SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOCATION MANAGEMENT AND EMERGENCY SUPPORT FOR A VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL DEVICE

• US 20080101552A1
• Filed: 11/01/2006
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RingCentral Incorporated
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dailey, Robert F., Qiu, Chaoxin, Khan, Richard L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,531,995 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4535 using an address exchange platform which sets up a session between two nodes, e.g. rendezvous servers, session initiation protocols [SIP] registrars or H.323 gatekeepers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1096 Supplementary features, e.g. call forwarding or call holding systems providing special services or facilities to telephony subscribers H04M3/42
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Example systems and methods to manage location information for emergency services support of an internet protocol (“IP”) communication device are disclosed. A disclosed example method involves determining a geographic location change status associated with the IP device. A message is then forwarded to the IP device based on the geographic location change status requesting a user to confirm whether a registered geographic location associated with the IP device is a current geographic location of the IP device.

Claims

1. A method of managing location information for emergency service support of an internet protocol communication device, comprising:

determining a geographic location change status associated with the internet protocol device; and

forwarding a message to the internet protocol device based on the geographic location change status requesting a user to confirm whether a registered geographic location associated with the internet protocol device is a current geographic location of the internet protocol device.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining the geographic location change status comprises:

obtaining a first internet protocol address associated with the internet protocol device;

obtaining a second internet protocol address associated with the internet protocol device; and

comparing the first and second internet protocol addresses.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein the first internet protocol address is assigned to a network access device providing Internet access to the internet protocol device.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the geographic location change status indicates that the internet protocol device may have been moved from the registered geographic location to a second geographic location.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the message is configured to enable the internet protocol device to present the registered geographic location.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising setting an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on the geographic location change status.

7. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein setting the operating mode comprises enabling the internet protocol device to access substantially all communication services associated with a service subscription of the internet protocol device.

8. A method as defined in claim 6, wherein setting the operating mode comprises restricting the internet protocol device to a subset of communication services associated with a service subscription of the internet protocol device.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether an emergency service can be provided to the internet protocol device; and

setting an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on whether the emergency service can be provided to the internet protocol device, wherein setting the operating mode comprises restricting the internet protocol device to a subset of communication services associated with a service subscription of the internet protocol device.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining whether the internet protocol device is eligible for nomadic operation, and denying access to at least one service if the internet protocol device is not eligible for nomadic operation.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the message is an audio message.

12. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising changing an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on a user response to the message.

13. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising forwarding another message via the internet protocol device indicating at least one of the operating mode or a reason for setting the operating mode.

14. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the internet protocol device is a voice over internet protocol telephone.

15. A system to manage location information for emergency service support of an internet protocol communication device, the system comprising:

an internet protocol address interface configured to receive a first internet protocol address associated with the internet protocol device;

a comparator configured to compare the first internet protocol address with a second internet protocol address; and

a user interface configured to forward a message to the internet protocol device.

16. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the message requests a user to confirm whether a registered geographic location associated with the internet protocol device is a current geographic location of the internet protocol device.

17. A system as defined in claim 16, wherein the message is configured to enable the internet protocol device to present the registered geographic location.

18. A system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a data structure configured to store the second internet protocol address.

19. A system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a mode selector responsive to the comparator to set an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device.

20. A system as defined in claim 19, wherein the mode selector is configured to change the operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on a user response to the message.

21. A system as defined in claim 19, wherein the mode selector is configured to set the operating mode to restrict the internet protocol device to access a subset of communication services associated with a service subscription of the internet protocol device when a registered geographic location associated with the internet protocol device is different from a current geographic location associated with the internet protocol device.

22. A system as defined in claim 19, further comprising an emergency service verifier configured to determine whether an emergency service can be provided to the internet protocol device, wherein the mode selector is configured to set an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on whether the emergency service can be provided to the internet protocol device, and wherein setting the operating mode comprises restricting the internet protocol device to a subset of communication services associated with a service subscription of the internet protocol device.

23. A system as defined in claim 15, further comprising a services interface configured to determine whether the internet protocol device is eligible for nomadic use and to cause access denial to at least one service if the internet protocol device is not eligible for nomadic use.

24. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the second internet protocol address is associated with a geographic location within which the internet protocol device was located prior to being associated with the first internet protocol address.

25. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the first internet protocol device is a voice over internet protocol telephone.

26. A system as defined in claim 15, wherein the user interface is further configured to instruct the user to navigate to an internet location to update a registered geographic location associated with the internet protocol device.

27. A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:

obtain a first internet protocol address associated with a current geographic location of an internet protocol device;

obtain a second internet protocol address associated with a registered geographic location of the internet protocol device;

when the first and second internet protocol addresses match, enable the internet protocol device to access substantially all communication services associated with a service subscription corresponding to the internet protocol device; and

when the first and second internet protocol addresses do not match, restrict the internet protocol device to access a subset of the communication services.

28. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 27 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to forward a message to the internet protocol device requesting a user to confirm whether the registered geographic location is the same as the current geographic location of the internet protocol device.

29. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 28, wherein the message is configured to enable the internet protocol device to present the registered geographic location.

30. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 28 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to select an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on a response from the user to the message.

31. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 27 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to:

determine whether an emergency service can be provided to the internet protocol device; and

set an operating mode associated with the internet protocol device based on whether the emergency service can be provided to the internet protocol device, wherein setting the operating mode comprises restricting the internet protocol device to a subset of communication services associated with a service subscription of the internet protocol device.

32. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 27 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to instruct the user to access a web page to update the registered geographic location based on a comparison of the first and second internet protocol addresses.

33. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 27, wherein the internet protocol device is a voice over internet protocol telephone.

34. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 27 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to determine whether the internet protocol device is eligible for nomadic operation and to deny access to at least one service if the internet protocol device is not eligible for nomadic operation.