Systems and methods for generating and presenting an electronic bill in a bill timeline view

Abstract

A method for generating and presenting bills in a bill timeline is described. A bill generation system receives a request to generate a bill timeline including bill related information for a plurality of bills corresponding to a plurality of billing periods. The system determines, from the request, a charge type of each of the charges included in the request and a length of time associated with the charge. The system generates a plurality of visual content items, each of which corresponds to a respective charge of the plurality of charges. The system generates the bill timeline including a plurality of segments, each corresponding to a respective billing period. The system inserts, in the generated bill timeline, the generated visual content items in respective locations within the bill timeline according to a content insertion policy. The system displays, on a computing device, the bill timeline including the generated visual content items.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for generating and presenting bills in a bill timeline, comprising:
 receiving, by a bill generation system including one or more processors, a request to generate a bill timeline including bill related information for a plurality of bills corresponding to a plurality of billing periods, the request including charges assessed by a provider to include in the bill timeline;   determining, from the request, a charge type of each of the plurality of charges included in the request and a length of time associated with the charge;   generating, by the bill generation system, a plurality of visual content items, each of which corresponding to a respective charge of the plurality of charges and wherein each visual content item of a respective charge type having a set of visual characteristics that are different from visual content items of another respective charge type, and wherein each visual content item corresponding to a periodic charge having a dimension size based on a ratio of the length of time associated with the charge and a length of time associated with the billing period in which the charge was assessed;   generating, by the bill generation system, the bill timeline having a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a respective billing period;   inserting, in the generated bill timeline, the generated visual content items in respective locations within the bill timeline according to a content insertion policy, the content insertion policy including one or more rules to insert visual content items corresponding to charges of a particular charge type in the bill timeline such that the visual content items corresponding to charges of the particular charge type are aligned adjacent one another in a first dimension and visual content items corresponding to charges assessed in a particular billing period are aligned adjacent one another in a second dimension;   inserting, in the generated bill timeline, at least one visual content item corresponding to a one-time charge assessed during a particular billing period within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the billing period; and   displaying, on a computing device, the bill timeline including the generated visual content items.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein inserting, in the generated bill timeline, at least one visual content item corresponding to a one-time charge assessed during a particular billing period within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the billing period includes:
 determining a date within the billing period on which the one-time charge was assessed or incurred; and   inserting the visual content item corresponding to the one-time charge within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the date within the billing period.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein inserting, in the generated bill timeline, the generated visual content items in respective locations within the bill timeline according to the content insertion policy includes:
 inserting visual content items of charges of a first charge type in respective portions of the bill timeline such that the visual content items of charges of the first charge type are aligned in a first row; and   inserting visual content items of charges of a second charge type in respective portions of the bill timeline such that the visual content items of charges of the second charge type are aligned in a second row adjacent the first row.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generated bill timeline is interactive and wherein the method further comprising:
 receiving an online action on a visual content item inserted in the generated bill timeline; and   providing, for display, responsive to the receiving the online action, a supplemental content item including additional details of the charge associated with the visual content item on which the online action was received.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating, by the bill generation system, visual content items corresponding to credits associated with the account for which the bill timeline is generated; and   providing, for display, the visual content items corresponding to the credits in a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to a billing period within which the credit was received or applied.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying, by the bill generation system, a plurality of charge types to group together;   identifying charges of the identified plurality of charge types;   grouping together the charges of the identified plurality of charge types;   generating a single visual content item corresponding to the identified charges grouped together; and   providing, for display, the generated signal visual content item in a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to a billing period in which the charges that were grouped together were assessed.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each visual content item corresponding to a periodic charge includes a first dimension and a second dimension, the first dimension having a first dimension size based on the ratio of the length of time associated with the charge and a length of time associated with the billing period in which the charge was assessed, and the second dimension having a second dimension size based on an amount of the charge. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first dimension is one of a width, length or height of the visual content item and the second dimension is another of the width, length or height of the visual content item. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing, by the bill generation system, an aggregate of all the charges corresponding to each of the one or more of the billing periods; and   providing, for display, a total amount for a bill corresponding to a particular billing period based on the aggregate of all the charges corresponding to the particular billing period.   
     
     
         10 . A system for generating and presenting bills in a bill timeline, comprising:
 a bill generation system including
 a memory storing processor-executable instructions; and 
 a processor configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to
 receive a request to generate a bill timeline including bill related information for a plurality of bills corresponding to a plurality of billing periods, the request including charges assessed by a provider to include in the bill timeline; 
 determine, from the request, a charge type of each of the plurality of charges included in the request and a length of time associated with the charge; 
 generate a plurality of visual content items, each of which corresponding to a respective charge of the plurality of charges and wherein each visual content item of a respective charge type having a set of visual characteristics that are different from visual content items of another respective charge type, and wherein each visual content item corresponding to a periodic charge having a dimension size based on a ratio of the length of time associated with the charge and a length of time associated with the billing period in which the charge was assessed; 
 generate the bill timeline having a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a respective billing period; 
 insert, in the generated bill timeline, the generated visual content items in respective locations within the bill timeline according to a content insertion policy, the content insertion policy including one or more rules to insert visual content items corresponding to charges of a particular charge type in the bill timeline such that the visual content items corresponding to charges of the particular charge type are aligned adjacent one another in a first dimension and visual content items corresponding to charges assessed in a particular billing period are aligned adjacent one another in a second dimension; 
 insert, in the generated bill timeline, at least one visual content item corresponding to a one-time charge assessed during a particular billing period within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the billing period; and 
 display, on a computing device, the bill timeline including the generated visual content items. 
 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein inserting, in the generated bill timeline, at least one visual content item corresponding to a one-time charge assessed during a particular billing period within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the billing period includes:
 determining a date within the billing period on which the one-time charge was assessed or incurred; and   inserting the visual content item corresponding to the one-time charge within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the date within the billing period.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein inserting, in the generated bill timeline, the generated visual content items in respective locations within the bill timeline according to the content insertion policy includes:
 inserting visual content items of charges of a first charge type in respective portions of the bill timeline such that the visual content items of charges of the first charge type are aligned in a first row; and   inserting visual content items of charges of a second charge type in respective portions of the bill timeline such that the visual content items of charges of the second charge type are aligned in a second row adjacent the first row.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the generated bill timeline is interactive and wherein the processor is further configured to:
 receive an online action on a visual content item inserted in the generated bill timeline; and   provide, for display, responsive to the receiving the online action, a supplemental content item including additional details of the charge associated with the visual content item on which the online action was received.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 generate visual content items corresponding to credits associated with the account for which the bill timeline is generated; and   provide, for display, the visual content items corresponding to the credits in a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to a billing period within which the credit was received or applied.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 identify a plurality of charge types to group together;   identify charges of the identified plurality of charge types;   group together the charges of the identified plurality of charge types;   generate a single visual content item corresponding to the identified charges grouped together; and   provide, for display, the generated signal visual content item in a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to a billing period in which the charges that were grouped together were assessed.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein each visual content item corresponding to a periodic charge includes a first dimension and a second dimension, the first dimension having a first dimension size based on the ratio of the length of time associated with the charge and a length of time associated with the billing period in which the charge was assessed, and the second dimension having a second dimension size based on an amount of the charge. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the first dimension is one of a width, length or height of the visual content item and the second dimension is another of the width, length or height of the visual content item. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 compute an aggregate of all the charges corresponding to each of the one or more of the billing periods; and   provide, for display, a total amount for a bill corresponding to a particular billing period based on the aggregate of all the charges corresponding to the particular billing period.   
     
     
         19 . A computer-readable storage medium having instructions to provide information via a computer network, the instructions comprising instructions to:
 receive a request to generate a bill timeline including bill related information for a plurality of bills corresponding to a plurality of billing periods, the request including charges assessed by a provider to include in the bill timeline;   determine, from the request, a charge type of each of the plurality of charges included in the request and a length of time associated with the charge;   generate a plurality of visual content items, each of which corresponding to a respective charge of the plurality of charges and wherein each visual content item of a respective charge type having a set of visual characteristics that are different from visual content items of another respective charge type, and wherein each visual content item corresponding to a periodic charge having a dimension size based on a ratio of the length of time associated with the charge and a length of time associated with the billing period in which the charge was assessed;   generate the bill timeline having a plurality of segments, each segment corresponding to a respective billing period;   insert, in the generated bill timeline, the generated visual content items in respective locations within the bill timeline according to a content insertion policy, the content insertion policy including one or more rules to insert visual content items corresponding to charges of a particular charge type in the bill timeline such that the visual content items corresponding to charges of the particular charge type are aligned adjacent one another in a first dimension and visual content items corresponding to charges assessed in a particular billing period are aligned adjacent one another in a second dimension;   insert, in the generated bill timeline, at least one visual content item corresponding to a one-time charge assessed during a particular billing period within a portion of the bill timeline corresponding to the billing period; and   display, on a computing device, the bill timeline including the generated visual content items.   
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein each visual content item corresponding to a periodic charge includes a first dimension and a second dimension, the first dimension having a first dimension size based on the ratio of the length of time associated with the charge and a length of time associated with the billing period in which the charge was assessed, and the second dimension having a second dimension size based on an amount of the charge.