PSAP CAPABILITIES DEFINING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HANDLING EMERGENCY TEXT MESSAGING

• US 20100002846A1
• Filed: 10/24/2008
• Published: 01/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morrill, Robert J., Coppage, Carl M., Ray, Amar N., Greene, Lynn T.
• Granted Patent: US 9,025,734 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/37
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• 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 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• 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 52/0261 managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0296 switching to a backup power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A system and method for routing an emergency data message to a PSAP may include receiving an emergency data message and cell code identifier indicative of a location of a wireless communications device of a user. A PSAP local to the user may be selected, and the emergency data message is sent to the selected PSAP. The location may be a centralized network location associated with an emergency network address, where the emergency network address is an easy address for users to remember.

Claims

1. A method for touting an emergency data message to a public safety answering point (PSAP), said method comprising:

receiving an emergency data message and cell code identifier indicative of a location of a wireless communications device of a user;

selecting a PSAP local to the user to send the emergency data message; and

sending the emergency data message to the selected PSAP.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein selecting a PSAP local to the user includes selecting the closest PSAP to the user.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining communications capabilities of at least one PSAP local to the user;

determining an emergency message type of emergency data message; and

wherein selecting a PSAP local to the user includes selecting a PSAP that has communications capabilities compatible with receiving the emergency data message type.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein selecting a PSAP local to the user prioritizes communications capabilities over relative distance that the PSAP is from the user.

5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

receiving a mobile directory number associated with the wireless communications device; and

using at least a portion of the mobile directory number to determine a possible network exchange location of the user.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a communications network type to which the selected PSAP is connected; and

communicating the emergency data message over a communications network that the emergency data message is most compatible.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein if the communications network type is determined to be limited to the public switched telephone network, communicating the emergency data message is communicated to a text-to-speech network node for playing speech representative of text in the emergency data message to an operator at the selected PSAP.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising including a preamble message to the emergency data message for notifying the operator of the emergency data message type.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving an emergency data message includes receiving a text message.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a telephone number at the selected PSAP; and

wherein sending emergency data message includes sending the emergency data message to the determined telephone number.

11. A system for routing an emergency data message to a public safety answering point (PSAP), said system comprising:

a memory;

an input/output (I/O) unit;

a processing unit in communication with said memory and I/O unit, and configured to;

receive an emergency data message and cell code identifier indicative of a location of a wireless communications device of a user;

select a PSAP local to the user to send the emergency data message; and

send the emergency data message to the selected PSAP.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processing unit is configured to select the closest PSAP to the user.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

determine communications capabilities of at least one PSAP local to the user;

determine an emergency message type of emergency data message; and

select a PSAP that has communications capabilities compatible with receiving the emergency data message type.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein said processing unit, in selecting a PSAP local to the user, is configured to prioritize communications capabilities over relative distance that the PSAP is from the user.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

receive a mobile directory number associated with the wireless communications device; and

use at least a portion of the mobile directory number to determine a possible network exchange location of the user.

16. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

determine a communications network type to which the selected PSAP is connected; and

communicate the emergency data message over a communications network that the emergency data message is most compatible.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein if the communications network type is determined to be limited to the public switched telephone network, said processing unit is further configured to communicate the emergency data message to a text-to-speech network node for playing speech representative of text in the emergency data message to an operator at the selected PSAP.

18. The system according to claim 17, further wherein said processing unit is further configured to include a preamble message to the emergency data message for notifying the operator of the emergency data message type.

19. The system according to claim 16, wherein said processing unit is further configured to perform a protocol translation to convert the emergency data message format into a format understood by the nearest PSAP.

20. The system according to claim 11, wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

determine a telephone number at the selected PSAP; and

send the emergency data message to the determined telephone number.