# US 12,217,292 B2 · Systems and methods for using hardware transmitters to improve customer service

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- Number: US 12,217,292 B2
- Document ID: US12217292B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/143,515
- Filed: 2023-05-04
- Published: 2023-08-31
- Granted: 2025-02-04
- Earliest claimed: 2015-10-28
- Assignees: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
- Applicants: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
- Inventors: Alex Zadoks; Connor Dieckman; Stephanie Delong; Nihal Shah; Alex Littleton; Amber Harris
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12217292B2

## CPC

- G06Q 30/0613: {using intermediate agents}
- H04L 67/306: User profiles
- H04L 67/52: specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
- H04W 4/02: Services making use of location information
- H04W 4/021: Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
- H04W 4/06: Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
- H04W 4/35: for the management of goods or merchandise
- H04W 4/80: Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to automatically determining customer information in response to detecting that a customer's mobile device is located at a retail location. A mobile device of the customer may detect a communication from a wireless communication beacon, and may send a customer ID to a backend server. Upon receiving the customer ID, the backend server may access customer information, and transmit it to a server of the retail location. The server may, in turn, cause a customer mobile device in the retail location to display the customer information, thus facilitating effective and efficient customer service. With the customer's permission, upon detecting the customer's mobile device, customer information may be pushed to a salesperson's device or information (e.g., insurance quote or claim information; new vehicle financing, feature, or review information; or other product or service information) may be pushed to the customer's mobile device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method of interfacing with an in-store server located within a brick-and-mortar property, wherein the in-store server interfaces with a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property that executes a customer information application, the method comprising:
with an electronic device, detecting a hardware transmitter via a signal including an identification of the hardware transmitter;
receiving, at a backend server from the electronic device via a network connection, (i) an identification of a customer, and (ii) the identification of the hardware transmitter, the electronic device sending the identification of the customer and the identification of the hardware transmitter in response to detecting the hardware transmitter;
accessing, by the backend server from a database using the identification of the customer, information associated with the customer;
determining, by the backend server, that the hardware transmitter corresponds to a particular section of the brick-and-mortar property;
in response to the determination that the hardware transmitter corresponds to the particular section of the brick-and-mortar property, accessing, by the backend server, a purchase history for the customer for the particular section; and
transmitting, via the network connection, the information associated with the customer to the in-store server, the in-store server transmitting, to the computing machine within the brick-and-mortar property, (i) the information associated with the customer, and (ii) a request to initiate the customer information application on the computing machine to cause the computing machine to (i) initiate the customer information application, and (ii) simultaneously display: (a) the information associated with the customer (b) the purchase history for the customer in the particular section, and (c) an option to display more information.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the network connection is a wide area network connection, and wherein receiving, at the backend server from the electronic device, the identification of the customer comprises:
receiving, at the backend server from the electronic device via the wide area network connection, the identification of the customer;
and wherein transmitting the information associated with the customer to the in-store server comprises:
transmitting, via the wide area network connection, the information associated with the customer to the in-store server.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the information associated with the customer comprises:
accessing at least one of: a digital image depicting the customer, a name of the customer, an address of the customer, or a date of a past visit to the brick-and-mortar property.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the information associated with the customer comprises:
accessing information associated with an account of the customer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device detects the hardware transmitter via a personal area network.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the hardware transmitter is installed within the brick-and-mortar property.

### Claim 7

A system for interfacing with an in-store server located within a brick-and-mortar property, comprising:
a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property and configured to execute a customer information application; and
an in-store server comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate with a backend server, and
one or more processors interfaced with the transceiver and configured to:
receive, from the backend server via the transceiver, information associated with a customer, the backend server configured to access the information associated with the customer based upon an identification of the customer, wherein an electronic device is configured to send an identification of a hardware transmitter in response to the electronic device detecting the hardware transmitter, and wherein the electronic device is configured to detect the hardware transmitter via a signal including the identification of the hardware transmitter, and
transmit, to the computing machine, (i) the information associated with the customer, and (ii) a request to initiate the customer information application;
wherein the computing machine is configured to:
receive, from the in-store server, (i) the information associated with the customer, and (ii) the request to initiate the customer information application,
initiate the customer information application, and
simultaneously display, via a user interface associated with the customer information application: (a) the information associated with the customer, (b) a purchase history for the customer in a particular section of the brick-and-mortar property, and (c) an option to display more information.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate with the backend server via a wide area network connection.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises at least one of: a digital image depicting the customer, a name of the customer, an address of the customer, or a date of a past visit to the brick-and-mortar property.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the information associated with the customer comprises information associated with an account of the customer.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive the purchase history for the customer in the particular section of the brick-and-mortar property associated with the hardware transmitter.

### Claim 12

A computer-implemented method of communicating relevant information associated with customers within a brick-and-mortar property, the method comprising:
broadcasting, by a hardware transmitter via a short range communication, a signal detectable by an electronic device, the electronic device configured to: (i) detect the hardware transmitter via the signal, wherein the signal includes an identification of the hardware transmitter, (ii) send an identification of a customer, and (iii) send the identification of the hardware transmitter to a backend server in response to detecting the signal, the backend server accessing, from a database using the identification of the customer, information associated with the customer;
determining, by the backend server, that the hardware transmitter corresponds to a particular section of the brick-and-mortar property;
in response to the determination that the hardware transmitter corresponds to the particular section of the brick-and-mortar property, accessing, by the backend server, a purchase history for the customer for the particular section;
receiving, by an in-store server from the backend server via a network connection, the information associated with the customer;
transmitting, by the in-store server to a computing machine located within the brick-and-mortar property, (i) the information associated with the customer, and (ii) a request to initiate a customer information application;
initiating, by the computing machine, the customer information application; and
simultaneously displaying, by the computing machine via a user interface associated with the customer information application: (a) the information associated with the customer, (b) the purchase history for the customer in the particular section, and (c) an option to display more information.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein receiving the information comprises:
receiving, by the in-store server from the backend server via a wide area connection, the information associated with the customer.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein receiving the information associated with the customer comprises:
receiving, by the in-store server from the backend server via the network connection, at least one of: a digital image depicting the customer a name of the customer, an address of the customer, or a date of a past visit to the brick-and-mortar property.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising:
receiving, by the in-store server from the backend server via the network connection, the purchase history for the customer in the particular section of the brick-and-mortar property associated with the hardware transmitter.