Patent Publication Number: US-11663560-B2

Title: Systems, methods, apparatuses and computer program products for providing notification of items for pickup and delivery

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation application of and claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/615,365 filed Jun. 6, 2017, the entire contents of each of the foregoing applications being hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD 
     An embodiment of the invention relates generally to a system, method, apparatus, and computer program product for notifying a shipping carrier of one or more items for pickup at a location. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Presently, to facilitate pickup of parcels from a customer location, a customer may typically call a service center of a shipping carrier to schedule and arrange for pickup of a parcel(s) or the customer may physically visit a service center of the shipping carrier to schedule and arrange for pickup of a parcel(s) at a customer location. Alternatively, at present, a customer may typically utilize a mobile phone, computer, tablet or the like to connect to a network such as the Internet to access a webpage of the shipping carrier so that the customer may input information (e.g., name, address, type of shipment, etc.) into the webpage to request pickup of a parcel(s) at a customer location. 
     These current approaches typically require the customer to perform various active steps (e.g., calling a service center, visiting a service center, using an electronic device to access a webpage, etc.) for the customer to arrange for pickup up a parcel(s), which may be inefficient, time consuming and burdensome to customers. 
     As such, a need may exist for a more efficient and less cumbersome approach to facilitate scheduling of pickup of parcels at a customer location. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     The present invention provides systems, methods, apparatuses and computer program products for providing notification of one or more items for pickup at a location. In this regard, a communication device (e.g., an Internet of Things (IoT) communication device) of the exemplary embodiments may detect a selection/pressing of a push button, which may trigger sending of a message/signal, by the communication device, to a network device to arrange for pickup of an item(s) at a location (e.g., an address, a GPS location, etc.) of a user of the communication device. In response, the communication device may receive an acknowledgement from the network device that the pickup of the item(s) at the location of the user is scheduled. 
     In some exemplary embodiments, the acknowledgement may be a signal sent to the communication device which may trigger a light of the push button to flash/blink denoting to the user of the communication device that the network device scheduled pickup of the item(s) at the location. In some other exemplary embodiments, the acknowledgement may be a message (also referred to herein as an acknowledgement message) received, by the communication device, from the network device confirming that the network device scheduled, and arranged resources (e.g., a assigned driver and delivery vehicle), for pickup of the item(s) at the location of the user. The acknowledgement message may also specify an estimated time for pickup of the item(s) at the location of the user. Furthermore, upon receipt of the acknowledgement message from the network device, a display device of the communication device may display the visible indicia (e.g., confirmation that pickup of the item(s) at the location is scheduled and an estimated time for the pickup) of the acknowledgement message to the user of the communication device. In one example embodiment, the display device may have a small monochromatic organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display screen. In other example embodiments, the display device may include any other suitable display screen configured to display the visible indicia. 
     The network device of the exemplary embodiments may also provide an electronic message to the display device of the communication device (e.g., an IoT communication device) of the user notifying the user if a scheduled pickup of one or more items, at a location of the user, is delayed or cancelled. 
     Moreover, by utilizing a push button (e.g., in response to a depression/selection of the push button) of a communication device (e.g., an IoT communication device) to trigger automatic sending of a signal(s)/message(s) to a network device requesting pickup of one or more items at a location of a user, the exemplary embodiments may conserve computing resources and bandwidth of the communication device by not requiring other components (e.g., a user interface for input of data of the signal(s)/message(s), a display device for viewing of input data, etc.) to perform multiple tasks for generating the signal(s)/message(s). 
     In one example embodiment, a method for providing notification of one or more items for pickup at a location is provided. The method may include automatically sending a generated electronic message to a network device requesting pickup of one or more items at a location of a user of a communication device in response to detecting pressing of a button on an exterior of the communication device. The method may further include receiving an electronic acknowledgement message from the network device denoting (i) confirmation that the network device received the generated electronic message requesting pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user and (ii) scheduled pickup of the one or more items from the location of the user at an estimated time. The method may further include generating a visible indication regarding the pickup of the one or more items in response to detecting receipt of the electronic acknowledgement message. 
     In another example embodiment, an apparatus for providing notification of one or more items for pickup at a location is provided. The apparatus may include a processor and a memory including computer program code. The memory and computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform operations including automatically sending a generated electronic message to a network device requesting pickup of one or more items at a location of a user of the apparatus in response to detecting pressing of a button on an exterior of the apparatus. The memory and computer program code are also configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to receive an electronic acknowledgement message from the network device denoting (i) confirmation that the network device received the generated electronic message requesting pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user and (ii) scheduled pickup of the one or more items from the location of the user at an estimated time. The memory and computer program code are also configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to generate a visible indication regarding the pickup of the one or more items in response to detecting receipt of the electronic acknowledgement message. 
     In yet another example embodiment, a computer program product for providing notification of one or more items for pickup at a location is provided. The computer program product includes at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein. The computer-executable program code instructions may include program code instructions configured to automatically send a generated electronic message to a network device requesting pickup of one or more items at a location of a user of an apparatus in response to detecting pressing of a button on an exterior of the apparatus. The computer program product may further include program code instructions configured to cause receipt of an electronic acknowledgement message from the network device denoting (i) confirmation that the network device received the generated electronic message requesting pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user and (ii) scheduled pickup of the one or more items from the location of the user at an estimated time. The computer program product may further include program code instructions configured to generate a visible indication regarding the pickup of the one or more items in response to detecting receipt of the electronic acknowledgement message. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram of a system that can be used to practice various embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a diagram of an information/data collection device that may be used in association with certain embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic of a management computing entity in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic of a mobile computing entity in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  5    is a diagram of an IoT computing entity that may be used in association with certain embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG.  6    is a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various embodiments of the present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. The term “or” is used herein in both the alternative and conjunctive sense, unless otherwise indicated. The terms “illustrative” and “exemplary” are used to be examples with no indication of quality level. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
     I. METHODS, APPARATUSES, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS 
     Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in various ways, including as computer program products that comprise articles of manufacture. A computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, program code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like (also referred to herein as executable instructions, instructions for execution, program code, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). Such non-transitory computer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media (including volatile and non-volatile media). 
     In one embodiment, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may include a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state storage (SSS) (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD), solid state card (SSC), solid state module (SSM)), enterprise flash drive, magnetic tape, or any other non-transitory magnetic medium, and/or the like. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include a punch card, paper tape, optical mark sheet (or any other physical medium with patterns of holes or other optically recognizable indicia), compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD), any other non-transitory optical medium, and/or the like. Such a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (e.g., Serial, NAND, NOR, and/or the like), multimedia memory cards (MIVIC), secure digital (SD) memory cards, SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash (CF) cards, Memory Sticks, and/or the like. Further, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include conductive-bridging random access memory (CBRAM), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM), non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), resistive random-access memory (RRAM), Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon memory (SONOS), floating junction gate random access memory (FJG RAM), Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. 
     In one embodiment, a volatile computer-readable storage medium may include random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), fast page mode dynamic random access memory (FPM DRAM), extended data-out dynamic random access memory (EDO DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double information/data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), double information/data rate type two synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR2 SDRAM), double information/data rate type three synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR3 SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), Twin Transistor RAM (TTRAM), Thyristor RAM (T-RAM), Zero-capacitor (Z-RAM), Rambus in-line memory module (RIMM), dual in-line memory module (DIMM), single in-line memory module (SIMM), video random access memory (VRAM), cache memory (including various levels), flash memory, register memory, and/or the like. It will be appreciated that where embodiments are described to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types of computer-readable storage media may be substituted for or used in addition to the computer-readable storage media described above. 
     As should be appreciated, various embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented as methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like. As such, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an apparatus, system, computing device, computing entity, and/or the like executing instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to perform certain steps or operations. However, embodiments of the present invention may also take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment performing certain steps or operations. 
     Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Thus, it should be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations may be implemented in the form of a computer program product, an entirely hardware embodiment, a combination of hardware and computer program products, and/or apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like carrying out instructions, operations, steps, and similar words used interchangeably (e.g., the executable instructions, instructions for execution, program code, and/or the like) on a computer-readable storage medium for execution. For example, retrieval, loading, and execution of code may be performed sequentially such that one instruction is retrieved, loaded, and executed at a time. In some exemplary embodiments, retrieval, loading, and/or execution may be performed in parallel such that multiple instructions are retrieved, loaded, and/or executed together. Thus, such embodiments can produce specifically-configured machines performing the steps or operations specified in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Accordingly, the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support various combinations of embodiments for performing the specified instructions, operations, or steps. 
     II. EXEMPLARY SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 
       FIG.  1    provides an illustration of a system that can be used in conjunction with various embodiments of the present invention. As shown in  FIG.  1   , the system may include one or more vehicles (e.g., delivery vehicles  100 ) one or more Internet of Things (IoT) computing entities  130 , one or more mobile computing entities  105 , one or more management computing entities  110 , one or more user computing entities  117 , one or more Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites  115 , one or more location sensors  120 , one or more information/data collection devices  130 , one or more telematics sensors  125 , one or more networks  135 , and/or the like. Each of the components of the system may be in electronic communication with, for example, one another over the same or different wireless or wired networks including, for example, a wireless cellular network, a wired or wireless Personal Area Network (PAN), Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the like. Additionally, while  FIG.  1    illustrates certain system entities as separate, standalone entities, the various embodiments are not limited to this particular architecture. 
     1. Exemplary Delivery Vehicle 
     As discussed herein, a delivery vehicle  100  may be a human operable delivery vehicle configured for transporting a vehicle operator and a plurality of items along a delivery route. For example, a vehicle  100  may be a manned or an unmanned tractor, truck, car, motorcycle, moped, Segway, bicycle, golf cart, hand truck, cart, trailer, tractor and trailer combination, van, flatbed truck, vehicle, drone, airplane, helicopter, boat, barge, and/or any other form of object for moving or transporting people, UAVs, and/or shipments/items (e.g., one or more packages, parcels, bags, containers, loads, crates, items banded together, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, each vehicle  100  may be associated with a unique vehicle identifier (such as a vehicle ID) that uniquely identifies the vehicle  100 . The unique vehicle ID (e.g., trailer ID, tractor ID, vehicle ID, and/or the like) may include characters, such as numbers, letters, symbols, and/or the like. For example, an alphanumeric vehicle ID (e.g., “AS445”) may be associated with each vehicle  100 . In another embodiment, the unique vehicle ID may be the license plate, registration number, or other identifying information/data assigned to the vehicle  100 . In various embodiments, the delivery vehicle  100  may be configured as discussed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/582,129, filed Apr. 28, 2017, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Moreover, although not shown, the interior of the delivery vehicle  100  may comprise a cargo area configured for storing a plurality of items and/or the like. 
     Furthermore, the delivery vehicle  100  may comprise and/or be associated with one or more computing entities, devices, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, the delivery vehicle  100  may be associated with an information/data collection device  132  or other computing entities. In general, the terms computing entity, entity, device, system, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers, computing entities, desktop computers, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximity beacons, key fobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles, cameras, wristbands, wearable items/devices, items/devices, vehicles, kiosks, input terminals, servers or server networks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes described herein. 
       FIG.  2    provides a block diagram of an exemplary information/data collection device  132  that may be attached, affixed, disposed upon, integrated into, or part of a vehicle  100 . The information/data collection device  132  may collect telematics information/data (including location data) and transmit/send the information/data to the mobile computing entity  105 , the management computing entity  110 , and/or various other computing entities via one of several communication methods. 
     In one embodiment, the information/data collection device  132  may include, be associated with, or be in wired or wireless communication with one or more processors  300  (various exemplary processors are described in greater detail below), one or more location-determining devices or one or more location sensors  120  (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors), one or more telematics sensors  125 , one or more real-time clocks  315 , a J-Bus protocol architecture, one or more electronic control modules (ECM)  345 , one or more communication ports  330  for receiving telematics information/data from various sensors (e.g., via a CAN-bus), one or more communication ports  305  for transmitting/sending data, one or more RFID tags/sensors  350 , one or more power sources  320 , one or more information/data radios  335  for communication with a variety of communication networks, one or more memory modules  310 , and one or more programmable logic controllers (PLC)  325 . It should be noted that many of these components may be located in the vehicle  100  but external to the information/data collection device  132 . 
     In one embodiment, the one or more location sensors  120 , modules, or similar words used herein interchangeably may be one of several components in wired or wireless communication with or available to the information/data collection device  132 . Moreover, the one or more location sensors  120  may be compatible with GPS satellites  115 , such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems, Department of Defense (DOD) satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioning systems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. This information/data can be collected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as the Decimal Degrees (DD); Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS); Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM); Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively, triangulation may be used in connection with a device associated with a particular vehicle and/or the vehicle&#39;s operator and with various communication points (e.g., cellular towers or Wi-Fi access points) positioned at various locations throughout a geographic area to monitor the location of the vehicle  100  and/or its operator. The one or more location sensors  120  may be used to receive latitude, longitude, altitude, heading or direction, geocode, course, position, time, and/or speed information/data (e.g., referred to herein as telematics information/data and further described herein below). The one or more location sensors  120  may also communicate with the management computing entity  110 , the information/data collection device  132 , mobile computing entity  105 , the user computing entity  117  and/or similar computing entities. 
     As indicated, in addition to the one or more location sensors  120 , the information/data collection device  132  may include and/or be associated with one or more telematics sensors  125 , modules, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, the telematics sensors  125  may include vehicle sensors, such as engine, fuel, odometer, hubometer, tire pressure, location, weight, emissions, door, and speed sensors. The telematics information/data may include, but is not limited to, speed data, emissions data, RPM data, tire pressure data, oil pressure data, seat belt usage data, distance data, fuel data, idle data, and/or the like (e.g., referred to herein as telematics data). The telematics sensors  125  may include environmental sensors, such as air quality sensors, temperature sensors, and/or the like. Thus, the telematics information/data may also include carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), Ethylene Oxide (EtO), ozone (03), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and/or ammonium (NH4) data, and/or meteorological information/data (e.g., referred to herein as telematics data). 
     In one embodiment, the ECM  345  may be one of several components in communication with and/or available to the information/data collection device  132 . The ECM  345 , which may be a scalable and subservient device to the information/data collection device  132 , may have information/data processing capability to decode and store analog and digital inputs from vehicle systems and sensors. The ECM  345  may further have information/data processing capability to collect and present telematics information/data to the J-Bus (which may allow transmission to the information/data collection device  132 ), and output standard vehicle diagnostic codes when received from a vehicle&#39;s J-Bus-compatible on-board controllers  340  and/or sensors. 
     As indicated, a communication port  330  may be one of several components available in the information/data collection device  132  (or be in or as a separate computing entity). Embodiments of the communication port  330  may include an Infrared information/data Association (IrDA) communication port, an information/data radio, and/or a serial port. The communication port  330  may receive instructions for the information/data collection device  132 . These instructions may be specific to the vehicle  100  in which the information/data collection device  132  is installed, specific to the geographic area in which the vehicle  100  will be traveling, specific to the function the vehicle  100  serves within a fleet, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the information/data radio  335  may be configured to communicate with a wireless wide area network (WWAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN), or any combination thereof. For example, the information/data radio  335  may communicate via various wireless protocols, such as 802.11, general packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA2000 1× (1×RTT), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), 802.16 (WiMAX), ultra-wideband (UWB), infrared (IR) protocols, Bluetooth protocols (including Bluetooth low energy (BLE)), wireless universal serial bus (USB) protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol. 
     2. Exemplary Management Computing Entity 
       FIG.  3    provides a schematic of a management computing entity  110  according to one embodiment of the present invention. The management computing entity can be operated by a variety of entities, including a carrier. A carrier may be a traditional carrier, such as United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx, DHL, courier services, the United States Postal Service (USPS), Canadian Post, freight companies (e.g. truck-load, less-than-truckload, rail carriers, air carriers, ocean carriers, etc.), and/or the like. However, a carrier may also be a nontraditional carrier, such as Coyote, Amazon, Google, Uber, ride-sharing services, crowd-sourcing services, retailers, and/or the like. 
     In general, the terms computing entity, entity, device, system and/or similar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers, computing entities, computing devices, mobile phones, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), desktops, tablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, servers or server networks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes described herein. However, the management computing entity  110  may also comprise various other systems, such as an Address Matching System (AMS), an Internet Membership System (IMS), a Customer Profile System (CPS), a Package Center Information System (PCIS), a Customized Pickup and Delivery System (CPAD), a Web Content Management System (WCMS), a Notification Email System (NES), a Fraud Prevention System (FPS), and a variety of other systems and their corresponding components. The management computing entity  110  may also be in communication with various payment networks/systems for carrying out or facilitating the payment of fees. As will be recognized, the payment of such fees may be in a variety of forms, such as via debit cards, credit cards, direct credits, direct debits, cash, check, money order, Internet banking, e-commerce payment networks/systems (e.g., PayPal™ Google Wallet, Amazon Payments), virtual currencies (e.g., Bitcoins), award or reward points, and/or the like. 
     As will be understood from  FIG.  3   , in one embodiment, the management computing entity  110  includes one or more processors  205  that communicate with other elements within the management computing entity  110  via a system interface or bus  261 . The processor  205  may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor  205  may be embodied as a processing element, processing circuitry, a coprocessor, a controller or various other processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a hardware accelerator, or the like. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the processor  205  may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory or otherwise accessible to the processor  205 . As such, whether configured by hardware or software methods, or by a combination thereof, the processor  205  may represent an entity capable of performing operations according to embodiments of the present invention when configured accordingly. A display device/input device  264  for receiving and displaying data may also be included in the management computing entity  110 . This display device/input device  264  may be, for example, a keyboard or pointing device that is used in combination with a monitor. The management computing entity  110  may further include transitory and non-transitory memory  263 , which may include both random access memory (RAM)  267  and read only memory (ROM)  265 . The ROM  265  of the management computing entity  110  may be used to store a basic input/output system (BIOS)  226  containing the basic routines that help to transfer information to the different elements within the management computing entity  110 . 
     In addition, in one embodiment, the management computing entity  110  may include at least one storage device  268 , such as a hard disk drive, a CD drive, and/or an optical disk drive for storing information on various computer-readable media. The storage device(s)  268  and its associated computer-readable media may provide nonvolatile storage. The computer-readable media described above could be replaced by any other type of computer-readable media, such as embedded or removable multimedia memory cards (M1VICs), secure digital (SD) memory cards, Memory Sticks, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, hard disk, or the like. Additionally, each of these storage devices  268  may be connected to the system bus  261  by an appropriate interface. 
     Furthermore, a number of executable instructions, applications, program modules, and/or the like may be stored by the various storage devices  268  and/or within RAM  267 . Such executable instructions, applications, program modules, and/or the like may include an operating system  280 , a registration module  270 , a message module  260 , a dispatch module  250 , an identification module  245 , and/or the like. As discussed in more detail below, these executable instructions, applications, program modules, and/or the like may control certain aspects of the operation of the management computing entity  110  with the assistance of the processor  205  and operating system  280 —although their functionality need not be modularized. In addition to the program modules, the management computing entity  110  may store or be in communication with one or more databases, such as database  240 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the processor  205  may be in communication with and may otherwise control the dispatch module  250 . The dispatch module  250  may operate in accordance with software embodied in memory (e.g., memory  263 , storage device  268 ) to perform the corresponding functions of the dispatch module  250 , as described below. In examples in which software is employed, a device or circuitry (e.g., processor  205  in one example) executing the software forms the structure associated with such means. As such, for example, in some example embodiments, the dispatch module  250  may be configured to, among other things, facilitate generation of one or more messages (e.g., an acknowledgement message) confirming receipt of a request for pickup of one or more items at a location of a user and arranging/scheduling (e.g., scheduling an estimated time for pickup, assigning a dispatch driver and a delivery vehicle, etc.) for pickup of the items at the location and for delivery of the items to a destination address, as described more fully below. 
     Also located within the management computing entity  110 , in one embodiment, is a network interface  274  for interfacing with various computing entities (e.g., with one or more mobile computing entities  105 , IoT computing entities  130 , user computing entities  117 ). For example, the management computing entity  110  may be able to receive data and/or messages from and transmit data and/or messages to the mobile computing entity  105 , IoT computing entity  130 , and user computing entity  117 . This communication may be via the same or different wired or wireless networks (or a combination of wired and wireless networks). For instance, the communication may be executed using a wired data transmission protocol, such as fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), digital subscriber line (DSL), Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS), or any other wired transmission protocol. Similarly, the management computing entity  110  may be configured to communicate via wireless external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as 802.11, general packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA2000 1× (1×RTT), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), 802.16 (WiMAX), ultra-wideband (UWB), infrared (IR) protocols, Bluetooth’ protocols, wireless universal serial bus (USB) protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol. 
     It will be appreciated that one or more of the components of the management computing entity  110  may be located remotely from other management computing entity  110  components. Furthermore, one or more of the components may be combined and additional components performing functions described herein may be included in the management computing entity  110 . 
     3. Exemplary Mobile Computing Entity 
       FIG.  4    provides an illustrative schematic representative of a mobile computing entity  105  that can be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, a mobile computing entity (e.g., a Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD)) may be carried for use by carrier personnel. In one embodiment, the mobile computing entities  105  may include one or more components that are functionally similar to those of the management computing entity  110  and/or as described below. As will be recognized, mobile computing entities  105  can be operated by various parties, including personnel collecting, delivering, transporting items, maintenance personnel, and dispatchers. As shown in  FIG.  4   , a mobile computing entity  105  can include an antenna  412 , a transmitter  404  (e.g., radio), a receiver  406  (e.g., radio), and a processing element  408  that provides signals to and receives signals from the transmitter  404  and receiver  406 , respectively. 
     The signals provided to and received from the transmitter  404  and the receiver  406 , respectively, may include signaling information/data in accordance with an air interface standard of applicable wireless systems to communicate with various entities, such as IoT computing entities  130 , management computing entities  110 , and/or the like. In this regard, the mobile computing entity  105  may be capable of operating with one or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, and access types. More particularly, the mobile computing entity  105  may operate in accordance with any of a number of wireless communication standards and protocols. In a particular embodiment, the mobile computing entity  105  may operate in accordance with multiple wireless communication standards and protocols, such as GPRS, UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB, IR protocols, Bluetooth protocols, USB protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol. 
     Via these communication standards and protocols, the mobile computing entity  105  can communicate with various other entities using concepts such as Unstructured Supplementary Service information/data (US SD), Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Signaling (DTMF), and/or Subscriber Identity Module Dialer (SIM dialer). The mobile computing entity  105  can also download changes, add-ons, and updates, for instance, to its firmware, software (e.g., including executable instructions, applications, program modules), and operating system. 
     According to one embodiment, the mobile computing entity  105  may include location determining aspects, devices, modules, functionalities, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, the mobile computing entity  105  may include outdoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, UTC, date, and/or various other information/data. In one embodiment, the location module can acquire data, sometimes known as ephemeris data, by identifying the number of satellites in view and the relative positions of those satellites. The satellites may be a variety of different satellites, including LEO satellite systems, DOD satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioning systems, GLONASS, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. Additionally, the location module may be compatible with A-GPS (Assisted GPS) for quick time to first fix and jump starting the ability of the location module to acquire location almanac and ephemeris data, and/or be compatible with SBAS such as WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, and/or GAGN to increase GPS accuracy. Alternatively, the location information/data may be determined by triangulating the mobile computing entity&#39;s  105  position in connection with a variety of other systems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/or the like. Similarly, the mobile computing entity  105  may include indoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, time, date, and/or various other information/data. Some of the indoor aspects may use various position or location technologies including RFID tags, indoor beacons or transmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computing devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For instance, such technologies may include iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons, BLE receivers and/or transmitters, NFC receivers and/or transmitters, and/or the like. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in a variety of settings to determine the location of someone or something to within inches or centimeters. 
     The mobile computing entity  105  may also comprise a user interface (that can include a display  416  coupled to a processing element  408 ) and/or a user input interface (coupled to a processing element  408 ). For example, the user interface may be an application, browser, user interface, dashboard, webpage, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably executing on and/or accessible via the mobile computing entity  105  to interact with and/or cause display of information. The user input interface can comprise any of a number of devices allowing the mobile computing entity  105  to receive data, such as a keypad  418  (hard or soft), a touch display, voice/speech or motion interfaces, scanners, readers, or other input device. In embodiments including a keypad  418 , the keypad  418  can include (or cause display of) the conventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and other keys used for operating the mobile computing entity  105  and may include a full set of alphabetic keys or set of keys that may be activated to provide a full set of alphanumeric keys. In addition to providing input, the user input interface can be used, for example, to activate or deactivate certain functions, such as screen savers and/or sleep modes. Through such inputs the mobile computing entity can collect contextual information/data as part of the management data. 
     The mobile computing entity  105  can also include volatile storage or memory  422  and/or non-volatile storage or memory  424 , which can be embedded and/or may be removable. For example, the non-volatile memory may be ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, RRAM, SONOS, racetrack memory, and/or the like. The volatile memory may be RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. The volatile and non-volatile storage or memory can store databases, database instances, database management system entities, data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like to implement the functions of the mobile computing entity  105 . 
     4. IoT Computing Entity 
       FIG.  5    shows an exemplary embodiment of an IoT computing entity  130 . In one embodiment, the IoT computing entity  130  may include, be associated with, or be in wireless communication, or wired, with one or more processors  200  (various exemplary processors are described in greater detail below), one or more push buttons  215  (also referred to herein as button  215 ), one or more communication interfaces  230  for receiving/transmitting information/data from/to various sources (e.g., management computing entities  110 , mobile computing entities  105 , etc.), one or more power sources  220 , one or more information/data radios  235  (also referred to herein as radio device  235 ) for communication with a variety of communication networks, and one or more memory devices  210 . In some example embodiments, the IoT computing entity  130  may also optionally include a display device  295 . The display device  295  may be a light-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display or any other suitable display. 
     Each IoT computing entity  130  may be powered by one or more power sources  220 . The power source may be a source provided by a power outlet, an energy storage device (e.g., a battery (e.g., a LiFePO4 battery, etc.), a supercapacitor, and/or the like), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) power charger and/or the like. 
     In one example embodiment, each IoT computing entity  130  may communicate with communication devices such as, for example, management computing entities  110 , mobile computing entities  105 , user computing entities  117 , printer  297  and the like using a wireless communication standard such as, for example Wi-Fi, cellular, Long Range (LoRa) or the like. In some other exemplary embodiments, each IoT computing entity  130  may communicate with communication devices (e.g., management computing entity  110 , mobile computing entity  105 , user computing entities  117 , printer  297 , etc.) using wireless communication standards and protocols, including Bluetooth, Wibree, NFC, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, general packet radio service (GPRS), and/or any other wireless protocol or standard. The IoT computing entity  130  may also be in direct or indirect communication with the management computing entity  110 , the mobile computing entity  105 , and/or similar computing entities over the same or different wired or wireless networks. 
     In another embodiment, an IoT computing entity  130  may be operated in one or more operating modes, such as a monitoring mode, a sleep mode, and/or the like. In the monitoring mode, the IoT computing entity  130  may be in a full power mode or a power mode greater than a low power mode (e.g., a sleep mode) and may actively monitor for communications (e.g., receipt of communications from other computing entities (e.g., management computing entity  110 , mobile computing entity  105 , etc.) and may execute instructions. The IoT computing entity  130  may also transmit a signal(s) during the monitoring mode. Furthermore, the IoT computing entity  130  may operate in the monitoring mode for a predetermined time period prior to entering a sleep mode. 
     For example, in an instance in which there are not any communications transmitted to or received by the IoT computing entity  130  during the predetermined time period of the monitoring mode, the IoT computing entity  130  may enter a sleep mode upon expiration of the predetermined time period. In sleep mode, the IoT computing entity  130  may remove power to unneeded subsystems and may place other subsystems (e.g., a processor (e.g., processor  200 ), a display (e.g., display device  295 ), etc.) into a configurable low power state (e.g., with just sufficient power for the IoT computing entity  130  to detect triggers/events for the IoT computing entity  130  to change/switch from sleep mode into other operational modes (e.g., monitoring mode)). The change of the operational mode may be triggered by various configurable triggers/events, such as, for example, detection of a selection/pressing of a button (e.g., button  215 ) which may cause transmission of a signal/message, as well as a message/signal received from a management computing entity  110 , a mobile computing entity  105 , a user computing entity  117  and/or other appropriate computing entities, combinations thereof, and/or the like. By utilizing the sleep mode, the IoT computing entity  130  may be able to conserve energy and reduce consumption of a battery of a power source (e.g., power source  220 ). 
     As indicated, a communication interface(s)  230  may be one of several components available in the IoT computing entity  130 . Embodiments of the communication interface(s)  230  may include an Infrared information/data Association (IrDA) communication port, an information/data radio, and/or a serial port. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication interface(s)  230  may receive instructions for the IoT computing entity  130 . In one exemplary embodiment, the IoT computing entity  130  may communicate using a Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MATT) protocol or any other suitable protocol. Further, in one exemplary embodiment, the information/data radio  235  may be configured to communicate with a network via Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11), Wi-Fi Direct and/or the like. In some other exemplary embodiments, the information/data radio  235  may be configured to communicate with wireless wide area network (WWAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN), or any combination thereof. For example, the information/data radio  235  may communicate via various wireless protocols, such as 802.11, general packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA2000 1× (1×RTT), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, 802.16 (WiMAX), ultra-wideband (UWB), infrared (IR) protocols, near field communication (NFC) protocols, Wibree, Bluetooth protocols (including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), wireless universal serial bus (USB) protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol such as, for example, LoRa. 
     According to one embodiment, the IoT computing entity  130  may include location determining aspects, devices, modules, functionalities, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, the IoT computing entity  130  may include outdoor positioning aspects, such as a location module  290  adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, UTC, date, and/or various other information/data. In one embodiment, the location module  290  may acquire data, sometimes known as ephemeris data, by identifying the number of satellites in view and the relative positions of those satellites. The satellites may be a variety of different satellites, including LEO satellite systems, DOD satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioning systems, GLONASS, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. Additionally, the location module  290  may be compatible with A-GPS for quick time to first fix and jump starting the ability of the location module  290  to acquire location almanac and ephemeris data, and/or be compatible with SBAS such as WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, and/or GAGN to increase GPS accuracy. Alternatively, the location information/data may be determined by triangulating the position of the IoT computing entity  130  in connection with a variety of other systems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/or the like. Similarly, the IoT computing entity  130  may include indoor positioning aspects, such as a location module  290  adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, time, date, and/or various other information/data. Some of the indoor aspects may use various position or location technologies including RFID tags, indoor beacons or transmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computing devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For example, such technologies may include iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons, BLE receivers and/or transmitters, NFC receivers and/or transmitters, and/or the like. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in a variety of settings to determine the location of someone or something to within inches or centimeters. 
     As described more fully below, the IoT computing entity  130  may detect a selection/pressing of a push button  215 , which may trigger sending of a message/signal, by the IoT computing entity  130 , to the management computing entity  110  to arrange for pickup of an item(s) at a location (e.g., an address, a GPS location, etc.) of a user of the IoT computing entity  130 . In response, the IoT computing entity  130  may receive an electronic acknowledgement from the management computing entity  110  that the pickup of the item(s) at the location of the user is scheduled. 
     In one exemplary embodiment, the acknowledgement may be a signal sent to the IoT computing entity  130  which causes a light of the push button  215  to flash/blink denoting to the user of the IoT computing entity  130  that the management computing entity  110  scheduled pickup of the item(s) at the location. In another exemplary embodiment, the acknowledgement may be a message received, by the IoT computing entity  130 , from the management computing entity  110  confirming that the management computing entity  110  scheduled, and arranged resources (e.g., a dispatch driver and a vehicle), for pickup of the item(s) at the location of the user. The message may also specify an estimated time for pickup of the item(s) at the location of the user. Furthermore, upon receipt of the message from the management computing entity  110 , the display device  295  of the IoT computing entity  130  may display (e.g., via an OLED display of the display device  295 ) the visible indicia (e.g., confirmation that pickup of the item(s) at the location is scheduled and an estimated time for pickup) of the message to the user of the IoT computing entity  130 . 
     5. Exemplary User Computing Entity 
     In one embodiment, the user computing entities  117  may each include one or more components that are functionally similar to those of the management computing entity  110  and/or the mobile computing entity  105 . For example, in one embodiment, each of the user computing entities  117  may include: (1) a processing element that communicates with other elements via a system interface or bus; (2) a user interface; (3) transitory and non-transitory memory; and (4) a communications interface. As previously noted, the computing entities  117  may comprise a user interface. For example, the user interface may be an application, browser, user interface, dashboard, webpage, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably executing on and/or accessible via the user computing entities  117  to interact with and/or cause display of information/data from the management computing entity  110 , the mobile computing entity  105 , and/or another appropriate computing entity, as described herein. The user input interface can comprise any of a number of devices allowing the user computing entities  117  to receive data, such as a keypad (hard or soft), a touch display, voice/speech or motion interfaces, scanners, readers, or other input device. In addition to providing input, the user input interface can be used, for example, to activate or deactivate certain functions, such as screen savers and/or sleep modes. These architectures are provided for exemplary purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments. 
     6. Exemplary Items 
     In one embodiment, an item(s) may be any tangible and/or physical object. In another embodiment, an item may be enclosed in one or more packages, envelopes, parcels, bags, goods, products, loads, crates, items banded together, drums, the like, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. 
     III. EXEMPLARY SYSTEM OPERATION 
     Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments of a system that automatically arranges (e.g., schedules) for pickup of an item(s) at a location of a user in response to receipt of a signal/message from an IoT computing device in an instance in which a push button of the IoT computing device is selected/depressed, as described more fully below. 
     OPERATION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     In one exemplary embodiment, a user of an IoT computing device  110  may utilize a user computing entity  117  to communicate with the registration module  270  of the management computing entity  110  in order to set up/register a profile with the management computing entity  110 , which may be maintained by a shipping carrier. In some other exemplary embodiments, a private blockchain (e.g., a server, a distributed database server) may also be utilized to set up/register a profile (e.g., a user profile) with the management computing entity  110  and may authorize and authenticate the user. The registration module  270  of the management computing entity  110  may provide a webpage to the user computing entity  117  so that the user may utilize a user interface of the user computing entity  117  to register the profile with the management computing entity. The profile may include data associated with authentication credentials (e.g., username, password, etc.) and account information (e.g., customer account information (e.g., a credit card account, etc.)) of the user to cover costs associated with shipments of one or more items. The profile may also include one or more locations such as, for example, one or more addressees of the user at which to pickup one or more items for delivery by the shipping carrier and may indicate a destination address at which to deliver one or more items. The management computing entity  110  may store the profile in memory  263  or storage device  268 . 
     In one exemplary embodiment, a user of an IoT computing entity  130  desiring to have one or more items picked up for delivery from a location of the user may press/select the button  215  on the IoT computing entity  130 . In this regard, the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  may detect the pressing/selecting of the button  215 , which may automatically trigger the processor  200  to generate and send a signal(s) or message(s) to the management computing entity  110  (e.g., to the dispatch module  250  of the management computing entity  110 ) requesting pickup of one or more items at a location (e.g., an address location, a geolocation (e.g., a GPS location)) of the user. In some exemplary embodiments, the signal(s)/message(s) generated by the processor  200  of the IoT computing device  130  may include data indicating a geolocation (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates) of the IoT computing entity  130 . The geolocation of the IoT computing entity  130  may be determined by the location module  290  and may be provided to the processor  200  for inclusion in the signal(s)/message(s). 
     In response to the processor  205  of the management computing entity  130  receiving the signal(s) or message(s) from the IoT computing entity  130 , the processor  205  of the management computing entity  110  may automatically generate an electronic acknowledgement that is sent/transmitted to the IoT computing entity  130 . In one example embodiment, the acknowledgement may be a signal to trigger/cause a light of the button  215  of the IoT computing entity  130  to flash/blink (e.g., flash periodically). In another example embodiment, the acknowledgement may include data confirming the scheduling of pickup of one or more items at a location of the user and may include content specifying an estimated time for the pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user. 
     As such, in one example embodiment, in response to the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  detecting the electronic acknowledgement, the processor  205  (or message module  260 ) may cause/trigger a light of the button  215  to flash/blink (e.g., flash periodically during a predetermined time period (e.g., 15 seconds, 20 seconds, etc.)). The flashing/blinking of the light of the button  215  denotes confirmation to the user of the IoT computing entity  130  that the management computing entity  110  is arranging pickup of one or more items at a location of the user in response to receipt of the signal(s)/message(s) from the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  requesting pickup of one or more items at the location of the user. 
     In another example embodiment, in response to the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  detecting the electronic acknowledgement, the processor  205  (or message module  260 ) may provide visible indicia to the display device  295  visibly indicating confirmation that the management computing entity  110  scheduled pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130  and visibly indicating an estimated time for pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user. In addition, the electronic acknowledgement received by the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  from the processor  205  (or message module  260 ) of the management computing entity  110  may automatically trigger the processor  200  to generate one or more electronic shipping labels for shipping and tracking of the one or more items. In this regard, the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  may communicate with and instruct the printer  297  to print the one or more generated electronic shipping labels. In response to receipt of the instruction(s) from the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130 , the printer  297  may print the one or more generated electronic shipping labels. 
     The management computing entity  110  may determine that the location of the user for pickup of the one or more items corresponds to an address of the user indicated in the data of the profile of the user in response to analyzing the profile stored in memory  263  or the storage device  268 . In this regard, in an instance in which the location of the address(es) information denoted in the profile of the user is utilized by the management computing entity  110  as the location for pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user, the IoT computing entity  130  need not necessarily be present at the location. Alternatively or additionally, the management computing entity  110  may determine the location of the user for pickup of one or more items corresponds to the geolocation information (e.g., latitude and longitude coordinates) indicated in the signal(s)/electronic message(s) received from the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130 . Moreover, in some exemplary embodiments, the profile of the user may specify whether to utilize the address(es) indicated in the profile or a geolocation indicated in the signal(s)/message(s) received from the processor  200  of the IoT computing entity  130  as the location for pickup of one or more items of the user. 
     The dispatch module  250  of the management computing entity  110  may determine an estimated time for pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130  based in part on identifying the geographic area (e.g., determined from location data received from the information/data collection device  132  and/or telematics sensors  125 , location sensors  120 ) associated with the location of the user and determining a particular travel route to the location of the user in the geographic area. The dispatch module  250  may also determine the estimated time for pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user by analyzing a trace history (e.g., historical data pertaining to a specified order in which to deliver/pickup items on a route to a location) or delivery history (e.g., past delivery history to the location or nearby locations, traffic congestion history in the geographic area) to the location or other locations nearby in the geographic area in order to estimate when an assigned driver of a vehicle (e.g., vehicle  100 ) may arrive at the location of the user for pickup of one or more items. For example, by evaluating the trace history or delivery history, the dispatch module  250  may determine an average time it takes for a vehicle (e.g., vehicle  100 ) to arrive at a location for pickup of one or more items. The determined average time may be used by the dispatch module  250  as the estimated time for pickup of one or more items at the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130 . 
     In some exemplary embodiments, the dispatch module  250  of the management computing entity  110  may be able to monitor vehicles in real-time and determine which vehicle(s), among a fleet of vehicles, is the closest (e.g., by receiving geo-coordinates from an information/data collection device  132  and/or telematics sensor  125 , location sensor  120  of the vehicles) to the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130  and may determine an estimated time for the determined closest vehicle to divert from its current travel route and arrive at the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130 , via another travel route, for pickup of one or more items. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, as a vehicle (e.g., vehicle  100 ) travels and enters a predetermined distance (e.g., 3 miles, 5 miles, etc.) from the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130 , the processing device  408  of a mobile computing entity  105 , and/or the dispatch module  250  of the management computing entity  110 , may send visible indicia to the display device  295  of the IoT computing entity  130  visually indicating that the vehicle is within the predetermined distance (e.g., 3 miles, 5 miles, etc.) from the location and within an estimated time for arriving at the location (e.g., within 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.). 
     In another example embodiment, in an instance in which the dispatch module  250  may determine that an assigned vehicle for arriving at the location is not on schedule to arrive (e.g., due to current traffic congestion in the geographic area detected by real-time GPS data of the information/data collection device  132  and/or telematics sensor  125 , location sensor  120 , etc.) at the location of the user at the initial estimated time of arrival, the dispatch module  250  may recalculate (e.g., based on the trace history, the delivery history and the current detected traffic congestion) an estimated time of arrival. In this regard, the dispatch module  250  may send visible indicia, indicating the recalculated estimated time of arrival to the display device  295  of the IoT computing entity  130  to visually display the recalculated estimated time of arrival at the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, upon arrival at the location of the user of the IoT computing entity  130 , the driver of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle  100 ) may collect one or more printed electronic shipping label(s), printed by the printer  297 , and one or more items for pickup and may include the one or more items in one or more corresponding packages. The driver may also affix the printed electronic shipping label(s) onto the one or more packages and may load the packages on the vehicle, which delivers the one or more packages, along a travel path determined by the dispatch module  250 , to a destination address indicated in the profile of the user stored in the memory  263  or the storage device  268  of the management computing entity  110 . 
     In one embodiment, each electronic shipping label(s) on each package(s) may include and/or be associated with a unique tracking identifier, such as an alphanumeric identifier. Such tracking identifiers may be represented as text, barcodes, tags, character strings, Aztec Codes, MaxiCodes, information/data Matrices, Quick Response (QR) Codes, electronic representations, and/or the like. A unique tracking identifier (e.g., 1Z123456789) may be used by the management computing entity  110  to identify and track packages as they move through a carrier&#39;s transportation network. For example, information/data comprising a tracking identifier can be read, scanned, transmitted, and/or the like, for example, by a mobile computing entity  105 , to provide and/or identify/determine the location (e.g., geolocation) of a package in transit. Such tracking identifiers may be included on electronic shipping labels with the unique tracking identifier printed thereon (e.g., in human and/or machine readable form). 
     Furthermore, in some alternative exemplary embodiments, an IoT computing entity (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may optionally include multiple (e.g., two, four, etc.) push buttons (e.g., push buttons  215 ) and each of the push buttons may be associated with or tied to respective different destination addresses in corresponding different profiles of the user stored in a memory (e.g., memory  263  or storage device  268 ) of the IoT computing entity (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ). In this manner, by analyzing by the different profiles of the user stored on the memory of the management computing entity  110 , the dispatch module  250  of the management computing entity  110  may schedule and arrange for pickup of different sets of one or more items at the location of the user of an IoT computing entity (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) for delivery to different destinations in response receipt of respective signals/messages from the IoT computing entity in an instance in which corresponding different push buttons are depressed/selected. 
     Furthermore, in some other alternative exemplary embodiments, an IoT computing entity (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may have multiple different colored push buttons (e.g., push buttons  215 ) and each different colored push button(s) (e.g., push buttons  215 ) may be associated with a different type(s) of pickup service(s) (e.g., a next-day delivery service, a two-day delivery service, a ground delivery service, etc.) being requested by the IoT computing entity from the management computing entity  110 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  6   , an example embodiment of a flowchart for providing notification of one or more items for pickup at a location of a user is provided according to an example embodiment. At operation  600 , an apparatus (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may automatically send a generated electronic message to a network device (e.g., management computing entity  110 ) requesting pickup of one or more items at a location (e.g., an office, a home, a store, etc.) of a user of the apparatus in response to detecting pressing or selection of a button (e.g., button  215 ) on an exterior of the apparatus. 
     At operation  605 , the apparatus (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may receive an electronic acknowledgement message from the network device (e.g., management computing entity  110 ) denoting (i) confirmation that the network device received the generated electronic message requesting pickup of the one or more items at the location of the user and (ii) scheduled pickup of the items from the location of the user at an estimated time (e.g., at 4:00 PM). 
     At operation  610 , the apparatus (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may generate a visible indication (e.g., a blinking/flashing light of a button (e.g., button  215 ), data presented to a display device (e.g., display device  295 ) confirming receipt of the request for pickup of the one or more items) regarding the pickup of the one or more items in response to detecting receipt of the electronic acknowledgement message from the network device (e.g., management computing entity  110 ). 
     In one example embodiment, the apparatus (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may generate the visible indication by causing a light of the button (e.g., button  215 ) to blink/flash periodically during a predetermined time period (e.g., 15 seconds, 20 seconds, etc.). In another exemplary embodiment, the apparatus (e.g., IoT computing entity  130 ) may generate the visible indication by presenting display of visible indicia, via a display device (e.g., display device  295 ) of the apparatus, indicating the confirmation that the network device (e.g., management computing entity  110 ) received the message requesting pickup of the items at the location and indicating the estimated time of the pickup of the one more items at the location. 
     It should be pointed out that  FIG.  6    is a flowchart of a system, method and computer program product according to an example embodiment of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart, can be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, and/or a computer program product including one or more computer program instructions. 
     IV. CONCLUSION 
     Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.