delivery
vehicle, and wait for an
individual to answer the door during a failed delivery attempt is time that
the delivery vehicle
driver has wasted. Thus, failed delivery attempts reduce the efficiency of
conducting a dispatch
plan.
Additionally, with the increasing demand of customer-focused pick-ups and
deliveries
of items, new technologies are needed for communicating relevant information
to customers in
a timely and easy to use manner.
BRIEF SUMMARY
Example embodiments provide methods, systems, apparatuses, computer program
products for increasing the interactivity of delivering an item to or picking
an item up from a
service point. In example embodiments, a service point device located at the
service point may
be remotely activated as a delivery vehicle approaches the service point. An
individual may
then provide an indication of whether or not he/she is available to receive
the item at the service
point before the delivery vehicle stops in the vicinity of the service point
and/or before the item
is removed from the delivery vehicle to attempt the delivery of the item. In
example
embodiments, if an individual is not available to receive the item at the
service point, the
individual may provide an electronic signature in real- or near real-time and
thereby provide
authorization for the item to be delivered to the service point. In example
embodiments, if an
individual is not available at the service point to receive the item, an
electronic information
notice may be provided, for example, through the service point device. In some
example
embodiments, the service point device may be used to monitor an item left at a
service point to
ensure that the item is not removed from the service point by an unauthorized
individual.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided. In an
example
embodiment, the method comprises, for an upcoming service point (a) at which
an item is to
be delivered or picked-up and (b) that is associated with a service point
device located at the
service point, determining whether the delivery vehicle is within an
activation zone for
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activating the service point device. Responsive to determining that the
delivery vehicle is
within an activation zone for activating the service point device, the service
point device is
remotely activated. Remotely activating the service point device causes the
service point device
to dynamically provide an alert interface for user interaction with a user.
The method further
comprises receiving an indication of user interaction via the user interface
indicating
availability of the user to receive or provide the item at the service point;
and providing a
notification of the indication of the user interaction. If the notification
indicates that the
individual is available to receive or provide the item at the service point,
the item is delivered
to or picked-up from the service point.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is
provided. In an
example embodiment, the apparatus comprises at least one processor and at
least one memory
storing computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer
program code may
be configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least, for an
upcoming service
point (a) at which an item is to be delivered or picked-up and (b) that is
associated with a service
point device located at the service point, determine whether the delivery
vehicle servicing the
service point is within an activation zone for activating the service point
device. Responsive to
determining that the delivery vehicle servicing the service point is within an
activation zone
for activating the service point device, the service point device is remotely
activated. Remotely
activating the service point device causes the service point device to
dynamically provide an
alert interface for user interaction with a user. The at least one memory and
the computer
program code may be further configured to, with the processor, cause the
apparatus to at least
receive an indication of user interaction via the user interface indicating
availability of the user
to receive or provide the item at the service point; and provide a
notification of the indication
of the user interaction. If the notification indicates that the individual is
available to receive or
provide the item at the service point, the item is delivered to or picked-up
from the service
point.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer program
product
is provided. In example embodiments, the computer program product comprises at
least one
non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable
program code
instructions stored therein. The computer-executable program code instructions
comprise
program code instructions configured to for an upcoming service point (a) at
which an item is
to be delivered or picked-up and (b) that is associated with service point
device located at the
service point, determine whether the delivery truck servicing the service
point is within an
activation zone for activating the service point device. Responsive to
determining that the
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delivery truck servicing the service point is within an activation zone for
activating the service
point device, the service point device is remotely activated. Remotely
activating the service
point device causes the service point device to dynamically provide an alert
interface for user
interaction with a user. The computer-executable program code instructions
further comprise
program code instructions configured to receive an indication of user
interaction via the user
interface indicating availability of the user to receive or provide the item
at the service point;
and provide a notification of the indication of the user interaction. If the
notification indicates
that the individual is available to receive or provide the item at the service
point, the item is
delivered to or picked-up from the service point.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided. In an
example
embodiment, the method comprises establishing a communication, by a service
point device
using a short range or long range communication technology, between an item
allocated at a
service point and the service point device. The service point device is
located at the service
point and is configured to communicate both through the short range or long
range
communication technology and through an Internet protocol network. There are a
series of
scheduled communications between the item and the service point device. The
method further
comprises receiving, by the service point device, a communication of the
series of scheduled
communications provided by the item; and determining, by the service point
device, whether a
characteristic of the received communication is in accordance with an expected
characteristic
of the communication. The determination of whether the characteristic of the
received
communication is in accordance with the expected characteristic of the
communication is based
at least in part on at least one previously received communication. The method
further
comprises, in response to determining that the characteristic of the received
communication is
not in accordance with the expected characteristic, determining that the item
has been moved.
In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided. In
example
embodiments, the apparatus comprises at least one processor and at least one
memory storing
computer program code. The apparatus is located at a service point and is
configured to
communicate both through (a) the short range or long range communication
protocol and (b)
through an Internet protocol network. For example, the apparatus is a service
point device. The
at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the
processor,
cause the apparatus to at least establish a communication using the short
range or long range
communication technology, between an item located at the service point and the
apparatus.
There are a series of scheduled communications between the item and the
apparatus. The at
least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with
the processor,
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cause the apparatus to at least receive a communication of the series of
scheduled
communications provided by the item; and determine whether a characteristic of
the received
communication is in accordance with an expected characteristic of the
communication. The
determination of whether the characteristic of the received communication is
in accordance
with the expected characteristic is based at least in part on at least one
previously received
communication. The at least one memory and the computer program code are
further
configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least, in
response to determining
that the characteristic of the received communication is not in accordance
with the expected
characteristic, determine that the item has been moved.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer program
product
is provided. In an example embodiment, the computer program product comprises
at least one
non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable
program code
instructions stored therein. The computer-executable program code instructions
comprise
program code instructions configured to establish a communication, by a
service point device
using a short range or long range communication technology, between an item
located at a
service point and the service point device. The service point device is
located at the service
point and is configured to communicate both through the short range or long
range
communication technology and through an Internet protocol network. There are a
series of
scheduled communications between the item and the service point device. The
program code
instructions are further configured to receive, by the service point device, a
communication of
the series of scheduled communications provided by the item; and determine, by
the service
point device, whether a characteristic of the received communication is in
accordance with an
expected characteristic of the communication. The determination of whether the
characteristic
of the received communication is in accordance with the expected
characteristic is based at
least in part on at least one previously received communication. The program
code instructions
are further configured to, in response to determining that the characteristic
of the received
communication is not in accordance with the expected characteristic,
determining that the item
has been moved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be
made to
the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and
wherein:
Fig. 1 is an overview of a system that can be used to practice embodiments of
the present
invention.
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Fig. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a carrier/transporter computing
entity
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a customer computing entity
according to
one embodiment of the present invention.
Figs. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, and 4G are electronic door hangers according to
one
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 5 is an exemplary schematic diagram of service point device according to
one
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating example processes and procedures for
delivering an
item using a remote service point device activation in accordance with an
example embodiment
of the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures that may be
completed, for
example by a service point device, in accordance with an example embodiment of
the present
invention.
Fig. 8 illustrates an example alert interface, in accordance with an example
embodiment
of the present invention.
Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures for authorizing a
delivery
using a remote (near) real-time electronic signature, in accordance with an
example
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures for dynamically
updating a
dispatch plan based on remote activation of one or more service point devices,
in accordance
with an example embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures for monitoring an
item using
a service point device in accordance with an example embodiment of the present
invention.
Fig. 12 illustrates an example retrieval interface, in accordance with an
example
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS
Various embodiments of the present invention now will be described more fully
hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but
not all
embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be
embodied in many
different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set
forth herein;
rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy
applicable legal
requirements. The term "or" is used herein in both the alternative and
conjunctive sense, unless
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otherwise indicated. The terms "illustrative" and "exemplary" are used to be
examples with no
indication of quality level. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
I. General Overview
Example embodiments of the present invention provide for determining whether
an
individual is available to receive an item at a service point before a
delivery vehicle stops at
the service point, before a driver of the delivery vehicle exits the delivery
vehicle to make the
delivery, and/or before the item is removed from the delivery vehicle to be
delivered to the
service point. Similarly, example embodiments of the present invention provide
for
determining whether an individual is available to provide an item for pick up
at a service point
before the delivery vehicle stops at the service point to pick up the item,
whether an item has
been placed at an accessible location at a service point before the delivery
vehicle stops at the
service point to pick up the item, and/or before a driver of the delivery
vehicle exits the delivery
vehicle to make the pick-up. In example embodiments, a service point may be a
delivery
location, pick up location, and/or the like.
In some example embodiments, it may be determined, as a delivery vehicle is
approaching an upcoming service point, that a service point device is located
at the service
point. In some example embodiments, the service point device is an electronic
doorbell (e.g., a
"smart" doorbell). In another example embodiment, the service point device may
be an
.. Amazon Echo or other smart device. For example, a service point device may
be affixed to a
building or within a building located at/in the vicinity of the service point.
When the delivery
vehicle is within an activation zone (e.g., configurable distance and/or
expected time window),
the service point device may be remotely activated to determine if an
individual is available to
receive the item at the service point (or to provide the item for pick up). If
user input/interaction
.. is received indicating that an individual is available to receive the item
at the service point (or
to provide the item for pick up), the delivery (or pick up) is made (e.g.,
attempted) at the service
point. If an individual is not available to receive the item at the service
point, the individual
may be given the option of providing an electronic signature to authorize
delivery of the item
to the service point. If a user input/interaction is received indicating that
a user is not available
to receive the item at the service point (e.g., an individual indicates that
he/she is not available
or no user input/interaction is received), the attempt to deliver the item to
(or to pick up the
item from) the service point may be deferred. While, the example of an
electronic doorbell is
used herein, a service point device may comprise a variety of communication-
enabled
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electronic devices such as, but not limited to an electronic doorbell, beacon,
storage locker,
electronic mailbox, Internet of things enabled device, and/or the like.
In example embodiments, the driver may not exit the delivery vehicle and/or
may not
remove the item from the delivery vehicle until receiving an indication that
the individual is
available to receive the item at the service point, the electronic signature
is received, an
indication that the individual is available to provide the item for pick up at
the service point,
and/or that the item has been placed at an accessible location at the service
point (e.g., at the
back door, on the front porch, in the garage, in an electronically lockable
locker, and/or the
like). If the item is not delivered to the service point (e.g., an indication
that the user is not
available to receive the item at the service point and an electronic signature
is not provided) an
electronic information notice may be provided. For example, the electronic
information notice
may be provided to the service point device.
In some example embodiments, if an item is delivered to the service point
without being
tendered to an individual, a communication session may be established between
a service point
device (e.g., an electronic doorbell, electronic locker or mailbox, and/or the
like) and the item,
such that the service point device may monitor the location of the item until
the item is retrieved
by an authorized individual (e.g., the consignee and/or an agent thereof).
When the authorized
individual retrieves the item from the service point, the authorized
individual may terminate
the communication session. If the communication session is interrupted (e.g.,
the item is moved
from the service point by an unauthorized individual), an alert may be
provided.
Example embodiments are directed to communicating with a service point device
to
efficiently and securely deliver an item to a service point or pick up an item
from a service
point having a service point device located there at. For example, various
embodiments address
the technical problem of communicating with a service point device. For
example, various
embodiments address the technical problem of communicating remotely (e.g.,
from a yard,
several yards, a mile, several miles, and/or the like distance away from the
service point) with
a service point device, for example, to facilitate efficient and secure
delivery of an item to or
pick up of an item from the service point associated with the service point
device.
Various example embodiments will be described in more detail below. While
example
embodiments described herein discuss scenarios where an item is being
delivered by a
carrier/transporter to a service point, it should be understood that example
embodiments of the
present invention are also applicable to scenarios where an item is being
picked up by a
carrier/transporter from a service point.
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Computer Program Products, Methods, and Computing Entities
Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in various ways,
including
as computer program products that comprise articles of manufacture. A computer
program
product may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing
applications,
programs, program modules, scripts, source code, program code, object code,
byte code,
compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or
the like (also
referred to herein as executable instructions, instructions for execution,
computer program
products, program code, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably).
Such non-transitory
computer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media (including
volatile and
non-volatile media).
In one embodiment, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may include
a
floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state storage (SSS) (e.g., a
solid state drive (SSD),
solid state card (SSC), solid state module (SSM), enterprise flash drive,
magnetic tape, or any
other non-transitory magnetic medium, and/or the like. A non-volatile computer-
readable
.. storage medium may also include a punch card, paper tape, optical mark
sheet (or any other
physical medium with patterns of holes or other optically recognizable
indicia), compact disc
read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW), digital versatile
disc
(DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD), any other non-transitory optical medium, and/or the
like. Such a
non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include read-only
memory (ROM),
programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory
(EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash
memory
(e.g., Serial, NAND, NOR, and/or the like), multimedia memory cards (MMC),
secure digital
(SD) memory cards, SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash (CF) cards, Memory Sticks,
and/or the
like. Further, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also
include conductive-
.. bridging random access memory (CBRAM), phase-change random access memory
(PRAM),
ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM), non-volatile random-access memory
(NVRAM), magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), resistive random-access
memory (RRAM), Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon memory (SONOS), floating
junction
gate random access memory (FJG RAM), Millipede memory, racetrack memory,
and/or the
like.
In one embodiment, a volatile computer-readable storage medium may include
random
access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access
memory (SRAM), fast page mode dynamic random access memory (FPM DRAM),
extended
data-out dynamic random access memory (EDO DRAM), synchronous dynamic random
access
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memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR
SDRAM), double data rate type two synchronous dynamic random access memory
(DDR2
SDRAM), double data rate type three synchronous dynamic random access memory
(DDR3
SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), Twin Transistor RAM
(TTRAM), Thyristor RAM (T-RAM), Zero-capacitor (Z-RAM), Rambus in-line memory
module (RIMM), dual in-line memory module (DIMM), single in-line memory module
(SIMM), video random access memory (VRAM), cache memory (including various
levels),
flash memory, register memory, and/or the like. It will be appreciated that
where embodiments
are described to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types of
computer-readable
storage media may be substituted for or used in addition to the computer-
readable storage
media described above.
As should be appreciated, various embodiments of the present invention may
also be
implemented as methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing
entities, and/or
the like. As such, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of
an apparatus,
system, computing device, computing entity, and/or the like executing
instructions stored on a
computer-readable storage medium to perform certain steps or operations. Thus,
embodiments
of the present invention may also take the form of an entirely hardware
embodiment, an entirely
computer program product embodiment, and/or an embodiment that comprises
combination of
computer program products and hardware performing certain steps or operations.
Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to
block
diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Thus, it should be understood that each
block of the block
diagrams and flowchart illustrations may be implemented in the form of a
computer program
product, an entirely hardware embodiment, a combination of hardware and
computer program
products, and/or apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities,
and/or the like
carrying out instructions, operations, steps, and similar words used
interchangeably (e.g., the
executable instructions, instructions for execution, program code, and/or the
like) on a
computer-readable storage medium for execution. For example, retrieval,
loading, and
execution of code may be performed sequentially such that one instruction is
retrieved, loaded,
and executed at a time. In some exemplary embodiments, retrieval, loading,
and/or execution
may be performed in parallel such that multiple instructions are retrieved,
loaded, and/or
executed together. Thus, such embodiments can produce specifically-configured
machines
performing the steps or operations specified in the block diagrams and
flowchart illustrations.
Accordingly, the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support various
combinations of
embodiments for performing the specified instructions, operations, or steps.
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III. Exemplary System Architecture
Fig. 1 provides an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
As shown in Fig. 1, this particular embodiment may include one or more
carrier/transporter
computing entities 100, one or more items 102, one or more networks 105, one
or more vehicles
107, one or more customer computing entities 110, one or more electronic door
hangers 115,
one or more service point devices 117, one or more user computing entities
120, and/or the
like. Each of these components, entities, devices, systems, and similar words
used herein
interchangeably may be in direct or indirect communication with, for example,
one another
over the same or different wired or wireless networks. Additionally, while
Fig. 1 illustrates the
various system entities as separate, standalone entities, the various
embodiments are not limited
to this particular architecture.
1. Exemplary Carrier/Transporter Computing Entity
Fig. 2 provides a schematic of a carrier/transporter computing entity 100
according to
one embodiment of the present invention. A carrier may be a traditional
carrier, such as United
Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx, DHL, courier services, the United States Postal
Service (USPS),
Canadian Post, freight companies (e.g. truck-load, less-than-truckload, rail
carriers, air carriers,
ocean carriers, etc.), and/or the like. However, a carrier may also be a
nontraditional carrier,
such as Amazon, Google, Uber, ride-sharing services, crowd-sourcing services,
retailers,
and/or the like. In general, the terms computing entity, computer, entity,
device, system, and/or
similar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or
more computers,
computing entities, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks,
laptops, distributed
systems, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses,
iBeacons,
proximity beacons, key fobs, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, ear
pieces, scanners,
televisions, dongles, cameras, wristbands, kiosks, input terminals, servers or
server networks,
blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-top
boxes, relays,
routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/or any
combination of devices or
entities adapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes
described herein. Such
functions, operations, and/or processes may include, for example,
transmitting, receiving,
operating on, processing, displaying, storing, determining,
creating/generating, monitoring,
evaluating, comparing, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably. In
one embodiment,
these functions, operations, and/or processes can be performed on data,
content, information,
and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably.
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As indicated, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100
may also
include one or more communications interfaces 220 for communicating with
various
computing entities, such as by communicating data, content, information,
and/or similar terms
used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on,
processed,
displayed, stored, and/or the like. For instance, the carrier/transporter
computing entity 100
may communicate with customer computing entities 110, electronic door hangers
115, user
computing entities 120, and/or the like.
As shown in Fig. 2, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing
entity 100
may include or be in communication with one or more processing elements 205
(also referred
to as processors, processing circuitry, processing device, and/or similar
terms used herein
interchangeably) that communicate with other elements within the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 via a bus, for example. As will be understood, the
processing element
205 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processing
element 205
may be embodied as one or more complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs),
microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, application-
specific instruction-
set processors (ASIPs), microcontrollers, and/or controllers. Further, the
processing element
205 may be embodied as one or more other processing devices or circuitry. The
term circuitry
may refer to an entirely hardware embodiment or a combination of hardware and
computer
program products. Thus, the processing element 205 may be embodied as
integrated circuits,
application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs),
programmable logic arrays (PLAs), hardware accelerators, other circuitry,
and/or the like. As
will therefore be understood, the processing element 205 may be configured for
a particular
use or configured to execute instructions stored in volatile or non-volatile
media or otherwise
accessible to the processing element 205. As such, whether configured by
hardware or
computer program products, or by a combination thereof, the processing element
205 may be
capable of performing steps or operations according to embodiments of the
present invention
when configured accordingly.
In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may further
include or
be in communication with non-volatile media (also referred to as non-volatile
storage, memory,
memory storage, memory circuitry and/or similar terms used herein
interchangeably). In one
embodiment, the non-volatile storage or memory may include one or more non-
volatile storage
or memory media 210, including but not limited to hard disks, ROM, PROM,
EPROM,
EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM,
FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM, Millipede memory, racetrack
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memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the non-volatile storage or
memory media may
store databases, database instances, database management systems, data,
applications,
programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code,
compiled code,
interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like. The
terms database,
database instance, database management system, and/or similar terms used
herein
interchangeably may refer to a structured collection of records or data that
is stored in a
computer-readable storage medium, such as via a relational database,
hierarchical database,
and/or network database.
In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may further
include or
be in communication with volatile media (also referred to as volatile storage,
memory, memory
storage, memory circuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably).
In one
embodiment, the volatile storage or memory may also include one or more
volatile storage or
memory media 215, including but not limited to RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO
DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-
RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the
like. As will be recognized, the volatile storage or memory media may be used
to store at least
portions of the databases, database instances, database management systems,
data, applications,
programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code,
compiled code,
interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like being
executed by, for
example, the processing element 205. Thus, the databases, database instances,
database
management systems, data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts,
source code,
object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,
executable instructions,
and/or the like may be used to control certain aspects of the operation of the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 with the assistance of the processing element 205 and
operating system.
As indicated, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100
may also
include one or more communications interfaces 220 for communicating with
various
computing entities, such as by communicating data, content, information,
and/or similar terms
used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on,
processed,
displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may be executed using a
wired data
transmission protocol, such as fiber distributed data interface (FDDI),
digital subscriber line
(DSL), Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, data over
cable service
interface specification (DOCSIS), or any other wired transmission protocol.
Similarly, the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may be configured to communicate via
wireless
external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as
general packet
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radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code
Division
Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA2000 1X (DcRTT), Wideband Code Division
Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple
Access
(TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access
Network (E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access
(HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi
Direct,
802.16 (WiMAX), ultra wideband (UWB), infrared (IR) protocols, near field
communication
(NFC) protocols, Bluetooth protocols, Wibree, Home Radio Frequency (HomeRF),
Simple
Wireless Abstract Protocol (SWAP), wireless universal serial bus (USB)
protocols, and/or any
other wireless protocol.
Although not shown, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may include
or be in
communication with one or more input elements, such as a keyboard input, a
mouse input, a
touch screen/display input, motion input, movement input, audio input,
pointing device input,
joystick input, keypad input, and/or the like. The carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 may
also include or be in communication with one or more output elements (not
shown), such as
audio output, video output, screen/display output, motion output, movement
output, and/or the
like. Further, an electronic door hanger 115 may have a locking/unlocking
mechanism that can
be activated/deactivated remotely or locally by a carrier/transporter
computing entity 100,
customer computing entity 110, and/or user computing entity 120.
As will be appreciated, one or more of the carrier/transporter computing
entity's 100
components may be located remotely from other carrier/transporter computing
entity 100
components, such as in a distributed system. Furthermore, one or more of the
components may
be combined and additional components performing functions described herein
may be
included in the carrier/transporter computing entity 100. Thus, the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 can be adapted to accommodate a variety of needs and
circumstances.
As will be recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for
exemplary
purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments.
2. Exemplary Vehicle
In various embodiments, the term vehicle 107 is used generically. For example,
a
carrier/transporter vehicle 107 may be a manned or an unmanned tractor, a
truck, a car, a
motorcycle, a moped, a Segway, a bicycle, a golf cart, a hand truck, a cart, a
trailer, a tractor
and trailer combination, a van, a flatbed truck, a vehicle, a drone, an
airplane, a helicopter, a
boat, a barge, and/or any other form of object for moving or transporting
people and/or items
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(e.g., one or more packages, parcels, bags, containers, loads, crates, items
banded together,
vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like, and/or similar words used herein
interchangeably). In
one embodiment, each vehicle 107 may be associated with a unique vehicle
identifier (such as
a vehicle ID) that uniquely identifies the vehicle 107. The unique vehicle ID
(e.g., trailer ID,
tractor ID, vehicle ID, and/or the like) may include characters, such as
numbers, letters,
symbols, and/or the like. For example, an alphanumeric vehicle ID (e.g., "AS")
may be
associated with each vehicle 107. In another embodiment, the unique vehicle ID
may be the
license plate, registration number, or other identifying information assigned
to the vehicle 107.
As noted above, in instances where the vehicle is a carrier vehicle, the
vehicle may be a self-
driving delivery vehicle or the like. Thus, for the purpose of the present
disclosure, the term
driver of a delivery vehicle may be used to refer to a carrier personnel who
drives a delivery
vehicle and/or delivers items therefrom, an autonomous system configured to
deliver items
(e.g., a robot configured to transport items from a vehicle to a service point
such as a customer's
front door or other service point), and/or the like.
Various computing entities, devices, and/or similar words used herein
interchangeably
can be associated with the vehicle 107, such as a data collection device or
other computing
entities. In general, the terms computing entity, entity, device, system,
and/or similar words
used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers,
computing
entities, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops,
distributed systems,
gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons,
proximity
beacons, key fobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles,
cameras, wristbands,
kiosks, input terminals, servers or server networks, blades, gateways,
switches, processing
devices, processing entities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access
points, base stations,
the like, and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the
functions,
operations, and/or processes described herein. The data collection device may
collect
telematics data (including location data) and transmit/send the data to the
mobile computing
entity, the mapping computing entity, and/or various other computing entities
via one of several
communication methods.
In one embodiment, the data collection device may include, be associated with,
or be
in wired or wireless communication with one or more processors (various
exemplary
processors are described in greater detail below), one or more location-
determining devices or
one or more location sensors (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
sensors), one
or more telematics sensors, one or more real-time clocks, a J-Bus protocol
architecture, one or
more electronic control modules (ECM), one or more communication ports for
receiving
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telematics data from various sensors (e.g., via a CAN-bus), one or more
communication ports
for transmitting/sending data, one or more RFID tags/sensors, one or more
power sources, one
or more data radios for communication with a variety of communication
networks, one or more
memory modules 410, and one or more programmable logic controllers (PLC). It
should be
noted that many of these components may be located in the vehicle 107 but
external to the data
collection device.
In one embodiment, the one or more location sensors, modules, or similar words
used
herein interchangeably may be one of several components in wired or wireless
communication
with or available to the data collection device. Moreover, the one or more
location sensors may
be compatible with GPS satellites, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite
systems,
Department of Defense (DOD) satellite systems, the European Union Galileo
positioning
systems, Global Navigation Satellite systems (GLONASS), the Chinese Compass
navigation
systems, Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like.
Furthermore, the one
or more location sensors may be compatible with Assisted GPS (A-GPS) for quick
time to first
fix and jump starting the ability of the location sensors to acquire location
almanac and
ephemeris data, and/or be compatible with Satellite Based Augmentation System
(SBAS) such
as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation
Overlay
Service (EGNOS), and/or MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS Aided
GEO
Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) to increase GPS accuracy. This information/data
can be
collected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as the Decimal Degrees
(DD); Degrees,
Minutes, Seconds (DMS); Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM); Universal Polar
Stereographic (UPS) coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively,
triangulation may be
used in connection with a device associated with a particular vehicle 107
and/or the vehicle's
operator and with various communication points (e.g., cellular towers or Wi-Fi
access points)
positioned at various locations throughout a geographic area to monitor the
location of the
vehicle 107 and/or its operator. The one or more location sensors may be used
to receive
latitude, longitude, altitude, heading or direction, geocode, course,
position, time, and/or speed
data (e.g., referred to herein as telematics data and further described herein
below). The one or
more location sensors may also communicate with the mapping computing entity,
the data
collection device, mobile computing entity, and/or similar computing entities.
As indicated, in addition to the one or more location sensors, the data
collection device
may include and/or be associated with one or more telematics sensors, modules,
and/or similar
words used herein interchangeably. For example, the telematics sensors may
include vehicle
sensors, such as engine, fuel, odometer, hubometer, tire pressure, location,
weight, emissions,
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door, and speed sensors. The telematics data may include, but is not limited
to, speed data,
emissions data, RPM data, tire pressure data, oil pressure data, seat belt
usage data, distance
data, fuel data, idle data, and/or the like (e.g., referred to herein as
telematics data). The
telematics sensors may include environmental sensors, such as air quality
sensors, temperature
sensors, and/or the like. Thus, the telematics data may also include carbon
monoxide (CO),
nitrogen oxides (N0x), sulfur oxides (S0x), Ethylene Oxide (Et0), ozone (03),
hydrogen
sulfide (H2S) and/or ammonium (NH4) data, and/or meteorological data (e.g.,
referred to herein
as telematics data).
In one embodiment, the ECM may be one of several components in communication
with and/or available to the data collection device. The ECM, which may be a
scalable and
subservient device to the data collection device, may have data processing
capability to decode
and store analog and digital inputs from vehicle systems and sensors. The ECM
may further
have data processing capability to collect and present telematics data to the
J-Bus (which may
allow transmission to the data collection device), and output standard vehicle
diagnostic codes
when received from a vehicle's J-Bus-compatible on-board controllers 440
and/or sensors.
As indicated, a communication port may be one of several components available
in the
data collection device (or be in or as a separate computing entity).
Embodiments of the
communication port may include an Infrared data Association (IrDA)
communication port, a
data radio, and/or a serial port. The communication port may receive
instructions for the data
collection device. These instructions may be specific to the vehicle 107 in
which the data
collection device is installed, specific to the geographic area in which the
vehicle 107 will be
traveling, specific to the function the vehicle 107 serves within a fleet,
and/or the like. In one
embodiment, the data radio may be configured to communicate in accordance with
multiple
wireless communication standards and protocols, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, lxRTT,
WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB,
IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Similarly, the
customer
computing entity 110 may operate in accordance with multiple wired
communication standards
and protocols, such as those described above with regard to the
carrier/transporter computing
entity 100 via a network interface 320.
3. Exemplary Item
An item/shipment 102 may be any tangible and/or physical object. Such
items/shipments 102 may be picked up and/or delivered by a
carrier/transporter. In one
embodiment, an item/shipment 102 may be or be enclosed in one or more
packages, parcels,
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bags, containers, loads, crates, items banded together, vehicle parts,
pallets, drums, the like,
and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. Such items 102 may include
the ability to
communicate (e.g., via a chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip), RFID, NFC,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi,
and any other suitable communication techniques, standards, or protocols) with
one another
.. and/or communicate with various computing entities for a variety of
purposes. For example,
the item 102 may be configured to communicate with a service point device 117
using a
short/long range communication technology, as described in more detail below.
Further, such
items 102 may have the capabilities and components of the described with
regard to the
carrier/transporter computing entities 100, networks 105, vehicles 107,
customer computing
entities 110, electronic door hangers 115, user computing entities 120, and/or
the like. For
example, the item 102 may be configured to store item information/data. In
example
embodiments, the item information/data may comprise one or more of a consignee
name/identifier, an item identifier, a service point (e.g., delivery
location/address, pick-up
location/address), instructions for delivering the item, an item delivery
authorization code,
information/data regarding if a service point device 117 is present at the
service point, and/or
the like. In this regard, in some example embodiments, an item may communicate
send "to"
address information/data, received "from" address information/data, unique
identifier codes,
and/or various other information/data. In one embodiment, each item may
include an
item/shipment identifier, such as an alphanumeric identifier. Such
item/shipment identifiers
.. may be represented as text, barcodes, tags, character strings, Aztec Codes,
MaxiCodes, Data
Matrices, Quick Response (QR) Codes, electronic representations, and/or the
like. A unique
item/shipment identifier (e.g., 123456789) may be used by the carrier to
identify and track the
item as it moves through the carrier's transportation network. Further, such
item/shipment
identifiers can be affixed to items by, for example, using a sticker (e.g.,
label) with the unique
item/shipment identifier printed thereon (in human and/or machine readable
form) or an RFID
tag with the unique item/shipment identifier stored therein.
4. Exemplary Customer Computing Entity
Fig. 3 provides an illustrative schematic representative of a customer
computing entity
.. 110 that can be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present
invention. In one
embodiment, a customer may be a consignor (person sending an item/shipment
102) or a
consignee (intended recipient of an item/shipment 102). In example
embodiments, a customer
computing entity 110 may be registered with a service point device 117 (or the
service point
device 117 may be registered with the customer computing entity 110) such that
the service
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point device 117 may provide notifications (e.g., doorbell activation
notifications) to an
individual operating the customer computing entity 110. In example
embodiments, a customer
computing entity 110 that is registered with the service point device 117 may
have an electronic
doorbell application operating thereon. The electronic doorbell application
may be configured
to receive notifications from the service point device, cause the
notifications to be processed,
and provide specific user interfaces (e.g., the alert interface) through the
display of the customer
computing entity 110 in response to processing notifications received from the
service point
device.
In one embodiment, a customer computing entity 110 may include one or more
components that are functionally similar to those of the carrier/transporter
computing entity
100, item 102, vehicle 107, electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity
120, and/or the
like. In general, the terms device, system, computing entity, entity, and/or
similar words used
herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers,
computing entities,
desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed
systems, gaming
consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons,
proximity beacons, key
fobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, cameras, wristbands, kiosks, input
terminals, servers or
server networks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processing
entities, set-top
boxes, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/or
any combination of
devices or entities adapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or
processes described
herein. As shown in Fig. 3, the customer computing entity 110 may include an
antenna 312, a
transmitter 304 (e.g., radio), a receiver 306 (e.g., radio), and a processing
element 308 (e.g.,
CPLDs, microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs,
microcontrollers, and/or controllers) that provides signals to and receives
signals from the
transmitter 304 and receiver 306, respectively.
The signals provided to and received from the transmitter 304 and the receiver
306,
respectively, may include signaling information in accordance with air
interface standards of
applicable wireless systems. In this regard, the customer computing entity 110
may be capable
of operating with one or more air interface standards, communication
protocols, modulation
types, and access types. More particularly, the customer computing entity 110
may operate in
accordance with any of a number of wireless communication standards and
protocols, such as
those described above with regard to the carrier/transporter computing entity
100. In a
particular embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 may operate in
accordance with
multiple wireless communication standards and protocols, such as UMTS,
CDMA2000,
lxRTT, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX,
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UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like.
Similarly, the
customer computing entity 110 may operate in accordance with multiple wired
communication
standards and protocols, such as those described above with regard to the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 via a network interface 320.
Via these communication standards and protocols, the customer computing entity
110
can communicate with various other entities using concepts such as
Unstructured
Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia
Messaging
Service (MMS), Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Signaling (DTMF), and/or Subscriber
Identity
Module Dialer (SIM dialer). The customer computing entity 110 can also
download changes,
add-ons, and updates, for instance, to its firmware, software (e.g., including
executable
instructions, applications, program modules), and operating system.
According to one embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 may include a
location determining aspects, device, module, functionality, and/or similar
words used herein
interchangeably. For example, the customer computing entity 110 may include
outdoor
positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted to acquire, for
example, latitude,
longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, universal
time (UTC), date,
and/or various other information/data. In one embodiment, the location module
can acquire
data, sometimes known as ephemeris data, by identifying the number of
satellites in view and
the relative positions of those satellites (e.g., using GPS). The satellites
may be a variety of
different satellites, including LEO satellite systems, DOD satellite systems,
the European
Union Galileo positioning systems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems,
Indian Regional
Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. This data can be collected
using a variety of
coordinate systems, such as the DD; DMS; UTM; UPS coordinate systems; and/or
the like.
Alternatively, the location information can be determined/identified by
triangulating the
customer computing entity's 110 position in connection with a variety of other
systems,
including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/or the like. Similarly,
the customer
computing entity 110 may include indoor positioning aspects, such as a
location module
adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode,
course, direction,
heading, speed, time, date, and/or various other information/data. Some of the
indoor systems
may use various position or location technologies including RFID tags, indoor
beacons or
transmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computing devices
(e.g.,
smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For instance, such technologies may
include the
iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitters,
NFC
transmitters, and/or the like. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in
a variety of
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settings to determine/identify the location of someone or something to within
inches or
centimeters.
The customer computing entity 110 may also comprise a user interface (that can
include
a display 316 coupled to a processing element 308) and/or a user
input/interaction interface
(coupled to a processing element f). For example, the user interface may be a
user application,
browser, user interface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably
executing on and/or
accessible via the customer computing entity 110 to interact with and/or cause
display of
information from the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, as described
herein. The user
input/interaction interface can comprise any of a number of devices allowing
the customer
.. computing entity 110 to receive data, such as a keypad 318 (hard or soft),
a touch display,
voice/speech or motion interfaces, or other input device. In embodiments
including a keypad
318, the keypad 318 can include (or cause display of) the conventional numeric
(0-9) and
related keys (#, *), and other keys used for operating the customer computing
entity 110 and
may include a full set of alphabetic keys or set of keys that may be activated
to provide a full
.. set of alphanumeric keys. In addition to providing input, the user
input/interaction interface can
be used, for example, to activate or deactivate certain functions, such as
screen savers and/or
sleep modes.
The customer computing entity 110 can also include volatile storage or memory
322
and/or non-volatile storage or memory 324, which can be embedded and/or may be
removable.
For example, the non-volatile memory may be ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash
memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM,
MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the
like.
The volatile memory may be RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM,
DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM,
.. RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. The
volatile
and non-volatile storage or memory can store databases, database instances,
database
management systems, data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts,
source code,
object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,
executable instructions,
and/or the like to implement the functions of the customer computing entity
110. As indicated,
this may include a user application that is resident on the entity or
accessible through a browser
or other user interface for communicating with the carrier/transporter
computing entity 100,
electronic door hanger 115, and/or various other computing entities.
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In another embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 may include one or
more
components or functionality that are the same or similar to those of the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100, as described in greater detail above. As will be
recognized, these
architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and
are not limiting
.. to the various embodiments.
In one embodiment, customer computing entities 110 may be fixed with regard to
their
geographic locations, such as by being in fixed positions at school entrances,
bus stops, mall
entrances, aisles of a store, in classrooms, on playgrounds, at intersections,
on light poles, in
cafeterias or hallways, on bridges, and/or the like. In another embodiment,
customer computing
entities 110 may be mobile with regard to their geographic locations. For
example, one or more
of the customer computing entities 110 may be disposed on school buses, worn
by school bus
drivers, be attached to package delivery vehicles, attached to mobile shipping
containers,
affixed to shopping carts or wheelchairs, positioned in passenger vehicles,
and/or the like. As
will be recognized, electronic door hangers 115 may also be mobile with regard
to their
geographic locations by being carried or worn by the respective users,
attached to vehicles,
and/or the like. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and
techniques can be used
to adapt to various needs and circumstances.
5. Exemplary Electronic Door Hanger
Figs. 4A-4G represent exemplary depictions of components of an electronic door
hanger 115. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 can be sized and
shaped to hang
on or around a variety of objects including door knobs, door locks, door
levers, other door
hardware, posts, fences, mailboxes, lights, and/or the like. Figs. 4A-4F show
particular
embodiments in which electronic door hangers 115 are appropriately sized and
shaped by
molding plastic to hang on or around various objects. The electronic door
hangers 115 can be
created or molded from one or more plastics, such as Polyethylene
Terephthalate (PET or
PETE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Plastic Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low
Density
Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), and/or the like. As
will be
recognized, the electronic door hanger 115 can also include or be made of a
variety of other
materials as well. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 (not
shown) may also
include a pouch that can hold or store various papers (e.g., invoices,
receipts, advertisements,
and/or the like) and/or comprise one or more labels.
In some embodiments, components of an electronic door hanger 115 may include
one
or more display areas/portions 412, one or more processing elements 436, one
or more location
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determining aspects 431 (such as those described previously), one or more RFID
tags 425, one
or more power supplies 440, one or more power switches 442, one or more
communications
interfaces 420, and/or the like. A communications interface 420 may be a long
range (e.g.,
radio transceiver) or short range (e.g., RFID tag, NFC) communications
interface. A
communications interface 420 may be capable of communicating in one or more
cellular
communications protocols, including, but not limited to, UMTS, CDMA2000,
lxRTT,
WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB,
IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. The
communications
interface 420 may allow the electronic door hanger to communicate with
carrier/transporter
computing entities 100, customer computing entities 110, user computing
entities 120, and/or
the like. In certain embodiments, this may allow a carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 (or
other computing entity) to remotely wipe (e.g., delete) any information/data
from the electronic
door hanger 115. This may also allow the electronic door hanger 115 to
establish connections
and communicate with customer computing entities 110.
A communications interface 420 may be connected to a processing element 436 to
transmit shipping information/data to the processing element 436 so that the
information/data
may be translated into a format that may be capable of being displayed on a
display area/portion
412. A display area/portion 412 may be connected to a processing element 436
so that the
display area/portion 412 may receive shipping information/data that is to be
displayed. A
display area/portion 412 may refer to any type of updateable electronic
display, whether black
and white or color, such as Gyricon, electrophoretic display, electrowetting
display, Light-
emitting diode (LED) display, liquid crystal display (LCD), bistable LCD,
electronic paper
display, or any similar type of updateable electronic display. A display
area/portion 412 may
further include displays such as electrochromic displays, printed electronic
displays, or displays
manufactured using organic electronics or plastics electronics and using
materials such as
conductive polymers, plastics, and small molecules.
A power supply 440 may be one of many types of power supplies, including a
battery,
a power sheet, photoelectric cell, and the like. Such power supplies 440 may
be lightweight,
flexible, and ultra-thin. Nevertheless, power supplies that are not
lightweight, flexible, and/or
ultra-thin may also be utilized in an electronic door hanger 115.
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A power switch 442 may be any switch that may change the flow of the current
or
voltage applied by a power supply 440 to a display area/portion 412. A power
switch 442 may
be selectively activated by a processing element 436 in order to provide power
to illuminate a
display area/portion 412. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches
and techniques
can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.
An electronic door hanger 115 may have a variety of other features and
functionality,
including those described in U.S. Patent No. 7,511,617 and U.S. Publ. No. 2009-
0319078,
which are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by reference.
6. Exemplary Service Point Device
Example embodiments provide for interaction with a service point device 117.
In
particular, the service point device 117 may be an electronic and/or computing
device
physically located at the service point and/or in and/or affixed to a building
or structure located
at the service point. Some examples of a service point device 117 include an
electronic
doorbell, beacon, storage locker, electronic mailbox, Internet of things
enabled device, and/or
the like. For example, in one embodiment, the service point device 117 is an
interactive,
electronic, or "smart" doorbell affixed to the exterior of a residential or
commercial location.
For example, an electronic doorbell may be affixed to a home, office building,
trailer (e.g., field
office), and/or other building.
In example embodiments, service point device 117 may include one or more
components that are functionally similar to those of the carrier/transporter
computing entity
100, the customer computing entity 110, the electronic door hanger 115, user
computing entity
120, and/or the like. Figure 5 provides a block diagram of an example service
point device 117.
For example, a service point device 117 may comprise a processor 150, a memory
152 (e.g.,
.. volatile and/or non-volatile memory), one more communication interfaces
154, and/or the like.
As with other entities, the service point device 117 may include one or more
imaging devices
158 (e.g., video cameras and/or still cameras) to capture image data (e.g.,
pictures, video, and/or
the like). The service point device 117 may also include one or more activity
or motion
detection sensors 156 or capabilities for zones of interest, such as Light
Detection and Ranging
(LIDAR) sensors, laser-based distance sensors, infrared distance sensors,
ultrasonic distance
sensors, and/or the like. Moreover, one or more sensor arrays 156 may be
configured to detect
motion and trigger the imaging devices to collect, capture, and/or store image
data.
Additionally, the service point device 117 may be configured to communicate
with one or more
other computing entities (e.g., customer computing entity 110, user computing
entity 120,
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and/or the like) via one or more wired or wireless networks (e.g., through a
communication
interface 154). The service point device 117 may be further comprise a
communications
interface 154 configured to communication with one or more other computing
entities (e.g.,
user computing entity 120, item 102, delivery vehicle 107, and/or the like)
using a short/long
range communication technology (e.g., Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth low
energy
technology, near field communication (NFC) technology, RFID technology, Wi-Fi
technology,
ZigBee technology, infrared technology, ultra-wideband technology, and/or any
other suitable
communication techniques, standards, or protocols. For example, a
communications interface
154 may be in communication with one or more antenna 155 configured to receive
and/or
transmit and/or receive short/long range communications.
In example embodiments, the service point device 117 may comprise an exterior
interface 160 and/or comprise and/or be in communication with an interior
interface 162. In
example embodiments, the exterior interface 160 is located on the exterior of
the building or
structure located at the service point. In example embodiments, if the service
point device 117
is affixed to a building or structure, the exterior interface 160 may be
located in the vicinity of
the service point device 117 one the exterior of the building or structure.
The interior interface
162 may be located anywhere within the building the service point device 117
is affixed to
and/or associated with. In an example embodiment, the interior interface 162
is secured to an
interior wall of the building the service point device 117 is affixed to
and/or associated with.
In another example embodiment, the interior interface 162 is configured to be
moved from
room-to-room within the building the service point device 117 is affixed to
and/or associated
with. The interior and/or exterior interfaces 160, 162 may comprise one or
more speakers or
other components configured for producing an audible signal; a keypad (soft or
hard)
comprising one or more press-able, selectable, and/or otherwise interactive
buttons/keys; a
display (e.g., configured for displaying at least notifications and/or
pictures, video, and/or the
like captured by the one or more imaging devices 158 of the service point
device 117), and/or
the like. In example embodiments, the processor 150 may be in communication
with the interior
interface 162 via a short/long range communication technology, a wired or
wireless network,
or through a direct wired (e.g., USB, Ethernet, or other data cable) or
wireless connection. In
some embodiments, the interior interface 162 may be functionally coupled to
the processor
150, and/or may be operated by a processing element dedicated to the interior
interface 162.
As will be recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for
exemplary
purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments.
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7. Exemplary User Computing Entity
In one embodiment, a user computing entity 120 may be operated by
carrier/transporter
personnel/operator (e.g., picking up and/or delivering items to customers). In
one embodiment,
a user computing entity 120 may include one or more components that are
functionally similar
to those of the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, the customer
computing entity 110, the
electronic door hanger 115, and/or the like. For example, in one embodiment,
each user
computing entity 120 may include one or more processing elements (e.g., CPLDs,
microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs,
microcontrollers, and/or
controllers), one or more display device/input devices (e.g., including user
interfaces), volatile
and non-volatile storage or memory, and/or one or more communications
interfaces. For
example, the user interface may be a user application, browser, user
interface, interface, and/or
similar words used herein interchangeably executing on and/or accessible via
the user
computing entity 120 to interact with and/or cause display of information, as
described herein.
This may also enable the user computing entity 120 to communicate with various
other
computing entities, such as carrier/transporter computing entities, customer
computing entities
110, electronic door hangers 115, and/or various other computing entities. As
will be
recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary
purposes only and
are not limiting to the various embodiments.
IV. Exemplary System Operation
As noted above, example embodiments increase the interactivity of delivering
an item
to a service point. In example embodiments, a service point device (e.g.,
service point device
117) may be leveraged to provide a delivery vehicle driver with an indication
of whether or not
an individual is available to receive or provide an item 102 at the service
point, whether or not
an item 102 to be picked up at a service point is positioned in an accessible
location at the
service point and/or provide access to the accessible location, receive a
remote (near) real-time
electronic signature from an individual authorizing the delivery of the item
at the service point,
provide an electronic information notice if a delivery attempt of an item 102
is deferred or fails,
monitor an item left at the service point, and/or the like. Example
embodiments may further
leverage interaction with a plurality of service point devices each located at
a service point of
a dispatch plan to provide for real-time or near real-time dynamic dispatch
plan updates. In
example embodiments, the service point device is a computing device located at
the service
point. In an example embodiment, the service point device is a doorbell
affixed to a building
associated with (e.g., located at) the service point; however, it should be
understood that the
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service point device need not be an electronic doorbell in various
embodiments. Various
aspects of the present embodiment will now be described in more detail.
1. Map Information/Data
In example embodiments, a service point may be a delivery location, a pick-up
location,
or other location at which a delivery vehicle and/or driver are to provide a
service on behalf of
the carrier. In one embodiment, a "service point" may be any identifiable
location, such as one
or more addresses, delivery locations, parking locations, sidewalks, highways,
trails, alleys,
paths, walkways, streets, street segments, entrance or exit ramps, roads,
longitude and latitude
points, geocodes, zip codes, area codes, territories, cities, counties,
states, provinces, countries,
stops (e.g., pick up stops, delivery stops, vehicle visits, stops) geofenced
areas, geographic
areas, landmarks, buildings, bridges, and/or other identifiable locations. For
example, a service
point may be a residential location, such as one or more homes, one or more
mobile homes,
one or more apartments, one or more apartment buildings, one or more
condominiums, one or
more townhomes, one or more points at such locations, and/or the like. The
service point may
also be any specific location at a residential location, e.g., (e.g., front
door of a residence, side
door of a residence, and/or the like). A service point may also be a
commercial location, such
as one or more stores in a mall, one or more office buildings, one or more
office parks, one or
more offices of an apartment complex, one or more garages, one or more
warehouses, one or
more restaurants, one or more stores, one or more retail locations, one or
more points at such
locations, and/or the like. The service point may also be any specific
location at a commercial
location, e.g., (e.g., front door of a commercial, dock of a commercial
location, and/or the like).
A service point may be one or more streets, one or more street segments, one
or more zones,
one or more areas, one or more latitude and/or longitude points (e.g.,
33.7869128, -
84.3875602), one or more geocodes, and/or the like. A service point may be any
identifiable
location. As will be recognized, a variety of approaches and techniques can be
used to adapt to
various needs and circumstances.
In certain embodiments, service points can be represented digitally in
geographical
maps as map information/data. Map information/data may include boundary,
location, and
attribute data corresponding to the various service points and/or the like. As
will be recognized,
the map information/data can be stored using a variety of formats, layers,
and/or the like¨
including shapefiles, ArcMaps, geodatabases, coverages, imagery, rasters,
computer-aided
drafting (CAD) files, other storage formats, and/or the like. For instance,
the carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 can appropriately store/record map information/data as a
part of a digital
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map, e.g., as part of a feature layer, raster layer, service layer,
icons/graphics layer,
geoprocessing layer, basemap layer, satellite layer, street network layer,
points of interest layer,
service point layer, and/or the like. The term digital map is intended to
include any map that
can electronically display geographic areas. As will be described in greater
detail below, the
geographical maps and/or map information/data can be used to manage, create,
modify, delete,
add, and/or the like service points to assigned areas, regions, routes, paths,
and/or the like.
As will be recognized, service points can be represented in digital maps as
being
accessible by one or more street networks or street segments of a street
network. A "street
network" is collection of street segments that comprise navigable,
traversable, travelable,
and/or similar words used herein interchangeably roads, streets, highways,
paths, trails,
walkways, entrance and exit ramps, bridges, sidewalks, alleys, and/or the like
that can be used
to access service points. Similarly, service points, street networks, and/or
the like can be
represented in digital maps as navigable/traversable/travelable segments or
points for traveling
to and/or from service points.
In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can store
information/data associated with each service point in an object or other data
structure. The
object or data structure may comprise a variety of information/data associated
with each service
point, such as a consignee name, pickup or delivery identifier, street name,
street number, street
prefix, street suffix, street type, city, state, province, territory, country,
postal code, residential
or commercial indicator, street classification, directionals (e.g., one way
<specific to which
way> or both ways), longitude and latitude, geocode, location identifier,
and/or the like.
Similarly, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can store
information/data associated
with each street segment of the street network in an object or other data
structure. The object
or data structure may comprise a variety of information/data associated with
each street
segment, such as a street segment identifier, street name, street number
range, street prefix,
street suffix, street type, city, state, province, territory, country, postal
code, street
classification, directionals (e.g., one way <specific to which way> or both
ways), longitude and
latitude points defining the street segment, speed limits of one or more
portions of the street
segment, and/or the like. For example, in one embodiment, a service point may
be represented
by and/or associated with a longitude and latitude, a geocode, a nearest
street segment, an
address, and/or the like. Similarly, street segments of street networks may be
represented by or
associated with a street name, a segment identifier, a connecting node, an
address or address
range, a series of longitude and latitude coordinates, and/or the like that
define the overall shape
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and location of the street segment. As will be recognized, a variety of other
approaches and
techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.
In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may store
digital
maps. In another embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity may be
in
communication with or associated with one or more mapping
web sites/servers/providers/d atab ases (including providers such as map
s.google.com,
bing.com/maps/, mapquest.com, Tele Atlas , NAVTEQ , and/or the like) that
provide map
information/data of digital maps to a variety of users and/or entities. Using
the digital maps, an
appropriate computing entity can provide map information/data, for example,
about service
points (e.g., their locations, attributes, and/or the like) and/or their
corresponding street
networks based on map information/data. An appropriate computing entity can
also provide
map information/data, for example, about the geographic areas, regions,
groupings, routes,
paths, regions, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably about the
different service
points on the street networks. For instance, the map information/data may
include a route for
delivering one or more items to different service points, the most efficient
order for delivering
items to the service points, directions for traveling to and/or from the
service points, the
estimated distance for traveling to and/or from the service points, the
expected time for
traveling to and/or from the service points, and/or the like. The map
information/data may also
include other information/data about service points and/or traveling to and
from service points,
such as current estimated speeds for associated street segments, historical
speeds for associated
street segments, nearest street segments, posted speed limits for associated
street segments,
interpolated locations of service points, reverse geocoded locations of
service points, latitude
and longitude points of service points, distances between various service
points, directions,
stop orders, and/or the like. Certain examples of these types of
information/data are described
in U.S. Publ. No. 2013-0304349, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety
by reference.
In one embodiment, although not necessary, the map information/data, service
point
information/data, route information/data, and/or the like can be provided to
the driver of the
vehicle 100 in a variety of ways and using various formats. For instance, the
mobile computing
entity 105 (or other appropriate device) may provide turn-by-turn navigation
to the driver of a
vehicle 100 for traveling between each stop (e.g., a pickup, delivery, or
visit at a service point).
As will be recognized, a variety of other techniques and approaches can be
used to adapt to
various needs and circumstances.
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In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can identify,
retrieve,
determine, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably map
information/data associated
with the service points, street networks, routes, paths, and/or the like. For
example, the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can identify the service points by
address, address
portions (e.g., street number, street name, type, and/or the like), latitude
and longitude points,
routes, paths, geographic areas, service point IDs, and/or the like. Table 1
below shows a textual
view of eighteen service points each associated with a route, a stop, an
address, a city, a state,
a longitude and latitude, and/or the like.
Table 1
*mile: Stop M Add I=esf
RI: I 1 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R1: 2 2 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R1: 3 3 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R1: 4 4 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R1: 5 5 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R1: 6 6 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN
GEORGIA
R2: 1 7 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN
GEORGIA
R2: 2 8 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R2: 3 9 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R2: 4 10 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R2: 5 11 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R2: 6 12 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R3: 1 13 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R3: 2 14 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R3: 3 15 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R3: 4 16 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R3: 5 17 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
R3: 6 18 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA
The carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can also identify the
interpolated or
reverse geocoded locations (e.g., service points) on the street networks for
one or more of the
service points, for instance. And, the carrier/transporter computing entity
100 can reverse
geocode the latitude and longitude points of the service points if available,
such as the location
of 1 Street Address, Anytown, GA being located at 33.7869128, -84.3875602. As
will be
recognized, a variety of other techniques and approaches can be used to adapt
to various needs
and circumstances.
The information/data about service points, routes, paths, regions, geographic
areas,
street networks, street segments, directions, altitudes, longitudes,
latitudes, speed limits,
direction restrictions, and/or the like can be collected in a variety of ways.
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2. Registration
In example embodiments, a customer may register and/or establish a customer
profile
with a carrier indicating that a delivery address (or pick up address)
associated with the
customer (e.g., a home address, office address, and/or other address that
items shipped to the
customer may be delivered to the customer) has a service point device 117
located thereat. In
one embodiment, this registration/customer profile may further include being
part of a
customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns program. As will be recognized, a
customer (e.g.,
consignor, consignee, third party, and/or the like) may be an individual, a
family, a company,
an organization, an entity, a department within an organization, a
representative of an
organization and/or person, and/or the like. To register, a customer (e.g., a
customer or
customer representative operating a customer computing device 110) may access
a webpage,
application, dashboard, browser, or portal of a carrier, such as United Parcel
Service of
America, Inc. (UPS).
In one embodiment, as part of the enrollment/registration process, the
customer (e.g.,
operating a customer computing device 110) may be requested to provide
biographic and/or
geographic information/data by the carrier/transporter computing entity 100
(e.g., via a
registration module). Such information/data may be manually input or provided
by allowing
access to other accounts, such as Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, PayPal, and/or the
like. For
instance, the customer may provide the customer's name, such as a first name,
a last name, a
company name, an entity name, and/or an organization name. The customer (e.g.,
consignor or
consignee) may also provide any aliases associated with the customer. For
instance, if the
customer (e.g., consignor or consignee) were an individual named Joseph Brown,
the customer
(e.g., consignor or consignee) may provide Joe Brown or Joey Brown as aliases.
The customer (e.g., consignor or consignee) may also provide one or more
physical
addresses associated with the customer (e.g., street address, city, state,
postal code, and/or
country) to the carrier/transporter computing entity 100. For instance, Joseph
Brown's primary
residential address of 105 Main Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309, USA, may be
provided to the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100. Further, one or more secondary
residential addresses
may also be provided to the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 for
association with Mr.
Brown's account and profile, such as 71 Lanier Islands, Buford, Georgia 30518,
USA. As will
be recognized, the residential addresses may include weekend residences,
family member
residences visited by the customer, and/or the like. Additionally, the
customer (e.g., consignor
or consignee) may also provide one or more business addresses associated with
the customer
(e.g., street address, city, state, postal code, and/or country) to the
carrier/transporter computing
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entity 100. For example, Mr. Brown may have a primary business address of 1201
West
Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30309, USA. One or more secondary business
addresses
may also be provided to the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 for
association with Mr.
Brown's account and profile, such as 101 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, North
Carolina 28280,
USA; 950 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA; and 90 Park Avenue, New
York, New
York 10016, USA. As will be recognized, the business addresses may include
various office
locations for a single enterprise, multiple office locations for various
enterprises, and/or the
like. As will be recognized, the customer (e.g., consignor or consignee) may
provide other
biographic and/or geographic information/data to adapt to various needs and
circumstances.
In example embodiments, biographic and/or geographic information/data may
further
comprise information/data relating to a service point device 117 located at an
address
associated with the customer. For example, in addition to providing the street
address for a
physical address associated with the customer, the customer may further
provide an indication
of whether the physical address is associated with a service point device 117.
For example, the
customer may indicate that a service point device 117 is located at the
primary residential
address of 100 Main St Atlanta, Georgia 30309, USA. The customer may then
provide any
information/data required for remote communication with the service point
device 117 located
at the indicated address. For example, the customer may indicate one or more
modes of
communication by which the service point device 117 is capable of
communicating, an internet
protocol (IP) address associated with and/or assigned to the service point
device 117, a name
associated with the service point device 117 (e.g., Brown Family's doorbell),
and/or other
information/data needed to facilitate remote communication with the service
point device 117.
In example embodiments, the customer may further provide preferences for use
of the service
point device 117. For example, the customer (e.g., operating a customer
computing entity 120)
may indicate a preferred activation zone for remotely activating the service
point device 117.
For example, the activation zone may be a number of stops remaining before the
delivery
vehicle 107 reaches the service point associated with the service point device
117, amount of
time before the delivery vehicle 107 is expected to reach the service point
associated with the
service point device 117, distance the delivery vehicle 107 will travel prior
to the delivery
vehicle 107 arriving at the service point, and/or the like.
In one embodiment, once the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 receives
the
necessary biographic and/or geographic information/data from the customer, the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may perform one or more validation
operations. For
example, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may determine whether
the primary
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address (and/or other addresses) in the specified country or postal code is
eligible for a
customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns programs. The carrier/transporter
computing entity
100 may also determine whether the primary address (and/or other addresses) is
valid, e.g., by
passing the primary address through one or more address cleansing and/or
standardization
systems. The carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may perform a variety of
fraud
prevention measures as well, such as determining whether the customer (e.g.,
consignor or
consignee) or one of the customer's addresses has been "blacklisted" from
customer pick-up,
delivery, and/or returns programs. As will be recognized, a variety of other
approaches and
techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.
In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may create a
customer
profile for the customer via the enrollment/registration process. Accordingly,
the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may create and store various customer
profiles (e.g.,
via a database stored, for example, in non-volatile memory 210). In addition
to at least the
information/data described above, a customer profile may include one or more
corresponding
usernames and passwords. As will be recognized, each of the physical addresses
may be
associated with the customer's profile.
In one embodiment, in addition to the physical addresses, the customer (e.g.,
operating
a customer computing device 110) may also input, request, or be automatically
generated and
assigned a "virtual address." The virtual address can be a combination of
alphanumeric
characters to identify a customer or customer profile. The virtual address can
be stored by the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 in association with the customer's
profile. For
example, Joseph Brown (e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) may
input a request
for a unique virtual address such as BigBrown8675309 or any other unique
virtual address. In
another embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may
automatically generate
and assign a unique virtual address for the customer, such as assigning
virtual address
1XR457RS7 to Joseph Brown. Such virtual addresses can be used by customers who
do not
want to (a) provide their physical addresses to merchants or other third
parties, (b) have their
physical addresses printed on labels placed on the exterior of items, and/or
(c) the like. For
instance, this may enable a consignor to ship an item using only
BigBrown8675309 or
1XR457R57 as the destination address (e.g., virtual address) using the
appropriate carrier.
Upon induction of the item into the carrier's transportation and logistics
network, carrier
personnel can read (e.g., manually or with the aid of a device) the virtual
address on the
item/shipment (e.g., BigBrown8675309 or 1XR457R57), look up the appropriate
physical
delivery address for the item/shipment based on the consignee's profile (e.g.,
search for the
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customer profile associated with the virtual address), and route the
item/shipment accordingly
(including the use of automatic service schedules). In certain embodiments,
the item/shipment
may be routed only using the virtual address. That is, each item/shipment the
item/shipment is
handled by carrier personnel, a user computing entity 120 (in communication
with the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100) operated by the carrier personnel
can cause display
of the appropriate handling or routing instructions while masking the actual
physical delivery
address. In other embodiments, however, once the item/shipment with the
virtual address is
inducted into the carrier's transportation and logistics network, carrier
personnel may place a
label on the item/shipment that indicates the physical delivery address (e.g.,
based on an
address associated with the profile and/or automatic service schedule). Such
virtual address
concepts are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 8,108,321, which is hereby
incorporated in its entirety
by reference. Both physical addresses and virtual addresses may be referred to
herein
interchangeably as "addresses."
In addition to the virtual address, the carrier/transporter computing entity
100 may also
generate and store an internal customer identifier in association with the
customer profile, such
as a global unique identifier (GUID) or a universally unique identifier
(UUID). For instance,
in one embodiment, the customer identifier may be a 128-bit value displayable
as hexadecimal
digits with groups separated by hyphens. By way of example, the customer
identifier for Joseph
Brown may be 21EC2020-3AEA-4069-A2DD-08002B30309D. In one embodiment, a
customer identifier may be used to uniquely identify a customer profile. In
another
embodiment, a customer identifier may be used to uniquely identify a given
address (e.g.,
physical address or virtual address) associated with a customer profile. In
such an embodiment,
if a customer profile is associated with four addresses, the
carrier/transporter computing entity
100 may generate and store four customer identifiers in association with the
customer profile
(or use one customer identifier for all the addresses for the customer). The
customer identifier
may also be stored in association with item/shipment information/data for an
item/shipment to
associate the item/shipment (and its shipping data) with the (a) correct
customer (e.g., customer
profile) and/or (b) correct address for a customer. For instance, the
item/shipment
information/data for all shipments corresponding to Joseph Brown's customer
profile may be
appended with the customer identifier created for Joseph Brown. In various
embodiments,
using this approach allows items/shipments (and their shipping data) to be
linked to appropriate
customer profiles. Thus, when Joseph Brown accesses his account, he can view
all of his
shipments (e.g., those shipments with item/shipment information/data appended
with his
customer identifier (or other identifier)). Similarly, any actions for an
item/shipment or
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customer can be passed to the item/shipment information/data for the
item/shipment (including
carrying out automatic service schedules). Additionally, if a service point
device 117 is located
at the delivery address for the item may be easily determined using the
appended customer
identifier (or other identifier). In other words, the customer identifier
appended to the
item/shipment information/data resolves to the corresponding customer
profile/account and/or
address. The item/shipment information/data may have multiple customer
identifiers
appended¨one or more customer identifiers for the consignor and one or more
customer
identifiers for the consignee.
In one embodiment, a customer profile may correspond to one or more customer
pick-
up, delivery, and/or returns programs. For instance, a customer (e.g.,
operating a customer
computing device 110) may subscribe to a specific customer pick-up, delivery,
and/or returns
program. In one embodiment, there may be several customer pick-up, delivery,
and/or returns
programs from which to choose, such as a free customer pick-up, delivery,
and/or returns
program and a premium customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns program. As
will be
recognized the customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns program may have a
variety of
benefits. For example, the customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns program
may allow
customers to have access to certain features, e.g., pick-up and delivery
alerts, approximate pick-
up and delivery times, pick-up and delivery confirmations, change pick-up and
delivery
options, electronically authorize the release of an item, and/or route
items/shipments to will
call. Similarly, the customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns program (e.g.,
requiring a fee)
may allow customers to have access to certain features¨such as the ability to
route
items/shipments to other retail locations, reschedule pick-ups and deliveries,
request that
items/shipments be delivered to another address, and/or provide instructions
for pick-up or
delivery. Payments for such fees may be in a variety of forms, such as via
debit card, credit
card, direct credits, direct debits, cash, check, money order, Internet
banking, e-commerce
payment networks/systems (e.g., PayPalTM, Google Wallet, Amazon Payments),
virtual
currencies (e.g., Bitcoins), award or reward points, and/or the like. As will
be recognized, these
features are provided for illustrative purposes and are not limiting to
embodiments of the
present invention. Moreover, a variety of other approaches and techniques can
be used to adapt
to various needs and circumstances.
In one embodiment, once a customer profile has been created by the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100, the customer (e.g., operating a customer computing
device 110) can
provide various preferences associated with the customer delivery program to
the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 via an interface, for example. For
instance, the
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customer (e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) can provide a
variety of
preferences, such as communication preferences, service schedule preferences,
delivery
preferences, delivery options, remote activation preferences, and/or delivery
instructions. The
customer (e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) may also update any
information/data through the appropriate interface (e.g., browser, dashboard,
webpage,
application).
In example embodiments, a customer (e.g., operating a customer computing
device 110
and/or an interior interface 162) may register and/or establish a customer
profile through the
service point device 117 and/or a provider related thereto. For example, the
customer may
register and/or establish a customer profile with the provider of an
electronic doorbell
application operating on the customer computing device 110. In some such
embodiments, the
registration and/or customer profile information may be shared with a service
provider such as
a carrier. In still other embodiments, the customer may not register and/or
may not establish a
customer profile prior to the service point device 117 being leveraged for the
timely and
efficient delivery of one or more items.
3. Remotely Determining Availability at a Service point
In example embodiments, an item is delivered to a service point having a
service point
device 117. For example, the service point device 117 may be leveraged to
determine if an
individual is available to receive the item at the service point. For example,
item
information/data corresponding to the item may indicate that delivery of the
item requires a
signature from the individual receiving the item (e.g., the consignee to whom
the item is to be
delivered and/or an agent thereof). In another example, a service point may be
associated with
instructions that any item delivered to the item requires the item to be
received by an individual,
and/or the like. If delivery cannot be made to the service point (e.g.,
because an individual is
not available to receive the item) an electronic information notice may be
provided. The
electronic information notice may provide the individual with information/data
(and/or access
thereto) for picking up the item at an alternate location (e.g., a UPS store,
a manned or
unmanned locker location, an access point, and/or the like), scheduling
delivery of the item,
and/or the like.
Figure 6 provides a flowchart illustrating various processes and procedures
that may be
completed to deliver an item 102 to a service point having a service point
device 117. Starting
at block 502, it is determined that a service point device 117 is present at
an upcoming stop.
For example, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, or
carrier/transporter
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computing entity 100 may determine that an upcoming service point to which a
delivery
vehicle is scheduled to deliver an item is known to have a service point
device 117 present
thereat. For example, the delivery vehicle may be following a dispatch plan,
delivery plan, or
itinerary (referred to as a dispatch plan herein). The dispatch plan may
comprise an ordered list
of service points at which the delivery vehicle driver is to delivery one or
more items. Based
on the dispatch plan, the next one, two, or few upcoming service points may be
identified. For
example, the immediate next service point or the next two, three, or four
service points may be
identified.
For example, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may be configured to
generate, create, and/or the like a dispatch plan for performing the final
delivery of the item
from a facility to a service point (e.g., a delivery address). The dispatch
plan identifies a
sequence of service points (e.g., service points) and associated deliveries
for a vehicle 107 to
perform in a particular time frame (e.g., a work shift, a portion of a shift,
etc.) In some cases a
service point may be associated with one or more service points (e.g.,
delivery addresses) for
delivery of one or more items. U.S. Patent No. 7,624,024 entitled Systems and
Methods for
Dynamically Updating a Dispatch Plan, filed April 18, 2005, provides a general
description of
dispatch plans and how these plans may be generated and updated. U.S. Patent
No. 7,624,024
is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The dispatch plan may
include service points
(e.g., delivery locations/addresses and/or pick-up locations/addresses),
estimated arrival times
at the service points and/or estimated departure times from the service
points.
One or more of the upcoming service points of the dispatch plan may be
associated with
a customer profile stored by the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 (or
accessible thereto).
Based on the customer profile, it may be determined if the service point has a
service point
device 117 thereat. For example, a service point device 117 may be affixed to
a building located
at the service point. In another example, it may be determined that an
upcoming service point
has a service point device 117 thereat by attempting to communicate with the
service point
device 117 and receiving a response therefrom. In another example, item
information/data
stored by the item 102 that is to be delivered to one of the identified
upcoming service points
may indicate that a service point device 117 is located at the service point.
For example, the
item 102 may provide the user computing entity 120 with item information/data
relevant to the
delivery of the item to the service point when (e.g., in response to) the
service point being
identified as an upcoming service point.
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For example, after the dispatch plan is established and the associated items
are loaded
onto the appropriate delivery vehicle 107, the carrier/transporter computing
entity 100 may
track the delivery vehicle 107 and may determine if an upcoming service point
is associated
with a service point device 117. For example, as the delivery vehicle 107
progresses through
the dispatch plan, delivery progress information/date and/or location
information/data may be
collected (e.g., by the delivery vehicle 107, through the user computing
entity 120, and/or the
like). In various embodiments, the delivery progress data may include an
indication of which
service points from the dispatch plan have been completed and/or which service
points are still
in need of service. For example, the user computing entity 120 may collect
data indicating the
commencement or completion of a delivery at a service point. This may be based
on service
events (e.g., scan item, receiving consignee signature and the like), a sensed
location of the
user computing entity 120 (e.g., location within threshold distance of service
point,
entering/exiting geo-fence) and/or input received from the service provider
(e.g., input
indicating commencement or completion). By comparing this progress data
against the
dispatch plan, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/or the user
computing entity
120 can determine the progress of the delivery process. The location
data/information may
include delivery vehicle 107 location (e.g., based on location-determining
devices, location
sensors and/or other telemetry location services) and/or the user computing
entity 120 location.
In various embodiments, these location determining devices can provide real-
time and/or near
real-time locations of the vehicle 107 and/or delivery vehicle driver (e.g.,
via location of the
user computing entity 120). In some embodiments, location data may be used in
conjunction
with telematics data to provide delivery progress data automatically. For
example, telematics
data indicating the vehicle status (e.g., engine off, 0 mile per hour, seat
belt released) may be
combined with location data (e.g., delivery vehicle 107 and/or user computing
entity 120
location) being within a threshold distance of a predetermined service point
may indicate the
commencement of a delivery point. Similarly, telematics data indicating the
starting of the
vehicle (e.g., engine start, threshold speed, seat belt on) combined with
location data being
within a threshold distance of a predetermined service point may indicate the
completion of a
service point. In various embodiments, the location data and the contextual
data may be
matched through a common data element (e.g., a time stamp from GPS). The
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 compares the tracking data corresponding to the delivery
vehicle 107
against the activation criteria established for the items associated with the
remaining service
points (and/or for the customer profile corresponding to the item and/or
service point). For
example, the customer may request remote activation within a configurable
and/or user-
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selected activation zone. For example, the activation zone may be a number of
stops remaining
before the delivery vehicle 107 reaches the service point associated with the
service point
device 117, amount of time before the delivery vehicle 107 is expected to
reach the service
point associated with the service point device 117, distance the delivery
vehicle 107 will travel
prior to the delivery vehicle 107 arriving at the service point, and/or the
like. The
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/or user computing entity 120 may
identify item
information/data and/or customer profile(s) associated with the remaining
service points and
identify those service points that that are associated with a service point
device 117. The
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/or user computing entity 120 may
further identify
the activation zone corresponding to any identified service point device 117.
The
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/or user computing entity 120 may
then compare
the current progress and/or location of the delivery vehicle 107 to determine
if any upcoming
service points are associated with a service point device 117 (e.g., have a
service point device
117 located thereat).
At block 504, the delivery vehicle continues to approach the service point
having the
service point device 117 thereat. At block 506, it is determined if the
delivery vehicle is within
a configurable activation zone. For example, the user computing entity 120,
delivery vehicle
107, or item 102, may determine if the delivery vehicle is within a
configurable activation zone.
In example embodiments, a current (e.g., real-time or near real-time)
geolocation of the user
computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, or item 102 (e.g., determined by a
GPS or other
location sensor associated therewith) may be used to determine if the delivery
vehicle or item
is within a configurable activation zone. In example embodiments, the
activation zone may be
an expected time to arrival at the service point (e.g., 30 seconds, 1 minute,
2 minutes, 5
minutes, 10 minutes, and/or the like), a distance to the service point (e.g.,
tenth of a mile,
quarter of a mile, half a mile, one mile, two miles, five miles, ten miles,
and/or the like), a
position within the dispatch plan or itinerary (e.g., when the immediately
preceding delivery
stop has been completed, and/or the like), when the user computing entity 120,
delivery vehicle
107, or item 102 is within range to communicate with the service point device
117 using a
short/long range communication technology, and/or the like. In example
embodiments, the
configurable activation zone may be service point or dispatch plan specific.
For example, a
dispatch plan for performing deliveries to urban service points may use a
different configurable
activation zone than a dispatch plan or itinerary for performing deliveries to
rural service
points. Similarly, if a service point is a residential location, a different
configurable activation
zone may be used than if the service point is a commercial location. In
another example, the
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configurable activation zone may be day of the week, or time of day dependent.
In yet another
example, an individual (e.g., operating a customer computing entity 110)
associated with a
service point may edit or update a customer profile associated with the
service point to indicate
a preferred configurable activation zone for the service point. For example,
the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/or user computing entity 120 may
compare the
current progress and/or location of the delivery vehicle 107 to determine if
the current progress
and/or location of the delivery vehicle 107 satisfy the activation zone
corresponding to any of
the upcoming service points associated with a service point device 117 (e.g.,
have a service
point device 117 located thereat). For example, the carrier/transporter
computing entity 100
and/or user computing entity 120 may analyze the current progress and/or
location of the
delivery vehicle 107 to determine if the delivery vehicle 107 and/or the item
102 are within the
configurable activation zone corresponding to any of the upcoming service
points associated
with a service point device 117 (e.g., have a service point device 117 located
thereat).
If, at block 506, it is determined that the user computing entity 120,
delivery vehicle
107, or item 102 is not within the configurable activation zone, the process
returns to block
504. If, at block 506, it is determined that the user computing entity 120,
delivery vehicle 107,
and/or item 102 is within the configurable activation zone, the process
continues to block 508.
At block 508, the service point device 117 is remotely activated. For example,
the user
computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, or item 102 may provide (e.g.,
transmit) a
communication through a short/long range communication technology to the
service point
device 117 indicating that an item is to be delivered to the service point and
requesting an
indication of whether or not an individual is available at the service point
to receive the item.
In another example, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item
102, or
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may provide a communication through a
wired or
wireless network (e.g., an Internet protocol network and/or the like) to the
service point device
117 indicating that an item is to be delivered to the service point and
requesting an indication
of whether or not an individual is available at the service point to receive
the item. For example,
the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item 102, or
carrier/transport computing
entity 100 may provide a communication to the service point device 117 through
an application
program interface, through the Cloud, via a Wi-Fi network accessible at or in
the vicinity of
the service point (e.g., within at least a portion of the activation zone),
through a Bluetooth
signal, and/or the like. In one example embodiment, the service point device
117 may emit a
regular signal (e.g., be a beacon). The user computing entity 120 or vehicle
107 may detect the
signal emitted by the service point device 117 and determine based thereon
that the delivery
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vehicle 107 is within the activation zone. The communication to the service
point device 117
may be sent in response thereto, possibly through the Internet, the Cloud,
through a
manufacturer of the service point device data center, and/or the like. In yet
another example,
sensors 156 may identify motion in the field of view of an imaging device 158
of the service
point device 117, causing the imaging device 158 to capture digital image
data. The digital
image data may be analyzed and the shape of the delivery vehicle 107 may be
identified from
the digital image data. The identifying of the shape of the delivery vehicle
107 within the digital
image data may trigger the activation of the service point device 117, in an
example
embodiment. In another example embodiment, activation of the service point
device 117 may
trigger the analysis of the digital image data to determine if the shape of
the delivery vehicle
107 is identifiable within the digital image data in order to authenticate the
activation of the
service point device 117.
In an example embodiment, the communication provided to the service point
device
117 may be configured to identify the service point device 117. For example,
if the
communication is provided by short/long range communication technology, the
communication may identify the service point device 117 by name. For example,
the service
point device 117 may be aware that it is affixed to a building having the
address 1201 West
Peachtree Street. The service point device 117 may then respond to the name
1201 West
Peachtree Street, 1201 West Peachtree, 1201 W Peachtree, and/or the like. In
another
embodiment, the individual associated with the service point may name the
service point device
117 (e.g., through a set up process for the service point device 117) and
provide the
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 with the assigned name (e.g., the
assigned name may
be stored in the customer profile associated with the service point, stored in
item
information/data corresponding to the item 102, and/or the like). In an
example embodiment,
the communication is provided through a wired or wireless network and
identifies the service
point device 117 by an internet protocol (IP) address or similar identifier.
In some
embodiments, the service point device 117 may not be identified in the
activation request may
be provided by a short/long range communication technology and be directed
(e.g., transmitted
in a directional manner) toward the service point device 117. In another
example, the activation
request may be provided to the service point device 117 located at service
point (e.g., affixed
to a building located at the service point) by a short/long range
communication technology and
based on proximity of the delivery vehicle 107, item 102, or user computing
entity 120 to the
service point device 117.
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At block 510, a remote activation authentication may be performed. For
example, the
user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item 102, or
carrier/transporter computing
entity 100 may perform a remote activation authentication. For example, a code
may be
provided to the service point device 117 to authenticate that the remote
activation is being
performed by and/or on behalf of the carrier/transporter. In another example,
a "handshake"
may be performed between the service point device 117 and the user computing
entity 120,
delivery vehicle 107, item 102, or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 to
authenticate that
the remote activation is be performed by an authorized entity. Various other
types of
authentication may occur in example embodiments, to authenticate the remote
activation of the
service point device 117. In example embodiments, the authentication of the
remote activation
may be completed without action on the part of the delivery vehicle driver. In
an example
embodiment, the remote activation authentication may be performed by
determining that at
least two of the user computing entity 120, the delivery vehicle 107, and/or
the item 102 are
located at the location of (or within a predefined distance thereof) the
service point device 117
and/or the service point location, for example as described in U.S. Appl. No.
14/942,034, which
is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
For example, in an example embodiment, activation of the service point device
117
may trigger the analysis of digital image data captured by the service point
device 117 (e.g.,
the imaging device 158) to determine if the shape of the delivery vehicle 107
is identifiable
within the digital image data in order to authenticate the remote activation
of the service point
device 117. In another example embodiment, the geolocation of the delivery
vehicle 107, the
user computing entity 120, and/or the item 102 may be determined and compared
to the location
of the service point device 117 to authenticate the remote activation of the
service point device
117.
At block 512, it is determined if an individual is available to receive the
item at the
service point. For example, the user computing entity 120 may receive an
indication of user
input/interaction (or a lack of user input/interaction within a configurable
time period) received
by the interior interface 162, a customer computing entity 110, and/or other
computing entity
indicating that an individual is available to receive the item at the service
point or is not
available to receive the item at the service point. It may then be determined,
based on the
received indication, if a user is or is not available to receive the item at
the service point.
If, at block 512, it is determined that an individual is available to receive
the item at the
service point, the delivery vehicle driver is notified that an individual is
available to receive the
item at the service point. For example, the user computing entity 120 may
receive a delivery
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approval notification from the service point device 117 (e.g., via a
short/long range
communication and/or via a wired or wireless network, such as an Internet
protocol network
and/or the like) and, in response thereto, provide an availability
notification (e.g., display a
message, notification, alert, and/or the like; provide an audible
notification; or, in the case of
an automated delivery system, provide electronic instructions) indicating an
individual is
available to receive the item at the service point and the delivery vehicle
driver should continue
with the attempt to deliver the item at the service point.
For example, at block 514, the delivery vehicle driver may, after receiving
the
availability notification, stop/park the delivery vehicle in the vicinity of
the service point, exit
the delivery vehicle, retrieve the item from the delivery vehicle, approach
the service point with
the item, and/or the like. For example, after receiving the availability
notification, the delivery
vehicle driver may attempt to deliver the item to the service point. In some
embodiments, after
delivery of the item is completed, the user computing entity 120 may provide
an item delivery
notification to the service point device 117 or customer computing entity 110
indicating that
the item has been delivered and/or providing information/data regarding the
delivery of the
item.
In an example embodiment, the geolocation of the customer computing entity 110
may
be determined (e.g., by a location sensor thereof) and provided to the service
point device 117.
The service point device 117 may determine if the customer computing entity
110 is located at
the location of the service point device 117 (e.g., inside or near a structure
associated with the
service point). In one embodiment, if the customer computing entity 110 is not
located at the
service point, the service point device 117 may provide an availability
notification that the
individual is not available, even if the individual indicated through the
alert interface that they
were available.
If, at block 512, it is determined that an individual is not available to
receive the item
at the service point, the delivery vehicle driver is notified that no
individuals are expected to
be available to receive the item at the service point. For example, the user
computing entity
120 may provide a deferral notification (e.g., display a message,
notification, alert, and/or the
like; provide an audible notification; or, in the case of an automated
delivery system, provide
electronic instructions) indicating it is expected that no individuals are
available to receive the
item at the service point and the delivery vehicle driver should not attempt
to deliver the item
at the service point at this time. The delivery vehicle driver may, after
receiving the deferral
notification, may direct the delivery vehicle to the next service point (in
the case where the
delivery vehicle is not a self-driving vehicle). In some embodiments, in
response to the deferral
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notification, the delivery driver may not exit the delivery vehicle and/or may
not retrieve the
item from the delivery vehicle. For example, the delivery vehicle driver may
not exit the
delivery vehicle and/or retrieve the item from the delivery vehicle until
after being provided an
availability notification indicating that an individual is available to
receive the item at the
service point. For example, the attempt to deliver the item to the service
point may be deferred.
At block 516, an electronic information notice may be provided. For example,
the user
computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item 102, or carrier/transporter
computing entity
100 may provide an electronic information notice. In example embodiments, the
electronic
information notice may be provided to the service point device 117 and
configured to be
provided (e.g., displayed, provided in an audible form, and/or the like) to an
individual by the
interior interface 162 and/or a customer computing entity 110. In example
embodiments, the
electronic information notice may provide information/data regarding the
deferred attempt to
deliver the item to the service point (e.g., "An attempt to deliver an item at
this location was
attempted at 2:05 pm on August 1, 2016. A signature is required for delivery
of the item. The
attempt was deferred because no one was available at the service point to
receive the item."),
information/data regarding how an individual (e.g., the consignee and/or an
agent thereof) may
schedule a delivery of the item, access to a web-based portal or user
interface the individual
may use to schedule a delivery of the item, information/data regarding where,
how, and/or
when the consignee may pick up the item at another location (e.g., a retail
location, a manned
or unmanned locker, and/or the like), and/or the like.
Figure 7 provides a flowchart for a similar process as that shown in Figure 6,
but from
the perspective of the service point device 117. Starting at block 552, a
remote activation
request is received. For example, the service point device 117 may receive a
remote activation
request. The remote activation request may be received via a short/long range
communication
technology and/or through a wired or wireless network (e.g., an Internet
protocol network
and/or the like). In an example embodiment, the remote activation request
comprises a code or
"name" that identifies the service point device 117. In another example
embodiment, the
remote activation request comprises a geolocation (e.g., of the user computing
entity 120,
delivery vehicle 107, or item 102) and the service point device 117 may
determine that the
geolocation is within a configurable radius or area about the location of the
service point device
117 and the service point device 117 may process the remote activation request
based thereon.
At block 554, the remote activation request may be authenticated. For example,
the
electronic service point device 117 may request an authentication code from
the computing
entity that provided the remote activation request or the service point device
117 may request
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an authentication of the remote activation request from the
carrier/transporter computing entity
100. In another example, the service point device 117 may participate in an
authentication
"handshake" with the computing entity that provided the remote activation
request.
At block 556, in response to the remote activation request and/or the
authentication
thereof, an electronic alert may be activated. For example, the service point
device 117 may
cause the interior interface 162 and/or one or more customer computing
entities 110 to
dynamically provide an electronic alert interface (e.g., a doorbell alert
interface). For example,
an electronic alert interface may be dynamically provided (e.g., displayed,
provided in an
audible manner) in response to the electronic alert being activated. In
example embodiments,
one or more customer computing entities 110 may be registered with the service
point device
117 (or the service point device 117 may be registered with one or more
customer computing
entities 110) such that when the service point device 117 is activated, an
alert is dynamically
provided to the one or more registered customer computing entities 110. The
alert is processed
by the one or more customer computing entities 110 (e.g., in accordance with
an application
operating on the user computing entity 110) and causes an electronic alert
interface to be
provided (e.g., displayed) by a display of the user computing entity 110. In
example
embodiments, the electronic alert interface may indicate that a
carrier/transporter would like to
deliver an item to the service point and request the individual provide
feedback in a
configurable time period.
Figure 8 provides an example alert interface 600 that may be dynamically
provided
(e.g., displayed) by the interior interface 162 and/or customer computing
entity 110 in response
to the service point device 117 receiving the remote activation request and/or
the authentication
thereof. The electronic alert interface 600 comprises proposed delivery
information/data 602,
a yes button 604, a no button 606, an electronic signature option button 608,
and a time left to
respond indicator 610. The proposed delivery information/data 602 may indicate
that the
carrier/transporter would like to delivery an item to the service point and
provide an expected
delivery time (e.g., the time remaining until it is expected that the delivery
vehicle driver will
be at the service point with the item) For example, the proposed delivery
information/data may
indicate that the delivery is expected to occur in (e.g., one minute, two
minutes, an estimation
of the time required before the delivery vehicle driver will be at the service
point with the
item). The proposed delivery information/data 602 may also indicate where the
service point
is (e.g., the address and/or a location at the address such as front door,
leasing office, reception
area, and/or the like). The electronic alert interface 600 may then provide
the individual with a
selectable option/indicator indicating that the individual will be available
to take delivery of
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the item at the service point, such as yes button 604. The electronic alert
interface 600 may
further provide the individual with a selectable option/indicator indicating
that the individual
will not be available to take delivery of the item, such as no button 606. In
some embodiments,
the electronic alert interface 600 may provide the individual with the option
of providing an
electronic signature, such as electronic signature option button 608. The
electronic signature
option will be described in more detail elsewhere herein. The time left to
respond indicator 610
may count down the time remaining for the individual to provide input
responding to the
electronic activation alert. For example, the individual may have a
configurable period of time
(e.g., two minutes, one minute, thirty seconds, twenty seconds, and/or the
like) to respond to
the electronic activation alert through the electronic alert interface 600. If
the user
input/interaction responding to the electronic activation alert (e.g., through
the electronic alert
interface 600) is not received before the expiration of the configurable
period of time to
respond, the lack of response may be interpreted as the individual not being
available to receive
the item. For example, responsive to not receiving a response from the
electronic alert interface
within a configurable time period, determining that the user is not available
to receive the item
at the service point. For example, not receiving a response through the
electronic alert interface
within the configurable time period may trigger automatic selection of the no
button 606 (e.g.,
cause the process to continue as if the no button 606 had been selected). In
example
embodiments, the configurable period of time for responding to the electronic
alert may be less
than the expected delivery time, approximately the same as the expected
delivery time, or
longer than the expected delivery time, as appropriate for the application. In
example
embodiments, the electronic alert interface may be provided by audible means
and the user
response may be captured through voice recognition technology (e.g., the
individual may say
"yes" in response to an audible alert interface to indicate he/she is
available to receive the item
at the service point).
Returning to Figure 7, at block 558, input information/data is received. For
example,
the service point device 117 may receive input information/data from the
interior interface 162
and/or one or more customer computing entities 110 providing an indication of
a user
input/interaction (e.g., user selection of a
button/key/indicator/icon/graphic/link (hard or soft),
audible user input/interaction, and/or the like) or an indication that no user
input/interaction
was received within the configurable period of time. At block 560, it is
determined if the input
information/data indicates that an individual is available for receiving the
item at the service
point. For example, the service point device 117 may determine if the input
information/data
indicates that an individual is available for receiving the item at the
service point. For example,
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the input information/data may indicate that an individual selected the yes
button 604 using the
interior interface 162, another individual selected the no button 606 using a
customer
computing entity 110, and another customer computing entity 110 did not
receive a response
within the configurable time period. Based on this example input
information/data, the service
point device 117 (e.g., the processor 150) may determine that an individual is
available to
receive the item at the service point. In an example embodiment, in response
to a positive
response (e.g., an individual selects the yes button 604, registers a "yes"
through voice
recognition technology, and/or the like) the service point device 117 may
determine that an
individual is available to receive the item at the service point and may not
wait to receive any
further input information/data before making the determination that an
individual is available.
In an example embodiment, in response to receiving a positive response, the
electronic
activation alert may be cancelled or turned off. For example, the interior
interface 162 and/or
one or more customer computing entities 110 may stop providing the electronic
alert interface
and/or may indicate that a positive response has been received (e.g., a
message may be
displayed by one or more customer computing entities 110 and/or the interior
interface 162 that
says "Sue said she will accept delivery of the item." if the customer
computing entity 110
registered as "Sue's Phone" receives the user input/interaction of selection
of the yes button
604).
If, at block 560, it is determined that the input information/data indicates
that an
individual is available to receive the item at the service point (e.g., at the
expected delivery
time), the process continues to block 562. At block 562, a delivery approval
notification is
provided. For example, the service point device 117 may transmit and/or
provide a delivery
approval notification. For example, the service point device 117 may provide a
delivery
approval notification to the delivery vehicle 107, user computing entity 120,
and/or the like. In
.. example embodiments, the service point device 117 may provide the delivery
approval
notification by a short/long range communication and/or a wired or wireless
network (e.g., an
internet protocol network and/or the like). In an example embodiment, the user
computing
entity 120 may receive the delivery approval notification from the service
point device 117 and
may provide an availability notification to a delivery vehicle driver (e.g.,
may display a
.. message, provide an audible indication, and/or the like) indicating that
the delivery vehicle
driver should attempt to deliver the item to the service point (e.g., in
accordance with the
expected delivery time).
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In an example embodiment, in response to receiving the delivery approval
notification
or as part of authenticating the remote activation of the service point device
117, the
geophysical location of the item 102 and the geophysical location of at least
one of delivery
vehicle 107 or the user computing entity 110 are co-located. For example, it
may be determined
(e.g., by the user computing entity or the carrier/transporter computing
entity 100, that the
geophysical location of the item 102 and the geophysical location of at least
one of the delivery
vehicle 107 or the user computing entity 110 are located within a first
threshold distance of
each other (e.g., 2 meters, 5 meters, and/or the like). After receiving an
indication from the
driver (e.g., operating the user computing entity 110) indicating that the
item 102 has been
delivered to the service point, the geophysical location of the item 102 may
be determined. For
example, it may be determined that the geophysical location of the item 102 is
within a second
threshold distance (e.g., 2 meters, 5 meters, 10 meters) of the location or
geolocation of the
service point device 117 and/or the location or geolocation of the service
point (e.g., a smart
device located at the service point or a known location of the service point).
If the item 102 is
within the second threshold distance of service point device 117 and/or the
service point, the
geolocation of at least one of the delivery vehicle 107 or the user computing
entity 110 may be
monitored to determine when the geolocation of the delivery vehicle 107 and/or
the user
computing entity 110 is greater than a third threshold distance (e.g., 10
meters, 20 meters, 100
meters, and/or the like) from the geolocation of at least one of the item 102,
the service point
.. device 117, and/or the service point. In response to determining that the
distance between (a)
the geolocation of the delivery vehicle 107 and/or the user computing entity
110 and (b) the
geolocation of the item 102 and (i) the location or geolocation of the service
point device 117
and/or (ii) the location or geolocation of the service point is greater than
the third threshold
distance, a delivery confirmation notification/indication may be generated
and/or provided. For
example, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may generate or receive
and store the
delivery confirmation notification/indication with the item information/data
corresponding to
the item 102. In an example embodiment, a delivery confirmation
fortification/indication may
be generated, provided, and/or received in response to determining that at
least one of (a) the
distance between the geolocation the item and the geolocation of at least one
of (i) the delivery
vehicle or (ii) the user computing entity is greater than a third threshold
distance or (b) the
distance between the geolocation of the item and the geolocation of at least
one of (i) the service
point device or (ii) the service point is less than a second threshold
distance.
If, at block 560, it is determined that the input information/data indicates
that no
individuals are available to receive the item at the service point (e.g., in
accordance with the
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expected delivery time), the process continues to block 564. At block 564, it
is determined if
the user input/interaction indicates that the individual would like to use the
(near) real-time
electronic signature option to remotely authorize the delivery of the item to
the service point
even though no one is available to receive the item at the service point. In
this particular context,
real-time or near real-time is used to indicate that the opportunity to
provide the electronic
signature may be provided as a real-time or near real-time response to the
activation of the
service point device 117. For example, the opportunity to provide the
electronic signature
(and/or to indicate that the customer would like to provide an electronic
signature) may be
provided to the customer (e.g., via the customer computing entity 110) within
milliseconds or
microseconds of the remote activation of the service point device 117 and/or
delayed from such
immediate presentation only and/or primarily by automated data processing or
network
transmission processes required to provide the opportunity to provide the
electronic signature
(and/or to indicate that the customer would like to provide an electronic
signature). Thus, the
electronic signature is provided in response to the activation of the service
point device 117
and in a timely manner thereafter such that the delivery of the item may be
efficiently provided
without causing delay in the execution of the dispatch plan. If, at block 564,
it is determined
that the user input/interaction indicates that the individual would like to
use the (near) real-time
electronic signature option (e.g., user input/interaction selecting the
provide electronic
signature button 608 is received) the process may continue as described in the
Delivering an
Item Authorized by a (Near) Real-Time Electronic Signature section below.
If, at block 564, it is determined that the user input/interaction does not
indicate that the
individual would like to use the (near) real-time electronic signature option
to (remotely)
authorize the delivery of the item (e.g., user selection of the no button 606
was received or no
user selection was received within the configurable time period), the process
continues to block
566. At block 566, a delivery deferral request is provided. For example, the
electronic service
point device 117 may transmit and/or provide a delivery deferral request. For
example, the
service point device 117 may provide a delivery deferral request to the
delivery vehicle 107,
user computing entity 120, and/or the like. In example embodiments, the
service point device
117 may provide the delivery deferral request by a short/long range
communication, through a
wired or wireless network (e.g., an Internet protocol network), and/or the
like. In an example
embodiment, the user computing entity 120 may receive the delivery deferral
request from the
service point device 117 and may provide an deferral notification to a
delivery vehicle driver
(e.g., may display a message, provide an audible indication, and/or the like)
indicating that the
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delivery vehicle driver should defer the attempt to deliver the item and not
attempt to deliver
the item to the service point (e.g., in accordance with the expected delivery
time).
At block 568, an electronic information notice is received. For example, the
service
point device 117 may receive an electronic information notice. In an example
embodiment, the
user computing entity 120 may provide the electronic information notice
through a short/long
range communication and/or through a wired or wireless network (e.g., an
Internet protocol
network), and/or the like. In example embodiments, the electronic information
notice may
provide information/data regarding the deferred attempt to deliver the item to
the service point,
information/data regarding how an individual (e.g., the consignee and/or an
agent thereof) may
schedule a delivery of the item, access to a web-based portal or user
interface the individual
may use to schedule a delivery of the item, information/data regarding where,
how, and/or
when the consignee may pick up the item at another location (e.g., a retail
location, a manned
or unmanned locker, and/or the like), and/or the like.
At block 570, the electronic information notice is provided to one or more
individuals.
For example, the service point device 117 may cause the interior interface 162
and/or the one
or more customer computing entities 110 registered with the service point
device 117 to provide
(e.g., display) the electronic information notice. For example, the interior
interface 162 and/or
one or more customer computing entities 110 may provide the information/data
regarding the
deferred attempt to deliver the item to the service point, information/data
regarding how an
individual (e.g., the consignee and/or an agent thereof) may schedule a
delivery of the item,
information/data regarding where, how, and/or when the consignee may pick up
the item at
another location (e.g., a retail location, a manned or unmanned locker, and/or
the like), and/or
the like. For example, the interior interface 162 and/or one or more customer
computing entities
120 may provide a delivery scheduling interface that an individual may use to
schedule a
delivery of the item at a time (and location) at which it is expected an
individual will be
available to receive the item.
Thus, example embodiments of the present invention allow for the real-time or
near
real-time determination of whether an individual is available to receive an
item at a service
point before the delivery vehicle driver exits the delivery vehicle to attempt
the make the
delivery, before the item is removed from the delivery vehicle for the
attempted delivery, and/or
the like. In some embodiments, the determination of whether an individual is
available to
receive an item at a service point may be made before the delivery vehicle
parks in the vicinity
of the service point to attempt the delivery. If no one is available to
receive the item at the
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service point, the attempted delivery is deferred in an efficient manner that
allows the delivery
vehicle driver to efficiently continue with the dispatch plan or itinerary.
As noted above, in example embodiments, a real-time or near real-time
determination
of whether an individual is available to provide an item for pick up and/or
whether an item has
been placed at an accessible location at a service point. For example, the
alert interface may
ask the individual if they are available to provide the item or if the item
has been placed at an
accessible location at the service point. In another example, if a customer
has placed an item at
an accessible location at the service point, the customer may use the customer
computing entity
110 and/or the interior interface 162 to indicate that the item has been
placed at an accessible
location at the service point. The customer may further indicate the location
of the accessible
location at the service point (e.g., at back door, on front porch, in garage,
and/or the like). In
some embodiments, the customer may further provide any information/data needed
to access
the accessible location (e.g., a gate code, a garage door code, and/or the
like). In an example
embodiment, the customer may provide permission through the customer computing
entity 110
(e.g., the doorbell application operating thereon and/or the like) or the
interior interface 162 for
the garage door, for example, to be opened by the service point device 117 in
response to the
remote activation request and/or the authentication thereof. In another
example embodiment,
for example if the remote activation request is sent before the delivery
vehicle arrives at the
service point, a second request may be provided from the user computing entity
120 to the
service point device 117 when the delivery vehicle arrives at the service
point (e.g., when the
delivery vehicle is put in park and/or the engine is turned off, when the
location of the delivery
vehicle is identified as being at the service location, when the delivery
vehicle is expected to
arrive at the service point in one minute or less, and/or the like). The
service point device 117
may then open the garage door, for example, in response to receiving the
second request. The
service point device 117 may automatically close the garage door, for example,
after a
configurable and/or predefined amount of time. In some embodiments, the user
computing
entity 120 may provide a third request to the service point device 117 after
the user computing
entity 120 has logged the pick-up (or delivery) of the item. The service point
device 117 may
then cause the garage door to close (or lock a gate, and/or the like) in
response to receiving the
third request. Thus, it should be understood that remote activation of a
service point device
(e.g., service point device 117) may be used to facilitate efficient delivery
and pick-up of items
from a delivery location.
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4. Delivering an Item Authorized by a (Near) Real-Time Electronic Signature
As described above, in various situations delivery of an item may need to be
authorized
by a signature of an individual receiving an item. For example, item
information/data
corresponding to the item may indicate that delivery of the item requires a
signature from the
individual receiving the item (e.g., the consignee to whom the item is to be
delivered and/or an
agent thereof). In another example, a service point may be associated with
instructions that any
item delivered to the item requires either the item to be received by an
individual or
authorization of the item to be delivered by a (near) real-time signature. In
example
embodiments of the present invention, a (near) real-time electronic signature
may be used to
authorize the delivery of an item to a service point, even if an individual is
not present at the
service point to receive and/or sign for the item.
Figure 9 provides a flowchart illustrating various processes and procedures
that may be
used to authorize delivery of an item using an electronic signature. In
general, the process of
authorizing the delivery of an item using an electronic signature may be
similar to that shown
in Figures 6 and 7. For example, the service point device 117 may receive a
remote activation
(e.g., from a delivery vehicle 107, item 102, user computing entity 120, or
carrier/transport
computing entity 100) or an in-person activation (e.g., a delivery vehicle
driver may press an
electronic doorbell activation button on the electronic service point device
117). In some
embodiments, the electronic activation may be authenticated. In response to
the electronic
activation and/or authentication thereof, an electronic activation alert may
be provided to the
interior interface 162 and/or one or more customer computing entities 110
registered with the
service point device 117. In response to receiving the electronic activation
alert, the interior
interface 162 and/or the one or more customer computing entities 110 may
dynamically provide
(e.g., display, provide audibly, and/or the like) an electronic alert
interface 600. The interior
interface 162 and/or one or more customer computing entities 110 may receive
user
input/interaction indicating that an individual is not available to receive
the item at the service
point (e.g., in accordance with the expected delivery time). For example, the
received user
input/interaction may select the electronic signature option button 608,
and/or the like,
indicating that the individual is not available to receive the item at the
service point (e.g., in
accordance with the expected delivery time) but would like to authorize the
delivery of the item
using an electronic signature (e.g., a remote and/or (near) real-time
electronic signature). The
individual may then be provided with an opportunity to provide an electronic
signature (e.g.,
through a text message, voice message, and/or the like). The service point
device 117 may
receive input information/data indicating the selection of the electronic
signature option button
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608 by the individual (e.g., operating the interior interface 162 or a
customer computing entity
110). In some embodiments, the electronic signature option is provided after
and/or in response
to the individual (e.g., operating the interior interface 162 or a customer
computing entity 110)
selecting the no button 606.
Starting at block 702, an indication of selection of the electronic signature
option is
received. For example, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107,
and/or
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may receive an indication that the
electronic signature
option has been selected. For example, the service point device 117 may
provide an electronic
signature option notification to the computing entity 120, delivery vehicle
107, and/or
carrier/transporter computing entity 100 through a short/long range
communication, a wired or
wireless network (e.g., an Internet protocol network), and/or the like. In an
example
embodiment, the delivery vehicle driver may be provided with a visual or
audible notification
of the receipt of the indication of the selection of the electronic signature
option. For example,
the user computing entity 120 may provide (e.g., display, provide an audible
signal) indicating
.. that that the delivery of the item is to be authorized using a (near) real-
time electronic signature.
The delivery vehicle driver may then prepare to deliver the item. For example,
the delivery
vehicle driver may then park the delivery vehicle in the vicinity of the
service point (if not
already done), and prepare to deliver the item to the service point (e.g.,
exit the delivery vehicle,
retrieve the item from the delivery vehicle, walk with the item to the service
point, and/or the
like).
At block 704, the (near) real-time electronic signature is received. For
example, the user
computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, or carrier/transporter computing
entity 100 may
receive the real-time or near real-time electronic signature. For example, the
service point
device 117 may receive the electronic signature (e.g., an SMS or MMS message,
a text or video
message provided through the electronic doorbell application, a video file or
steam, and/or the
like comprising the electronic signature) from the interior interface 162
and/or a customer
computing entity 110 and provide the electronic signature to the user
computing entity 120
through a short/long range communication, a wired or wireless network (e.g.,
an Internet
protocol network), and/or the like. In example embodiments, the electronic
signature may be
.. provided in a SMS or MMS message, a text-based or video-based message that
is provided
through a dedicated doorbell application, a video file or stream, and/or the
like. In example
embodiments, the electronic signature may comprise the individuals name in a
particular
format (e.g., /John Doe/), an item delivery authorization code that matches an
item delivery
authorization code stored in the customer profile associated with the service
point, an item
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delivery authorization code that matches an item delivery authorization code
stored in
association with the item information/data, the individual saying his/her
name, a signature
captured through a touch sensitive pad/display, an image that matches an image
stored in
association with the customer profile and/or the item information/data, an
image of the
individual that is then analyzed to determine that the individual in the image
is the same
individual as is in an image stored in association with the customer profile
and/or the item
information/data, and/or the like. In example embodiments, the (near) real-
time electronic
signature may be provided by an individual that is remotely located with
respect to the service
point.
In example embodiments, the electronic signature may be verified. For example,
a
customer profile may include a sample electronic signature. The sample
electronic signature
may be compared against the received real-time or near real-time electronic
signature to
determine if the two electronic signatures are a match. For example, the
electronic signatures
may be determined to match if they are exactly the same. In some embodiments,
the electronic
signatures may be determined to match if they are substantially the same. For
example, in one
embodiment, the electronic signatures /John A Doe/ and /John Doe/ may be
determined to
match. If the sample electronic signature and the real-time or near real-time
electronic signature
are provided through a touch screen, using a stylus, and/or the like, the hand-
writing (e.g.,
pressure map profile of the stylus or finger) may be compared to determine if
the electronic
signatures were likely generated by the same person.
In various situations, item information/data corresponding to the item may
indicate that
delivery of the item requires the item to be received and/or signed for by
someone at least 18
years old, someone at least 21 years old, and/or the like. For example, if the
item is a case of
wine, the item information/data may indicate that the item should be received
by someone of
legal age to purchase a case of wine (e.g., 21 or older). In such situations,
the delivery vehicle
driver may confirm the age of the individual authorizing the delivery of the
item with the (near)
real-time electronic signature, at block 706. For example, the individual
(e.g., operating the
interior interface 162 and/or a customer computing entity 110) may be asked to
enter or provide
his/her birthdate; acknowledge a statement wherein the individual agrees that
he/she is at least
of a particular age (e.g., 18, 21, and/or the like); provide an image of the
individual's
government issued photo identification that may be captured in (near) real-
time; and/or confirm
the individual's age in some other manner. In example embodiments, an
indication of the
authorizing individual's age may be received and it may then be confirmed
(e.g., by the user
computing entity 120, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, and/or the
like) that the
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individual is old enough to authorize the delivery of the item. In an example
embodiment, the
individual's age (or birthdate) may be stored in customer information by the
carrier/transporter
computing entity 100 such that the confirmation of the individual's age may be
performed
without the individual providing a birthdate, age, and/or the like at the time
of the delivery.
At block 708, after receiving the (near) real-time signature and/or the
confirmation of
the authorizing individual's age (e.g., the age of the individual providing
the (near) real-time
electronic signature), or in response thereto, authorizing delivery of the
item to the service
point. For example, in response to receiving the (near) real-time signature
and/or the
confirmation of the authorizing individual's age, the user computing entity
120 may provide
an authorization notification by displaying a message, providing an audible
sound, or, in the
instance of an automated delivery vehicle driver, an electronic instruction
indicating that the
delivery of the item to the service point has been authorized. The delivery
vehicle driver may
then deliver the item to the service point without an individual receiving the
item.
Thus, example embodiments of the present invention allow for an individual to
authorize (e.g., sign for) delivery of an item in (near) real-time without the
individual being
present at the service point. For example, the individual may be involved in a
project in the
kitchen and not be available to go to the front door at the expected delivery
time or the
individual may be remotely located with respect to the service point and
authorize the delivery
of the item to the service point in (near) real-time. Thus, embodiments of the
present invention
allow the delivery vehicle driver to complete deliveries that otherwise would
have been
unsuccessful.
5. Dynamic Route Planning Based on Interaction with Service Point Device(s)
According to example embodiments, a dispatch plan may be dynamically updated
based at least in part on remote interactions with one or more service point
devices 117, wherein
each service point device is located at a service point of the dispatch plan.
For example, the
user computing entity 120 and/or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may
remotely
communicate with a plurality of service point devices 117 and then, based on
the
communications (e.g., availability information/data received from the
plurality of service point
devices) and leveraging map information/data, the route for completing the
dispatch plan for
the delivery vehicle may be dynamically updated. Thus, based on communications
with a
plurality of service point devices 117, a route used to traverse a
neighborhood or zone of a
delivery route may be determined after the delivery vehicle arrives at the
neighborhood or zone
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of the delivery route and/or as the delivery vehicle is approaching the
neighborhood or zone of
the delivery route.
Figure 10 provides a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures that may
be
implemented in an example embodiment to dynamically update a dispatch plan
based on
remote interactions with one or more service point devices. Starting at block
1002, the user
computing entity 120 may identify one or more (e.g., a plurality) of service
point devices at
which an item is to be delivered or picked up and that is associated with an
service point device
located at the service point. For example, the vehicle 107 may enter and/or be
approaching a
neighborhood or other geographically defined area having one or more service
points that the
vehicle 107 is to service, according to the dispatch plan. The one or more
service points may
be identified by the user computing entity 120, based on the dispatch plan.
At block 1004, at least one of the one or more service point devices 117 may
be
remotely activated. For example, a plurality of service point devices 117
located within the
neighborhood or other geographically defined area and located at service
points to be serviced
by the vehicle 107, according to the dispatch plan, may be activated. For
example, similar to
the alert interface shown in Figure 8, an alert interface may be provided to
one or more
individuals (e.g., through the interior interface 162 and/or one or more
customer computing
entities 110). The alert interface may ask the individual if the individual is
available to accept
delivery of an item or provide an item for pick up at the service point within
the next five
minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour, and/or
the like. In an
example embodiment, the alert interface may allow an individual to enter a
custom time period
at which they will be available. For example, a user may enter that they are
not available in the
next ten minutes, but they will be available after the next ten minutes. In
another example, the
user may indicate that they are only available for the next ten minutes and
will not be available
thereafter. The individual may then interact with the alert interface (e.g.,
through the interior
interface 162 and/or customer computing entity 110) to provide input
indicating the
individual's availability to receive a delivery or provide an item for pick up
at the service point.
In some embodiments, if input indicating an individual's availability is not
received within the
configurable time period, it may be determined that the individual is not
available.
At block 1006, availability information/data is received from the remotely
activated
service point devices 117. For example, the user computing entity 120 may
receive availability
information/data from the remotely activated service point devices 117. For
example, in
response to receiving input indicating the individual's availability (or
determining that no input
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was received within the configurable time period), a service point device may
provide
availability information/data to the user computing entity 120.
At block 1008, map information/data may be accessed. For example, map
information/data corresponding to the neighborhood or other geographically
defined area
where the plurality of service point devices 117 are located, may be accessed.
For example, the
user computing entity 120 may access map information/data.
At block 1010, a dispatch plan update may be determined based on the received
availability information/data and the map information/data. For example, the
user computing
entity 120 may determine a dispatch plan update for providing service (e.g.,
item delivery or
pick up) at one or more of the service points identified within the
neighborhood or other
geographically defined area. The dispatch plan update may be based on the
received availability
information/data and/or the map information/data. For example, the dispatch
plan may be
updated in real time and/or near real time based on the received availability
information/data.
For example, the dispatch plan may be updated as the vehicle 107 is
approaching and/or
servicing a neighborhood or other geographically defined area based on
received availability
information/data. For example, a route through the neighborhood or other
geographically
defined area may be determined and/or updated based on the availability
information/data. For
example, in an example embodiment, an individual associated with service point
A may
provide input indicating they are available for the next five minutes but not
thereafter and an
individual associated with service point B may provide input indicating that
the user is not
available within the next five minutes, but will be available five to twenty
minutes from now.
The dispatch plan update may route the vehicle 107 such that it is expected
that the vehicle 107
will arrive at the service point A within the next five minutes and will
arrive at service point B
at least five minutes from now, but less than twenty minutes from now. Thus, a
dispatch plan
update may be determined based on the received availability information/data.
At block 1012, the dispatch plan update may be provided. For example, in
response to
determining and/or receiving the dispatch plan update, the user computing
entity 120 may cause
the user computing entity 120 to provide at least a portion of the dispatch
plan update. For
example, the user computing entity 120 may provide text, map, and/or audible
turn by turn
directions for executing the dispatch plan. The user computing entity 120 may
therefore provide
text, map, and/or audible turn by turn directions for the dispatch plan
update, such that the item
deliveries and pick-ups may be performed in accordance with the dispatch plan
update.
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6. Monitoring of Item Delivered to Service Point without being Received
In example embodiments, an item 102 may be delivered to a service point having
a
service point device (e.g., service point device 117) located at the service
point (e.g., affixed to
a building or structure located at the service point, within a building or
structure located at the
service point, and/or the like). However, the item 102 may not be received by
an individual at
the time of delivery. For example, the item may be left on a front porch, by a
back door, in or
by a garage, and/or at another accessible location at the service point. In an
example
embodiment, a service point device 117 may be used to monitor the item 102 to
ensure that the
item is not removed from the service point by an unauthorized individual. In
an example
embodiment, the service point device 117 may be configured to receive
scheduled
communications from the item 102 (e.g., via a short/long range communication
technology). If
a scheduled communication is not received and/or a characteristic of the
communication does
not match expectations, an alert may be provided. For example, if the signal
strength of a
received scheduled communication is significantly different than a previously
received
communication, it may be determined that a characteristic of the communication
does not
match expectations. Some example characteristics of the communication may be
signal
strength, a location of the item 102 (e.g., geophysical coordinates) provided
in the
communication, the absence or change of the item 102 in an image captured by
the imaging
device 158, and/or the like.
Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures that may be
used to
monitor an item 102 that was delivered to a service point using a service
point device (e.g.,
service point device 117). Starting at block 802, the delivery vehicle driver
may place the item
at the service point and establish a communication session between the item
102 and the service
point device 117. In one example embodiment, the communication session between
the item
102 and the service point device 117 may be established before the item 102 is
removed from
the delivery vehicle. For example, the user computing entity 120 may establish
a
communication session between the item 102 and the service point device 117.
For example,
the user computing entity 120 may provide a communication to the service point
device 117
(e.g., via a short range communication technology, an Internet protocol
network, and/or the
like) indicating that the service point device 117 should search for a signal
being provided by
the item 102. In an example embodiment, the user computing entity 120 may
provide the
service point device 117 with a signature of the signal that may be provided
by the item 102.
For example, the item 102 may emit a signal comprising an item identifier or
other particular
code, at a particular frequency, and/or having some other particular
characteristic. For example,
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the item 102 may be a beacon, have an RFID tag affixed thereto (or within the
item 102), and/or
the like. In an example embodiment, the user computing entity 120 may provide
the service
point device 117 with information regarding how frequently the service point
device 117
should expect to receive a signal from the item 102 (e.g., every five seconds,
every thirty
seconds, once per minute, once every five minutes, once every ten minutes,
once every half an
hour, and/or the like). In example embodiments, the item 102 may provide a
signal in response
to receiving a communication from the service point device 117, rather than
emitting a signal
at a regular interval. In such embodiments, the user computing entity 120 may
provide the
service point device 117 with instructions for how frequently the service
point device 117
should perform this call and response with the item 102. In some embodiments,
the item 102
provides a signal and/or the service point device 117 and the item 102 to
perform a call and
response at a configurable, default frequency. In an example embodiment, an
initiating
communication may be received by the service point device 117 from the item
102 at the time
of delivery to initiate the communication session and provide the service
point device 117 with
a baseline signal strength of the communication provided by the item 102 when
the item 102
is at the service point.
At block 804, it is determined if an expected and/or scheduled communication
from the
item 102 is received. For example, the service point device 117 may determine
if an expected
and/or scheduled communication is received from the item 102.
If the expected and/or scheduled communication is received, it may be
determined if a
characteristic of the communication matches expectations for the
characteristic of the
communication, at block 806. The expectation of the characteristic of the
communication may
be based on an earlier communication and/or characteristic(s) thereof. For
example, it may be
determined if the received communication is of a similar signal strength to a
previously
received communication. For example, the service point device 117 may
determine if the
received communication is of a similar signal strength when compared to a
previously received
communication. For example, the service point device 117 may determine if the
signal strength
of the received communication varies by less than a signal change threshold
when compared
to the baseline signal strength, the signal strength of the immediately
preceding
communication, an average signal strength of the n preceding communications
(e.g., the five
communications immediately preceding the most recently received communication,
and/or the
like), and/or the like. In another example embodiment, the service point
device 117 may
determine if the signal strength of the received communication varies from one
or more
previously received communications in an expectable way. For example, if the
signal provided
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by the item 102 is battery powered and the service point device 117 has been
monitoring the
item 102 for several hours, it may be expected that the signal strength of the
communication
provided by the item 102 may be slowly declining (e.g., declining at a
particular rate, and/or
the like).
If, at block 806, it is determined that the signal strength of the received
communication
is similar to one or more previously received signal strengths and/or varies
from one or more
previously received signal strengths in an expected way, the process may
return to block 804
to determine if the next scheduled communication is received. For example, if
it is determined
that the signal strength of the received communication is in accordance with
an expected signal
strength based at least in part on at least one previously received
communication, the process
may return to block 804.
If it is determined at block 804 that the scheduled communication was not
received
and/or it was determined at block 806 that the signal strength of the received
communication
was different than expected, the process continues to block 808. At block 808,
it is determined
if a retrieval notification has been received. For example, the service point
device 117 may
determine if a retrieval notification has been received. For example, if an
authorized individual
(e.g., the consignee and/or an agent thereof) retrieves the item from the
service point, the
authorized individual may access a retrieval interface through the interior
interface 162 and/or
a customer computing entity 110 and provide user input/interaction indicating
that the user
retrieved the item 102 from the service point. In an example embodiment, block
808 may
comprise causing display of a retrieval interface 850 (e.g., via the interior
interface 162 and/or
one or more customer computing entities 110) asking if the individual
retrieved the item from
the service point. For example, Figure 12 provides an example retrieval
interface 850. The
retrieval interface 850 may comprise delivery information/data 852, a yes
button 854, and a no
button 856. For example, the delivery information/data 852 may provide the
individual with
the information/data identifying the service point to which the item 102 was
delivered (e.g., an
address and a particular location at the address). The individual may select
the yes button 854
to indicate that an authorized individual retrieved the item 102 from the
service point and
provide a retrieval notification to the service point device 117. Similarly,
the individual may
select the no button 856 to indicate that an authorized individual did not
retrieve the item 102
from the service point. If the individual selects the no button 856 and/or
does not respond within
a configurable retrieval time period (e.g., one minute, two minutes, five
minutes, ten minutes,
and/or the like), the interior interface 162 and/or the customer computing
entity 110 may not
provide a retrieval notification to the service point device 117.
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If at block 808 it is determined that a retrieval notification has been
received, the process
ends and the service point device 117 is relieved from monitoring the item
102. If at block 808
it is determined that a retrieval notification has not been received, the
process continues to
block 810. At block 810, an alert is provided indicating that the item 102 has
been moved
and/or tampered with by a non-authorized individual. For example, the service
point device
117 may provide an alert to the interior interface 162, one or more customer
computing entities
110, and/or the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 indicating that the
item 102 has likely
been moved and/or tampered with by a non-authorized individual. In some
embodiments, the
service point device 117 may provide an audible and/or visual alert through
the exterior
interface 160, may turn on the imaging device 158 to capture one or more
images and/or videos,
and/or the like.
In example embodiments, a characteristic of the scheduled communication other
than
the signal strength of the communication may be used to determine if an item
has been moved.
For example, in some embodiments, the considered characteristic of the
scheduled
communication may be a geophysical location of the item (as indicated in the
communication),
image and/or video data of the item, the signal strength of the communication,
and/or any
combination thereof. In an embodiment, the scheduled communication from the
item 102 may
comprise geophysical coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the current
location of the
item 102. The service point device 117 may then determine if the most recently
received
geophysical coordinates indicate movement of the item 102 with respect to one
or more
previously received geophysical coordinates for the item 102. For example, it
may be
determined if the geophysical coordinates of the item 102 indicate that the
item 102 has been
moved from the service point. If the item 102 has been moved, an alert may be
provided (e.g.,
to the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, the customer computing entity
110, through the
internal interface 162, and/or the like).
In another example embodiment, the communication session may comprise the
service
point device 117 capturing digital image data and/or video data of the item
102. For example,
the item 102 may be placed in a position where it is within the view of one or
more imaging
devices 158 of the service point device 117. The most recently captured
digital image data
and/or video data may be compared against previously captured digital image
data and/or video
data to determine if the item 102 has been moved or otherwise tampered with.
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In example embodiments, it should be understood that a customer may initiate a
communication session between a service point device 117 and an item 102 that
is to be picked-
up by the carrier. For example, the customer may place the item 102 at an
accessible location
at the service point and establish the communication session between the
service point device
and the item 102. When the pick-up of the item 102 occurs, the user computing
entity 120 may
provide a retrieval notification to the service point device 117. The customer
(e.g., operating
the interior interface 162, customer computing entity 110, and/or the like)
may then be alerted
that the carrier has picked-up the item 102.
Thus, example embodiments of the present invention allow a service point
device (e.g.,
a service point device 117) to monitor an item to insure the item is retrieved
by an authorized
individual and to provide a (near) real-time alert if the item is moved and/or
tampered with by
a non-authorized individual. For example, the service point device may capture
images that
may comprise the non-authorized individual moving and/or tampering with the
item and/or
may sound an alarm that may cause the non-authorized individual to leave the
item and leave
the premises.
V. Conclusion
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forth herein
will come
to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the
benefit of the
teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.
Therefore, it is
to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific
embodiments disclosed
and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included
within the scope of
the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are
used in a generic
and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
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