US-12619848-B2 - Communication system for collecting information about a mobile device

US12619848B2US 12619848 B2US12619848 B2US 12619848B2US-12619848-B2

Abstract

A system and method for collecting information about a mobile device and associating it with a user. At least a portion of data about a user may be encoded into one or more images, along with optional commands or parameters for activating an app or other software or hardware modules of the mobile device. The image may be scanned by the mobile device, causing the mobile device to decode the data from the image, and to optionally automatically send the data back to the system thus confirming that association between the mobile device and the user.

Inventors

Jeffrey Schwerdt

Assignees

Response Engine Holdings LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230915

Claims (19)

1 . A method comprising: receiving data about one or more users identified by a unique identifier using one or more processors of one or more computers, wherein the data about one or more users is obtained from a remote computer separate from the one or more computers; encoding at least a portion of the data about one or more users into one or more images using the one or more processors of the one or more computers, wherein the portion of the data includes the unique identifier, and wherein at least one of the one or more images is encoded to include the unique identifier; and receiving input data from a mobile device using the one or more processors of the one or more computers, wherein the input data is received from the mobile device via a communication link, wherein the input data includes the unique identifier associated with the user and at least one other piece of data that identifies the mobile device separately from other mobile devices, the at least one other piece of data comprising a telephone number, an IMEI number, or a location associated with the mobile device, or any combination thereof; and updating, using the one or more processors, the data about the one or more users to include the at least one other piece of data that identifies the mobile device.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the corresponding images includes a QR code.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device includes a camera operable to acquire the images.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other piece of data from the mobile device includes a telephone number associated with the mobile device.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other piece of data from the mobile device includes an IMEI number associated with the mobile device.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other piece of data from the mobile device includes a location associated with the mobile device.
7 . The method of claim 1 , comprising: updating the data about the one or more users to include the at least one other piece of data from the mobile device.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data about one or more users includes a name, address, and/or date of birth.
9 . The method of claim 1 , comprising: displaying the one or more images using a display device.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the display device is separate from the mobile device and the one or more computers.
11 . The method of claim 1 , comprising: applying the at least one of the one or more images to a physical object.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein applying the one image includes printing the at least one image on one or more physical documents.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more images are encoded with commands, and wherein the mobile device is responsive to the commands and is operable to automatically communicate with the one or more computers when the mobile device decodes one of the one or more images.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the commands include a command to activate an application of the mobile device.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the application is operable to establish a communication link with the one or more computers, and wherein the commands include parameters defining how the application is to deliver the portion of the data to the one or more computers.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the application is operable to display a message on a display device of the mobile device, and wherein the message displayed is included in the portion of the data encoded in the image.
17 . The method of claim 1 , comprising: sending the encoded portion of the data and the images as exported data using the one or more processors; and providing the exported data to a print service operable to apply the at least one of the one or more images to a physical object.
18 . The method of claim 1 , comprising: decoding at least one of the images into input data using the mobile device that is identified by the unique identifier.
19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the data about the one or more users includes any one of name, address, email, location, purchase history, or date of birth, or any combination thereof.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/411,872 filed Sep. 30, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods of capturing information about a mobile device by scanning encoded data presented on a physical item. SUMMARY Disclosed is a communication system for capturing useful information about a mobile device and automatically associating that information with a name, address, or other contact information for a user of the device. In one aspect, the system receives data about one or more users that are optionally identified by a unique identifier, or by a combination of data fields. This data may be present in an existing data store that is part of the system, or it may be obtained from a remote system that may be operated by a third party. In another aspect, at least a portion of the data is optionally encoded and presented as an image, such as a bar code or QR code. The encoded data may be a portion of the overall data known about a user such as the user's name, address, location and the like. The encoded data may include a unique identifier of the user, and/or an identifier that may be unique to the mobile device (such as a phone number, IMEI number, and the like), if this information is known at the time the image is encoded. In another aspect, the encoded image may be presented to a user (or multiple users) either on a physical item (such as a print mailing, sticker, or the product itself), or on a display device such as a display in a public place, etc. A mobile device may then be used to capture the image and decode the data encoded in the image. In one aspect, the decoded data may include commands and/or data optionally defining actions the mobile device may take to collect information about the user and/or the mobile device. This information may include address information, IMEI numbers, personal preferences, purchase histories, browsing histories, and the like. The update may be received by the system using the Short Message Service (SMS), or by any other suitable protocols using a communication link. The input data received via the communication link may include a unique identifier that was encoded in the image initially. This identifier may be used by the system to cross reference the input data received to an existing data record, or the input data may be added as a new record when no existing record is in the data store containing user information when the input data is received from the user device. Further forms, objects, features, aspects, benefits, advantages, and examples will become apparent from a detailed description and drawings provided herewith. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a component diagram illustrating one example of aspects of the disclosed communication system. FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating actions that may be taken by the system of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Disclosed is a communication system for capturing identifying information about a mobile device and automatically associating that information with a name, address, or other contact information for a user of the device. In one aspect, the system optionally accepts input by scanning a bar code, QR code, or other image that may be printed on a physical document such as a direct mail print advertisement. In another aspect, the image may be scanned after presentation on a display device such as a screen. Aspects of the disclosed system 100 are illustrated in FIG. 1. In one aspect, a dataset 101 may include multiple data records 102, and these records may include a partial set of data about a person. Records 102 may include name, address, email address, and the like, for individuals such as user 103. Records 102 may, however, lack information about a mobile device 104 the user 103 may use. The system of the present disclosure is operable to determine and associate a mobile device to a specific record 102 according to input received such as by scanning of a bar code, QR code, or other image 105 that is encoded with information specific to a record 102, and that is also specific to the user 103 of the device 104. In this aspect, the camera or other device used by the mobile device to capture the image 105 is operable as an input device. In one example, the system may obtain or be given access to the dataset 101 with records 102. These may be obtained in any suitable way such as by accessing the records stored on a computer that is operated by a third party, by entering the data into a computer of the disclosed system such as computer 106, and the like. The system 100 optionally includes encoding software 107 that may be executed on a computer 106. Computer 106 may include hardware 113 which may include, but is not limited to, one or more processors, memory, networking modules, input/output devices, and the like. Computer 106 may communicate directly, or indi