Customer controlled management of shipments
AssigneeUnited Parcel Service of America, Inc.
InventorsROBERT LEE KLINGENBERG, RUSSELL BOWLING, KRISTIN LYNNE HARDESTY
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for customer controlled management of shipments. For example, in various embodiments, a customer can provide information prior to a first delivery attempt of an item by a carrier to receive messages regarding shipment of the item and to have the item delivered in accordance with the provided information.
Claims18
A method for changing a delivery service level for at least one item to be delivered by a carrier, the method comprising:
- electronically receiving a request to automatically change a first delivery service level to a second delivery service level for items to be delivered by a carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level, wherein the request is associated with a customer profile;
- updating the customer profile to reflect the request to automatically change the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for items to be delivered by the carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level;
- electronically receiving shipping data corresponding to an item, wherein the shipping data indicates that the item (1) is to be delivered by the carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level and (2) is associated with the customer profile;
- and
- automatically changing the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for the item, wherein (1) changing the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for the item occurs prior to a first delivery attempt of the item based at least in part on the customer profile and (2) the item is subsequently delivered in accordance with the second delivery service level.
An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
- receive a request to automatically change a first delivery service level to a second delivery service level for items to be delivered by a carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level, wherein the request is associated with a customer profile;
- update the customer profile to reflect the request to automatically change the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for items to be delivered by the carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level;
- receive shipping data corresponding to an item, wherein the shipping data indicates that the item (1) is to be delivered by the carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level and (2) is associated with the customer profile;
- and
- change the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for the item, wherein (1) changing the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for the item occurs prior to a first delivery attempt of the item based at least in part on the customer profile and (2) the item is subsequently delivered in accordance with the second delivery service level.
A computer program product for changing a delivery service level for at least one item to be delivered by a carrier, the computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
- an executable portion configured to receive a request to automatically change a first delivery service level to a second delivery service level for items to be delivered by a carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level, wherein the request is associated with a customer profile;
- an executable portion configured to update the customer profile to reflect the request to automatically change the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for items to be delivered by the carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level;
- an executable portion configured to receive shipping data corresponding to an item, wherein the shipping data indicates that the item (1) is to be delivered by the carrier in accordance with the first delivery service level and (2) is associated with the customer profile;
- and
- an executable portion configured to change the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for the item, wherein (1) changing the first delivery service level to the second delivery service level for the item occurs prior to a first delivery attempt of the item based at least in part on the customer profile and (2) the item is subsequently delivered in accordance with the second delivery service level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.