Abstract:
A method and system for verifying that an employee and a client are present at a single location. A telephonic communications channel is established between the single location and a location verification system provider. Data is received at the system provider, from the employee over the telephonic communication channel. Data is received, at the system provider, from the client over the telephonic communication channel. The client data is separate from the employee data. The identity of the employee and the client are verified through a comparison of the employee data and the client data to preexisting data located in a database. A determination is made whether or not the employee and the client are present at the single location in response to the step of identifying.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present application concerns a novel employee tracking system, and, more particularly, a novel computer-based system for collecting data to verify the presence of people at a single location during a telephone call.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Systems are known for tracking persons, such as employees, by using computer-based telephone tracking and reporting systems. For this purpose, a computer-based tracking and reporting service may have a number of customers, each of which is a company with employees that provide services to a client. For example, the customer may be a nurses association, the employees of which are nurses who provide nursing services to a patient at the patient&#39;s home. In the parlance of the computer-based tracking service, the nurses association is the customer, the nurse is the “employee” or “caller”, and the person receiving the service from the employee-caller is the “client.” Tracking services are also useful for non-commercial applications. For instance, it can be used by prison systems to determine if a parolee has met with a parole officer.  
         [0003]     Ordinarily the employee-caller is scheduled to provide services at the client&#39;s address at a specified date for a specified amount of time. The nurses association (i.e., the customer) may want to track the nurse&#39;s time of arrival, time of departure, etc. at the client&#39;s location in order to have a record of the nurse&#39;s activity and amount to be paid to the nurse for the nursing services and/or to the nurses association by a medical insurance company.  
         [0004]     In one prior system, the employee calls a telephone number when the employee arrives at the client&#39;s location. When the call is received, the Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) is detected and the Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is also detected. The DNIS is compared with a customer database and the employee is requested to enter the appropriate data. The entered data, the DNIS, the ANI, and other information such as the time and date of the call is recorded and saved. However, on occasion the employee, caller, may enter the wrong caller identification, and the system will record an incorrect caller identification code and will be unable to determine the correct identification of the caller.  
         [0005]     In another system, a computer-based system is provided for collecting data from callers, including a customer&#39;s database corresponding to a customer&#39;s Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) and in which system the caller has an identification code. When a call is received, the DNIS is detected and is compared with the customer&#39;s database to determine the data to collect during the call. If a caller identification code is required, then the caller identification code is obtained and the caller identification code is compared, via the computer, with a check digit algorithm without referencing a caller identification code database. After the call is terminated, a call record is created for the received call.  
         [0006]     Now that cellular, or mobile phones are in wide use, however, it is difficult to determine the location of the employee through utilization of the previous methods. Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system, which can verify, regardless of the technology used, that the employee is at the proper location, i.e. with the patient. To this end, applicant has discovered a system for verification of two or more people during a single phone call.  
         [0007]     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds. It is to be understood, however, that although the terms “telephone” or “telephonic” are used for convenience herein to refer to the medium upon which communication is achieved, these terms are intended to include cable transmission, satellite transmission, and any other type of transmission upon which communication can be achieved.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     In one example, a method for verifying that an employee and a client are present at a single location is provided. A telephonic communications channel is established between the single location and a location verification system provider. Data is received, at the system provider, from the employee over the telephonic communication channel. Data is received, at the system provider, from the client over the telephonic communication channel. The client data is separate from the employee data. The identities of the employee and the client are verified through a comparison of the employee data and the client data to preexisting data located in a database. Finally, it is determined whether or not the employee and the client are present at the single location in response to the step of identifying the employee and client.  
         [0009]     In another example, an article for verifying that an employee and a client are present at a single location is provided. The article includes a computer-readable signal-bearing medium. There is logic in the medium that includes hardware logic, software logic, logic embedded in a communications signal, or some combination thereof that perform various activities. There is logic to establish a telephonic communication channel between the single location and a location verification system provider. There is logic in the medium for receiving data, at the system provider, from the employee over the telephonic communication channel. There is logic in the medium for receiving data, at the system provider, from the client over the telephonic communication channel, wherein the client data is separate from the employee data. There is logic in the medium for verifying the identity of the employee and the client through a comparison of the employee data and client data to preexisting data located in a database. Finally, there is logic in the medium for determining whether or not the employee and the client are present at the single location in response to an indication from the logic in the medium for verifying.  
         [0010]     In a further example, a method for verifying that an employee and a client are present at a single location is provided. A telephonic communication channel is established between the single location and a location verification system provider. The employee sends data over the communication channel that includes information that can be used by the location verification system provider to identify the employee. The client sends data over the communication channel that includes information, which is different from the information sent by the employee, that can be used by the location verification system provider to identify the client. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting one example of a system for verifying that an employee and client are present at a single location.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a functional block diagram depicting exemplary operation of the system of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram depicting an exemplary verification method that can be used in the operation shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an example of a location verification system  100  for verifying that at least two people  101 , such as an employee and a client, are present at a single location is provided for illustrative purposes. The system  100  in one example includes a server  102 . The server  102  can be connected to at least two people  101  through a network  103 .  
         [0015]      FIGS. 2-3  depict a process  200  by which system  100  is utilized to verify that at least two people  101  are present in a single location. The process  200  in one example is performed on server  102 . In another example, process  200  can be performed on another type of computing device or system. For example, the computing device could be a personal computer, a workstation, a file server, a mainframe, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), a mobile telephone, or a combination of these devices. In the case of more than one computing device, the multiple computing devices could be coupled together through the network  103 .  
         [0016]     The network  103  in one example includes any network that allows multiple computing devices to communicate with one another (e.g., a Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Wide Area Network (“WAN”), a wireless LAN, a wireless WAN, the Internet, a wireless telephone network, etc.) In a further example, the network  103  comprises a combination of the above mentioned networks. The computing device can be connected to the network through landline (e.g., T1, DSL, Cable, POTS) or wireless technology, such as that found on mobile telephones and PDA devices.  
         [0017]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the server  102 , or whatever computing device is utilized, includes one or more logic components  104  such as computer software and/or hardware components to carry out the process  200 . A number of such components can be combined or divided. An exemplary component employs and/or comprises a series of computer instructions written in or implemented with any of a number of programming languages, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.  
         [0018]     In one example, the process  200  is embedded in an article including at least one computer-readable signal-bearing medium. One example of a computer-readable signal-bearing medium is a recordable data storage medium such as a magnetic, optical, and/or atomic scale data storage medium. In another example, a computer-readable signal-bearing medium is a modulated carrier signal transmitted over a network comprising or coupled with computing device or system, for instance, a telephone network, a local area network (“LAN”), the Internet, and/or a wireless network.  
         [0019]     Referring further to  FIG. 1 , server  102  is programmed and configured such that it can establish communication with at least two people  101  over network  103 . For convenience, this disclosure will refer to network  103  as a voice communication network by which at least two people  101  connect to server  102 , which for convenience will be referred to as a call server.  
         [0020]     Call server  102  has numerous trunk lines dedicated to a number of customers, and different customers have different requirements with respect to the data that is expected to be received. For example, one customer may have employees who speak Spanish or who deal with clients that speak Spanish. Each employee or client may have a numerical employee identification code that must be entered into the system via the telephone keypad for the employee or client to be identified. On the other hand, another customer may require that the message be in English and also use a numerical employee or client identification code. Alternatively, another customer may also require English, but may require a voice print or some form of biometric data from the employee or client as the means of identification. Still further, another customer may require an English message and also require that the caller&#39;s identification code be spoken in English, rather than entered on the telephone key pad. It can thus be seen that there are numerous combinations of languages and caller identification codes that can be used in the collection of data.  
         [0021]     Call server  102  in one example includes a database  105 . Database  105  includes preexisting information regarding the at least two people  101  that allow system  100  to verify the identity of the at least two people  101 . For instance, if the customer prefers that the client and employee verify their identity with numerical data from a telephone key pad, the database will include the numerical identifiers and codes that correspond to each client and employee. Similarly, if the customer prefers the use of voice verification technology, the database  105  will contain preexisting voice prints for each client and employee. If the customer prefers the use of biometric data, then the database  105  will contain data representative of a biometric characteristic, such as fingerprint or eye scan data, for each employee or customer.  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the process  200  starts in step  201  in which communication is established between the at least two people  101  and system  100 . As was discussed previously, communication could be established by the one of the at least two people  101  dialing into system  100  over a telephone network  103 . After establishment of communication, the system  100 , in step  202 , will prompt one of the at least two people  101  for input. In  FIG. 2 , it is shown for illustrative purposes that the system  100  prompts the employee for input. In another example, the system  100  could first prompt the client for input. Further, the at least two people  101  do not necessarily need to have an employee/client relationship. It is envisioned that the system  100  could be used for other applications. For instance, the at least two people  101  could be a parole office and a parolee The system  100  will work for applications in which it is necessary to verify that two people are together.  
         [0023]     Referring still to  FIG. 2 , the particular prompt that the employee receives in step  202  can take many forms, e.g. a recorded voice message, an audible series of tones, a computer generated message, etc. After receiving the prompt, in step  203 , the user, in this case the employee, will input data and the system will receive data. The data will include some means of identifying the employee. For example, the employee might enter an employee code by using a telephone touch pad, or the employee might swipe a RFID card in a card reader that will send data to system  100 . In another example, the employee might simply state his or her name, and the system will, by using voice recognition technology, extract information from the audio signal that will identify the employee. In step  204 , the system  100  will determine if the user entered the data correctly. If for some reason, the employee did not enter the data correctly, then an error condition will occur, and the system  100  will provide an error message to the employee in step  205 . The process then returns to step  202  and prompts the employee for input. If after a predetermined number of attempts, the employee still does not enter correct data, the system  100  could perform an action, such as hanging up or transferring the employee to an operator or help menu.  
         [0024]     In step  206 , system  100  verifies the employee&#39;s identity. Referring to  FIG. 3 , an exemplary description of how verification occurs will be provided for illustrative purposes. In step  301 , the system  100  receives or extracts information from the data sent by the user. The system  100 , in one example, performs step  301  by digitally processing the key strokes or biometric data sent from the user or by taking a voice print. In step  303 , the system  100  compares the information to pre-existing information stored in the database  105 . For example, in the case of a voice print, the system  100  will compare the voice print of the employee to pre-existing voice prints. In the case of an touch tone code, the system will compare the code received from the employee to pre-existing codes in the database. In step  305 , the system  100  determines whether there is a match. If there is a match, then flow proceeds to step  210  in  FIG. 2  and the system  100  prompts the client for input. If no match occurs, then flow proceeds to step  208  in  FIG. 2  and the system  100  will provide an indication to the user that there was no match. The user can then reenter the identification data in step  202 . As with entering incorrect data, if the user fails to correctly verify his or her identity after a predetermined number of attempts, the system  100  could hang up or transfer the user to a help menu or operator. Alternatively, step  208  could be omitted and flow could simply proceed to step  210 .  
         [0025]     In steps  210  through  215 , the preceding steps are repeated for the second user, in this instance, the client. If the system  100  is in use for more than two people, the steps will repeat for the additional users, until all of the users have attempted a verification. When the steps of receiving data and verifying identities is complete, then in step  216 , the system will log the result, either in the database  105  or some other computer-readable signal-bearing medium, in step  216 . The result can include information, such as the time of the communication, identities of the callers, the DNIS, the ANI, and the result of the verification step. The customer will then have access to the result for each call. In this way, the customer will be able to determine whether the employee and client were together at a particular time.  
         [0026]     The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only and not as a limitation. While particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the broader aspects of applicants&#39; contribution. The actual scope of the protection sought is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective based on the prior art.