Systems and methods for providing contacts in emergency situation

• US 8,385,879 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2009
• Issued: 02/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Thomas, Christopher Harvey
• Primary Examiner(s): Afshar, Kamran
• Assistant Examiner(s): Iqbal, Khawar
• Application Number:
  US12/534,797
• Publication Number:
  US 20110028118A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/414.1, 455/418, 455/425, 455/401, 379/37, 379/45
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/27467 Methods of retrieving data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72418 for supporting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications

Abstract

A system, a method, and a computer readable storage medium are disclosed for providing emergent contacts by a mobile computing device to a user when such contacts are likely to be desirable by the user. The emergent contacts are selected by the user and can be optionally assigned quick keys on a key pad of the mobile computing device. After an emergent phone call was made using the mobile computing device, the emergent contacts are retrieved and displayed for user selection. When an emergent contact is selected, a phone call to the selected contact is initiated by the mobile computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing emergency contact information on a computing device, comprising:

detecting an emergency phone call that is made using a phone application;

in response to detecting termination of the emergency phone call, (i) retrieving one or more emergency contact information from a memory resource of the computing device, and (ii) presenting the one or more emergency contact information on a display of the computing device;

enabling a user to select one of the one or more emergency contact information; and

in response to the user selecting one of the one or more emergency contact information, initiating a phone call using the selected one of the one or more emergency contact information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the one or more emergency contact information on the display of the computing device comprises displaying the one or more emergency contact information on a dialog box until either the dialog box is affirmatively dismissed or the step of initiating a phone call using the selected emergency contact information is initiated.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more emergency contact information comprises three contacts, the three contacts being assigned to quick keys ‘

I’

, ‘

C’

, and ‘

E’

in a keypad of the computing device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically transmitting a pre-populated message based on the one or more emergency contact information responsive to termination of the emergency phone call.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the pre-populated message includes geographic location information of the computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency phone call is a 9-1-1 call.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting termination of the emergency phone call using the phone application comprises determining an emergency number based on a geographic location of the computing device and an international emergency number list comprising emergency numbers and associated geographic locations.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically transmitting a message containing information about the emergency phone call based on the selected one or more emergency contact information responsive to detecting termination of the emergency phone call.

9. A mobile computing device for providing pre-designated contacts, comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium to store instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to provide;

an emergency phone call determination module for detecting an emergency phone call that is made using a phone application;

an emergency contact information display module that operates to;

in response to detecting termination of the emergency phone call, (i) retrieve one or more emergency contact information from a memory resource of the mobile computing device, and (ii) present the one or more emergency contact information on a display of the mobile computing device; and

a communication module that operates to;

enable a user to select one of the one or more emergency contact information; and

initiate a phone call using the selected one of the one or more emergency contact information.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 9, wherein the emergency phone call determination module detects termination of the emergency phone call by determining a geographic location of the mobile computing device based on an international emergency number list comprising emergency numbers and associated geographic locations.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 9, wherein the communication module operates to transmit a message containing information about the emergency phone call to the pre-designated contacts in response to termination of the emergency phone call.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 9, wherein the emergency contact information display module operates to present the retrieved one or more emergency contact information on a dialog box until the dialog box is affirmatively dismissed or the communication to said pre-designated contact is initiated.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform steps comprising:

detecting an emergency phone call that is made using a phone application of a computing device;

in response to detecting termination of the emergency phone call, (i) retrieving one or more emergency contact information from a memory resource of the computing device, and (ii) presenting the one or more emergency contact information on a display of the computing device;

enabling a user to select one of the one or more emergency contact information; and

in response to the user selecting one of the one or more emergency contact information, initiating a phone call using the selected one of the one or more emergency contact information.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the processor to detect the termination of the emergency phone call by determining an emergency phone number based on a geographic location of the computing device and an international emergency number list comprising emergency numbers and associated geographic locations.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

automatically transmit a message containing information about the emergency phone call based on the one or more emergency contact information responsive to detection of the event.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the processor to present the one or more emergency contact information by displaying the one or more emergency contact information on a dialog box until the dialog box is affirmatively dismissed or the communication to said pre-designated contact is initiated.