Map-Based Phone Number Search With Geographic Context
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Solution Overview
Problem
Telecommunications providers and users face challenges in determining effective search queries for specific geographic regions and conveying geographical context in phone number databases, leading to inefficient resource consumption and difficulty in discovering relevant phone numbers.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a geographical map interface for searching and presenting phone number search results, allowing users to select a location and radius on a map, generating queries based on this selection, and displaying interactive indicators with detailed metadata on the map.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional text-based search queries are used to search for phone numbers in specific geographic regions, then users can perform searches without visual context, but users face difficulty in determining effective search queries and understanding geographical context of results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the traditional one-dimensional text-based search interface into a two-dimensional visual map interface. Users can directly interact with the map to select geographic regions, eliminating the need to formulate complex text queries. The map displays phone number results with visual indicators at their geographic locations, providing intuitive spatial context that text lists cannot convey.
2Productivity
If multiple text-based searches are performed to discover relevant phone numbers across different regions, then comprehensive results can be obtained, but resource consumption increases and time is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-processes and stores phone number data with their geographic coordinates and region associations in the database. When a user performs a map-based search, the system can efficiently retrieve all phone numbers within the selected geographic region in a single query, eliminating the need for multiple iterative searches and reducing both time and computational resources.
3Loss of information
If detailed metadata for each phone number is displayed in text format, then complete information is provided, but users have difficulty parsing and understanding the geographical context
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different visual representations to different aspects of phone number data. The map displays visual indicators at geographic locations to represent phone numbers, while detailed metadata is provided through interactive elements like pop-up windows or side panels. This allows users to quickly grasp geographic distribution visually while accessing detailed information on demand, rather than parsing dense text lists.
Data Source
AI summary
A graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a geographical map is provided. A first user input indicating a latitude value and a longitude value of a geographical region on the geographical map and a second user input indicating a radius value of the geographical region are received via the GUI. One or more queries for phone numbers of a phone number datastore are generated using the latitude value, the longitude value, and the radius value of the geographical region. One or more sets of phone number search results associated with the geographical region are received. Each set of the one or more sets of phone number search results corresponds to a respective query of the one or more queries. The one or more sets of phone number search results are presented via the GUI using one or more phone number GUI elements overlaid on the geographical map.