Providing location based directory numbers for personalized services

• US 20020137525A1
• Filed: 03/23/2001
• Published: 09/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia of America Corporation (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Wang, Zhibi, Fleischer, Wolfgang, Lee, Chinmei Chen
• Granted Patent: US 7,242,948 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4557 Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

In this invention, a wireless terminal location is monitored and used to locate providers of a requested service that are proximate to the location of the wireless terminal. At least one of the providers located is selected and identified by name and/or telephone number and/or the location, etc., and this information is delivered to and stored in the directory of the wireless terminal. The process is repeated as necessary to update the list of service providers when the wireless terminal is transported to a new location area. The service providers located can represent any category of service desired such as emergency facilities (especially in a foreign country) such as paramedics, hospital, police, or roadside assistance, etc.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a provider of a service to a wireless terminal in a wireless telecommunication network, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to select a provider of a specific service from the wireless terminal;

monitoring the wireless terminal location;

using the wireless terminal location to locate providers of the specific service requested which are proximate to the wireless terminal location;

selecting one of the providers located;

obtaining an identifier of the provider selected; and

sending the identifier of the provider selected to the wireless terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifier is a telephone number.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifier is a name and address.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the provider of the service selected comprises non-product information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the provider of the service selected is determined by the location of the provider relative to the location of the wireless terminal.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring step includes requesting wireless terminal location update events from a wireless network mobile location server and monitoring said update events as they are received.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the monitoring step includes determining whether a change in location of the wireless terminal exceeds a location area size threshold.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the location area threshold is based on the area served by the base station serving the wireless terminal.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of locating providers of the service requested includes consulting a database containing location-specific service provider information.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the step of locating providers of the service requested further includes consulting a service provider profile database to identify the category of service specified by the wireless terminal user.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of sending the identifier of the provider selected includes sending the identifier to the wireless terminal as an electronic document.

12. The method of claim 1 further including displaying the identifier of the provider selected on a text-based or graphical display screen.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of refreshing the identifier sent to the wireless terminal.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of refreshing the identifier is initiated by the mobile user from the wireless terminal.