Patent ID: 7366522
Filing Date: 2008-04-29
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A location monitoring system, comprising: a plurality of mobile computing devices supported by a wireless network, each of said mobile computing devices being associated with and proximate to a corresponding object; and a web server operatively connectable to the wireless network, said web server storing locations of each of said mobile computing devices, and said web server enabling authorized users to access the locations of said mobile computing devices via the Internet, wherein access to locations of each of said mobile computing devices is controlled by the owner or user of the corresponding mobile computing device, wherein the authorized users do not have to be proximate to the objects whose locations they are authorized to access, wherein said web server determines whether an electronic mail or instant message notification is to be sent to an authorized user based on the location of at least one of the mobile computing devices corresponding to an object, wherein said web server sends an electronic mail or instant message notification to the authorized user when it has been determined that an electronic mail or instant message notification is to be sent to the authorized user, wherein one or more notification locations are defined by the authorized user through interaction with said web server, and wherein the one or more notification locations that have been defined are assigned location labels by the authorized user through interaction with the web server, wherein the location labels assigned by the authorized user are personal to the authorized user and not used with other users, and wherein said web server determines whether the location of the mobile computing device corresponding to the object is at one of the one or more notification locations, and generates a notification when it is determined that the location of the mobile computing device is at one of the notification locations, and sends the notification to the authorized user.