Communications device for communicating between a vehicle and a call center
First Claim
1. A communications device for communicating between a vehicle and a call center, comprising:
- a control circuit having an output;
an acquisition device for acquiring identification information from at least one cellular phone located within the vehicle, having an input coupled to the control circuit output and an output for providing an identification signal generally representative of the identification information; and
a data transceiver for communicating with the call center via a satellite network, having an input coupled to the acquisition device output for receiving the identification signal and an antenna for providing a data signal generally representative of the identification information.
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Abstract
A vehicle-based communications device acquires identification information, such as a phone number, from a cellular phone located within the vehicle and transmits that information to a call center where it is processed and stored so that the call center can subsequently establish a voice link with the cellular phone. The communications device generally includes a control circuit, an acquisition device for acquiring the identification information according to one of several methods, and a data transceiver for transmitting a data signal to the call center via a satellite network. The communications device can acquire identification information from a plurality of cellular phones so that those phones may be prioritized and called back in a particular order.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A communications device for communicating between a vehicle and a call center, comprising:
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a control circuit having an output;
an acquisition device for acquiring identification information from at least one cellular phone located within the vehicle, having an input coupled to the control circuit output and an output for providing an identification signal generally representative of the identification information; and
a data transceiver for communicating with the call center via a satellite network, having an input coupled to the acquisition device output for receiving the identification signal and an antenna for providing a data signal generally representative of the identification information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A communications network for use by a vehicle occupant, comprising:
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a cellular phone located within a vehicle;
a communications device installed on the vehicle, comprising;
a control circuit having an output;
an acquisition device for acquiring identification information from the cellular phone, having an input coupled to the control circuit output and an output for providing an identification signal generally representative of the identification information; and
a data transceiver having an input coupled to the acquisition device output for receiving the identification signal and an output for providing a data signal generally representative of the identification information;
a call center located remotely from the vehicle;
a satellite network for communicating the data signal between the communications device and the call center; and
a cellular network for communicating a voice signal between the call center and the cellular phone, wherein upon recognition of an initialization event, the acquisition device acquires the identification information from the cellular phone and provides the identification signal to the data transceiver, the data transceiver transmits the data signal via the satellite network, and the call center stores and processes the identification information so that it may subsequently establish a voice link with the cellular phone via the cellular network. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method of acquiring and transferring identification information pertaining to a cellular phone to a call center, comprising the steps of:
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a) generating an initialization signal;
b) identifying at least one cellular phone located in a vehicle in response to the initialization signal;
c) acquiring the identification information from the cellular phone;
d) generating an identification signal generally representative of the identification information;
e) generating a data signal generally representative of the identification signal and transmitting the data signal to a call center via a satellite network; and
f) extracting the identification information from the data signal and storing the identification information at the call center so that the call center can contact the cellular phone. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification