Multi-Tiered Feedback-Controlled Home Automation Notifications

Abstract

Various arrangements for providing home automation notifications to users are detailed. A selection of a home automation event to trigger transmission of a home automation notification and a first group of users may be received. When the event occurs, the home automation notification may be transmitted to the first group of users. A first communication path associated with each user of the first group of users may be used for transmitting the home automation notification. For a time, monitoring can be performed to determine if a receipt response from each of the plurality of destinations is received. For users for which the receipt response was not received, the home automation notification may be sent via an alternate communication path.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for providing home automation notifications, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a home automation host system, a selection of a home automation event to trigger transmission of a home automation notification;   receiving, by a home automation host system, selection of a first group of users to receive the home automation notification;   determining, by the home automation host system, the home automation event has occurred at a home automation device in communication with the home automation host system;   transmitting, by the home automation host system, the home automation notification to a plurality of destinations associated with the first group of users, wherein a first communication path associated with each user of the first group of users is used for transmitting the home automation notification;   monitoring, by the home automation host system, for up to a defined period of time, for a receipt response from each of the plurality of destinations;   receiving, by the home automation host system, receipt responses from a first subset of the plurality of destinations;   determining, by the home automation host system, the defined period of time has expired;   identifying, by the home automation host system, a second subset of the plurality of destinations associated with a subset of the first group of users from which the receipt response has not been received; and   transmitting, by the home automation host system, to each destination of the second subset of the plurality of destinations, the home automation notification, wherein a second communication path associated with each user of the subset of the first group of users is used for transmitting the home automation notification.   
     
     
         2 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of destinations comprises a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices being associated with a different user of the first group of users. 
     
     
         3 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 executing, by a mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices, an application that functions as a background process for monitoring for home automation notifications received via a plurality of communication paths.   
     
     
         4 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 monitoring, by the application being executed by the mobile device, multiple communication paths for home automation notifications.   
     
     
         5 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining, by the application being executed by the mobile device, the home automation notification has been received via the first communication path; and   transmitting, by the application being executed by the mobile device, the receipt response, wherein the receipt response is indicative of the mobile device and is indicative of the first communication path.   
     
     
         6 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 5 , wherein the first communication path is a push notification communication path and the receipt response is transmitted via a communication path other than the first communication path. 
     
     
         7 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 determining, by the application being executed by the mobile device, the home automation notification has been received via the second communication path; and   transmitting, by the application being executed by the mobile device, the receipt response, wherein the receipt response is indicative of the mobile device and is indicative of the second communication path.   
     
     
         8 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 7 , wherein determining the home automation notification has been received via the second communication path comprises: monitoring, by the application being executed by the mobile device, simple message service (SMS) messages being received by the mobile device for a string of characters indicative of the home automation notification. 
     
     
         9 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the home automation host system, a message from a user of the first group of users, the message being indicative of a request to be excluded from receiving home automation notifications associated with the home automation event.   
     
     
         10 . The method for providing home automation notifications of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining that at least one additional user is present in the first group of users in addition to the user; and   removing, by the home automation host system, the user from the first group of users based on the message and determining that the at least one additional user is present in the first group of users.   
     
     
         11 . A system for providing home automation notifications, the system comprising:
 a television receiver that receives television programming via a television service provider network, the television receiver configured to output video content; and   an overlay device that receives the video content from the television receiver and outputs modified video content to a display device, the overlay device comprising:
 one or more processors; and 
 a memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processors and having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive a selection of a home automation event to trigger transmission of a home automation notification; 
 receive selection of a first group of users to receive the home automation notification; 
 determine the home automation event has occurred at a home automation device in communication with the overlay device; 
 transmit the home automation notification to a plurality of destinations associated with the first group of users, wherein a first communication path associated with each user of the first group of users is used for transmitting the home automation notification; 
 monitor for up to a defined period of time, for a receipt response from each of the plurality of destinations; 
 receive receipt responses from a first subset of the plurality of destinations; 
 determine the defined period of time has expired; 
 identify a second subset of the plurality of destinations associated with a subset of the first group of users from which the receipt response has not been received; and 
 transmit to each destination of the second subset of the plurality of destinations, the home automation notification, wherein a second communication path associated with each user of the subset of the first group of users is used for transmitting the home automation notification. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of destinations comprises a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices being associated with a different user of the first group of users. 
     
     
         13 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 12 , the system further comprising:
 a mobile device that executes an application as a background process for monitoring for home automation notifications received via a plurality of communication paths, the mobile device being part of the plurality of mobile devices.   
     
     
         14 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 13 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 determine, using the application being executed by the mobile device, the home automation notification has been received via the first communication path; and   transmit, by the application being executed by the mobile device, the receipt response, wherein the receipt response is indicative of the mobile device and is indicative of the first communication path.   
     
     
         15 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 14 , wherein the first communication path is a push notification communication path and the receipt response is transmitted via a communication path other than the first communication path. 
     
     
         16 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 13 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to:
 determine, using the application being executed by the mobile device, the home automation notification has been received via the second communication path; and   transmitting, by the application being executed by the mobile device, the receipt response, wherein the receipt response is indicative of the mobile device and is indicative of the second communication path.   
     
     
         17 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 11 , wherein the memory stores further processor-readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive a message from a user of the first group of users, the message being indicative of a request to be excluded from receiving home automation notifications associated with the home automation event.   
     
     
         18 . The system for providing home automation notifications of  claim 17 , wherein the memory stores further processor-readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 determine that at least one additional user is present in the first group of users in addition to the user; and   remove the user from the first group of users based on the message and determining that the at least one additional user is present in the first group of users.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory processor-readable medium for providing home automation notifications, comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to:
 receive a selection of a home automation event to trigger transmission of a home automation notification;   receive selection of a first group of users to receive the home automation notification;   determine the home automation event has occurred at a home automation device in communication with a home automation system;   transmit the home automation notification to a plurality of destinations associated with the first group of users, wherein a first communication path associated with each user of the first group of users is used for transmitting the home automation notification;   monitor for up to a defined period of time, for a receipt response from each of the plurality of destinations;   receive receipt responses from a first subset of the plurality of destinations;   determine the defined period of time has expired;   identify a second subset of the plurality of destinations associated with a subset of the first group of users from which the receipt response has not been received; and   transmit to each destination of the second subset of the plurality of destinations, the home automation notification, wherein a second communication path associated with each user of the subset of the first group of users is used for transmitting the home automation notification.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory processor-readable medium for providing home automation notifications of  claim 19 , wherein the processor-readable instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to:
 receive a message from a user of the first group of users, the message being indicative of a request to be excluded from receiving home automation notifications associated with the home automation event;   determine that at least one additional user is present in the first group of users in addition to the user; and   remove the user from the first group of users based on the message and determining that the at least one additional user is present in the first group of users.