Ancillary data for an emergency services call

• US 9,532,387 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2015
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Inventors: Marshall, Roger Stuart, Poremba, Todd, Hellebust, Kent A.
• Primary Examiner(s): SIVJI, NIZAR N
• Application Number:
  US14/869,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20160227589A1
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A system can include an emergency call routing element comprising one or more computing devices. The emergency call routing element can be configured to provide locator key and routing information for an emergency services call initiated by an end-user device employed by a caller, wherein the routing information identifies a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The emergency call routing element can also be configured to provide a notification of the emergency services call. The system can also include an ancillary data server comprising one or more computing devices. The ancillary data server can be configured to receive the notification of the emergency services call and query an information source for information related to at least one of the end-user device and the caller in response to the notification. The ancillary data server can further be configured to provide a web service interface that outputs ancillary information that characterizes ancillary data.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an emergency call routing element comprising one or more computing devices, the emergency call routing element being configured to;

provide a locator key and routing information for an emergency services call initiated by an end-user device employed by a caller, wherein the routing information identifies a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP);

provide a notification of the emergency services call; and

an ancillary data server comprising one or more computing devices, the ancillary data server being configured to;

receive the notification of the emergency services call;

query a plurality of information sources for information related to at least one of the end-user device and the caller in response to the notification;

collate ancillary data received from each of the plurality of information sources to form ancillary information; and

provide a web service interface that outputs the ancillary information that characterizes the ancillary data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the ancillary data server is further configured to:

receive a location request for the end-user device from the PSAP; and

retrieve location information for the end-user device in response to the location request.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the location request comprises an Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) request.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the ancillary data server is further configured to:

collate the location information with the data received from the plurality of information sources.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein a given information source of the plurality of information sources provides indoor location information for the end-user device.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein a given information source of the plurality of information sources provides at least one of WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity status of the end-user device.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the ancillary data server is further configured to:

periodically re-query each of the plurality of information sources for updated ancillary data; and

re-collate the ancillary information in response to receiving updated ancillary data.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein a user terminal comprising one or more computing devices is configured to:

access the web service interface of the ancillary data server and outputs data; and

provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that outputs the ancillary information.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the user terminal is integrated with an operator terminal at the PSAP.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the user terminal operates at a secondary call center.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the ancillary information is a superset of information provided to the PSAP.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the ancillary information is updated substantially in real-time.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the emergency call routing element is further configured to:

query a location server for location information of the end-user device; and

store the location information of the end-user device in a lookup table or database that is indexed by the locator key assigned to the end-user device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the location information characterizes a course location of the end-use device and the ancillary information characterizes a fine location of the end-user device.

15. A system comprising:

an emergency call routing element comprising one or more computing devices, the emergency call routing element being configured to;

assign a locator key to an end-user device in response to receiving an indication of an emergency services call initiated by a caller employing the end-user device;

query a location server for location information for the end-user device, wherein the location information characterizes geographic coordinates of the end-user device;

determine routing information for the emergency services call based on the location information, wherein the routing information identifies a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP);

provide a notification of the emergency services call; and

an ancillary data server comprising one or more computing devices, the ancillary data server being configured to;

receive the notification of the emergency services call;

query each of a plurality of information sources for information related to at least one of the end-user device and the caller in response to the notification;

collate ancillary data provided from each of the plurality of information sources to form ancillary information characterizing information related to the end-user device and/or the caller; and

provide a web service interface that outputs the ancillary information that characterizes ancillary data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the ancillary data received from a given information source of the plurality of information sources comprises outdoor location information based on a wireless network connectivity status of the end-user device.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the ancillary data server is further configured to convert the ancillary information into the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format.

18. A method comprising:

receiving a notification of an emergency services call initiated with an end-user device by a caller, wherein the notification includes routing information for the emergency services call and a locator key assigned to the end-user device, wherein the routing information identifies a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the emergency services call;

receiving a location request from the identified Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the emergency services call;

requesting ancillary data for at least one of the caller and the end-user device from a plurality of information sources in response to the notification and the location request;

collating ancillary data provided from each of the plurality of information sources to form ancillary information related to at least one of the user and the end-user device;

generating a web service interface that outputs the ancillary information that characterizes the ancillary data.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the location request is an Automatic Location Identifier (ALI) request.