Mobile Billboard Tariff Transparency System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumers face complex and ambiguous mobile bills, surprise charges, and lack of transparency in roaming fees and SMS costs due to the integration of mobile service providers with web technologies, making it difficult to manage usage and find cost-effective plans.
Innovation Solution
A mobile-based tariff transparency application that provides users with personalized recommendations, intelligent alerts for roaming and overages, and usage tracking services, optimizing communication costs by acting as a broker for connecting users to cost-effective services and plans.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If mobile service providers integrate with web technologies to provide richer services, then service functionality is improved, but bill complexity and cost transparency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile billboard system as an intermediary communication channel between service providers and consumers. This mediator translates complex billing information into simplified visual displays showing key metrics like talk time, text messages sent, and data usage, making web-integrated service costs transparent without limiting service functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts essential billing information from complex service bundles and presents only the most relevant cost metrics to consumers through the mobile billboard. By separating critical cost data from detailed service complexity, users can understand their usage patterns without being overwhelmed by the full complexity of integrated web services
2Adaptability or versatility
If mobile service providers offer comprehensive services without international regulation, then service variety is improved, but consumer understanding and cost management deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile billboard acts as an intermediary that standardizes the presentation of diverse service costs across different providers. It translates varied billing structures from multiple unregulated providers into a uniform visual format, enabling consumers to compare and understand costs across different service varieties without requiring international regulation
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses visual indicators including color-coded displays to represent different cost levels and usage statuses. This visual encoding transforms complex cost information from diverse service providers into easily distinguishable visual patterns, improving cost transparency across varied service offerings
3Loss of information
If users manually monitor their wireless service usage, then cost awareness is improved, but time consumption and user burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile billboard system implements self-service monitoring where the display automatically updates with the user's consumption data without requiring manual intervention. The system autonomously tracks talk time, text messages, and data usage, presenting this information in real-time visual format, thereby improving cost awareness while eliminating the time users would otherwise spend manually monitoring their usage
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides continuous real-time feedback through the mobile billboard display, automatically showing users their current consumption status against their plan limits. This automated feedback loop keeps users informed about their usage patterns without requiring them to actively monitor or query their service providers, reducing time investment while maintaining high cost awareness
Data Source
AI summary
System for providing dynamic recommendations associated with usage of a wireless communication service from a service provider (SP) of a user. A memory area stores at least one or more of the following service usage information: a service plan of the wireless communication service of the user, a service charge structure of a wireless communication service, a service coverage area of the wireless communication service provider (SP), a usage information of the wireless communication service of the user, and tariff information associated with the usage. A processor is configured to execute computer-executable instructions for monitoring the usage of the wireless communication service. The processor is also configured to correlate the monitored usage with the service usage information stored on the memory area. The processor is configured to generate a recommendation based on the correlation of the monitored usage and the service usage information. The generated recommendation provides a cost analysis of using the wireless communication service by the user. An interface provides the generated recommendation associated with the usage to the user.