Mobile device emergency service

• US 9,467,834 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2012
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Skovorn, John D., Guday, Shai, Matthews, Joseph H. III, Schrader, Joseph A., Chen, Ted Tai-Yu, Sarin, Raman K., Agarwal, Sharad, Thomas, Shawn M., Yovin, John A.
• Primary Examiner(s): SCHWARTZ, JOSHUA L
• Application Number:
  US13/726,049
• Publication Number:
  US 20130295872A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,389 Days
• Field of Search: 455/411, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

Mobile device emergency service techniques are described. In embodiments, a client device includes one or more modules implemented at least partially in hardware and configured to implement an emergency service. The emergency service configured to support operations including generating a user interface for display on a display device, receiving one or more inputs usable to form an emergency contacts list that includes a plurality of emergency contacts, and causing the emergency contacts list to be communicated to one or more other client devices for use in generating a message to be communicated automatically and without user intervention to the emergency contacts in the emergency contacts list responsive to a trigger.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for execution on a device to perform operations to implement an emergency service, the operations comprising:

providing the emergency service, wherein the emergency service is configured to manage a hub that is a private, shared space of members, the hub including shared contacts associated with the members of the hub;

receiving one or more inputs usable to form an emergency contacts list that includes a plurality of emergency contacts;

generating the emergency contacts list by;

identifying the members of the hub;

for each of the members of the hub, adding the member'"'"'s emergency contacts, from the member'"'"'s shared contacts, to the emergency contacts list;

receiving a request from a second device to generate a modified emergency contacts list, wherein the emergency contacts list contains a contact for a user associated with the second device;

responsive to receiving the request, generating the modified emergency contacts list by modifying the emergency contacts list based on the user associated with the second device, comprising;

removing the contact for the user associated with the second device from the emergency contact list; and

causing the modified emergency contacts list to be communicated to the second device.

2. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the emergency contacts are designated as a subset of the shared member contacts.

3. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the emergency service is configured to generate the emergency contacts list from shared member contacts responsive to input of an emergency contacts selectable control.

4. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the generating is performable responsive to user selection from one or more other devices to initiate display of the emergency contacts list from a lock screen without unlocking the functions of the device.

5. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 4, wherein the lock screen includes one or more of the emergency contacts displayed for user selection to initiate a phone call to a selected emergency contact.

6. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the emergency contacts are displayable as selectable controls in the emergency contacts list in the user interface and are configured for user selection to initiate a phone call to a selected emergency contact.

7. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 6, wherein each of the selectable controls are configured for the user selection to initiate the phone call to the selected emergency contact when functions of the device are locked.

8. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

generating a second modified emergency contacts list by modifying the emergency contacts list based on a user associated with a third device; and

causing the second modified emergency contacts list to be communicated to the third device.

9. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 8, wherein the second modified emergency contacts list contains one or more emergency contacts that are not contained in the modified emergency contacts list.

10. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the contacts list is communicated to one or more other devices for use in generating a message to be communicated automatically and without user intervention to the emergency contacts in the emergency contacts list responsive to a trigger.

11. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10, wherein the trigger is a phone call and the message is not a phone call.

12. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10, wherein trigger is formed using a biomedical sensor.

13. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10, wherein trigger is formed using a positional sensor.

14. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memory components comprising stored computer executable instructions which, when executed, perform operations comprising;

providing the emergency service, wherein the emergency service is configured to manage a hub that is a private, shared space of members, the hub including shared contacts associated with the members of the hub;

receiving one or more inputs usable to form an emergency contacts list that includes a plurality of emergency contacts;

generating the emergency contacts list by;

identifying the members of the hub;

for each of the members of the hub, adding the member'"'"'s emergency contacts, from the member'"'"'s shared contacts, to the emergency contacts list;

receiving a request from a second device to generate a modified emergency contacts list, wherein the emergency contacts list contains a contact for a user associated with the second device;

responsive to receiving the request, generating the modified emergency contacts list by modifying the emergency contacts list based on the user associated with the second device, comprising;

removing the contact for the user associated with the second device from the emergency contact list; and

causing the emergency contacts list to be communicated to the second client device.

15. The system of claim 14, the operations further comprising:

generating a second modified emergency contacts list by modifying the emergency contacts list based on a user associated with a third device, wherein the second modified emergency contacts list contains one or more emergency contacts that are not contained in the modified emergency contacts list; and

causing the second modified emergency contacts list to be communicated to the third device.

16. A method, comprising:

providing an emergency service, wherein the emergency service is configured to manage a hub that is a private, shared space of members, the hub including shared contacts associated with the members of the hub;

receiving one or more inputs usable to form an emergency contacts list that includes a plurality of emergency contacts;

generating the emergency contacts list by;

identifying the members of the hub;

for each of the members of the hub, adding the member'"'"'s emergency contacts, from the member'"'"'s shared contacts, to the emergency contacts list;

receiving a request from a device to generate a modified emergency contacts list wherein the emergency contacts list contains a contact for a user associated with the device;

responsive to receiving the request, generating the modified emergency contacts list by modifying the emergency contacts list based on a user associated with the device comprising;

removing the contact for the user associated with the device from the emergency contact list; and

causing the emergency contacts list to be communicated to the device.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

generating a second modified emergency contacts list by modifying the emergency contacts list based on a user associated with a second device, wherein the second modified emergency contacts list contains one or more emergency contacts that are not contained in the modified emergency contacts list; and

causing the second modified emergency contacts list to be communicated to the second device.