System and method for providing contact information of a mobile device to a reverse 911 database

• US 8,280,343 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2008
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ray, Amar N., Chakravarthy, Cadathur V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shedrick, Charles
• Application Number:
  US12/255,451
• Publication Number:
  US 20100099374A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,442 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/435.1, 455/432.3, 379/37, 379/59
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0075 Details of addressing, directories or routing tables
• 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 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

In one embodiment, when a mobile device is powered on, a mobile switching center acquires the contact information, such as, but not limited to, a phone number and the physical location associated with the mobile device. If the mobile device is a new device to the area, the contact information of the mobile device is passed to a reverse 911 database in order for a user of the mobile device to receive local alert messages transmitted by a reverse 911 system.

Claims

1. A method for providing contact information of a mobile device to a reverse 911 database, the method comprising:

receiving, by a data processing system at a mobile switching center, a registration request from the mobile device;

acquiring, by the data processing system, the contact information of the mobile device;

determining, by the data processing system, whether the mobile device is a new device to a wireless sub-network;

responsive to the mobile device being a new device to the wireless sub-network, passing, by the data processing system, the contact information of the mobile device from the mobile switching center to a reverse 911 database to add the contact information of the mobile device to the reverse 911 database;

requesting, by the data processing system, an acknowledgement from the reverse 911 database confirming that the reverse 911 database has been successfully updated with the contact information of the mobile device; and

receiving, at the data processing system, the acknowledgment from the reverse 911 database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the contact information of the mobile device includes acquiring the mobile directory number of the mobile device and an identifier of a base transceiver station transmitting the registration request.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the wireless sub-network in which the mobile device is located based on the identifier of the base transceiver station transmitting the registration request.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the mobile device is a new device to the wireless sub-network comprises:

querying a database to determine a last wireless sub-network in which the mobile device was detected; and

responsive to the last wireless sub-network in which the mobile device was detected being different from the wireless sub-network, identifying the mobile device as a new device to the wireless sub-network.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising responsive to identifying the mobile device as a new device to the wireless sub-network, updating a location associated with the mobile device within the database with the wireless sub-network.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising responsive to the last wireless sub-network in which the mobile device was detected being the same as the wireless sub-network, identifying the mobile device as a previously identified mobile device within the wireless sub-network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein passing the contact information of the mobile device from the mobile switching center to the reverse 911 database is performed over a public switched telephone network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein passing the contact information of the mobile device from the mobile switching center to the reverse 911 database is performed over an IP-based packet-switched network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein passing the contact information of the mobile device from the mobile switching center to the reverse 911 database is performed manually at the mobile switching center.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the reverse 911 database includes both a home location and a current location of a user of the mobile device.

11. A method for providing contact information of a mobile device to a reverse 911 database, the method comprising:

providing an optional service to consumers of mobile devices to have contact information associated with their mobile device automatically registered with a reverse 911 database in response to entering a wireless sub-network; and

responsive to a consumer selecting the optional service and entering a wireless sub-network, automatically registering the contact information of a mobile device associated with the consumer with the reverse 911 database, wherein the contact information stored in the reverse 911 database is used to notify the consumer of an alert;

requesting an acknowledgement from the reverse 911 database confirming that the reverse 911 database has been successfully updated with the contact information of the mobile device; and

receiving the acknowledgment from the reverse 911 database.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the optional service is provided by a telecom service provider.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising charging a fee to the consumer for the optional service.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein automatically registering the contact information of the mobile device associated with the consumer with the reverse 911 database includes automatically acquiring the contact information of the mobile device in response to the mobile device being powered on and passing the contact information of the mobile device to a reverse 911 database to add the contact information of the mobile device to the reverse 911 database.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising automatically re-registering the contact information of the mobile device associated with the consumer with the reverse 911 database in response to a determination that the mobile device is located within a new wireless sub-network.

16. A data processing system comprising:

a memory in communication with a processing unit, the memory containing computer usable program code; and

the processing unit operable to execute the computer usable program code to;

acquire contact information of a mobile device;

determine whether the mobile device is a new device to a wireless sub-network;

responsive to the mobile device being a new device to the wireless sub-network, pass the contact information of the mobile device to a reverse 911 database to add the contact information of the mobile device to the reverse 911 database;

request an acknowledgement from the reverse 911 database confirming that the reverse 911 database has been successfully updated with the contact information of the mobile device; and

receive the acknowledgment from the reverse 911 database.

17. The data processing system of claim 16, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to pass the contact information of the mobile device from a mobile switching center to the reverse 911 database over a public switched telephone network.

18. The data processing system of claim 16, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to pass the contact information of the mobile device from a mobile switching center to the reverse 911 database over an IP-based packet-switched network.