WO2018116323A1

WO2018116323A1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCATION BASED USER CONFIGURABLE INFORMATION SEARCH AND EXCHANGE OVER GSM, Wi-Fi AND TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS

Info

Publication number: WO2018116323A1
Application number: PCT/IN2017/050609
Authority: WO
Inventors: Janardhana Swamy
Original assignee: Janardhana Swamy
Priority date: 2016-12-22
Filing date: 2017-12-21
Publication date: 2018-06-28

Abstract

The invention talks about a system and method for location based user configurable information search and exchange using positioning unit hardware and verifying users over GSM, Wi-Fi and other networks The invention also provides a system and method for establishing verified alumni networks and providing access to information, connections and interactions associated with or derived from one or more educational institutes or similar organization units. The users can conducts specific search, create highly specific groups and track the live location of other verified users within the user's proximity.

Description

System And Method For Location Based User Configurable Information Search And Exchange Over GSM, Wi-Fi and Telecommunication Networks

The invention generally relates to a method and system for location based user configurable information search and exchange using location tracking module and the SMS methods over GSM, WIFI and other networks. More specifically, the system talks about addition of a user to an alumni network based on authentication from an educational institution and interaction between authenticated users based on various criteria including live location of such users.

During the formative years of any individual, educational institutions play a major role in shaping the individual’s personality and life. Other than the qualifications, knowledge and the degree that an individual receives from such institutions, another important takeaway is the connections and network that is formed among the various students of the institution. However, once the study phase is over, it becomes difficult to stay connected with everyone and most often than not an individual is able to stay in touch with only a handful of classmates or students from the same institute. As a result of this lack of connection, it becomes impossible to tap into the potential of this network.

Now the natural question that follows is how important an alumni network is. After the school or college is over people go their different ways and grow and evolve in their own careers as professionals or businessmen. These people can help each other’s careers by being potential clients, business partners, support groups and above all, they are trusted contacts that can be relied upon.

Apart from above mentioned advantages, being in contact with the alumni network helps in keeping track with college updates and take part in important college events. Also, alumni network would help an individual, who moves into a new city in search of greater opportunities, by helping them get settled in the new place and also by running them through the right contacts.

Various systems have attempted to create alumni networks given the great potential that alumni networks hold. However, these existing systems suffer from drawbacks that do not create a safe and seamless user experience. Some of the problems that the existing systems face are that there is involvement of the institution itself. There is no way to authenticate a user that joins the system and there is no way to verify if the user actually attended a specific school or college. Furthermore, there is no way of conducting highly specific searches to reach out to the most relevant group of people for a specific purpose. Even social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc provide a very fragmented method of reaching out to the right individuals in an alumni network. Also, none of the systems provide for an active live location of a specific individual unless an individual updates the same in his/her records. As if all these were not enough to destroy a seamless user experience, most systems require users to maintain different dashboards for different colleges and institutions making things all the more difficult.

We are therefore missing out on an effective system which can combine the benefits of all the existing social media under single platform that is specifically build to keep in touch with the alumni network, more specifically, a platform which can grant a user the access to information, connects and interactions with the alumni network of all the colleges/universities he/she studied from or belonged to. Additionally, there is a great need for a system that can track the live location of all the alumni members and all this is achieved through a single interface without having to maintain multiple accounts or dashboards. The present invention detailed herein makes an attempt to overcome such drawbacks in the existing systems and enables a user to tap into a highly reliable alumni network in a highly effective manner.

Object of Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a system and method for creation of a verification based alumni network where verification is carried out against an organization's database to which the user belongs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system that is capable of deriving location information of a user and allow other people of user’s choice, to fetch the derived location information.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide alerts when two users that match a specific criterion are in each other’s vicinity.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a user authentication and verification system through Telecom network (SMS technology) as a pre requisite for joining an alumni network.

The invention provides a system for location based user-configurable information search and exchange, with the system comprising of a user device configured to capture at least one user input related to the user’s affiliation with an organization; a server in communication with user device that is also configured to receive at least one user input; an authentication module disposed within the server, configured to verify the user input against the organization’s database; and a positioning unit disposed within the user device or another device belonging to the user, which tracks location co-ordinates of the user device or another device.

The system further comprises of a location tracking module disposed within the server, a location tracking module that is configured to receive location co-ordinates; receive location co-ordinates of atleast one other user’s device; and initiate an alert if the user device and at least one other user’s device location co-ordinates are in proximity with each other upon verification that the user device and at least one other user’s device belong to users that have been verified against respective organization databases.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which, like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 depicts/illustrates details of a system that grants users the access to information, connections and interactions associated with multiple educational units, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart depicting/illustrating a method for accessing information, connections and interactions from one or more educational institutes, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 depicts/illustrates details of a user device, its components and related modules, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 depicts/illustrates details of a server, its components and related modules, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention

Fig. 5 depicts/illustrates details of the features offered by User Specific Grouping Module, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and / or detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

The embodiments herein below provide a system and method for achieving access to information, connections and interactions associated with or derived from one or more educational institutes or similar units. The system provides a device, which is in communication with a server. The server is further connected to various educational institutions or similar units and their corresponding servers. The disclosure provides users a system and method for keeping in touch with alumni from schools and universities that the user attended, which further helps in keeping themselves updated with all the developments at their schools/universities, find better jobs / career opportunities by collaborating and connecting with alumni from their own and other schools/universities, check availability of other alumni or users in their proximity and other similar attributes.

Referring now to the drawings, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments.

Fig. 1 depicts/illustrates details of a system 100 that grants users the access to information, connections and interactions with respect to their alumni network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The system may be referred as Alumni Network as the system helps user to connect with others from their schools or universities. The system 100 has a sever 110 in communication with multiple user devices (114-1, 114-2…114-N). For further explanation, let us consider one user device 114-1 connected to server 110 via network 120. The user registers himself/herself onto the alumni network via user interface made available on the user device 114-1. The registration may require multiple user specific details such as name, date of birth, e-mail id, telephone number, present address, permanent address, picture, gender and the like.

Registration process further includes user providing or selecting one or more educational institutes he/she studied at or one or more organizations that he/she is affiliated with. Given details are transferred to server 110 via network 120. The server 110 through its authentication module (not shown in the Fig) is configured to forward the given details to the educational institute whose alumni network the user wants to join. Thereafter, the information mentioned during registration gets verified by the institutions based on institutional or organization databases (112-1, 112-2… 112-N). Say for example, a user ‘A’ might have completed his schooling from institution 1 having a database 1 and graduation from institution 2 having database 2, then the server 110 forwards the details of user ‘A’ to institutions 1 and 2, where the user given details are verified using institutional databases 1 and 2. In an alternate embodiment the organization databases 112 are in communication with the server 110 and the user verification happens automatically based on the comparison of the details provided by the user against the information available in the organization database.

Once the verification is done and the results are sent back to the authentication module of the server 110, the registration of the user is confirmed. After the registration, the user is added to the group of respective educational institute or organization. In other words, each institution is represented by a group, to which users, belonging to the same institution, are added after the verification from institution itself.

The users, through devices 114-1, 114-2…114-N, are allowed to mail other members of the group in bulk, organize events/meetings within the group, track each others locations, post job vacancies, sell their used/unused products, marriage matches based on their marital status, post their thoughts and the like.

One skilled in the art may recognize that the network 120 can be wired or wireless communication network. The wired communication can be carried out by any one of the network configuration such as LAN, WAN, etc and the wireless communication can be done through Mobile Service Provide (MSP) and Internet Service Provider (ISP) having internet connection provided by an ISP provider, 2G/3G/4G/5G internet connection provided by the mobile service provider etc. Such wired or wireless communication is not possible without the standard protocols as known in the art, where the standard protocols can be TCP/IP, HTTP, FTP, UDP, IPV4, IPV6 etc.

One skilled in the art, may recognize that the user devices 114 can be a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), laptop, hand-held device, mobile phone, smart phone, smart tablets. Such user devices may have inbuilt Global Positioning System (GPS) unit or location/position tracking unit etc configured to track location or position of the user.

In one embodiment, the sever 110 is also connected to corporate offices and companies 116, where the users, through user devices 114 can select/choose one or more ex-companies 116 they were a part of. The information is transferred to server 110 via network 120, the server 110 is configured to forward the given information to the educational institute, whose alumni network the user wants to join. Thereafter, the information mentioned during registration gets verified by the companies/corporations 116 and is sent back to the server 110.

The system 100 proposes a method 200 which is explained in reference to Fig.2, where a flowchart depicting/illustrating the method for accessing information, connections and interactions from one or more educational institutes, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown. The method 200 begins with user registering himself/herself with the alumni network with user specific details such as name, date of birth, e-mail id, telephone number, present address, permanent address, picture, gender and the like, using user device 202.

In an alternate embodiment, the user registration with the alumni network may be acknowledged from the server via Telecom network. In detail, right after the user registers himself/herself with the alumni network with user specific details, the request is sent to the server via GSM network and response received by the user device using SMS technology.

The registration further involves a user providing specifics regarding being an alumnus of one or more educational institutes or similar units 204. The method 200 further provides authenticating user registration by sending it to the respective educational institutions and getting details verified by them 206. After the verification the user is added to the group of respective institution, from where the user is allowed to connect with other alumni from the institution 208 and lastly, the user is provided with multiple facilities such as mailing other members of the group in bulk, organizing events/meetings within the group, tracking each others’ locations, posting job vacancies, selling their used/unused products, proposing marriage matches based on their marital status, posting their thoughts and the like 210.

To have a detailed insight into the process of building and maintaining the alumni network, let us consider the details 300 of the user device 114 and the details 400 of the server 110 used in the system along with their components and related modules, in accordance with the present invention. Fig.3 represents a user device 114 with a processor 302, where the processor 302 is configured to fetch and execute the instructions that are stored in the memory 306. The user device 114 is configured with various modules such as user registration module 308, authentication module 310, location tracking module 312, user interaction module 314, collaboration and connection unit 316, user specific grouping module 318, subscription and payment authorizing module 320.

Coming to the functionalities of each module of the user device 114, user registration module 308 helps the user to register on the alumni network by providing a user interface with multiple fields specified to fill user specific details such as name, date of birth, e-mail id, telephone number, present address, permanent address, picture, gender and the like, as part of user registration. The user is required to give or select one or more educational institutes he/she studied at. These given details are sent to the server 110 and then to the respective educational institutes for verification. The verification acknowledgement is sent back to the user device 114, which is received by the authentication module 310 and the user is added to the respective groups of the educational institutes based on the verification.

Once the user becomes a part of the group, he/she may have the privilege of tracking other users of the group and get notifications on their presence in and around the same geographical area using location tracking module 312. The location tracking module 312 not only helps get notifications but also helps user to get identified by the other users of the group. Once the user registers with the alumni network of a specific organization and permits location tracking, a positioning unit within user device or any other device that user carries with him or her is used to track the location co-ordinates of the user. Such location co-ordinates are sent to the location tracking module of the server.

In one embodiment, the location tracking module 312 helps user to get identified by the people of his/her choice. In detail, the user device 114 allows the user to define the condition based on which, selected people in the proximity of the user may get to see the presence of the user.

The condition may be defined based on criteria such as people belonging to certain location, age, time zone, education, direction of travel and the like and also the condition may further include the exclusion of any one or many people of a particular group, exclusion of a location, zone based on the time and the like. The conditions may further extend to setting of warning zones, where the user shall receive a warning notification upon entering certain location. The warning notification may be pertaining the presence of a person or combination of people in particular location. The user device 114 may also help recording user location history.

The user interaction module 314 provides the user with mass mailing option, where one can select multiple members and mail at once. The number of the mass can be narrowed down or broadened by adding/removing multiple filters respectively. These filters can be institution based, gender based, location based, name based, profession based and so on. Also, the user interaction module 314 helps user to organize the intra group discussions and meetings where number of participants can be decided by the user, who is organizing them.

Further, the collaboration and connection unit 316 helps users to get updates from their respective educational institutes. The details on the types of updates are explained in Fig.4. The user device 114 furthermore has a module called the user specific grouping module 318, where users belonging to a particular group are provided access with certain facilities such as job posting facilities, notice board facility to make any announcements, marriage match proposing platform, e-commerce platform to buy/sell any used/unused products and also event organization feature. Lastly, the user device 114 has a subscription and payment authorizing module 320, through which a user can subscribe to alumni network and pay for a pre-defined span. Once the activation span expires the user can renew and reactivate the membership. Payment can be done through any online mode known in the art or developed in the future. Most preferred modes of online payment are, but not limited to, credit card payment, debit card payment, net banking payment and the like.

In furtherance to the process of building and maintaining the alumni network, Fig.4, talks about the details 400 of the server 110, which includes a processor 410 configured to fetch and execute the methods that are stored as instruction in the memory 412. Further, the server 110, which is in continuous communication with the user device 114, is configured with various modules and units such as user registration module 414, a location tracking module 416, an authentication module 418, a user interaction module 420, collaboration and connection unit 422 and also a user specific grouping module 424, where, all these modules are coupled to the processor 410.

To start with, the user registration module 414 takes care of the user registration to the alumni network by fetching required multiple user specific details such as name, date of birth, e-mail id, telephone number, present address, permanent address, picture, gender and the like from the user device 114. Also, as part of registration the user is required to give or select one or more educational institutes he/she studied from. These given details are sent to the respective educational institutes for the verification, where the details are mapped with the database available at the institutions. The verification acknowledgement is sent back to the server 110, which is received by the authentication module 418 and forwarded to the user device 114. If the given information is correct, the authentication module 418 further adds user to the respective groups of the educational institutes, which are named after themselves. In the other case, if the given details are wrong, the authentication module 418 sends the error message to the user device 114.

Once the user becomes a part of the group, the location tracking module 416 of the server 110 authorizes user with multiple facilities such as, making the user aware of the present location of other users of the group and tracking the live location of any selected user. This helps the user to get notified about the presence of other users of the group in the same geographical area. In one embodiment, only those users are tracked that belong to the same group or are selected by the user based on certain criteria and interests. The location tracking module 416 receives the location co-ordinates obtained using the positioning unit of the user device and similarly receives location co-ordinates of multiple users. When location coordinates of one user are in proximity of location coordinates of another user an both users have been duly verified against their respective organization databases then the location tracking module generates and alert informing the user’s about each other’s presence in the proximity. In an alternate embodiment the alert may be generated only if the users are affiliated with the same organization or fulfil a specific criterion such as both being interested in receiving marriage proposals, both travelling to the same conference, job and hiring match etc.

The user interaction module 420 present in the server 110 provides the user with mass mailing option through user device 114, where one can select multiple members and mail at once. The number of the mass can be narrowed down or broadened by adding/removing multiple filters respectively. These filters can be institution based, gender based, location based, name based, profession based and so on.

Further, according to Fig.4, the collaboration and connection unit 422, which is connected to institutional databases and institutional servers, helps users to get updates from their respective educational institutes via the corresponding collaboration and connection interface 316 present in the user device114. Accordingly, the educational institutes can live telecast college building / hostels / playgrounds/ cultural festivals/ sports day events and other ongoing events at the college/universities with an option to check the strength of the telecasting video. The unit 422 also helps in getting the viewer’s strength on a particular site, listing most travelled paths/roads by alumni, most visited areas such as movie theatre or shopping complex nearby college, most alumni travelling buses or vehicles and also the unit assists in getting the opinions on how popular a place or a spot is or what is most optimum future decision to take on a issue by the college and so on. The universities can also use the platform, through the collaboration and connection unit 422 to do a live telecast of teachings and also to merchandise their logo by selling university specific products like t-shirts, mugs, caps, etc.

The server 110 furthermore has a module called the user specific grouping module 424, which helps the user device 114 with certain facilities or features 500, which are explained with respect to Fig.5. The user of a group can post jobs availabilities 510 he/she knows and help the other members of the group to reach their ideal jobs, the module 424 is provided with a notice board facility 512, where the user can post any announcements/statements/requests they wish, such as their availability on the particular date, in a particular location or seeking help in understanding particular subject or requesting for a particular book they wanted and the like.

The module 424 further helps the user by automatically matching a group member to a company, and also lists how many out the whole group are working. There is also a feature to propose marriage match 514 between two members of the same group by their marital status and other details. Furthermore, helps users to sell their used/unused products 516 and also to organization events 518 within the group.

Furthermore, with respect to Fig.4, the server 110 has a subscription and payment acknowledging module 426, which is configured to accept the online payments from the user device 114 and confer the membership for a pre-defined span. Once the payment is received, an acknowledgement is sent to the user device 114 from the subscription and payment acknowledging module 426.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practised with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

Claims

A system for location based user configurable information search and exchange, said system comprising:
a user device configured to capture at least one user input related to said user’s affiliation with an organization;
a server in communication with said user device, said server configured to receive said at least one user input;
an authentication module disposed within said server, said authentication module configured to verify said user input against said organiztion’s database;
a positioning unit disposed within said user device or another device belonging to said user, said positiong unit enabled to track location co-ordinates of said user device or said another device; and
a location tracking module disposed within said server, said location tracking module configured to-
receive said location co-ordinates;
receive location co-ordinates of atleast one other user’s device; and
initiate an alert if said user device and said at least one other user’s device location co-ordinates are in proximity with each other upon verification that said user device and said at least one other user’s device belong to users that have been verified against respective organization databases.
The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising said location tracking module configured to intiate an alert only if said user device and said at least one other user’s device belong to users that have affiliation with the same organization.
The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a user interaction module disposed within said server, said user interaction module configured to enable a user to send communication to at least one other user wherein said atleast one other user details are verified against an organization’s database to which said atleast one user belongs.
The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a collaboration and connection module disposed within said server, said collaboration and connection module enabled to transmit said organization updates to said device.
The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising said verification through said authentication module is carried out through telecommunication network.
The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a user-specific grouping module disposed within said server, said user-specific grouping module configured to match users affiliated to the same organization based on specific criteria.
The system as claimed in claim 6 further comprising said user-specific grouping module configured to match users based on job postings and requirements.
The system as claimed in claim 6 further comprising said user specific grouping module configured to match users based on matrimony profiles.
The system as claimed in claim 6 further comprising said user specific grouping module configured to match users based on buying and selling of products or services.
A method for location based user configurable information search and exchange, said method comprising:
capturing atleast one user input related to said user’s affiliation with an organization through a device configured to capture said at least one user input;
receiving said at least one user input at a server in communication with said device;
verifying said user input against said organiztion’s database to confirm said user’s affiliation with said organiztion;
tracking location co-ordinates of a user device through a positioning unit dispoed within said user device; and
configuring a location tracking module disposed within said server, to enable said location tracking module for-
receiving said location co-ordinates of said user device;
receiving location co-ordinates of atleast one other user device; and
initiating an alert if said user device and said at least one other user device location co-ordinates are in proximity with each other upon verification that said user device and said at least one other user device belong to users that have been verified against respective organization databases.
The method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising sending organization updates to said device through a collaboration and connection module disposed within said server.
The method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising matching users affiliated to the same organization based on specific criteria through a user-specific grouping module disposed within said server.
The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising matching users based on job postings and requirements.
The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising matching users based on matrimony profiles.
The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising matching users based on buying and selling of products or services
The method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising enabling a user to send communication to at least one other user affiliated to the same organization as said user through a user interaction module disposed within said server
The method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising carrying out said verification through telecommunication network.
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