Determining a delivery location and time based on the schedule or location of a consignee

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for programmatically determining/identifying a delivery location and time based on the schedule of the consignee. One example embodiment may include a method comprising receiving shipping/parcel information/data, the shipping/parcel information/data indicative of an item/parcel to be delivered to a consignee by a carrier, determining whether consignee schedule information/data is accessible, the consignee schedule information/data comprising information/data indicative of a consignee and information/data indicative of a location and an associated time at which the consignee has indicated an ability to receive an item, and providing, to a client device, via a network, a delivery location and a delivery time, the delivery location and the delivery time determined between the consignee schedule information/data and the default delivery location and the estimated time of delivery.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing information identifying where and when delivery of an item is to occur, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a carrier computing system over a communications network, shipping information for an original item, the shipping information indicating that the original item is to be delivered to a consignee and further indicating at least an original default delivery location, and original estimated time of delivery;   querying, by the carrier computing system and over the communications network, a location tracking application of a consignee device associated with the consignee and receiving, over the communications network, a GPS location of the consignee device indicative of where the consignee is located;   in response to the receiving of the GPS location of the consignee device, causing presentation to the consignee device of a prompt and requesting input, via a user interface, of a first location-time pair, the first location-time pair indicating a location and an associated time at which the consignee indicates an ability to receive an item;   based at least in part on traffic analysis, determining, by comparing the original estimated time of delivery with the associated time of the location-time pair and further comparing the original default delivery location with the location of the location-time pair, an impact for delivering the original item to the original default delivery location and the location of the first location-time pair; and   based on the determining of the impact for delivering the original item to the original default delivery location and the location of the first location-time pair, determining a delivery location and a delivery time indicative of where and when delivery of the original item will be made to the consignee by selecting which one of the original default delivery location and the location of the location-time pair is least impactful.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the prompt includes a request for consignee schedule information, and wherein the method further comprising, receiving the consignee schedule information. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a request for duration information indicative of how long the consignee will be at the location or GPS location.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether the original item will be delivered by a first carrier service or a second carrier service.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the original item will be delivered by the first carrier service instead of the second carrier service, determining, via one or more processors, the delivery time and the delivery location by: (1) calculating an impact of delivery to each location at the associated time considering, for each of one or more vehicles available to deliver the original item: (i) other parcels on the one or more vehicles and their associated destinations, (ii) traffic analysis, and (iii) fuel consumption; (2) selecting the least impactful delivery location and delivery time.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the original item will be delivered by the second carrier service instead of the first carrier service, providing consignee schedule information, via a network, to a second carrier system, the second carrier system associated with the second carrier service, the second carrier system configured to determine the delivery location and the delivery time based on the consignee schedule information; and   receiving, via the network, from the second carrier system, information indicative of the delivery location and the delivery time.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing communication preferences for providing information indicative of the delivery location and the delivery time, wherein the communication preferences (1) identify at least one communication format and at least one corresponding electronic destination address to be used in providing the information to the consignee, and (2) define a time period prior to a first carrier attempt of the original item in which a message providing the information is to be transmitted to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address;   automatically generating the message providing the information regarding the original item to be delivered to the consignee; and   automatically transmitting the message to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address within the defined time period prior to the first carrier attempt of the original item to the consignee.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one communication format is selected from the group consisting of a text message, an email message, a voice message, a picture message, a video message, and a social media message. 
     
     
         9 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising instructions for:
 receiving shipping information for an item, the shipping information indicating the item to be delivered to a consignee, the shipping information further indicating a default delivery location and estimated time of delivery;   querying a location tracking application of a consignee device associated with the consignee and receiving a GPS location of the consignee device;   at least partially in response to the querying, causing presentation of a user interface that displays a prompt for the consignee to input a duration of time the consignee intends to stay at a location associated with the GPS location;   based at least on traffic analysis, the GPS location, and the consignee input, calculating an impact of delivering the item to the default delivery location and the GPS location;   comparing each impact for delivering the item to the default delivery location and the GPS location; and   based at least in part on the comparing of each impact, determining a delivery location and a delivery time indicative of where and when delivery will be made to the consignee.   
     
     
         10 . The computer program product according to  claim 9 , wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:
 in an instance in which a second set of consignee schedule information is not accessible, providing to the client device, the user interface configured to prompt for and receive the consignee schedule information; and   receiving the consignee schedule information.   
     
     
         11 . The computer program product according to  claim 9 , wherein the prompt further includes a request for how long the consignee has been at the GPS location, and wherein the calculating of the impact is further based on how long the consignee has been at the GPS location. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product according to  claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:
 determining whether the item will be delivered by a first carrier service or a second carrier service.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product according to  claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:
 in an instance in which the determination yields that the item will be delivered by the first carrier service, determining, via one or more processors, the delivery time and the delivery location by (1) calculating the impact of delivery to each location at the associated time considering, for each of one or more vehicles available to deliver the item, (iii) fuel consumption; (2) selecting a least impactful delivery location and delivery time.   
     
     
         14 . The computer program product according to  claim 13 , wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:
 in an instance in which the determination yields that the item will be delivered by the second carrier service, providing the consignee schedule information, via a network, to a second carrier system, the second carrier system associated with the second carrier service, the second carrier system configured to determine the delivery location and the delivery time based on the consignee schedule information; and   receiving, via the network, from the second carrier system, information indicative of the delivery location and the delivery time.   
     
     
         15 . The computer program product according to  claim 9 , wherein the computer-executable program code instructions further comprise program code instructions for:
 storing communication preferences for providing information indicative of the delivery location and the delivery time, wherein the communication preferences (1) identify at least one communication format and at least one corresponding electronic destination address to be used in providing the information to a customer, and (2) define a time period prior to a first carrier attempt of the item in which a message providing the information is to be transmitted to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address;   automatically generating the message providing the information regarding the item to be delivered to the customer; and   automatically transmitting the message to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address within the defined time period prior to the first carrier attempt of the item to the customer.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product according to  claim 15 , wherein the at least one communication format is selected from the group consisting of a text message, an email message, a voice message, a picture message, a video message, and a social media message. 
     
     
         17 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving shipping information for an item, the shipping information indicating the item to be delivered to a consignee, the shipping information further indicating a default delivery location and estimated time of delivery;   querying a location tracking application of a consignee device associated with the consignee and receiving a GPS location of the consignee device;   at least partially in response to the querying, causing presentation of a user interface that displays a prompt for the consignee to input at least one of: a duration of time the consignee intends to stay at a location associated with the GPS location, a duration of time that the consignee has been at the location, and consignee schedule information; and   based at least on traffic analysis and the consignee input, calculating an impact of delivering the item to the default delivery location and the location;   comparing each impact for delivering the item to the default delivery location and the location; and   based at least in part on the comparing of each impact, determining a delivery location and a delivery time indicative of where and when delivery will be made to the consignee a delivery location and a delivery time.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining whether the item will be delivered by a first carrier service or a second carrier service.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 in an instance in which the determination yields that the item will be delivered by the first carrier service, determining, via one or more processors, the delivery time and the delivery location by (1) calculating the impact of delivery to each location at the associated time considering, for each of one or more vehicles available to deliver the item, (iii) fuel consumption; (2) selecting a least impactful delivery location and delivery time.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 storing communication preferences for providing information indicative of the delivery location and the delivery time, wherein the communication preferences (1) identify at least one communication format and at least one corresponding electronic destination address to be used in providing the information to a customer, and (2) define a time period prior to a first carrier attempt of the item in which a message providing the information is to be transmitted to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address;   automatically generating the message providing the information regarding the item to be delivered to the customer; and   automatically transmitting the message to the at least one corresponding electronic destination address within the defined time period prior to the first carrier attempt of the item to the customer.