Method and apparatus for incorporating emergency 911 service into personal computer based nomadic telephony operations

• US 20080014901A1
• Filed: 10/16/2006
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intra TEL LLC
• Original Assignee: Intra TEL LLC
• Inventors: Motley, Cecil F., Fei, Yu
• Application Number:
  US11/582,097
• Publication Number:
  US 20080014901A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems

Abstract

A device includes a virtual telephony interface and a nomadic emergency process operates with the virtual telephony interface. The nomadic emergency process operates to update current location information of the apparatus and to verify the location. A system includes a portable device having a personal computer (PC) to telephony unit. The portable device operates to communicate current location information to an E911 system.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a virtual telephony interface; and

a nomadic emergency process coupled with the virtual telephony interface, wherein the nomadic emergency process operates to update current location information of the apparatus and to verify the location.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus operates to perform nomadic E911 operations with personal computer (PC)-to-Phone and Phone- to-PC operations.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the virtual telephony interface integrates with an Internet Protocol (IP)-to-public switched telephone network (PSTN) gateway.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display, wherein the display operates to display a map indicating the location of the apparatus.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein location information is entered through a location interface.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) device, the GPS device operates to provide location information.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein verified location information is transmitted to an address location provisioning server, and address information associated with a specific caller identification (ID) is updated in a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) servicing center Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) database.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein an emergency telephone call is made through an IP-PSTN gateway to a pre-determined Emergency Service Provider (ESP), and the ESP routes the emergency telephone call to a closest PSAP.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an emergency call is manually routed to an Emergency Caller Relay Center (ECRC) based on verbal location information when location information is unverified.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a portable device.

11. A method comprising:

storing location information in a memory of a portable device;

performing personal computer (PC) to telephony operations;

connecting to an emergency system through an Internet Protocol (IP)-to-public switched telephone network (PSTN);

requesting verification of location information;

automatically routing an emergency call to a closest Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) if the location information is verified.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising

displaying a map indicating the location of the portable device.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the location information is manually entered through a user interface.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the location information is automatically stored in the memory by a global positioning system (GPS) device.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting verified location information to an address location provisioning server, and

updating address information associated with a specific caller identification (ID) in a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) servicing center Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) database.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein an emergency telephone call is made through an IP-PSTN gateway to a pre-determined Emergency Service Provider (ESP), and the ESP routes the emergency telephone call to the closest PSAP.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein, an emergency call is manually routed to the closest PSAP based on verbal location information when location information is unverified.

18. A machine-accessible medium containing instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to:

perform personal computer (PC) to telephony operations on a portable device;

store location information in a memory of the portable device;

connect to an emergency system through an Internet Protocol (IP)-to-public switched telephone network (PSTN);

request verification of location information;

automatically route an emergency call to a closest Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) if the location information is verified.

19. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, further containing instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to:

make the emergency call to an Emergency Call Relay Center based on verbal location information if the location information is unverified.

20. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, further containing instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to:

display a map indicating the location of the portable device.

21. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, wherein the location information is manually entered through a user interface.

22. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, wherein the location information is determined by a global positioning system (GPS) device.

23. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, further containing instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to:

transmit verified location information to an address location provisioning server, and

update address information associated with a specific caller identification (ID) in a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) servicing center Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) database.

24. The machine-accessible medium of claim 23, wherein an emergency telephone call is made through the IP-PSTN gateway to a pre-determined Emergency Service Provider (ESP), and the ESP routes the emergency telephone call to the closest PSAP.

25. A system comprising:

a portable device including personal computer (PC) to telephony unit, wherein the portable device operates to communicate current location information to an E911 system.

26. The system of claim 25, the portable device further including a display, wherein the display operates to display a map indicating the location of the portable device.

27. The system of claim 25, the portable device further including a user interface, wherein location information is entered through the user interface.

28. The system of claim 25, the portable device further is coupled to a global positioning system (GPS) device, wherein the GPS device operates to provide current location information.

29. The system of claim 25, the E911 system includes an address location provisioning server and a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) servicing center Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) database, wherein verified location information is transmitted to the address location provisioning server, and address information associated with a specific caller identification (ID) is updated in the PSAP ALI database.

30. The system of claim 29, the E911 system includes an Internet Protocol (IP)-to-public switched telephone network (PSTN) gateway, wherein an emergency telephone call is made through the IP-PSTN gateway to a pre-determined Emergency Service Provider (ESP), and the ESP routes the emergency telephone call to a closest PSAP.

31. The system of claim 25, wherein an emergency call is manually routed to an Emergency Caller Relay Center (ECRC) based on verbal location information when location information is unverified.