US 8,135,609 B2Granted

Identifying and surveying subscribers

AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation

InventorsJoe Freeman Britt, Jr., Ronald L. A. Theis

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Abstract

A method for surveying and gathering user and status information from data processing devices coupled to a network. Data processing devices, such as cellular phones and handheld devices, may be coupled to a network manager through phone lines or RF networks. The network manager transmits survey inquiries and receives survey responses from users. The specific set of users may be selected based on user characteristics and/or device characteristics compiled by the network manger. Other status information, such as the location of each data processing device on the network and whether each data processing device on the network is active, may also be collected by the network manager. Collected information may then be distributed or made available to other data processing devices on the network.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method comprising:

sending a request for a return signal to a plurality of user devices via a wireless network;
receiving respective return signals from one or more of the plurality of user devices, each of the return signals indicating a current status of a respective user device and an operational mode of the respective user device;
tracking a frequency that the respective user device is in a particular location where a user of the respective user device does not live in the particular location;
receiving a survey that is generated at a user device, the survey including an inquiry and selectable responses to the inquiry that are configured to be completed by recipients of the survey, the selectable responses including a set of possible multiple choice answers to the inquiry that are generated at the user device;
receiving, along with the survey from the user device, one or more selected characteristics that are attributable to users that are associated with the plurality of user devices, the one or more characteristics including the frequency of the respective user device in the particular location and being utilized as criteria to identify the recipients of the survey;
automatically selecting a group of user devices from the plurality of user devices based on the status and operational mode of the user devices and the users having the one or more selected characteristics and identified as the recipients of the survey, each of the users being associated with a respective user device in the selected group of user devices;
forwarding the survey to the selected group of user devices via the wireless network, the survey configured to be completed by a user at a respective user device in the selected group of user devices;
receiving survey responses to the inquiry from one or more of the user devices in the selected group of user devices;
and
forwarding the survey responses to the user device from which the survey was generated and received.

7 more elements

One or more computer-readable storage media comprising instructions that are executable and, responsive to executing the instructions, a server device is implemented to:

send a request for a return signal to a plurality of user devices via a wireless network;
receive respective return signals from one or more of the plurality of user devices, each of the return signals indicating a current status of a respective user device and an operational mode of the respective user device;
track a frequency with which a user of the respective user device visits a particular area by at least monitoring a frequency that the respective user device is located in the particular area that is outside of a particular location where the user of the respective user device lives;
receive a survey that is generated at a user device, the survey including an inquiry and selectable responses to the inquiry that are configured to be completed by recipients of the survey, the selectable responses including a set of multiple choice answers to the inquiry that are generated at the user device;
receive, along with the survey from the user device, one or more selected characteristics that are attributable to users that are associated with the plurality of user devices, the one or more characteristics being utilized as criteria to identify the recipients of the survey, the one or more characteristics including the frequency that the respective user device is located in the particular area;
automatically select a group of user devices from the plurality of user devices based on the users having the one or more selected characteristics and identified as the recipients of the survey, each of the users being associated with a respective user device in the selected group of user devices, the group of user devices including the respective user device based on the frequency that the respective user device is located in the particular area;
forward the survey to the selected group of user devices via the wireless network, the survey configured to be completed by a user at a respective user device in the selected group of user devices;
receive survey responses to the inquiry from one or more of the user devices in the selected group of user devices;
and
forward the survey responses to the user device from which the survey was generated and received.

7 more elements

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a user device, a request from a server device for a return signal via a wireless network;
communicating a return signal to the server device, the return signal indicating a current status of the user device and an operational mode of the user device;
displaying, at the user device, a user interface comprising at least a first portion for generating an inquiry and a second portion for generating selectable possible multiple choice answers to the inquiry;
generating, at the user device, the survey that includes the inquiry and the selectable possible multiple choice answers to the inquiry that are configured to be completed by recipients of the survey;
communicating the survey and one or more selected characteristics to the server device, the one or more characteristics being attributable to respective users that are associated with a group of user devices and the one or more characteristics being utilized as criteria to identify the recipients of the survey, one or more of the recipients of the survey being identified based at least in part on a frequency of an associated user device being located at a particular location if the one or more of the recipients do not live in the particular location, the survey being forwarded by the server device to the selected group of user devices to be completed by a user at a respective user device in the selected group of user devices, and survey responses to the inquiry being received by the server device from one or more of the user devices in the selected group of user devices;
and
receiving the survey responses from the server device at the user device from which the survey was generated.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.