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

• US 8,559,912 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• 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): Ajibade Akonai, Olumide T
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOLLIDAY, JAIME MICHELE
• Application Number:
  US13/779,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20130178184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 229 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/435.1
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• 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 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/00 Network data management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

A system and method for registering the contact information of mobile devices with a service 911 service is presented. In one embodiment, a mobile switching center receives the contact information of a mobile device. If the mobile switching center determines that the mobile device is not located within a particular wireless sub-network, such as, but not limited to, a wireless sub-network associated with an area code registered to the mobile device, the mobile switching center generates a reverse 911 registration text message and transmits the reverse 911 registration text message to the mobile device. A user of the mobile device may then transmit the reverse 911 registration text message to a local reverse 911 database to have the contact information associated with the mobile device added to the local reverse 911 database.

Claims

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

receiving identifying information associated with a mobile device at a mobile switching center;

determining whether the mobile device is within a particular wireless sub-network;

responsive to the mobile device not being within the particular wireless sub-network, generating a message for providing contact information of the mobile device to the reverse 911 database;

determining an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of the reverse 911 database for contacting the reverse 911 database over an IP-based packet-switching network; and

transmitting the message to the mobile device and the IP address to the mobile device, the text message being configured to cause the reverse 911 database to add the contact information to the reverse 911 database in response to the mobile device sending the contact information to the reverse 911 database over the IP-based packet-switching network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

incorporating the IP address in the message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is a text message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the identifying information associated with the mobile device at the mobile switching center comprises acquiring a mobile directory number of the mobile device and an identifier associated with a base transceiver station communicating with the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the mobile device is within the particular wireless sub-network comprises determining whether the mobile device is within a wireless sub-network of an area code associated with the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising responsive to the mobile device being within the particular wireless sub-network, terminating the method.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying information comprises the contact information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the message for providing the contact information of the mobile device to the reverse 911 database includes incorporating in the message predefined text, the contact information of the mobile device, and the IP address into the text message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the message includes a request for additional user provided information.

10. A method for providing contact information associated with a mobile device to a reverse 911 database, the method comprising:

providing, with the mobile device, identifying information to a mobile switching center;

receiving, by the mobile device, a message from the mobile switching center and an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of the reverse 911 database for contacting the reverse 911 database over an IP-based packet-switching network;

transmitting the contact information associated with the mobile device to the reverse 911 database over the IP-based packet-switching network;

receiving reverse 911 alert messages that are sent using the reverse 911 database,

wherein the identifying information comprises the contact information associated with the mobile device, and wherein the message comprises the contact information associated with the mobile device;

and further receiving an acknowledgement that the contact information associated with the mobile device was successfully added to the local reverse 911 database.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving, from a user of the mobile device, additional information to add to the contact information.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying the message for a user; and

receiving user input to send the contact information to the reverse 911 database;

wherein the contact information is transmitted in response to the user input.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the message from the mobile switching center is a text message.

14. 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;

receive identifying information associated with a mobile device at a mobile switching center;

determine whether the mobile device is within a particular wireless sub-network;

responsive to the mobile device not being within the particular wireless sub-network, generate a message for providing contact information of the mobile device to the reverse 911 database;

determine an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of the reverse 911 database for contacting the reverse 911 database over an IP-based packet-switching network; and

transmit the message to the mobile device and the IP address to the mobile device, the text message being configured to cause the reverse 911 database to add the contact information to the reverse 911 database in response to the mobile device sending the contact information to the reverse 911 database over the IP-based packet-switching network.

15. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to:

incorporate the IP address in the message.

16. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein the message comprises the contact information.

17. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein the message is a text message.

18. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to determine whether the mobile device is within a wireless sub-network of an area code associated with the mobile device.