System and method for providing centralized management and distribution of information to remote users

• US 9,293,030 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2013
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United States Postal Service (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: United States Postal Service (Government of the United States of America)
• Inventors: Mendonca, Pat, Pruett, Jonathan C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pollack, Melvin H
• Application Number:
  US14/069,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20140055242A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/00 Alarm systems in which the alarm condition is signalled from a central station to a plurality of substations
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 27/006 with transmission via telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

The invention includes systems, methods, and software applications for centrally maintaining information and automatically distributing relevant portions of the information to remote users. In one embodiment, a central server stores the information, which is maintained on the central server. Periodically, or each time the server information is updated, the server identifies the portion of the information that is relevant to each user and downloads the relevant portion of information to each user, for example to a mobile device such as a Blackberry™. The invention may be used to maintain and timely distribute information related to emergency response procedures, sales or servicing schedules, and delivery schedules, among other things.

Claims

1. A method for receiving distributed centralized emergency response information, the method comprising:

receiving, at a device associated with a user, emergency response information after the emergency response information is updated in a central data storage apparatus, the emergency response information being relevant to the user and transmitted to the user automatically based on access rights of the user corresponding to a level and an area of responsibility of the user;

storing the information locally; and

presenting the stored emergency response information to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency response information is a subset of emergency response information from a set of emergency response information regarding an organization.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency response information includes an emergency response procedure or an updated portion of an emergency response procedure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency response information includes instructions, tasks, contact lists, or emergency planning information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the instructions include identifying an alternative work site.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the alternative work site is identified because of an emergency.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the emergency response information is received periodically regardless of whether the emergency response information has changed, and wherein the device is a Blackberry®

device, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, or a home computer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor in the device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the user downloading the emergency response information on demand.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the user updating the emergency response information; and

storing the updated emergency response information in the central data storage apparatus.

11. A method for providing centralized management and distribution of emergency response information to users, the method comprising:

storing emergency response information regarding an organization and access rights for a plurality of users to the emergency response information in a central data storage apparatus with the plurality of users collectively having a plurality of levels and a plurality of areas of responsibility in the organization and each individually having at least one of the plurality of levels and at least one of the plurality of areas of responsibility in the organization;

accepting an update to the information by the central apparatus;

determining a portion of the information that is relevant to a user and is allowed to be transmitted to the user by the user'"'"'s access rights; and

transmitting a selected portion of the emergency response information in the central apparatus to the user.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the selected portion of the emergency response information transmitted to the user is a subset of emergency response information from a set of emergency response information corresponding to the user'"'"'s responsibility in the organization.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the emergency response information includes an emergency response procedure or an updated portion of an emergency response procedure.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the emergency response information includes instructions, tasks, contact lists, or emergency planning information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the instructions include identifying an alternative work site.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the alternative work site is identified because of an emergency.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the emergency response information is transmitted periodically regardless of whether the emergency response information has changed.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the method is implemented on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor in a centralized server that is in communication with or contains the central data storage apparatus.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting the emergency response information when demanded by a user.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the transmitting of the emergency response information is performed using a wireless communications link.