Safety notification service

• US 9,183,594 B1
• Filed: 01/28/2015
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Sander, David R., Ramirez, Philip Peter, Loo, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Washington, Erika A
• Application Number:
  US14/607,950
• Time in Patent Office: 286 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• 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]

Abstract

An automated safety notification system is proposed herein in which one or more safe zone access points may be physically deployed to one or more safe zones associated with a disaster area. If a person with a mobile phone or other mobile device enters the safe zone, the safe zone access point may detect the presence of the mobile device and perform certain functions in response to the detection. For example, the safe zone access point may initiate contact of a predetermined plurality of contacts that the person may have already designated before the disaster. The safe zone access point may also be used to initiate an insurance claim.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by at least one computing device, a disaster area;

receiving, by the at least one computing device, an indication that a wireless sensor has detected a presence of a mobile device in a safe zone;

determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the mobile device is associated with a person who resides in the disaster area or who has property in the disaster area; and

responsive to a determination that the mobile device is associated with the person who resides in the disaster area or who has property in the disaster area, causing, by the at least one computing device, a message to be sent to a plurality of contacts.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the plurality of contacts based on an identity of the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device and prior to the determining the disaster area, data identifying the plurality of contacts.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the person is an emergency responder, wherein the sending the message to the plurality of contacts is performed also responsive to determining that the person is not an emergency responder.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the disaster area comprises determining the disaster area based on a plurality of insurance claims.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

physically deploying at least one additional device to the safe zone, wherein the at least one additional device comprises a wireless sensor that performs the receiving.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising using data received from the mobile device and the at least one additional device to initiate an insurance claim.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the mobile device is associated with the person comprises using predetermined profile data associated with the person.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the plurality of contacts based on an age of the person.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the disaster area comprises determining the disaster area based on a designation by a governmental agency.

11. A system, comprising:

an access point comprising at least one computing device and at least one wireless sensor, the access point being configured to wirelessly detect a presence of a mobile device in a safe zone, and to send a message over a network indicating the detected presence; and

one or more computing devices communicatively coupled to the access point via the network, the one or more computing devices being configured to determine a disaster area, receive the message, determine whether the mobile device is associated with a person who resides in the disaster area or who has property in the disaster area, and, if so, send a message to a plurality of contacts.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the access point is configured to wirelessly communicate with the mobile device to initiate an insurance claim.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to select the plurality of contacts based on an identity of the mobile device.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to receive data identifying the plurality of contacts, associate the data with the mobile device, and after the receiving, determine the disaster area.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to send the message to the plurality of contacts if it is determined that the mobile device is not associated with a person who is an emergency responder.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more computing device are configured to determine the disaster area based on a plurality of insurance claims.

17. A method, comprising:

determining, by at least one computing device, a disaster area;

receiving, by the at least one computing device, an indication that a wireless sensor has detected a presence of a mobile device in a safe zone;

determining, by the at least one computing device, that the mobile device is associated with a person who is not an emergency responder, who does not reside in the disaster area, and who does not have property in the disaster area; and

responsive to a determination that the person is not an emergency responder, does not reside in the disaster area, and does not have property in the disaster area, causing, by the at least one computing device, a message to be sent to a plurality of contacts.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining the plurality of contacts based on an identity of the mobile device.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising determining an age of the person, wherein the determining the plurality of contacts comprises determining the plurality of contacts based on the age of the person and the identity of the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

physically deploying at least one additional device to the safe zone, wherein the at least one additional device comprises the wireless sensor.