Notification Systems and Methods that Communicate Advertisements Based Upon Location and/or Personal Profiles

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for automated computer based notification systems. A representative method, among others that are disclosed herein, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: engaging in a first communication session with a personal communication device (PCD) that involves one or more data transfers; during the first communication session, receiving an indication from a party associated with the PCD that the party would like to receive advertisement information associated with a sale of a good or service at a stop location; monitoring (directly or indirectly) travel or location information associated with a mobile thing (MT), the MT capable of delivering or picking up the good or service at the stop location; when the MT travels within a predefined geographical region in close proximity to the stop location, engaging in a second communication session with the PCD that involves one or more data transfers; and causing advertisement information relating to sale of the good or service to be communicated to the PCD, during the second communication session, in order to enable the MT to deliver or pick up the good or service at the stop location in accordance with the advertisement information. In some embodiments, the advertisement information can be selected based at least in part upon a personal profile associated with the party associated with the PCD.

Therefore, I claim at least the following: 
     
         1 . An automated computer based notification system, comprising:
 one or more memories;   one or more processors; and   computer program code stored in the one or more memories and executed by the one or more processors, the computer program code comprising:
 code operable to engage in a first communication session with a personal communication device (PCD) involving one or more data transfers; 
 code operable to, during the first communication session, receive an indication from a party associated with the PCD that the party would like to receive advertisement information associated with a sale of a good or service at a stop location; 
 code operable to monitor, directly or indirectly, travel or location information associated with a mobile thing (MT), the MT capable of delivering or picking up the good or service at the stop location; 
 code operable to, when the MT travels within a predefined geographical proximity to the stop location, engage in a second communication session with the PCD involving one or more data transfers; and 
 code operable to cause advertisement information relating to sale of the good or service to be communicated to the PCD, during the second communication session, in order to enable the MT to deliver or pick up the good or service at the stop location in accordance with the advertisement information. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 code operable to obtain a personal profile associated with the party associated with the PCD; and   code operable to select the advertisement information to be communicated to the PCD during the second communication session, based at least in part upon the personal profile.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the personal profile information includes any one or more of the following: historic information regarding a prior purchase of the good or service or of another good or service, an activity in which the party has been engaged, historical travel information or current location information associated with the party, or a topic in which the party has an interest. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second communication sessions involve use of text messages. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising code to charge a fee for or cause receipt of a monetary benefit from providing the advertisement related information during the notification communication session. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising code to communicate, during the second communication session, a link to the PCD that enables the party to select and thereby accept the advertisement information. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the advertisement information includes an electronic image. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the PCD is transported by the MT and wherein the code operable to monitor is designed to indirectly monitor the travel or location information associated with the MT by monitoring the travel or location information associated with the PCD. 
     
     
         9 . An automated computer based notification system, comprising:
 one or more memories;   one or more processors; and   computer program code stored in the one or more memories and executed by the one or more processors, the computer program code comprising:
 code operable to monitor, directly or indirectly, travel or location information associated with a mobile thing (MT), the MT capable of delivering or picking up a good or service at a stop location; and 
 code operable to, when the MT travels within a predefined geographical proximity to the stop location, cause advertisement information relating to sale of the good or service to be communicated to the PCD in one or more data transfers in order to enable the MT to deliver or pick up the good or service at the stop location in accordance with the advertisement information. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 code operable to obtain a personal profile associated with a party associated with the PCD; and   code operable to select the advertisement information to be communicated to the PCD, based upon the personal profile.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the personal profile information includes any one or more of the following: historic information regarding a prior purchase of the good or service or of another good or service, an activity in which the party has been engaged, historical travel information or current location information associated with the party, or a topic in which the party has an interest. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the advertisement information is communicated via a text message. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising code to charge a fee for or cause receipt of a monetary benefit from providing the advertisement related information during the notification communication session. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising code to communicate a link to the PCD that enables the party to select and thereby accept the advertisement information. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the advertisement information includes an electronic image. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising code operable to, during a first communication session, receive an indication from a party associated with the PCD that the party would like to receive the advertisement information associated with the sale of the good or service at the stop location. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the PCD is transported by the MT and wherein the code operable to monitor is designed to indirectly monitor the travel or location information associated with the MT by monitoring the travel or location information associated with the PCD. 
     
     
         18 . A method for an automated computer based notification system, comprising:
 engaging in a first communication session with a personal communication device (PCD) that involves one or more data transfers;   during the first communication session, receiving an indication from a party associated with the PCD that the party would like to receive advertisement information associated with a sale of a good or service at a stop location;   monitoring travel or location information associated with the a mobile thing (MT), the MT capable of delivering or picking up the good or service at the stop location;   when the MT travels within a predefined geographical proximity to the stop location, engaging in a second communication session with the PCD that involves one or more data transfers; and   causing advertisement information relating to sale of the good or service to be communicated to the PCD, during the second communication session, in order to enable the MT to deliver or pick up the good or service at the stop location in accordance with the advertisement information.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 obtaining a personal profile associated with the party associated with the PCD; and   selecting the advertisement information to be communicated to the PCD during the second communication session, based at least in part upon the personal profile.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the personal profile information includes any one or more of the following: historic information regarding a prior purchase of the good or service or of another good or service, an activity in which the party has been engaged, historical travel information or current location information associated with the party, or a topic in which the party has an interest. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the first and second communication sessions involve use of text messages. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising charging a fee for or causing receipt of a monetary benefit from providing the advertisement related information during the notification communication session. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising communicating, during the second communication session, a link to the PCD that enables the party to select and thereby accept the advertisement information. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising communicating information to a computer program that is executed on the PCD, which causes the PCD computer program to display the advertisement information on the PCD. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the PCD is transported by the MT and wherein the PCD is transported by the MT and wherein the monitoring of the travel or location information associated with the MT is indirectly performed by monitoring the travel or location information associated with the PCD. 
     
     
         26 . A method for an automated notification system, wherein:
 (a) the automated notification system comprises an architecture as follows:
 (1) a monitoring module that is operable to monitor travel or location information associated with one or more mobile things (MTs); 
 (2) a message manager that is operable to cause communication of advertisement information to one or more personal communications devices (PCDs); 
 (3) a response analyzer that is operable to analyze response information received from the PCDs; 
 (4) a data manager that is operable to store and access the travel or location information, the advertisement information, and the response information in one or more memories; and 
   (b) the method comprises:
 (1) monitoring, directly or indirectly, the travel or location information associated with a mobile thing (MT), the MT capable of delivering or picking up a good or service at a stop location; and 
 (2) when the MT travels within a predefined geographical proximity to the stop location, causing advertisement information relating to sale of the good or service to be communicated in one or more data transfers to the PCD to enable the MT to deliver or pick up the good or service at the stop location in accordance with the advertisement information. 
   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising:
 obtaining a personal profile associated with a party associated with the PCD; and   selecting the advertisement information to be communicated to the PCD, based at least in part upon the personal profile.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the personal profile information includes any one or more of the following: historic information regarding a prior purchase of the good or service or of another good or service, an activity in which the party has been engaged, historical travel information or current location information associated with the party, or a topic in which the party has an interest. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the advertisement information is communicated via a text message. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the method further comprises charging a fee for or causing receipt of a monetary benefit from providing the advertisement information during the notification communication session. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the method further comprises communicating a link to the PCD that enables the party to select and thereby accept the advertisement information. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the method further comprises communicating information to a computer program that is executed on the PCD, which causes the PCD computer program to display the advertisement information on the PCD. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the method further comprises, during a first communication session with the PCD, receiving an indication from a party associated with the PCD that the party would like to receive the advertisement information associated with the sale of the good or service at the stop location. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the PCD is transported by the MT and wherein the monitoring of the travel or location information associated with the MT is indirectly performed by monitoring the travel or location information associated with the PCD.