METHOD AND SYSTEM OF MANAGING DISTRIBUTION OF ALERTS

• US 20130157610A1
• Filed: 08/17/2011
• Published: 06/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eVigilo Ltd.
• Original Assignee: eVigilo Ltd.
• Inventors: Vainik, Feliks, Weiss, Guy
• Granted Patent: US 9,615,233 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0781 Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/59 for emergency or urgency
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

System and method of managing distribution of alert messages to a plurality of presentation devices. The system enables receiving an alert distribution request from an alerting source, including emergency situation data and indication of an area associated with the emergency situation, creating an alert message corresponding to the alert distribution request and identifying broadcasting operators, which enable distributing the alert message in the emergency area. Once the alert message is created and the broadcasting operators are identified, the system forwards the alert message to the identified broadcasting operators. The broadcasting operators broadcast the alert message to the plurality of presentation devices such as mobile devices, TV sets, radio devices, and the like.

Claims

1. A system of managing distribution of alert messages to a plurality of presentation devices, said system comprising:

an alert receiving interface, which receives an alert distribution request from an alerting source, said alert distribution request comprises emergency situation data indicative of at least one area associated with the emergency situation;

at least one database including a list of predefined broadcasting operators, each broadcasting operator in said list is associated with at least one distribution area;

a processing module, which creates an alert message corresponding to said alert distribution request and identifies at least one broadcasting operator from said database associated with a distribution area that corresponds to at least one of said indicated at least one area; and

a transmission module, which forwards said alert message to said identified broadcasting operator so as to allow distributing said alert message to said plurality of presentation devices in said at least one area via at least one broadcasting network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said transmission module interfaces a plurality of broadcasting operators and modifies said alert message by adapting configuration of said alert message to a gateway of each of said identified broadcasting operators, each said broadcasting operator is a cellular broadcasting system enabling transmission of messages over a plurality of wireless communication links.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said alert receiving interface further enables receiving updated information, in real time, indicating current status of the emergency situation, said processing module creates new updated alert messages corresponding to said updated information, wherein said transmission module forwards said updated alert messages for being broadcasted substantially in real time through said identified broadcasting operators.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said processing module further enables identifying

alternative suitable broadcasting operators upon identifying a change in the area associated with the emergency situation from said updated information, said transmission module forwards said updated message to said alternative suitable broadcasting operators so as to be broadcasted in real time thereby.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said processing module receives status alerts from said broadcasting operator indicating transmission status of said alert message in relation to each broadcasting operator to which the alert message was transmitted, said processing module executes a backing process in response to receiving said status alerts.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one sensors unit, which detects at least one alerting condition in a predefined area, and transmits an alert distribution request to said alert receiving interface upon said detection, said alert distribution request comprises sensors data and the respective predefined area, said processing module automatically determines said broadcasting operators according to a combination of said sensors data and said predefined area.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a graphical user interface which enables a user to create said alert distribution request and to send said alert distribution request to said alert receiving interface over a communication link.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said processing module enables creating a plurality of different alert messages associated with said alert distribution request, and identifying a plurality of broadcasting operators, wherein each alert message is assigned to a different broadcasting operator, said transmission module forwards each alert message to its respective broadcasting operator for allowing broadcasting each assigned alert message through a different suitable broadcasting operator.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said processing module identifies a plurality of broadcasting operators from said database each associated with a distribution area that corresponds to one of a plurality of indicated areas associated with an emergency situation;

and said transmission module forwards said alert message to said identified plurality of broadcasting operators so as to allow distributing said alert message to said plurality of presentation devices in a plurality of corresponding distribution areas via at least one broadcasting network.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said processing module creates a plurality of alert messages, each indicative of a respective one of said plurality of areas, each said identified broadcasting operator broadcasts a respective said alert message indicative of an area corresponding to its distribution area.

11. A method of managing transmission of alert messages to a plurality of presentation devices, said method comprising:

receiving an alert distribution request from an alerting source, said alert distribution request comprises emergency situation data, indicative of an area associated with the emergency situation;

creating an alert message corresponding to said alert distribution request;

identifying at least one broadcasting operator, which enables distributing said alert message in said area;

forwarding said alert message to each said identified broadcasting operator; and

broadcasting said alert message to said plurality of presentation devices via at least one broadcasting network.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising modifying said alert message according to configuration requirements of each identified said at least one broadcasting operator.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting at least one map to a user for allowing the user to define at least one area associated with said emergency situation.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising automatically transmitting an alert distribution request, upon detection of an emergency situation.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising automatically converting textual content of said alert message into a voice message using text to speech conversion, and voicing said voice message through audio devices of said presentation devices.