Method and system for initiating communication from a vehicle

• US 20060229109A1
• Filed: 04/06/2005
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Motors Corporation (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Oesterling, Christopher L., Watkins, Gary A., Stefan, Jeffrey M., McCormick, Catherine L., Meissner, Christine E.
• Application Number:
  US11/100,247
• Publication Number:
  US 20060229109A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/569.200
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72424 with manual activation of emergency-service functions

Abstract

A method for mobile vehicle well-being notification including receiving a contact name from a user at a call center and receiving a contact method associated with the contact name from the user at the call center. The method further includes receiving a contact message associated with the contact name from a user at the call center and receiving a well-being notification from a user at a telematics unit. In response to the well-being notification, the method sends the contact message using the contact method to the contact name.

Claims

1. A method for mobile vehicle well-being notification, the method comprising:

receiving a contact name from a user at a call center;

receiving a contact method associated with the contact name from the user at the call center;

receiving a contact message associated with the contact name from a user at the call center;

receiving a well-being notification at a telematics unit;

sending the contact message using the contact method to the contact name in response to the well-being notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact method is selected from the group consisting of phone call, email, website, short message, text message, instant message, facsimile transmission, voicemail exchange, and pager.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a location indication from the user at the call center, and wherein sending the contact message includes sending a location indication to at lease one contact name in response to the location indication.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein sending the contact message comprises determining a geophysical location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the well-being notification is received from a user input.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact name includes at least one contact address.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the contact address comprises at least one of the group consisting of email address, website address, IP address, phone number, pager number, facsimile number, and screen name.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the contact message is sent from a call center in response to a request from the telematics unit.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the contact message is sent via a wireless network from the telematics unit.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the well-being notification is received in response to a status request issued by the call center.

11. A computer usable medium including computer readable code for mobile vehicle disaster communication, the code comprising:

computer readable code for receiving a contact name from a user at a call center;

computer readable code for receiving a contact method associated with the contact name from the user at the call center;

computer readable code for receiving a contact message associated with the contact name from a user at the call center;

computer readable code for receiving a well-being notification from a user at a telematics unit;

computer readable code for sending the contact message using the contact method to the contact name in response to the well-being notification.

12. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein the contact method is selected from the group consisting of phone call, email, short message, text message, website, instant message, facsimile transmission, voicemail exchange, and pager.

13. The computer usable medium of claim 12, further comprising computer readable code for receiving a location indication from the user at the call center, and wherein code for sending the contact message includes code for sending a location indication to at lease one contact name in response to the location indication.

14. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein sending the contact message comprises determining a geophysical location.

15. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein the well-being notification is received from a user input.

16. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein the contact name includes at least one contact address.

17. The computer usable medium of claim 16. wherein the contact address comprises at least one of the group consisting of email address, phone number and screen name.

18. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein the contact message is sent via a wireless network from the telematics unit

19. The computer usable medium of claim 11, wherein the contact message is sent from the call center.

20. A system for mobile vehicle disaster communication, the system comprising:

means for receiving a contact name from a user at a call center;

means for receiving a contact method associated with the contact name from the user at the call center;

means for receiving a contact message associated with the contact name from a user at the call center;

means for receiving a well-being notification from a user at a telematics unit;

means for sending the contact message using the contact method to the contact name in response to the well-being notification.