Beacon triggered processes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11238503-B2
Application number	US-201916417520-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2019
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

Techniques and systems for beacon triggered processes are disclosed. A described technique includes causing a beacon device to broadcast a beacon message, the beacon device being within the vicinity of an establishment; detecting a presence of a user of a mobile device based on receiving from the mobile device a first message that is responsive to the beacon message; retrieving a transaction record based on a user or mobile device identifier in the first message; generating and transmitting a second message based on the transaction record to facilitate a completion of a transaction associated with the transaction record at the establishment; the second message being configured to provide notification of an arrival of the user and dispatch an employee to meet the user and handle the transaction; and generating and transmitting a third message based on the transaction record to facilitate the completion of the transaction at the mobile device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a mobile device when the mobile device is within a connection range of a beacon device that is within a vicinity of an establishment, a beacon message from a beacon device;
generating a first message in response to receiving the beacon message, the first message comprising a user or mobile device identifier;
transmitting, from the mobile device, the first message to a server computer outside the vicinity of the establishment, wherein the first message is configured to cause the establishment to dispatch an employee to prepare for an arrival of a user of the mobile device and handle a transaction associated with the user or mobile device identifier;
receiving, at the mobile device, a second message that is responsive to the first message, the second message comprising information to facilitate a completion of the transaction; and
presenting, by the mobile device, the information for use by the user to complete the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information comprises an image of an employee that is assigned to facilitate the completion of the transaction, and wherein presenting the information comprises displaying at least a portion of the image.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information comprises barcode data, and wherein presenting the information comprises displaying a barcode based on the barcode data to verify an identity of a user associated with the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information comprises customer instructions for completing the transaction, and wherein presenting the information comprises displaying the customer instructions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beacon message comprises a beacon identifier, and wherein the first message comprises at least a portion of the beacon identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
performing a determination of whether there is a pre-existing reason for a visit to the establishment by querying one or more sources on the mobile device, wherein generating the first message is conditional on an outcome of the determination.

7. A system, comprising:
a network interface configured to communicate with mobile devices; and
processor electronics configured to store applications, including an application, for download to the mobile devices via the network interface,
wherein the application comprises instructions to cause a mobile device to perform operations comprising:
receiving a beacon message when the mobile device is within a connection range of a beacon device that is within the vicinity of an establishment;
generating a first message in response to receiving the beacon message, the first message comprising a user or mobile device identifier;
transmitting the first message to a server computer outside the vicinity of the establishment, wherein the first message is configured to cause the establishment to dispatch an employee to prepare for an arrival of a user of the mobile device and handle a transaction associated with the user or mobile device identifier;
receiving a second message that is responsive to the first message, the second message comprising information to facilitate a completion of the transaction; and
presenting the information through the mobile device for use by the user to complete the transaction.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the information comprises an image of an employee that is assigned to facilitate the completion of the transaction, and wherein presenting the information comprises displaying at least a portion of the image.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the information comprises barcode data, and wherein presenting the information comprises displaying a barcode based on the barcode data to verify an identity of a user associated with the mobile device.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the information comprises customer instructions for completing the transaction, and wherein presenting the information comprises displaying the customer instructions.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the beacon message comprises a beacon identifier, and wherein the first message comprises at least a portion of the beacon identifier.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations comprise:
performing a determination of whether there is a pre-existing reason for a visit to the establishment by querying one or more sources on the mobile device, wherein generating the first message is conditional on an outcome of the determination.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the range is between 10 and 30 meters.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device is to communicatively couple with the beacon device when the user has entered or is about to enter the establishment.

15. The system of claim 7 , wherein the range is between 10 and 30 meters.

16. The system of claim 7 , wherein the mobile device is to communicatively couple with the beacon device when the user has entered or is about to enter the establishment.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Vigier Benjamin
• Fugman Corey G
• Krsmanovic Filip
• Su Yingfeng

Classifications

• G06Q10/06311

  Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• G06Q30/0281 Primary

  Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting · CPC title