Processing and reporting situational information to emergency service providers

• US 10,070,294 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2007
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intrado Life & Safety Incorporated
• Original Assignee: West Corporation
• Inventors: Waters, Michael Blayne, Brandt, Leslie Ann, Bruening, Gregory Wilfred, Ertz, Douglas John, Snapp, John Lawrence, Despot, Jr., Pavel
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mohammed, Assad
• Application Number:
  US11/851,722
• Publication Number:
  US 20090067584A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,015 Days
• Field of Search: 379 37- 51
• 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

Abstract

A system and method for processing and reporting situational information to emergency service providers in an emergency service communications network is disclosed. An emergency situation is monitored. Responsive to detecting the emergency situation, information relating to the emergency situation is collected. Then, the information is processed and stored in a database. The processed information is then reported to emergency service providers.

Claims

1. A method for processing and reporting situational information to emergency service providers, the method comprising:

monitoring for an emergency situation;

responsive to detecting the emergency situation, collecting, from a cellular phone, information relating to the detected emergency situation, wherein the collecting of the information comprises instructing a caller to use a short code to send a message having multi-media information comprising one or more of video, sound, and images of the emergency situation to the emergency service providers and instructing one or more cameras of one or more mobile devices in a specific geographic area to send captured traffic and vehicle information;

identifying a location of the caller based on the telephone number and by leveraging a geographical information system and a global position system;

identifying a closest public safety answering point to the location;

when the closest public safety answering point to the location is available, sending the multi-media information of the message to the closest public safety answering point;

when the closest public safety answering point to the location is not available, sending the multi-media information of the message to an available public safety answering point;

storing and processing the information in a database, wherein the processing of the information comprises identifying a telephone number of the caller, and storing the telephone number of the caller and the multi-media information in the database; and

reporting the processed information to the emergency service providers when the telephone number of the caller matches a telephone number identified by the emergency service providers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting of the emergency situation comprises:

receiving an emergency call from the cellular phone of the caller.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the collecting of the information relating to the emergency situation comprises:

routing the message to a multi-media messaging carrier;

routing the message from the multi-media messaging carrier to a multi-media messaging system aggregator via a packet data servicing node; and

forwarding the message from the multi-media messaging system aggregator to the database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting of the processed information to the emergency service providers comprises:

receiving a query from a public safety answering point, the query comprising a telephone number;

comparing the telephone number with a plurality of telephone numbers in the database;

determining whether a match exists between the telephone number and at least one of the plurality of telephone numbers; and

sending the multi-media information of the message to the public safety answering point when a match exists.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reporting of the processed information to the emergency service providers comprises:

receiving a query from a public safety answering point for relevant multi-media information; and

returning all multi-media information associated from the database to the public safety answer point.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring for the emergency situation comprises:

instructing at least one camera at a geographical location to capture traffic and vehicle information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the collecting of the information relating to the emergency situation comprises:

recognizing the emergency situation based on the captured traffic and vehicle information; and

storing vehicle information associated with the emergency situation to the database.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the processing of the information from the database comprises:

identifying at least one license from the vehicle information;

comparing the at least one license with a plurality of licenses in the database; and

determining whether a match exists between the at least one license and at least one of the plurality of licenses.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reporting of the processed information to the emergency service providers comprises:

locating a public safety answering point located closest to the at least one camera; and

sending corresponding vehicle information to the public safety answering point when a match of license or vehicle description exists.

10. A communications network configured to process and report situational information to emergency service providers, comprising:

at least one mobile unit used by a caller;

at least one multi-media messaging carrier communicably coupled to the at least one mobile unit;

at least one multi-media messaging system aggregator;

at least one public safety answering point; and

at least one multi-media clearing house comprising at least one database, the at least one multi-media clearing house configured to;

monitor for an emergency situation,

collect, from the at least one mobile unit, information relating to the emergency situation,

identify, via a communicably coupled geographical location server, a location of the caller based on the telephone number and by leveraging a geographical information system and a global position system,

identify a closest public safety answering point to the location,

when the closest public safety answering point to the location is available, send the multi-media information of the message to the closest public safety answering point,

when the closest public safety answering point to the location is not available, send the multi-media information of the message to an available public safety answering point,

store and process the information in the at least one database, wherein the processing of the information comprises identifying a telephone number of the caller, and store the telephone number of the caller and the multi-media information in the database, and

report the processed information to the at least one public safety answering point when a telephone number of the caller matches a telephone number identified by the at least one public safety answering point, wherein

the collecting of the information comprises instructing the caller to use a short code to send a message having multi-media information comprising one or more of video, sound, and images of the emergency situation to the emergency service providers and instructing one or more cameras of one or more mobile device in a specific geographic area to send captured traffic and vehicle information to the emergency service providers.

11. The communications network of claim 10, wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house is further configured to route the message to the at least one multi-media messaging carrier, route the message from the at least one multi-media messaging carrier to the at least one multi-media messaging system aggregator via a packet data servicing node, and forward the message from the at least one multi-media messaging system aggregator to the at least one database.

12. The communications network of claim 10, wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house is further configured to receive a query from the at least one public safety answering point, the query comprising a telephone number, compare the telephone number with a plurality of telephone numbers in the at least one database, determine whether a match exists between the telephone number and at least one of the plurality of telephone numbers, and send the multi-media information of the message to the at least one public safety answering point when a match exists.

13. The communication network of claim 10, wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house is further configured to receive a query from the at least one public safety answering point for all relevant multi-media information and return all multi-media information associated from the database to the at least one public safety answer point.

14. A communications network configured to process and report situational information to emergency service providers, comprising:

at least one traffic camera configured to capture traffic and vehicle information at a geographical location;

at least one public safety answering point; and

at least one multi-media clearing house comprising at least one database, the at least one multi-media clearing house being configured to;

monitor for an emergency situation,

collect, from a mobile device, information relating to the emergency situation,

identify, via a communicably coupled geographical location server, a location of the caller based on the telephone number and by leveraging a geographical information system and a global position system,

identify a closest public safety answering point to the location,

when the closest public safety answering point to the location is available, send the multi-media information of the message to the closest public safety answering point,

when the closest public safety answering point to the location is not available, send the multi-media information of the message to an available public safety answering point,

store and process the information in the at least one database, wherein the processing of the information comprises identifying a telephone number of the caller, and storing the telephone number of the caller and the multi-media information in the database, and

report the processed information to the at least one public safety answering point when a telephone number of the caller matches a telephone number identified by the public safety answering point,

wherein the collecting of the information comprises instructing a caller to use a short code to send a message having multi-media information comprising one or more of video, sound, and images of the emergency situation to the emergency service providers, and

the at least one multi-media clearing house is further configured to instruct at least one camera of at least one mobile device at the geographical location to capture traffic and vehicle information.

15. The communications network of claim 14, wherein the at least one multi-media clearing house is further configured to identify at least one license from the vehicle information, compare the at least one license with a plurality of licenses in the at least one database, and determine whether a match exists between the at least one license and at least one of the plurality of licenses.