Apparatus for configuring a user device for communication with a communication server and method thereof

An apparatus for configuring a predetermined application running on a user device with required configuration data for accessing a service on a computer network of a hospitality establishment, the apparatus comprising:

• a communication port;
• a storage device storing a plurality of software instructions;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the communication port and the storage device;
• wherein, by the one or more processors executing the software instructions loaded from the storage device, the one or more processors are thereby configured to:
• receive a device identifier of the user device;
• search a device-to-token database in order to determine whether the device identifier is currently associated with any device communication token;
• in response to determining that the device identifier is associated with a device communication token, send a notification message to the user device via a message server, the notification message being addressed by the device communication token to the predetermined application on the user device;
• wherein, in response to receiving the notification message from the message server, an operating system on the user device automatically activates the predetermined application and delivers the notification message to the predetermined application;
• and
• in response to determining that the device identifier is associated with the device communication token, generate a configuration message including one or more configuration data required by the predetermined application to access the service on the computer network, and send the configuration message to the predetermined application running on the user device thereby enabling the predetermined application to access the service on the computer network according to the one or more configuration data.

A method of configuring a predetermined application running on a user device with required configuration data for accessing a service on a computer network of a hospitality establishment, the method comprising:

• receiving a device identifier of the user device;
• searching a device-to-token database in order to determine whether the device identifier is currently associated with any device communication token;
• in response to determining that the device identifier is associated with a device communication token, sending a notification message to the user device via a message server, the notification message being addressed by the device communication token to the predetermined application on the user device;
• wherein, in response to receiving the notification message from the message server, an operating system on the user device automatically activates the predetermined application and delivers the notification message to the predetermined application;
• and
• in response to determining that the device identifier is associated with the device communication token, generating a configuration message including one or more configuration data required by the predetermined application to access the service on the computer network, and sending the configuration message to the predetermined application running on the user device thereby enabling the predetermined application to access the service on the computer network according to the one or more configuration data.

A non-transitory processor-readable medium comprising a plurality of processor-executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform steps of:

• receiving a device identifier of a user device on a computer network;
• searching a device-to-token database in order to determine whether the device identifier is currently associated with any device communication token;
• in response to determining that the device identifier is associated with a device communication token, sending a notification message to the user device via a message server, the notification message being addressed by the device communication token to a predetermined application on the user device;
• wherein, in response to receiving the notification message from the message server, an operating system on the user device automatically activates the predetermined application and delivers the notification message to the predetermined application;
• and
• in response to determining that the device identifier is associated with the device communication token, generating a configuration message including one or more configuration data required by the predetermined application to access a service on the computer network, and sending the configuration message to the predetermined application running on the user device thereby enabling the predetermined application to access the service on the computer network according to the one or more configuration data.