Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20020116266?dq=6,360,693
Timestamp: 2015-11-27 17:36:55
Document Index: 285167946

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60']

Patent US20020116266 - Method and system for tracking and providing incentives for time and ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA method for tracking and rewarding the desirable activities, including providing time and attention of individuals, and performing of tasks at desired times, includes providing an incentive rewards program. Individuals, groups, companies, or families are enrolled in a program. Interactions, including...http://www.google.com/patents/US20020116266?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20020116266 - Method and system for tracking and providing incentives for time and attention of persons and for timing of performance of tasksAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS20020116266 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 10/047,426Publication dateAug 22, 2002Filing dateJan 14, 2002Priority dateJan 12, 2001Also published asWO2002056530A2, WO2002056530A3Publication number047426, 10047426, US 2002/0116266 A1, US 2002/116266 A1, US 20020116266 A1, US 20020116266A1, US 2002116266 A1, US 2002116266A1, US-A1-20020116266, US-A1-2002116266, US2002/0116266A1, US2002/116266A1, US20020116266 A1, US20020116266A1, US2002116266 A1, US2002116266A1InventorsThaddeus MarshallOriginal AssigneeThaddeus MarshallExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (19), Referenced by (297), Classifications (14) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetMethod and system for tracking and providing incentives for time and attention of persons and for timing of performance of tasks
US 20020116266 A1Abstract
A method for tracking and rewarding the desirable activities, including providing time and attention of individuals, and performing of tasks at desired times, includes providing an incentive rewards program. Individuals, groups, companies, or families are enrolled in a program. Interactions, including in-person sales presentations, viewing of pre-recorded videos, visits to stores and other facilities, and connections to internet websites are recorded. The level of attention provided by individuals during interactions may be measured directly or by proxies, and rewards are provided in greater amounts for greater lengths of interactions and for higher levels of attention. The timing of performance of tasks, including for example early payment of bills, particularly utility bills may be tracked, and rewarded. Points may be redeemed for goods and services, including include entry in a drawing, enhanced likelihood of winning in a drawing, and enhanced prizes in a drawing. Various factors may be included in determining the number of time points awarded, including the time of day and day of week of accumulation sessions, the length of the accumulation sessions, the activities and tasks accomplished, and purchases completed. The formula may also award a varying number of time points depending on the individual's background profile characteristics, including, but not limited to previous purchase history and previous responses to offers of time points. A central program administrator may maintain records relating to the backgrounds of each enrolled individual, and record awards and administer redemption of awards for earned time points. Images(16) Claims(46)
What is claimed is: 1. A method of providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of: making content available to an individual; tracking attention of the individual to the content; and providing rewards to the person based at least in part on the tracked attention. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a live presentation. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the live presentation is presented at a physical commerce location. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the live presentation is made to a single individual. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein during the live presentation a live presenter records quality of attention information. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the quality of attention information includes recording commencement of an interruption in attention. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a recorded presentation comprising an audio portion. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the audio portion is delivered via telephone. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the audio portion is delivered via broadcast. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a recorded presentation comprising a text portion. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the individual responds to prompts indicating comprehension of the content to indicate tracked attention. 12. A method for providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of: receiving identification information relating to an individual at a physical commerce location provided by an individual who is present at the physical commerce location; correlating received identification information with stored identification information; recording the time of receipt of identification information; calculating an award of credits based at least in part on a correlation between the time of receipt of identification information and predetermined time criteria relating to the award of credits. 13. The method of claim 12, further wherein said step of calculating comprises calculating an award of points based in part on other activities conducted by the individual while at the physical commerce location subsequent to identification. 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of receiving identification information a plurality of occasions over a period of time from the individual at the physical commerce location, defining an accumulation session from the first receipt of identification to a final receipt of identification within prescribed time parameters, and calculating the credits at least in part on the basis of the duration of the accumulation session. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of, prior to said step of receiving identification information on at least one additional time within prescribed parameters, furnishing the individual with recorded information, and reading the recorded information substantially simultaneously with said step of receiving identification information a second time. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the recorded information pertains to one or more purchase transactions made by the individual during the accumulation session. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the recorded information pertains to one or more presentations attended by the individual during the accumulation session. 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the credits are calculated at least in part based on the recorded information. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the credits may be calculated based on the duration of the accumulation session, purchase transactions made by the individual during the accumulation session, and tasks completed and presentations attended by the individual during the accumulation session. 20. A method for providing a rewards program, comprising the steps of: receiving identification information relating to an individual in connection with an event; recording information relating to the time of the event, correlating received identification information with stored identification information; calculating an award based at least in part on a correlation between the time of the event and predetermined time criteria. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the award is contingent on future events involving the individual. 22. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of, prior to said step of receiving identification information, furnishing the individual with recorded information, and reading the recorded information substantially simultaneously with said step of receiving identification information a second time. 23. The method of claim 20, wherein the event is a bill payment, and the recorded information includes information pertaining to a length of time before a due date the bill payment occurs. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the reward comprises an entry in a drawing. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein rewards further comprise enhanced prizes for winning in the drawing. 26. The method of claim 23, wherein the reward further comprises enhanced likelihood of winning in a drawing. 27. The method of claim 23, wherein the reward may be redeemed only after a plurality of bill payments meeting specified timeliness criteria. 28. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of receiving and recording information relating to a second type of event performed by the individual, and adjusting the calculation of the award based on the information relating to the second type of event. 29. The method of claim 20, wherein the event is a scheduled appointment. 30. The method of claim 20, wherein the event is a use of an item available for rental. 31. A method for providing an incentive to an individual for engaging in a desirable activity, comprising the steps of: Recording the information relating to the desirable activity conducted by the individual, Permitting the individual to enter a lottery, and Basing one or more of the number of chances to participate in the lottery, the likelihood of winning, or the size or nature of the prize, on the recorded information. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the desirable activity is the payment of periodic bills prior to the due date. 33. A method of providing a rewards program comprises the steps of: enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information at a program administrator location maintained by a program administrator; requiring identification of the individual at a physical commerce location maintained by a program participant, the identification being based on said stored information; commencing an accumulation session following the identification of the individual; recording information, including at least the time of day, day of week and information pertaining to purchases made at the physical commerce location during the accumulation session; forwarding said recorded information to the program administrator; updating the stored individual profile information at the program administrator location; calculating the time points accumulated as a result of the accumulation session based on the stored individual profile information and a formula selected by the program participant; and permitting redemption of earned time points for items of value. 34. The method of claim 33, wherein a threshold value of time points is required to redeem a reward, and further comprising the step of notifying the individual when the threshold is achieved. 35. The method of claim 33, wherein the individual is notified during an accumulation session of the time points required in addition to those that would be accumulated if the accumulation session was immediately terminated to reach a threshold. 36. A method of identifying customers for enhanced customer service at physical commerce locations includes identifying individual customers upon entry into the physical commerce location based on information contained in a customer database; determining for each of the identified customers the one of at least two categories of customers to which the individual has been assigned; communicating to store personnel an indication of the category to which at which some of the identified customers have been assigned; and furnishing differential levels of customer service to different customers depending upon the specific category to which a customer has been assigned and communicated to the store personnel. 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the step of communicating comprises furnishing information for each identified customer on a substrate, including indicia indicating the category to which the customer has been assigned, the indicia being visible from a reasonable distance if the individual is holding the substrate. 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the indicia comprises the color of at least a portion of the substrate. 39. The method of claim 37, wherein the substrate has printed thereon information concerning special offers available at the physical commerce location, whereby only customers in a specified category are made aware of said special offers. 40. The method of claim 36, wherein at least one of the categories is a preferred category, and the step of furnishing differential levels of customer service comprises providing customer assistance to individuals assigned to the preferred category in a more timely fashion. 41. A system of providing a rewards program comprises: means for receiving from an individual, identification information upon entry into a physical commerce location; means for correlating received identification information with stored identification information; means for commencing an accumulation session; means for monitoring the tasks and activities accomplished during the accumulation session; means for calculating time points accumulated specific to the accumulation session, based at least in part on increasing numbers of time points accumulated based on increasing the length of time of the accumulation session. 42. A system for providing a rewards program comprises: means for enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information at a program administrator location; means for identifying the individual at a physical commerce location administered by a participant, the identification being based on said stored information; means for commencing an accumulation session following identification of the individual; means for recording information, including at least the time of day, the day of week and the duration of the accumulation session, at the participant's location; means for forwarding the recorded information to the program administrator; means for updating the stored individual information at the administrator location with the forwarded recorded information; means for calculating the time points accumulated or earned as a result of the accumulation session based on the stored individual information and a formula selected by the participant; and means to permit the redemption of the earned time points for items of value. 43. A storage medium, having stored therein a plurality of instructions, is provided wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of: receiving identification information following the entry of a customer into a physical commerce location; correlating received identification information with stored identification information; commencing an accumulation session; terminating the accumulation session at the departure of the customer from the physical commerce location; monitoring the length of time of the accumulation session; calculating time points accumulated as a result of the accumulation session, based at least in part on awarding credits in increased amounts with increasing the length of the accumulation session. 44. A storage medium is provided, having stored therein a plurality of instructions, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of: enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information; requiring identification of the individual after entry into a physical commerce location administered by a participant, the identification being based on said stored information; commencing an accumulation session following identification of the individual; receiving recorded information, including at least duration of an accumulation session at a physical commerce location; updating the stored individual information based on said recorded information; calculating time points accumulated by the individual as a result of the accumulation session based on the stored individual information and a formula selected by the participant; and debiting the time points held by the individual based on redemption information. 45. A method for providing a rewards program comprises the steps of: receiving identification information relating to an individual at a physical commerce location provided by an individual who is present at the physical commerce location; correlating received identification information with stored identification information; recording the time of receipt of identification information; calculating an award of credits based at least in part on a correlation between the time of receipt of identification information and predetermined time criteria relating to the award of credits; receiving identification information relating to the individual from a client upon the establishment of a connection between the client and a network resource; correlating received identification information with stored identification information; commencing an accumulation session; monitoring the time of the accumulation session; calculating time points accumulated in the accumulation session, based at least in part on increasing amounts of credits based upon increasing the duration of the accumulation session; and adding the time points accumulated pertaining to the presence of the individual at the physical commerce location and the credits awarded based on the connection between the client and the network to a time points account associated with the individual. 46. A method of providing a rewards program comprises the steps of: enrolling an individual in a rewards program by obtaining individual profile information and storing said information at a program administrator location maintained by a program administrator; requiring identification of the individual at a physical commerce location maintained by a program participant, the identification being based on said stored information; commencing a physical commerce location accumulation session following the identification of the individual; recording physical commerce location information, including at least the time of day, day of week and information pertaining to purchases made at the physical commerce location during the physical commerce location accumulation session; forwarding said recorded physical commerce location information to the program administrator; updating the stored individual profile information at the program administrator location; calculating number of time points accumulated as a result of the physical commerce location accumulation session based on the stored individual profile information and a formula selected by the program participant; requiring identification of the individual once a connection to a participant resource has been established, the identification being based on said stored information; commencing an on-line accumulation session following the identification of the individual; recording on-line information, including at least the time of day, the day of the week and the duration of the on-line accumulation session, at a participant's location during the on-line accumulation session; forwarding said on-line recorded information to the program administrator; updating the stored individual information at the program administrator location; calculating the number of time points accumulated as a result of the on-line accumulation session based on the stored individual information and a formula selected by the participant and permitting redemption of the earned credits for items of value. Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/261,142, filed Jan. 12, 2001, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/263,796, filed Jan. 24, 2001, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/267,374, filed Feb. 8, 2001, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/277,436, filed Mar. 21, 2001, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/290,330, filed May 11, 2001, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/292,402, filed May 21, 2001, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/308,191, filed Jul. 26, 2001, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention is in the field of incentive reward programs. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Obtaining the time and attention of persons important to a business or other organization is important in the success of the enterprise. The time and attention of potential customers is important for a business, for example. The time and attention of patients is important to health care providers in assuring that patients follow recommended guidelines, as another example. Great effort is expended in creating recorded, interactive, live and combined recorded, live and interactive sales and informational presentations. These presentations may be provided a great number of different venues, including brick and mortar retail locations, offices of potential customers, facilities of health care providers, and by telephone, radio or recorded transmission in the homes, offices, and other locations of potential customers or others whose attention is desired. These types of presentations are increasingly interconnected among each other and with activity that occurs on the internet or on other networks when a connection is established between a device, such as a personal computer running a browser that is operated by an individual who is connected to the internet, and a resource on the internet, such as a website. The activities that have occurred over the internet achieved, or have exhibited a great potential to achieve the reduction and/or elimination of substantial costs, inefficiencies and inconvenience associated with many interactions and other activities involving individuals that also make purchases and conduct other valuable economic activity in physical locations in all industries. [0004] Owners of particular brick and mortar retail locations and other venues, customer interaction, customer physical store locations, particularly within the retail sales and marketing industry, seek to capture the time and attention of individuals by encouraging them to visit physical store locations, perhaps at particular times of the day and on particular days of the week, to remain at those store locations for longer periods of time and to cause individuals to engage in a variety of activities at store locations during that time, including educating and familiarize themselves with products or services examining, assessing and selecting specific products prior to the completion of the purchase process, making purchases, being exposed to the retail store atmosphere and advertisements, engaging in real time conversations with sales representatives and/or performing a variety of other activities within the brick and mortar retail location. In the prior art, rewards programs have been implemented that are designed to track and reward purchases made by individuals at the checkout counter within store locations. For example, in those programs, each individual point of sale device must be programmed so that individuals may be awarded a certain number of points based upon the purchase of merchandise. A variety of problems presently exist relating to brick and mortar based retailing efforts, particularly problems associated with the failure of existing points programs to offer targeted discounts to individuals based upon past purchases and other activity, whether internet-based, remote telephone sales, or offline. Nor have existing rewards incentives programs influenced or otherwise channeled particular individuals with particular purchase histories to particular brick and mortar retail locations where purchases are actually made at particular times of the day or particular days of the week. [0005] A wide variety of tasks, activities and interactions are, to some extent, of greater or lesser value depending upon the particular time within a broader time frame when they occur. There are numerous examples that may be cited involving commercial interactions in virtually every industry wherein the value of the goods or services at issue may vary continuously, or at specific intervals, in part, based upon the scheduled or actual time when they occur. For example, in situations that involve the control of currency, such as the payment of accounts receivable, it is not until the day on which the payment is actually made that the party to the transaction who provided the goods or services and who is entitled to receive that money that is the subject of the transfer obtains control of the money and the benefits that are associated with the time use of that money, including the generation of interest. In the context of accounts receivables, although there have always been penalties in the form of interest charges and other charges that result from the making of delayed or late payments involving single payments and payments that occur over time, there is not and has not been any incentive or awards program that addresses the substantial need to reward the earlier or more timely payment involving accounts receivables, currency transactions and other billing activity. If individuals and business customers can be influenced to make payments in a consistently more timely fashion, the benefits associated with the generation of interest and other value that derive from the time use of money will shift to the provider of the goods or services that were the subject of the payment at issue. Moreover, at present, even though particular individuals and valued customers may make payments consistently on the first day of receipt of the bill over a period of time, those customers are treated no differently at present than those customers who do not pay until the last day prior to the imposition of interest or other penalties. Alternatively, in cases where individuals and customers routinely pay off the entire balance of credit card and other types of revolving credit accounts, the lender derives no benefits associated with high interest rate charges since those individuals do not carry a balance in their accounts. In such cases, those individuals and customers presently have no incentive or reward to pay off the account balance any sooner than the last day before interest or other penalties are assessed. For a provider of services, such as utility service, including telephone, gas and electricity, cable television, credit cards, lenders such as mortgage and automobile loan lenders, and other services, there would be a considerable benefit to moving the average day of timely payments earlier by even a fraction of a day; however, for the individual payer of those bills, no benefit is provided. Beyond transactions involving money, the timing of the scheduling and the timing of the actual occurrence of numerous transactions including the rental of equipment and facilities, the use of resources such as travel facilities, commercial establishments, land and buildings and other activities and interactions will result in a variation in the value of the interaction. While there have been some efforts in the prior art to reward such activities, such as providing discounts if payments of accounts are received by a certain single deadline that usually occurs a certain number of days after receipt of the bill by the individual or customer, these measures and others tend to be highly inefficient and otherwise lacking in the ability to track and reward the specific performance of individuals in paying bills earlier in time individually and on an ongoing basis so as to efficiently encourage and influence the earlier receipt of money. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] Methods are provided for incentive rewards programs for influencing a variety of desirable behaviors. Desirable behaviors influenced including providing the time and attention of a desired person to live or recorded content, or a combination of live and recorded content, being physically present at a particular location within a particular time frame and/or for a desired length of time, providing referrals of potential customers or other useful information, and engaging in a particular activity at a particular time within a time frame. The particular activity may be payment of bills earlier than before a due date, or engaging in other activity. Points may be provided for a delay or rescheduling of a scheduled providing of services or appointment. Rewards provided may be points that can be redeemed for selected goods or services or any type of goods or services if criteria are met. The rewards may include entry in a lottery or drawing, enhanced winning prizes in a lottery or drawing, or enhanced likelihood of winning a prize in a lottery or drawing. The rewards may be available for a single occurrence of the desired activity, or the person may be required to repeat the desired activity one or more times. The person may be required to combine multiple desired activities in order to obtain rewards, such as engaging in a purchase in order to receive points, or to permit points to be redeemed, for providing attention to content, or for a visit to a particular store or other location. Combinations of such activities, or repeating of such activities, may provide enhancements of existing rewards, rather than being a condition for rewards. Numerous combinations of desired activities may be designed. [0007] In one aspect of the invention, a method is provided to track and reward time and attention in viewing content. The content may be a live interaction with a person, such as a salesperson, and/or recorded content of any nature, presented over any medium. The tracking of time may refer to duration of interactions, time of day, day of week, and date. The tracking of attention refers to determining the level of attention provided by the person during the interaction. The interaction may take any form, including accessing a resource, such as a website or a database of recordings, over a network, such as a voice telephone network, the internet or an intranet or local area network, face-to-face interactions between a human offeror of rewards and a potential recipient, physical visits to a specific location where the rewards are offered at pre-determined times or otherwise, and other forms. An interaction may be provided by viewing of recorded content and then responding, by telephone or other communication, either during or after viewing the content. An interaction with content may be referred to herein as a time points accumulation session. The rewards will be referred to as time points, although it will be understood that rewards by any name may be substituted for time points. An interaction in which time points may be accumulated will be referred to as a time points accumulation session. The level of attention demonstrated by individuals during time points accumulation sessions may be tracked in a variety of ways including by tracking the timing and timeliness of responses provided by the recipient of the time points offer or by the participant or representative of the participant offering the time points. [0008] The method will typically involve the enrollment of the individual in a program. The term individual will be used here to designate any person, organization or group that is enrolled in an incentive awards program. Enrolled individuals may include entire businesses, departments, families or other groups. It is anticipated that under a variety of circumstances, targeted individuals will be enrolled by the offeror of time points. Upon enrollment, an individual background profile is created in a suitable database. Enrolled individuals may then engage in interactions. The commencement of the interaction may be initiated by the individual, by indicating the commencement in any suitable manner, or by a representative of the person or entity seeking to offer the reward. Upon receipt of information identifying the enrolled individual, the interaction will be recognized as an accumulation session. During an accumulation session, the individual may accumulate time points. The level of attention demonstrated by individuals during accumulation sessions or suitable proxies for attention may be measured and recorded. For example, the individual may be required to indicate attention by responding to prompts included as part of an interaction carried out by remote communications, such as computer based or telephone based interaction, by devices that are present in a physical commerce location that are designed to identify the individual, or otherwise. Alternatively, a representative of a program administrator or a participant may record information such as the point at which unscheduled interruptions interfere with the interaction between the representative and the targeted individual. In this context, the number of interruptions and the degree to which the interruptions are deemed to interfere with the interaction is assessed by the representative and is deemed to represent the level of attention demonstrated by individuals during accumulation sessions. The interaction or accumulation session may be completed by affirmative act of the individual, by affirmative act of the representative, or automatically based on algorithms such as a failure to respond within a suitable time limit. Upon completion of the accumulation session, data acquired during the accumulation session is evaluated according to algorithms to determine if rewards, or points, are to be credited to the individual, and if so, the number of time points to be awarded. A wide variety of algorithms may be developed. In general, the greater the duration of the accumulation session, within suitable and appropriate limits depending on the particular circumstances, the greater the number of time points will be credited. Similarly, the higher the level of attention demonstrated during accumulation sessions individually and over time, the greater the number of time points will be awarded. This will create an incentive on the part of individuals who are targets of offers of time points to provide their undivided time and attention and to do so with an incentive to have fewer interruptions. If fewer or no interruptions are recorded during accumulation sessions, the targeted individuals will be provided incentives so as to entitle those individuals to receive additional future offers of time points more often and at a higher rate of accumulation. Proxies for the level of attention demonstrated by individuals during accumulation sessions may include the absence of recorded interruptions during the sessions, the timeliness of responses to prompts during the sessions, the accuracy of responses to queries designed to demonstrate the level of attention to subject matter of the interaction demonstrated by the targeted individual, and other items. Points may be redeemed for items of value in accordance with formulas that may be developed. [0009] A method of providing rewards based upon the time of day, the day of the week that purchases a