GB2481609A

GB2481609A - A reminder system to program a mobile device to generate an appointment reminder at a set time

Info

Publication number: GB2481609A
Application number: GB1010959.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Dunkley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-06-30
Filing date: 2010-06-30
Publication date: 2012-01-04
Also published as: GB201010959D0

Abstract

A reminder system 1 comprising an appointment receiving element 3 for receiving details of at least a reminder time for an appointment, a device identifying element 4 adapted to identify and select a mobile device 2 and a device programming element 5 adapted to program the mobile device 2 selected by the device identifying element 4, such that the mobile device will generate a reminder at the reminder time. Preferably the device identifying element 4 is adapted to search for mobile devices and select the mobile device 2 closest to the reminder system 1 via Bluetooth (RTM). The programming instruction may comprise a vCalendar file. The reminder system can be used by hospital receptionist to program a patients mobile device to generate a calendar reminder for reminding patients of their appointments.

Description

*::r: INTELLECTUAL . .... PROPERTY OFFICE Application No. GB 1010959.3 RTM Date:14 October 2011 The following terms are registered trademarks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: Bluetooth Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.ipo.gov.uk

REMINDER SYSTEM

This invention relates to a reminder system. In particular, it relates to an appointment reminder system for programming a user's mobile telephone with a reminder. It also relates to a method for reminding a user of a mobile device of an appointment.

People missing appointments can be inconvenient and costly to businesses. For example, a doctor's surgery operates on a dense timetable of appointments with a high throughput of patients. The appointments may be ten minutes apart and therefore a patient who is late for their appointment can significantly disrupt the appointment times of other patients. Further, if a patient does not arrive for their appointment at all, there is a waste of resources and time as their appointment time period could have been reallocated to another patient.

Research indicates that the most common reason for people missing an appointment is that they simply forget. Prior art systems have attempted to address this by the issuing of appointment cards when the appointment is made. However, the appointment card requires the user to enter the appointment in their calendar or diary or they have to actively remember to consult the card to remind them of the time and date of their appointment. Further, other systems send the user a message, such as a Short Message Service (SMS) message, to their mobile telephone to remind them of their upcoming appointment. However, this system is costly to operate as there may be mobile telephone network operator charges associated with each message sent. It also requires the user to have mobile telephone network coverage to receive the reminder message, which is not always present in wireless networks, such as GSM or UMTS.

According to a first aspect of the invention, we provide a reminder system comprising an appointment receiving element for receiving details of at least a reminder time for an appointment, a device identifying element adapted to identify and select a mobile device and a device programming element adapted to program the mobile device selected by the device identifying element, such that the mobile device will generate a reminder at the reminder time.

This is advantageous as the system can send an appointment with an associated reminder to a user's mobile device. The majority of mobile devices, such as mobile telephone and personal digital assistants, include a calendar function that includes means for generating reminders. Thus, the mobile device can receive appointments from the reminder system.

The user will have a record in the calendar function of the mobile device and will also be reminded automatically by the mobile device's calendar function.

Preferably the device programming element is adapted to program the mobile device by sending a programming instruction that causes the mobile device to store at least the reminder time and generate the reminder at the reminder time. This is advantageous as the majority of mobile devices with calendar functionality can receive these appointments.

Preferably the device programming element is arranged to send the programming instruction wirelessly and preferably using the Bluetooth standard.

Preferably the programming instruction comprises a vCalendar file. The vCalendar format is a widely compatible format and the majority of mobile devices can interpret the information in this format. This provides an efficient means of entering the information into the mobile device's memory.

Preferably the reminder system includes a wireless transmission element through which the device identifying element and device programming element identify and communicate with mobile devices. This is advantageous as the reminder system can easily and conveniently send reminders to mobile devices having compatible wireless transmission elements, such as Bluetooth.

Preferably the device identifying element is adapted to search for mobile devices and select the mobile device closest to the reminder system.

Preferably the device identifying element is arranged to determine the power required to communicate with each mobile device it identifies and to select the device that requires the lowest power. This is advantageous as the closest mobile device will typically be the one that requires the lowest power to communicate.

Preferably the reminder system includes a transfer region adjacent an aerial of the wireless transmission interface, the transfer region arranged to receive a mobile device for the reminder system to program. The transfer region may be at least partially shielded to limit the potential number of mobile devices visible to the device identifying element. This reduces the risk of the device identifying element selecting a mobile device that isn't the intended recipient of the programming instruction.

Alternatively the transfer region may be defined by the wireless transmission interface having a predetermined limit to its power so that only mobile devices within the transfer region are able to communicate with the reminder system.

Preferably the appointment receiving element is adapted to receive details of at least a start time and end time of an appointment and the reminder time for the appointment and the device programming element is adapted to program a mobile device with this information. This is advantageous as a calendar function on the mobile device can be programmed with this information to display the appointment and generate a reminder for the appointment.

Preferably the appointment receiving element is adapted to extract the details of at least a reminder time for an appointment from a appointment system. The appointment system may be a separate piece of software that is interrogated by the appointment receiving element.

The device identifying element may also be adapted to interrogate a calendar function of the selected mobile device to determine if the owner of the mobile device is available for the appointment.

According to a second aspect of the invention, we provide a method for reminding a user of a mobile device of an appointment, comprising the steps of; determining the time of at least a reminder for the appointment; identifying and selecting a mobile device to program with the reminder time; programming the mobile device such that the mobile device will generate a reminder at the determined reminder time.

This is advantageous as it provides a reliable and easy method of reminding someone of a future appointment. Many people carry a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone or cell phone, with them a large proportion of the time. Therefore programming the mobile device when the appointment is made is an advantageous method of reminding them of the appointment.

Preferably the method includes determining the time of the appointment as well as the time of a reminder for the appointment and programming the mobile device with this information.

Preferably the step of identifying and selecting a mobile device includes the step of searching for mobile devices within a region, and, if more than one mobile device is found, determining which of the mobile devices is closest and selecting the closest device. This may be achieved by measuring the signal power required to communicate with each mobile device found.

Preferably the step of programming the mobile device comprises sending a programming instruction to the mobile device wirelessly. Preferably the programming instruction comprises a vCalender file.

Preferably the method is performed when an appointment is made.

There now follows by way of example only a detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the reminder system; Figure 2 shows an example of an interface for an appointment receiving element; and Figure 3 shows a flow chart illustrating an example of a method of operation of the reminder system.

An embodiment of a reminder system 1 for reminding a user of an appointment is shown in Figure 1. A mobile device 2 of the user is also shown. The reminder system 1 comprises an appointment receiving element 3, a device identifying element 4 adapted to identify and select a mobile device and a device programming element 5 adapted to program the mobile device 2. The reminder system 1 also includes a wireless transmission interface 6, which, in this embodiment, comprises a Bluetooth transceiver to allow the reminder system 1 to communicate with a mobile device 2 that also has Bluetooth capability. The wireless transmission interface may operate on a different standard, such as WiFi or Infrared transmission.

The reminder system 1 can, for example, be used in hospitals for reminding patients of their appointments. Thus, the reminder system 1 may be located on a reception desk at the hospital. When a patient makes an appointment with the receptionist, the receptionist can use the reminder system 1 to program the patient's mobile device 2 to generate a reminder for the appointment. The reminder can be chosen by the receptionist and may be hours, days or weeks before the appointment time. As the reminder system 1 programs the patient's mobile device to generate the reminder, it is not necessary to send a reminder message to

the user as in prior art systems.

The reminder system 1 is typically embodied as software that is to be executed on a computer or other processing device (not shown). The wireless transmission interface 6 may be built in to the computer or processing device or it may comprise a peripheral element that is connected to the computer. Such peripheral elements are typically known as "dongles", and they will be familiar to those skilled in the art.

The appointment receiving element 3 comprises software adapted to receive details of an appointment and also the time of a reminder for the appointment. The appointment receiving element 3 may include an interface 20, such as the graphical user interface shown in Figure 2, for receiving the details. The interface 20 is adapted to receive an input in fields 21 comprising the date and time of the appointment. Further, the interface 20 includes fields 22 for receiving input of the time and date of the reminder for the appointment. For example, the operative may enter the appointment as 24 February 2010 at 12:00pm. The reminder may be set for the morning of the appointment, for example 24 February 2010 at 8:00am. The interface 20 also includes a text field 23 for receiving a description of the appointment that appears when the mobile device generates its reminder. The text field may for instance, in this example, state "Doctor's Appointment with Dr No at Bond St Hospital".

The interface 20 of the appointment receiving element 3 may include a button 24, marked "Send", to initiate the programming of the patient's mobile device 1.

The device identifying element 4 comprises software that interfaces with the Bluetooth transceiver 6. The device identifying element 4 in combination with the Bluetooth transceiver 6 is arranged to search for mobile devices with which the reminder system can communicate. This is known in the art as device discovery. The transceiver 6 is capable of identifying more than one mobile device and a second mobile device 7 is shown in Figure 1. The device identifying element 4 includes signal power determination means, which measures how much power is required to establish a connection with each mobile device that is found. The Bluetooth standard includes functionality to enable this information to be reported to the device identifying element 4. The device identifying element 4 is also adapted to select a mobile device 2, 7 to program. In this embodiment this is achieved by determining which mobile device 2 or 7 requires the least power to establish a connection. The power required to establish a connection has been found to be highly correlated with the distance from the reminder system 1. Thus, in Figure 1, mobile device 2 is shown closer to the reminder system 2 than second mobile device 7.

Thus, the device identifying element 4 will select mobile device 2 and ignore mobile device 7. The selection of the mobile device is performed automatically and requires no input from the operator of the reminder system.

The device programming element 5 is arranged to program the mobile device 2, selected by the device identifying element 4, such that it will generate a reminder in the future for the user's appointment. The device programming element 5 receives the date and time of the appointment and the date and time of the reminder from the appointment receiving element 3. The device programming element 5 formats this information into a vCalendar file. An example of the vCalendar file for the example appointment given above is as follows; BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION: 1. 0 BEGIN: VEVENT CATEGORIES: APPOINTMENT PRIORITY: 0 STATUS:NEEDS ACTION DTSTART: 2010 022 4T12 0000 DTEND:20100224T130000 AALARM:2010022 4T080000 DALARM:201 00224T08 0000

SUMMARY:Appointment

DESCRIPTION:Doctor's AppoThtment with Dr No at Bond St Hospital END: VEVENT END: VCALENDAR The device programming element 5 is arranged to send the vCalendar file to the mobile device 2 using the Bluetooth interface 6.

The vCalendar file is a widely accepted format on many mobile devices.

In this embodiment, the mobile device 2 comprises a mobile telephone having a calendar function and support for Bluetooth communication.

The mobile device 2 also has the functionality to interpret vCalendar files and to enter the appointment and reminder into the calendar function of the mobile device 2. The screen 8 shows an example of a screenshot of the calendar function. The block 10 shows an appointment.

The reminder system may include a transfer region 11. The transfer region is shown by dashed lines. In this embodiment, the transfer region is defined by the power required to communicate with a mobile device 2.

Thus, the reminder system 1 is adapted to only communicate with mobile devices 2, 7 that require a predetermined power or less to establish a connection. This is advantageous as the predetermined power can be set so that only devices in close proximity of the reminder system will be selected by the device identifying element 4. In this embodiment, the predetermined power is set such that the reminder system is only able to communicate with mobile devices within a transfer region having approximately a 1 metre radius. If more than one mobile device is located within the transfer region 11, the reminder system 1 determines which device requires the least power to establish a connection.

Figure 3 shows a flow chart which illustrates an example of the operation of the reminder system 1. In use, the operator of the reminder system 1 enters the time of the appointment in the reminder system and the time of the reminder for the appointment at step 30. The operator may then press the start button 24 to begin the identification and programming of a mobile device. At step 31 the reminder system searches for mobile devices 2, 7 using the device identifying element 4 and the Bluetooth interface 6. Mobile device 2 is found to require a lower power to establish a connection than mobile device 7 and therefore mobile device 2 is selected using the Bluetooth address of mobile device 2. Alternately, the Bluetooth transceiver is set to use no more than a predetermined power and thus the range of the transceiver 6 is limited to the transfer region 11. In this instance, only mobile device 2 would be discovered and therefore selected. Step 32 shows the selection of the mobile device 2.

Step 33 comprises the step of the device programming element 5 compiling the appointment and reminder information into a vCalendar file and sending it to the selected mobile device 2. The Bluetooth transceiver 6 establishes a connection with the mobile device 2 and begins the process of sending the vCalendar file. Depending on the security settings on the mobile device 2, it may ask the user of the mobile device 2 for confirmation to accept the connection request of the reminder system 1. Once accepted, the vCalendar file is transferred to the mobile device 2. As the vCalendar format is widely used on many mobile devices 2, the mobile device 2 will typically know that the file contains details of an appointment and will pass the file to the calendar function for processing. The calendar function can then use the information stored in the vCalendar file to program the calendar function of the mobile device 2 with the appointment and the reminder time.

Once the vCalendar file has been successfully transferred, the Bluetooth transceiver may receive an acknowledgement from the mobile device 2 that the transfer was a success, at step 34.

The user can then leave the hospital with their mobile device 2, which has been programmed to reminder them of their appointment at some future date and time. When the internal clock of the mobile device 2 reaches the programmed date and time of the reminder, it typically generates a visual and/or audible and/or vibratory alert to attract the attention of the user.

On consulting the calendar function or perhaps by way of an on-screen alert, the user will be reminded of the appointment. The alert may include the text entered at 23, which provides the user with further information on the details of their appointment.

In a further embodiment the appointment receiving element 3, rather than obtaining the appointment and reminder information from an operative via a graphical user interface, it may interrogate an appointment booking system. The appointment booking system may comprise a third party database which organises appointments for the hospital or other organisation. The appointment receiving element 3 may therefore be arranged to interface with the appointment booking system to extract the appointment time and determine an appropriate reminder time as this information is entered in the appointment booking system. A connection 18, which may be a virtual connection, may be used to allow the reminder system 1 to exchange information with the appointment booking system.

In a further embodiment, the reminder system may include an interrogation element, arranged to obtain information from the calendar function of the selected mobile device 2. The information may be any conflicting appointments in the calendar function of the mobile device 2.

If the interrogation element identifies a conflict, it may alert the operator of the reminder system 1 to confirm with the user if the conflict can be ignored or if the appointment will need to be rearranged.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A reminder system comprising an appointment receiving element for receiving details of at least a reminder time for an appointment, a device identifying element adapted to identify and select a mobile device and a device programming element adapted to program the mobile device selected by the device identifying element, such that the mobile device will generate a reminder at the reminder time.
2. A reminder system according to claim 1, in which the device programming element is adapted to program the mobile device by sending a programming instruction that causes the mobile device to store at least the reminder time and generate the reminder at the reminder time.
3. A reminder system according to claim 2, in which the device programming element is arranged to send the programming instruction wirelessly and preferably using the Bluetooth standard. (\J
4. A reminder system according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the programming instruction comprises a vCalendar file.
5. A reminder system according to any preceding claim, in which the reminder system includes a wireless transmission element through which the device identifying element and device programming element identify and communicate with mobile devices.
6. A reminder system according to any preceding claim, in which the device identifying element is adapted to search for mobile devices and select the mobile device closest to the reminder system.
7. A reminder system according to any preceding claim, in which the device identifying element is arranged to determine the power required to communicate with each mobile device it identifies and to select the device that requires the lowest power.
8. A reminder system according to any preceding claim, in which the reminder system includes a transfer region adjacent an aerial of the wireless transmission interface, the transfer region arranged to receive a mobile device for the reminder system to program.
9. A reminder system according to claim 8, in which the transfer region is at least partially shielded to limit the potential number of mobile devices visible to the device identifying element. r
10. A reminder system according to claim 8, in which the transfer region is defined by the wireless transmission interface having a predetermined limit to its power so that only mobile devices within the 0. . transfer region are able to communicate with the reminder system.
11. A reminder system according to any preceding claim, in which the appointment receiving element is adapted to receive details of at least a start time and end time of an appointment and the reminder time for the appointment and the device programming element is adapted to program a mobile device with this information.
12. A reminder system according to claim 11, in which the appointment receiving element is adapted to extract the details of at least a reminder time for an appointment from an appointment system.
13. A reminder system according to claim 11 or claim 12, in which device identifying element is also adapted to interrogate a calendar function of the selected mobile device to determine if the owner of the mobile device is available for the appointment.
14. A method for reminding a user of a mobile device of an appointment, comprising the steps of; determining the time of at least a reminder for the appointment; identifying and selecting a mobile device to program with the reminder time; programming the mobile device such that the mobile device will generate a reminder at the determined reminder time.
15. A method according to claim 14, in which the method includes determining the time of the appointment as well as the time of a reminder for the appointment and programming the mobile device with this information. (0
16. A method according to claim 14 or claim 15, in which the step of identifying and selecting a mobile device includes the step of searching for mobile devices within a region, and, if more than one mobile device is found, determining which of the mobile devices is closest and selecting the closest device.
17. A method according to claim 16, in which the step of determining which of the mobile devices is the closest comprises measuring the signal power required to communicate with each mobile device found.
18. A method according to any of claims 14 to 17, in which the step of programming the mobile device comprises sending a programming instruction to the mobile device wirelessly.
19. A method according to claim 18, in which the programming instruction comprises a vCalender file.
20. A reminder system of the kind set forth substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. (0 (\J*::r: INTELLECTUAL . ... PROPERTY OFFICE -16 -Application No: GB 1010959.3 Examiner: Mr Euros Morris Claims searched: All Date of search: 14 October 2011 Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17 Documents considered to be relevant: Category Relevant Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance to claims X 1-6,8-16, W02004/100032A1 18-19 at (PHILIPS ELECTRONICS): Whole document relevant, esp Figs 3-4 least and related passages.X 1-3,5, 11-US2003/0093706A1 15, 18, at (CRONIN): Whole document relevant, esp paragraphs 0008-0013, least 0024-0028.X 1,2,11-US6163274A 13, 14, (LINDGREN): Whole document relevant, esp Fig 2B and related 16, 18 at passages. leastX 1,2,3,5, GB2375017A 11-13, 14, (HEWLETT-PACKARD CO): Whole document relevant.16, 18 at least X 1, 2, 3, 5, W02008/028 177 Al 11-13, 14, (AT & T MOBILITY II LLC): Whole document relevant, esp Page 6 16, 18 at line 1 -page 7 line 20. leastX 1 & 14 at US2005/0101335 Al least (KELLY ET AL): Whole document relevant, esp paragraphs 0005-0007.X 1,l4at US6356956B1 least (DEO ET AL): Whole document relevant.X 1, 14 at W02004/010338 Al least (SBC TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES, INC): Whole document relevant.Categories: X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive A Document indicating technological background and/or state step of the art.Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of before the filing date of this invention.same category.& Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after. but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.ipo.gov.uk *::r: INTELLECTUAL . ... PROPERTY OFFICE -17 -Field of Search:Search of GB, EP. WO & US patent documents classified in the following areas of the UKCX Worldwide search of patent documents classified in the following areas of the IPC GO6Q; HO4M The following online and other databases have been used in the preparation of this search report EPODOC, WPI, TXTE International Classification: Subclass Subgroup Valid From HO4M 0011/00 01/01/2006 GO6Q 0010/00 01/01/2006 HO4M 0001/725 01/01/2006 Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.ipo.gov.uk