Address validation for personal emergency response systems

• US 8,929,912 B1
• Filed: 04/14/2011
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Bates, Peter Charles, Chitre, Monica Anilkumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Ng, Fan
• Application Number:
  US13/087,088
• Time in Patent Office: 1,363 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-466
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5116 for emergency applications
• 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]

Abstract

A server verifies that an address of record for a personal emergency response (PERS) device is in agreement with a current address of the PERS device. The PERS device has a docking station and a wearable unit. At start-up, the docking station places a call to the server and the server receives coordinates of the wearable unit. The coordinates are reverse-mapped into the current address and compared with the address of record. If the current address and the address of record differ, the address of record is updated to reflect the current address.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a moveable landline device and at a server, a Voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) telephone call, the moveable landline device being connected to a VoIP adapter that is configured to provide the moveable landline device with a telephony service over the Internet;

responsive to obtaining a telephone number associated with an origin of the telephone call, obtaining an address associated with the moveable landline device;

when the telephone call is received, requesting a verification for the address associated with the moveable landline device from a wireless network servicing a wireless device within proximity of the moveable landline device;

receiving, from the wireless network, address information for a location of the wireless device responsive to the address verification request; and

comparing the address information for the location of the wireless device with the address associated with the moveable landline device to determine whether or not the address of the moveable landline device is accurate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the moveable landline device and the wireless device are associated with a personal emergency response system;

the moveable landline device is a docking station and the wireless device is a wearable unit; and

the docking station includes a low-power radio transceiver for communication with the wearable unit when wearable unit is not docked in the docking station.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the adapter includes a VoIP Analog Terminal Adaptor having an assigned telephone number and configured to provide the moveable landline device with telephone service; and

the assigned telephone number of the adaptor remains the same as the adaptor is moved from one address to another.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the telephone call includes receiving the telephone call at a startup of the moveable landline device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the address associated with the moveable landline device includes:

obtaining from the telephone call an identifier separate from the telephone number and associated with the origin of the telephone call; and

referencing a database to identify an address associated with the identifier.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the identifier comprises an Automatic Number Identification (ANI).

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the identifier comprises caller Identification (caller ID).

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising subsequent to connection of the telephone call, receiving from the moveable landline device and at the server, a request for validation of an address associated with the moveable landline device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the request for validation is triggered by powering up of the moveable landline device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the moveable landline device comprises a wearable unit and a docking station;

and wherein the request for validation is triggered by docking of the wearable unit with the docking station.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the request for validation is triggered by the passage of a predetermined period of time.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving from the wireless network the address information for the location of the wireless device comprises:

receiving, in a central processing system, a call from the moveable landline device and receiving coordinates, obtained from a global positioning system (GPS), of a wearable unit in radio communication with the moveable landline device; and

reverse-mapping the received coordinates into a current address of the moveable landline device.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving from the wireless network the address information for the location of the wireless device includes receiving from the wireless network an address associated with a radio base station servicing the wireless device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein when it is determined from comparing the address information for the location of the wireless device with the address associated with the moveable landline device that the address associated with the moveable landline device is inaccurate, the method further comprises:

requesting a user of the wireless device to provide accurate address information; and

updating the address with the moveable landline device to include accurate address information provided by the user in response to the request to provide the accurate address information.

15. An article of manufacture, comprising:

at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium; and

programming instructions embodied in the at least one medium for execution by one or more computers, wherein the programming instructions configures the one or more computers to be capable of performing functions, the functions comprising;

receiving, from a moveable landline device and at the one or more computers, a Voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) telephone call, the moveable landline device being connected to a VoIP adapter that is configured to provide the moveable landline device with a telephony service over the Internet;

responsive to obtaining a telephone number associated with an origin of the telephone call, obtaining an address associated with the moveable landline device;

when the telephone call is received, requesting a verification for the address associated with the moveable landline device from a wireless network servicing a wireless device within proximity of the moveable landline device;

receiving, from the wireless network, address information for a location of the wireless device responsive to the address verification request; and

comparing the address information for the location of the wireless device with the address associated with the moveable landline device to determine whether or not the address of the moveable landline device is accurate.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein obtaining the address associated with the moveable landline device includes:

obtaining from the telephone call an identifier separate from the telephone number and associated with the origin of the telephone call; and

referencing a database to identify an address associated with the identifier.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15, the functions further comprising:

subsequent to connection of the telephone call, receiving from the moveable landline device and at the server, a request for validation of an address associated with the moveable landline device.

18. A system comprising at least one server, the at least one server comprising:

an interface for communication through a network;

a processor for controlling operations of the at least one server, including communications through the interface;

storage for user records and programming executable by the processor, wherein the programming configures the processor so that the system is capable of implementing functions including functions to;

receive, from a moveable landline device and at the at least one server, a Voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) telephone call, the moveable landline device being connected to a VoIP adapter that is configured to provide the moveable landline device with a telephony service over the Internet;

responsive to a telephone number associated with an origin of the telephone call, obtain an address associated with the moveable landline device;

when the telephone call is received, request an address verification for the moveable landline device from a wireless network servicing a wireless device within proximity of the moveable landline device;

receive, from the wireless network, address information for a location of the wireless device responsive to the address verification request; and

compare the address information for the location of the wireless device with the address associated with the moveable landline device to determine whether or not the address of the moveable landline device is accurate.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein obtaining the address associated with the moveable landline device includes:

obtaining from the telephone call an identifier separate from the telephone number and associated with the origin of the telephone call; and

referencing a database to identify an address associated with the identifier.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the implemented functions further include functions to:

subsequent to connection of the telephone call, receiving from the moveable landline device and at the server, a request for validation of an address associated with the moveable landline device.