Patent ID: 7385499

Claim:
A method of monitoring whether an item is properly delivered to a designated delivery point via a delivery vehicle, said method comprising the steps of: (1) storing first data relating to a first geographic boundary in a storage device, said first geographic boundary defining an area within which said delivery vehicle is to remain during the transport of said item to said designated delivery point; (2) storing second data in said storage device relating to a second geographic boundary, said second geographic boundary defining an area around said designated delivery point within which physical delivery of said item is to occur; (3) performing a destination scan of said item at an actual delivery point to which said item has been transported, said destination scan used, at least in part, for indicating that said item has reached said actual delivery point; (4) receiving one or more notifications from a computing device configured to receive and process geographic location data during the transport and delivery of said item to said actual delivery point, said one or more notifications including sufficient information to facilitate a determination of whether said delivery vehicle has traveled outside of said area defined by said first geographic boundary, and whether said actual delivery point is located within said area defined by said second geographic boundary; (5) in response to said notification that said delivery vehicle has traveled outside of said area defined by said first geographic boundary, generating a first alert in association with said item; and (6) in response to said notification that said actual delivery point is not located within said area defined by said second geographic boundary, generating a second alert in association with said item.