Method and system of providing emergency data

• US 20050141676A1
• Filed: 03/01/2005
• Published: 06/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Andrew, Felix G.T.I.
• Application Number:
  US11/070,069
• Publication Number:
  US 20050141676A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/45
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A method and system for providing access to emergency data. Emergency data is collected from various sources and maintained such that it can be efficiently recalled in an emergency. In one implementation, the data is maintained in XML documents. An emergency application program provides a page and/or sub-pages via which a user interacts to obtain the data. The data is typed according to types of emergencies to facilitate user access to the appropriate data when needed. The emergency data may be automatically loaded from a remote source, such as a .NET service, or provided by a retailer. Actions may be associated with emergency data, such as to provide an easy or automated way to send an alert, email message, and the like in the event of an emergency.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving data;

determining that the data comprises emergency data;

maintaining an emergency data record related to the emergency data that was received such that the emergency data can be accessed on demand;

maintaining type of emergency information in association with the emergency data record;

receiving a request for emergency data, the request corresponding to a type of emergency;

in response to the request, locating emergency data records relevant to that type of emergency;

aggregating data of at least some of the relevant emergency data records into aggregated emergency information for that type of emergency; and

outputting a page based on the aggregated emergency information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving data comprises communicating with a remote data source, and wherein maintaining the emergency data record comprises maintaining the emergency data record in a local data store.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the data comprises emergency data comprises detecting information associated with the emergency data that indicates the data comprises emergency data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the data comprises emergency data comprises matching the data to a pattern.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining an emergency data record related to the emergency data comprises flagging the data as emergency data to differentiate the emergency data from other data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for emergency data is received via a top emergency page and outputting the page comprises rendering an emergency sub-page.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an alert with respect to at least some of the emergency data to a remote data receiver, the alert based on data maintained in association with the relevant emergency data records.

8. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

providing an emergency selection input mechanism via a user interface;

receiving a request via the emergency selection input mechanism to provide emergency data, the request including information corresponding to a type of emergency;

accessing a data store of emergency data based on the type of emergency information to locate at least two different records classified as corresponding to the type of emergency; and

outputting via the user interface the emergency data for the identified type of emergency based on information in the different records.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing an emergency selection input mechanism via the user interface comprises rendering an emergency page and at least one emergency sub-page based on a selection made at the emergency page.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising verifying security information prior to outputting at least some of the emergency data.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving data, determining that the data comprises emergency data, and maintaining the emergency data in a record in the data store.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving data comprises communicating with a remote data source, and wherein maintaining the emergency data comprises maintaining the record in a local data store.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein determining that the data comprises emergency data comprises detecting information associated with the emergency data that indicates the data comprises emergency data.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein maintaining information related to the emergency data comprises storing the emergency data in a data structure.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising constructing at least part of the data structure.

17. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 9.

18. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

an emergency type field;

a duration field including expiry information for the data structure;

an emergency data field containing emergency data corresponding to the emergency type field; and

wherein user interaction with executable code causes the data structure to be accessed based on its emergency type to return the emergency data to the executable code, and wherein the data structure may be automatically deleted based on the expiry information in the duration field.

19. The data structure of claim 18, further comprising an identifier field, a sensitivity field containing information regarding the sensitivity of the emergency data, an action field, and at least one subtype field.