Web Application for Funeral Notification Automation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for disseminating and obtaining information on funeral arrangements lack assurance that recipients will receive timely notifications, as they rely on manual searches through various channels like phone calls, Facebook, and newspapers, lacking proactive confirmation of delivery.
Innovation Solution
A web application that sends text messages with links to clients and guests, allowing them to update and access funeral arrangement information, with options for obituaries, condolences, memory sharing, video streaming, flower orders, and charitable donations, ensuring timely and widespread notification across different devices and languages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If information on deaths and funeral arrangements is dispensed through traditional channels (phone, Facebook, newspapers, individual funeral parlor websites), then information can be made available, but there is no assurance that recipients will receive timely notifications as seekers have to manually search for information
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically sending text message notifications to guests before they need to search for information. The notification is proactively delivered to the guest's smartphone, containing a link to access funeral arrangement details, thereby eliminating the need for manual searching and ensuring timely receipt of information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (the notification service platform) that mediates between the information source (funeral arrangers/clients) and information seekers (guests). This intermediary automatically manages the distribution of information through text messages and maintains a database of guest contacts, ensuring reliable and timely delivery without requiring guests to actively search multiple channels.
2Reliability
If clients manually distribute information through multiple channels, then information can reach various platforms, but clients have no way of ascertaining that guests will receive the information on a timely basis
Solution Approach 1:
The notification service platform performs multiple functions through a single system: it stores guest contact information, generates text messages, sends notifications, tracks delivery status, and provides access to funeral arrangement details. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate communication channels and manual verification efforts into one unified system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by tracking and confirming whether text messages were successfully delivered to guests. The platform can ascertain receipt status and provide this information back to clients, eliminating the uncertainty that would otherwise require manual verification across multiple communication channels.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a comprehensive web application is provided with multiple features (obituaries, condolences, video streaming, donations), then guest participation and information access are enhanced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The web application is segmented into distinct functional modules: obituary display, condolence message submission, memory photo sharing, video streaming, flower ordering, and charitable donation. Each feature operates as a separate module that can be independently accessed through the notification link, allowing comprehensive functionality while maintaining manageable system structure through modular design.
Data Source
AI summary
The web application of this present process sends two text messages to a smartphone when the web page, where information on deaths and available funeral arrangements is initially entered, is closed; then, a third if information on funeral arrangements is updated. Two of the text messages, which provide notification of the death and a link to the web application to display information on the funeral arrangements, are forwarded to all relevant contacts in the smartphone, with the contacts forwarding the text messages to the relevant contacts in their smartphones.