Situational Awareness System

Abstract

A situational awareness system providing geographic, personal characteristic and subject matter of interest awareness using information obtained from location reporting mobile devices. The system displays personal characteristic information for target member segments defined with a great deal of specificity, which may be followed by online queries to the target member segment. Member participation in online queries may require interested members to “opt-in” to limit query distribution to members that have indicated an interest in responding to online queries on the particular subject matter of interest. This increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the online queries, while reducing the cost and imposition on members who are not be interested in participating. Obtaining geographic, personal characteristic and subject matter of interest awareness can be a free component provided as a benefit to registered members and customers, configured to occur prior to the payment screen required for online query distribution.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 defining, by a network device comprising a processor, target segment criteria comprising:
 receiving, by the network device, geographic data related to a geographic area of interest, 
 receiving, by the network device, personal characteristic data related to a personal identity attribute data of interest, and 
 receiving, by the network device, subject matter data related to a subject matter of interest; 
   accessing, by the network device, stored personal identity attribute data related to members of an online response system comprising personal identity attribute data associated with the members of the online response system;   identifying, by the network device, a target member segment among the members of the online response system by comparing the geographic data, the personal characteristic data, and the subject matter data to the personal identity attribute data;   displaying, by the network device, data representing the target member segment by depicting the data on a graphical representation of the geographic area of interest, wherein the data representing the target member segment comprises a prompt to send text data to the target member segment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stored personal identity attribute data comprises online social media data created by the members of the online response system. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 defining the target member segment based on traveler tracking parameters;   transmitting an online message comprising traveler awareness data to the target member segment.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the network device, an online query through a menu-driven graphical user interface;   receiving, by the network device, query parameters through the menu-driven graphical user interface;   transmitting, by the network device, the online query to the target member segment;   receiving, by the network device, query responses from the target member segment in accordance with the query parameters; and   displaying, by the network device, data representing the query responses.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 defining, by the network device, an authorized member segment by receiving opt-in responses from a subset of the members comprising the target member segment indicating agreement to participate in the online query concerning the subject matter of interest;   transmitting, by the network device, the online query to the authorized member segment;   receiving, by the network device, query responses from the authorized member segment in accordance with the query parameters.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein receiving opt-in responses comprises transmitting an opt-in text message to the target member segment and receiving text messages comprising the opt-in responses. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein displaying the data representing the responses further comprises displaying data representing responses on the graphical representation of the geographic area of interest. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 calculating, by the network device, compensation data associated with compensation to a customer based on a number of the query responses received; and   sending, by the network device, electronic compensation to each member of the target member segment that submitted the query responses that was accepted in accordance with a query parameter.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the geographic data comprises a radius about a selected location, a political subdivision, or a type of establishment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein displaying data representing the query responses comprises computing and displaying a male-to-female ratio of the members that submitted the query responses. 
     
     
         11 . A computer readable storage medium storing non-transitory computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer system comprising a processor, cause the system to perform operations, comprising:
 defining target segment criteria comprising:
 receiving geographic data related to a geographic area of interest, 
 receiving personal data related to personal identity attribute data of interest, and 
 receiving subject matter data related to a subject matter of interest; 
   accessing stored personal identity attribute data related to members of an online response system comprising personal identity attribute data associated with the members of the online response system;   identifying a target member segment among the members of the online response system by comparing the geographic data, the personal data, and the subject matter data to the personal identity attribute data;   displaying data representing the target member segment by depicting the data on a graphical representation of the geographic area of interest, wherein the data representing the target member segment comprises a prompt to send text data to the target member segment.   
     
     
         12 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 receiving an online query through a menu-driven graphical user interface;   receiving query parameters through the menu-driven graphical user interface;   transmitting the query question to the target member segment;   receiving query responses from the target member segment in accordance with the query parameters; and   displaying data representing the query responses.   
     
     
         13 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 defining an authorized member segment by receiving opt-in responses from a subset of the members comprising the target member segment indicating agreement to participate in the online query concerning the subject matter of interest;   transmitting the online query to the authorized member segment; and   receiving query responses from the authorized member segment in accordance with the query parameters.   
     
     
         14 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 generating compensation data associated with compensation charged to customers based on a number of query responses received; and   initiating an electronic payment to each member of the target member segment that submitted a query response that was accepted in accordance with query parameters.   
     
     
         15 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the geographic data comprises a radius about a selected location, a political subdivision, or a type of establishment; and   the data representing the query responses comprises a male-to-female ratio for the members that submitted query responses.   
     
     
         16 . A system comprising:
 means for defining a target segment criteria comprising:
 means for receiving geographic data related to a geographic area of interest, 
 means for receiving personal data related to personal identity attribute data of interest, and 
 means for receiving subject matter data related to a subject matter of interest; 
   means for accessing stored personal identity attribute data related to members of an online response system comprising personal identity attribute data associated with the members of the online response system;   means for identifying a target member segment among the members of the online response system by comparing the geographic data, the personal data, and the subject matter data to the personal identity attribute data;   means for displaying data representing the target member segment by depicting the data on a graphical representation of the geographic area of interest, wherein the data representing the target member segment comprises a prompt to send text data to the target member segment.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 means for receiving an online query through a menu-driven graphical user interface;   means for receiving query parameters through the menu-driven graphical user interface;   means for transmitting the query question to the target member segment;   means for receiving query responses from the target member segment in accordance with the query parameters; and   means for displaying data representing the query responses.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 means for defining an authorized member segment by receiving opt-in responses from a subset of the members comprising the target member segment indicating agreement to participate in the online query concerning the subject matter of interest;   means for transmitting the online query to the authorized member segment; and   means for receiving query responses from the authorized member segment in accordance with the query parameters.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 means for generating compensation data associated with compensation charged to customers based on a number of query responses received; and   means for initiating an electronic payment to each member of the target member segment that submitted a query response that was accepted in accordance with query parameters.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the geographic data comprises a radius about a selected location, a political subdivision, or a type of establishment; and   the data representing the query responses comprises a male-to-female ratio for the members that submitted query responses.