(12)
`
`United States Patent
`Markowitz et al.
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,295,346 B1
`Sep. 25, 2001
`
`US006295346B1
`
`(54) AUTOMATED EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION
`SYSTEM
`
`(75) Inventors: Robert Edward Markowitz, Glen
`Rock; Kenneth H- Rosen, Middletown;
`Steven Charles Salimando, Little
`Silver, all of NJ (US)
`
`(73) Assrgnee: AT&T Corp., NeW York, NY (US)
`
`( T ) Notice:
`
`subject_to any disclaimer>_ the term of this
`Patent 15 extended or adlusted under 35
`U'S'C' 154(k)) by 0 days'
`
`(21) App1-N0-109/114,704
`.
`_
`Jul' 13’ 1998
`(22) Flled'
`(
`)
`/
`51
`Int. Cl.7 .................................................. .. H04M 15 00
`(52) us. Cl. ............. .. 379/127.01; 379/120; 379/142.07;
`379/45
`(58) Field of Search ............................ .. 379/88.19—88.21
`3790323 120 127 142 354 40 45’
`51 88_01_8’8_02’ 932,4 37149. 255/415’
`’
`’
`’
`’
`References Cited
`
`(56)
`
`U-S~ PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,920,560 * 4/1990 Kageyama .................... .. 379/10014
`5,195,126 * 3/1993 Carrier et al.
`........ .. 379/45
`5,438,615 * 8/1995 Moen ................................. .. 379/144
`
`5,563,931 * 10/1996 Bishop et a1. ..................... .. 455/404
`5,608,786 * 3/1997 Gordon .
`5,717,742 * 2/1998 Hyde-Thomson ................... .. 379/88
`5,862,485 * 1/1999 Linneweh, Jr. et al.
`.. 455/450
`5,912,947 * 6/1999 Langsenkamp et al. ............ .. 379/69
`* Cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—Duc Nguyen
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`
`An automated emergency noti?cation system is disclosed.
`When practicing one embodiment of the present invention,
`a calling party places a phone call to an emergency service
`provider by dialing into a service provider network. The
`service provider network determines the identity of the
`calling party by accessing a subscriber database. The net
`Work determines a set of parties to be called by utilizing the
`y
`g p y
`p
`identit 0f the eallin
`art to access the set of arties to be
`Called from an outcall database The Calling party pre
`de?nes the set of parties to be called (i.e., before an
`emergency Occurs) in the event of an emergency and Stores
`this information in the outcall database. The service provider
`netWork then establishes the phone call betWeen the calling
`party and the emergency service provider and also automati
`cally places phone calls to each individual included in the set
`of parties to be called that Was de?ned by the calling party.
`The service provider netWork Will provide a pre-de?ned
`
`message to each individual Called
`
`18 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
`
`RECEIVE CALL CONNECTION
`REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY
`SERVICE PROVIDER AT
`SERVICE PROVIDER NETWORK
`
`DETERMINE IDENTITY OF
`CALLING PARTY I 305
`
`CORRELATE IDENTITY 0F
`CALLING PARTY TO A
`PARTY TO BE NOTIFIED
`
`$310
`
`ESTABLISH PHONE CALL
`WITH EMERGENCY SERVICE
`PROVIDER
`
`$315
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER NETWORK
`AUTOMATICALLY ESTABLISH
`PHONE CALL WITH PARTY
`TO BE NOTIFIED
`
`w 320
`
`Intrado Ex. 1022 - 1
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 25,2001
`
`Sheet 1 of3
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`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`E: l
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`m: 8
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`3050
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`on
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`£28 83 as 3 ¢ _
`52023 1
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`2055222 @225 228 /
`i1 J :22
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`E
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`85mm
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`EEBE
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`vEoEuz
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`m2 {3
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`Intrado Ex. 1022 - 2
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 25,2001
`
`Sheet 2 of3
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`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`22252222 1532 3
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`Q: \ “w
`552a. 228 a.
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`2 I; a: 52E 3
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`5:: 228 55023
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`52:: 1532
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`N .b~_m
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`m: 8 E22
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`:22 U 228
`65%:
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`05
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`Intrado Ex. 1022 - 3
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Sep. 25,2001
`
`Sheet 3 of3
`
`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`FIG. 3
`
`RECEIVE CALL CONNECTION
`REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY
`SERVICE PROVIDER AT
`SERVICE PROVIDER NETWORK
`
`DETERMINE IDENTITY OF w 305
`CALLING PARTY
`
`l
`l
`
`CORRELATE IDENTITY OF
`CALLING PARTY TO A w 310
`PARTY TO BE NOTIFIED
`
`l
`
`ESTABLISH PHONE CALL
`WITH EMERGENCY SERVICE $315
`PROVIDER
`
`l
`
`SERVICE PROVIDER NETWORK
`AUTOMATICALLY ESTABLISH w 320
`PHONE CALL WITH PARTY
`TO BE NOTIFIED
`
`Intrado Ex. 1022 - 4
`
`

`

`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`1
`AUTOMATED EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION
`SYSTEM
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention relates to a method and apparatus
`for automatically placing phone calls to selected parties.
`More speci?cally, the invention provides for automatically
`placing phone calls to individuals speci?ed by the calling
`party in response to a phone call by the calling party to an
`emergency service.
`Currently, it is possible to expeditiously place a phone call
`to an emergency service provider. For example, by placing
`a single phone call to “911”, a variety of emergency services
`can be dispatched to respond to the emergency. HoWever,
`When an emergency situation occurs, the emergency service
`providers are not the only persons that the individual
`involved in the emergency situation Would possibly like to
`contact. For example, the individual may Want to contact
`family members, Work associates, and neighbors, among
`others, to provide information to them about the occurrence
`and nature of the emergency and about the individual’s
`current and future personal situation (e.g., expectations as to
`When the individual Will contact the family members to
`more fully discuss the situation). HoWever, during an emer
`gency situation, the individual involved in the emergency
`may not alWays be able to immediately phone those persons
`that they Would like to initially provide information to. This
`could be for a variety of reasons including a lack of time to
`place the phone calls or an inability to remember the phone
`numbers for the people to be called in this time of crises.
`Therefore, it Would be desirable to provide for an appa
`ratus and method for automatically placing phone calls to a
`selected set of individuals in response to a single phone call
`to an emergency service provider placed by the individual
`involved in the emergency situation. Such a system could
`provide initial noti?cation to persons associated With the
`individual involved in the emergency that the individual Was
`involved in an emergency and to provide any other addi
`tional information that the affected individual Would like to
`convey. In this manner, a single phone call to an emergency
`service provider could automatically initiate phone calls to
`other desired individuals.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The draWbacks in the prior art are overcome by the
`present invention for a method and apparatus for automati
`cally placing phone calls to selected parties in response to a
`phone call placed by the calling party to an emergency
`service provider. When practicing one embodiment of the
`present invention, a calling party places a phone call to an
`emergency service provider by dialing into a service pro
`vider netWork. The service provider netWork determines the
`identity of the calling party by accessing a subscriber
`database. The netWork determines a set of parties to be
`called by utiliZing the identity of the calling party to access
`the set of parties to be called from an outcall database. The
`calling party pre-de?nes the set of parties to be called (i.e.,
`before an emergency occurs) in the event of an emergency
`and stores this information in the outcall database. The
`service provider netWork then establishes the phone call
`betWeen the calling party and the emergency service pro
`vider and also automatically places phone calls to each
`individual included in the set of parties to be called that Was
`de?ned by the calling party. The service provider netWork
`Will provide a pre-de?ned message to each called individual.
`In this manner, the present invention provides for a
`method and apparatus for automatically calling a set of
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`individuals and providing a message to those individuals in
`response to a phone call by the service subscriber to an
`emergency service provider. The present invention alloWs
`the individual Who is involved in an emergency situation to
`notify others of the emergency Without requiring the indi
`vidual to personally place phone calls to those they desire to
`notify.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates an automated emergency noti?cation
`system in accordance With an embodiment of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 2 illustrates an automated emergency noti?cation
`system in accordance With a second embodiment of the
`present invention.
`FIG. 3 illustrates a process How chart for practicing a
`method in accordance With an embodiment of the present
`invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment for the automated
`emergency noti?cation system of the present invention. As
`can be seen, a service provider netWork 110 provides inter
`connection betWeen a calling party’s phone 100, various
`emergency service providers’ phones 140, 142, and 144, and
`the phones 150, 152, and 154 of several parties that the
`calling party Would Want to notify in the event of an
`emergency. The phones mentioned above connect With
`netWork 110 through local exchange carrier (LEC) sWitches
`105, through Well-knoWn means. Whereas it is illustrated
`that phones 140, 142, and 144 connect to netWork 110
`through the same LEC sWitch, as do phones 150, 152, and
`154, the present invention does not require that these phones
`connect through the same local sWitch.
`The embodiment of FIG. 1 illustrates the emergency
`service providers’ phones as being associated With a
`hospital, the police, and the ?re department and three parties
`that the calling party Would Want to notify in the event of an
`emergency. HoWever, the present invention is not limited to
`these particular service providers nor this number of parties
`to be noti?ed. The present invention can be practiced With
`any type of emergency service provider and With any
`number of parties to be noti?ed.
`In practicing the present invention, a calling party at
`phone 100 dials into service provider netWork 110 through
`LEC sWitch 105 to contact an emergency service provider,
`such as the ?re department, the police, or a hospital. The
`calling party dials into netWork 110 such as by dialing
`“1-800-CALL-ATT”. After dialing into the netWork, the
`calling party then enters the phone number of the emergency
`service provider that they desire to contact into netWork 110
`by utiliZing, for example, the telephone keypad. Other
`methods are possible for entering information into netWork
`110, as Will be described later, to identify the emergency
`service provider to be contacted and the present invention is
`not limited to any particular methodology. After the phone
`number is entered into netWork 110, the netWork utiliZes the
`phone number entered for the service provider to establish a
`phone call betWeen the calling party at phone 100 With an
`emergency service provider, e.g., the ?re department at
`phone 144, through LEC sWitch 105.
`When calling party 100 dials into netWork 110 to contact
`an emergency service provider, netWork 110 Will automati
`cally place phone calls to the parties at phones 150, 152, and
`154, Which have been designated by the calling party, to
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`Intrado Ex. 1022 - 5
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`

`

`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`3
`notify the parties at these phones that the calling party has
`contacted an emergency service. This process Will be
`described below.
`Connected to netWork 110 is outcall module 190 Which
`contains outcall platform 115, emergency number database
`118, subscriber database 120 and outcall database 125.
`Emergency phone numbers for various emergency service
`providers are stored Within database 118. These numbers can
`be, for example, “911” or the direct dial phone numbers for
`particular service providers. When a calling party dials into
`netWork 110 and inputs an emergency phone number into
`netWork 110 for establishing a phone call to that emergency
`service provider, netWork 110 recogniZes the phone number
`as an emergency phone call by correlating the phone number
`input to netWork 110 by the calling party to an emergency
`phone number database listing stored in database 118. If
`netWork 110 determines that the phone number input to the
`netWork is an emergency phone number, a data message is
`sent to outcall platform 115 to trigger the placement of the
`phone calls by netWork 110 to the parties at phones 150, 152,
`and 154, as Will be described.
`When the calling party 100 dials into netWork 110 to
`establish a phone call With an emergency service provider,
`netWork 110 can determine the identity of the calling party
`by revieWing the Automated Number Identi?er (AN I) of the
`incoming call. Alternatively, the calling party could be
`identi?ed by netWork 110 by providing the calling party With
`a subscriber code, Which could by any number of digits, that
`uniquely identi?es the calling party. The calling party could
`be prompted by netWork 110 to enter their subscriber code
`into netWork 110 by utiliZing the telephone keypad so that
`the netWork is able to determine the identity of the calling
`party. Subscriber database 120 contains identi?cation infor
`mation related to each subscriber. By correlating the iden
`ti?cation information for the subscriber that is either
`received or entered into netWork 110, the netWork can
`determine the speci?c subscriber that has dialed into net
`Work 110 to contact an emergency service provider.
`Outcall platform 115 uses the identi?cation information
`for the calling party that is accessed from subscriber data
`base 120 to access information for that calling party from
`outcall database 125. Outcall database 125 contains infor
`mation for each subscriber for notifying particular individu
`als associated With that subscriber in the event that the
`subscriber, or calling party, places a phone call to an
`emergency service provider by dialing into netWork 110.
`As stated previously, the information contained in outcall
`database 125 includes information required in order for
`netWork 110 to automatically place noti?cation phone calls
`to identi?ed parties in the event that an emergency eXists
`With the calling party. The information that is included in
`database 125 may include a list of individuals that are to be
`called in the event of an emergency. This list may include the
`names of the individuals to be called and the phone numbers
`for each of the individuals. Outcall platform 115 Will access
`the information from outcall database 125 that is associated
`With the particular calling party that has contacted an
`emergency service and Will automatically place phone calls
`to the individuals identi?ed in the outcall database for the
`calling party. Outcall platform 115 Will utiliZe the phone
`numbers stored in outcall database 125 to call each party,
`e.g., the parties at phones 150, 152 and 154, as shoWn in
`FIG. 1. In addition to placing phone calls to the individuals
`listed in outcall database 125, outcall platform 115 Will also
`establish the phone call to the emergency service provider by
`utiliZing the phone number for the emergency service pro
`vider that is input into netWork 110 by the calling party at
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`phone 100. In this manner, by placing a single phone call to
`netWork 110, a calling party can establish a phone call to an
`emergency service provider and also have other phone calls
`automatically placed by netWork 110 to notify parties that
`they desire to notify in the event of an emergency.
`It Was stated previously that information related to par
`ticular individuals that a calling party desires to notify in the
`event of an emergency is stored in outcall database 125. This
`information could include a list of individuals to be called
`and their phone numbers. Outcall database 125 could also
`include a template that includes a pre-de?ned message into
`Which the identity of the calling party and the identity of the
`emergency service provider that has been contacted could be
`inserted. After placing the phone call to the party to be
`noti?ed, outcall platform 115 could play this pre-recorded
`template for the called party. This Would serve to provide
`information to the called party related to the identity of the
`individual involved in the emergency and the nature of the
`emergency. For example, a template such as “Hello, (insert
`name of calling party) has just contacted (insert name of
`emergency service provider called). (Insert name of calling
`party) Will contact you as soon as they are able to do so.
`Thank you.” Thus, if a subscriber named John Smith called
`the ?re department, this information Would be inserted into
`the template and the message “Hello, John Smith has just
`contacted the ?re department. John Smith Will contact you
`as soon as they are able to do so. Thank you.” Would be
`played by outcall platform 115 for the called party at, for
`eXample, phone 150, after the outcall platform establishes a
`phone call With the party at phone 150.
`Additional information that could be stored in outcall
`database 125 is a pre-recorded message that could be
`associated With each individual that a calling party Would
`Want to notify in the event of an emergency. The calling
`party could pre-record a different individualiZed message for
`each party to be noti?ed. For eXample, if the party to be
`called at phone 154 is a brother, named Robert, of the calling
`party, the calling party could pre-record a message such as
`“Robert, this is a message from your brother John. I’ve had
`an emergency. I’ll contact you as soon as I’m able to.” This
`individualiZed pre-recorded message could be the sole mes
`sage provided to the called party or could be combined With
`the template message discussed above so that the template
`message and the individualiZed message are both played for
`the noti?ed party.
`It may also be desirable for a calling party to store
`prioritiZation information in outcall database 125 for each
`party to be noti?ed. This prioritiZation information Would
`identify the order in Which each party to be noti?ed Would
`be called for a particular calling party and Would be utiliZed
`by outcall platform 115 to place the phone calls to the parties
`to be noti?ed in the priority order designated by the calling
`party.
`The outcall database 125 can be accessed by each
`subscriber, or calling party, through subscriber list admin
`istration module 130. Subscriber list administration module
`130 provides the capability for the subscriber to administer
`the information stored in outcall database 125. For eXample,
`the subscriber can add additional names and phone numbers
`for parties to be noti?ed or delete parties from the database.
`Additionally, the subscriber can change the prioritiZation for
`the parties to be called or modify a pre-recorded message
`that is to be played for a noti?ed party. Subscriber module
`130 can be utiliZed to modify any information stored in
`outcall database 125 that is related to the parties to be
`noti?ed. In order to modify the information in outcall
`database 125, the subscriber Would access netWork 110 by
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`

`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`5
`calling into the network. The subscriber could then access
`outcall database 125 and modify the information contained
`therein by responding to prompts from netWork 110 and
`inputting commands to netWork 110 by either using the
`telephone keypad to enter information or by speaking com
`mands into the subscriber’s phone and having this speech
`recogniZed by knoWn voice recognition softWare that is
`contained Within netWork 110. Each subscriber could be
`provided With an identi?cation code that Would have to be
`entered into netWork 110 in order to access and modify
`information stored in outcall database 125. Afeature such as
`this could provide security for the information stored in each
`subscriber’s account in the outcall database.
`An additional feature that could be provided in the present
`invention is call deactivation timer 135. The call deactiva
`tion timer is connected to outcall platform 115 and can be
`utiliZed by a calling party to prevent the outcall platform
`from automatically calling the parties to be noti?ed in the
`eveit that an emergency call is placed by the calling party. In
`the event that an emergency phone call is placed by a calling
`party, When the data message is provided to outcall platform
`115 to initiate the noti?cation phone calls to the parties to be
`noti?ed, outcall platform 115 Will ?rst query subscriber
`database 120 to determine if the calling party has enabled a
`delay feature. If the subscriber has not enabled this feature,
`i.e., does not desire that outcall platform 115 delay placing
`phone calls to notify other parties of the emergency, upon
`receipt of the data message from netWork 110 that an
`emergency phone call has been placed from a calling party,
`the outcall platform Will immediately commence the process
`for notifying the designated parties. If the call delay feature
`is enabled, a caller has the option of terminating the noti
`?cation process by signaling timer 135 before the delay
`period expires. This signal from the calling party can be
`entered into netWork 110 by utiliZing the telephone keypad
`or by speaking a command into netWork 110 by utiliZing the
`calling party’s phone and having the speech recogniZed by
`speech recognition softWare contained in netWork 110, as
`discussed above. If the calling party does not signal timer
`135 before the delay period expires, call deactivation timer
`135 Will notify outcall platform 115 to commence the
`process of initiating the noti?cation calls at the expiration of
`the speci?ed delay period.
`Therefore, through call deactivation timer 135, the calling
`party can designate that outcall platform 115 delay contact
`ing other parties until after a speci?ed period of time passes
`after the emergency phone call is placed by the calling party.
`This period of time can be either pre-speci?ed by the calling
`party or can be a default time period provided by netWork
`110. In this manner, the calling party has the option of
`disabling the call noti?cation process should they so desire
`but does not have to take any positive action, other than
`placing the initial emergency phone call, in order for the
`noti?cation procedure to commence. The only difference in
`the process of placing the noti?cation phone calls betWeen
`the situations Where the call delay feature is enabled as
`opposed to the situation Where it is not enabled is that in the
`situation Where the feature is enabled the noti?cation pro
`cess Will commence after the delay period expires. In both
`situations, the emergency phone call that is placed by the
`calling party Will be immediately established by netWork
`110.
`One embodiment for the process by Which a call deacti
`vation feature could be implemented has been described
`above; hoWever, the present invention is not limited to these
`particular events or sequence of events. Alternative embodi
`ments for providing a call deactivation feature for terminat
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`ing noti?cation phone calls could be provided and be
`encompassed Within the spirit and scope of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 2 illustrates a second embodiment for the automated
`emergency noti?cation system of the present invention. In
`the embodiment of FIG. 2, the calling party directly calls an
`emergency service provider. Local exchange carrier sWitch
`200 knoWs the ANI of the calling party and also knoWs the
`telephone number of the party that the caller is calling. If the
`ANI of the calling party and the destination phone number
`for the call of the calling party match de?ned criteria, i.e.,
`the AN I matches an AN I that is programmed into sWitch 200
`and the destination phone number is a phone number to an
`emergency service provider, sWitch 200 Will provide the
`ANI of the calling party to service provider netWork 110.
`Because sWitch 200 only provides the ANI of the calling
`party to netWork 110 if the calling party has initiated a phone
`call to an emergency service provider, netWork 110 Will
`initiate the process to automatically notify those individuals
`as designated by the calling party upon receipt of the ANI
`from sWitch 200. Thus, after netWork 110 receives the ANI
`information from sWitch 200, netWork 110 functions as
`previously described for the embodiment of FIG. 1. NetWork
`110 Will automatically establish a phone call With the party
`at phone 150 through sWitch 210 and With the parties at
`phones 152 and 154 through sWitch 220 to notify the
`individuals at those phones of the emergency situation. The
`subscriber at phone 100 contacts the emergency service
`provider at, for example, phone 140 Which is associated With
`the police department, through sWitch 200. SWitches 200,
`210 and 220 can be either local sWitches or long distance
`sWitches.
`The basic method steps for practicing an embodiment of
`the present invention are illustrated in FIG. 3. As shoWn,
`step 300 is the step Where a phone call connection request
`for establishing a phone call to an emergency service pro
`vider is received at a service provider netWork from a calling
`party. In step 305, the service provider netWork determines
`the identity of the calling party. After determining the
`identity of the calling party, the service provider netWork
`correlates the identity of the calling party to a party to be
`noti?ed, step 310. In step 315, the service provider netWork
`establishes a phone call With the emergency service provider
`based on the phone call connection request from the calling
`party. In step 320, the service provider netWork automati
`cally establishes a phone call With the party to be noti?ed.
`The method steps shoWn in FIG. 3 are not intended to be
`all inclusive of all of the features of the present invention, as
`described in this speci?cation. The speci?cation, When read
`as a Whole, fully describes the automated emergency noti
`?cation system of the present invention.
`Several variations on the disclosed embodiments are
`contemplated. The disclosed embodiments include an out
`call platform, a service provider netWork and other netWork
`components; hoWever, the present invention can be imple
`mented in various netWork con?gurations and the functions
`required in implementing the present invention can be
`integrated Within these various netWorks and the compo
`nents that comprise these netWorks. The present invention is
`not limited to any particular netWork implementation.
`Additionally, Whereas the present invention is disclosed in
`the context of notifying particular individuals When a phone
`call is placed by a calling party to an emergency service
`provider, the present invention is not limited to only noti
`fying individuals of an emergency situation. The principles
`of the present invention can be utiliZed in any context Where
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`US 6,295,346 B1
`
`7
`it is desirable to automatically notify designated individuals
`in response to a single phone call made by a calling party.
`An example of such an alternative conteXt Would be the
`situation Where a school system desires to notify students of
`the school of the school’s closure due to Weather conditions.
`In this manner, a school could automatically notify students
`of the school’s closure by having the school place a single
`phone call to a service provider netWork.
`It Was disclosed in the embodiment of FIG. 1 that the
`calling party enters the phone number of the emergency
`service provider into netWork 110 by entering the phone
`number into the netWork by using the telephone keypad. It
`is not required that the calling party enter the phone number
`of the emergency service provider in this manner. As Was
`previously discussed, netWork 110 could contain knoWn
`speech recognition softWare. Thus, the calling party, after
`dialing into netWork 110, could speak the name of the
`emergency service provider that they Would like to contact,
`e.g., by saying “?re department”. Network 110 Would rec
`ogniZe this speech and, by accessing phone numbers asso
`ciated With each emergency service provider from database
`118 in netWork 110, netWork 110 could establish a phone call
`to the emergency service provider. In this manner, it is not
`required that the calling party enter a phone number for an
`emergency service provider in order for netWork 110 to
`establish a phone call With an emergency service provider.
`Additionally, it Was disclosed that the subscriber could
`identify themselves to the netWork 110 by entering a unique
`subscriber code into the netWork by utiliZing the telephone
`keypad. If speech recognition softWare Was included in
`netWork 110, as described above, the calling party could
`identify themself to the netWork by speaking their subscriber
`code into the netWork.
`The present invention is also not limited to only contact
`ing the parties that the calling party Wants to notify by
`telephone in the event of an emergency. The present inven
`tion is also able to contact the parties by sending an
`electronic mail (e-mail) message to the parties to be con
`tacted in addition to, or in lieu of, contacting the parties by
`telephone. In an embodiment Where the parties Were con
`tacted by an e-mail message, outcall database 125 Would
`contain e-mail addresses for each individual to be contacted
`and the e-mail message Would be sent to the personal
`computer, or other device, of each party. As Was mentioned
`previously in the embodiment Where phone calls Were
`placed to the parties to be contacted and a message template
`and/or pre-recorded message Was utiliZed, the same types of
`templates and pre-recorded messages could be utiliZed in the
`embodiment Where e-mail noti?cation messages Were sent.
`The only differences Would be that the messages Would be
`transmitted to the parties as electronic teXt messages rather
`than being audibly played for the parties over a telephone.
`The disclosed embodiments are illustrative of the various
`Ways in Which the present invention may be practiced. Other
`embodiments can be implemented by those skilled in the art
`Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
`invention.
`What is claimed is:
`1. A method for placing a plurality of phone calls to a ?rst
`called party and to at least one of a pre-selected group of
`second called parties in response to a single phone call
`received from a calling party by a service provider netWork
`comprising the steps of:
`receiving a phone call connection request from the calling
`party for establishing a phone call to the ?rst called
`party at the service provider network;
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`8
`determining the identity of the calling party that has
`requested the phone call connection;
`correlating Whether the phone call connection request to
`the ?rst called party is to an emergency service
`provider, and if so:
`a) establishing a phone call betWeen the calling party
`and the emergency service provider in response to
`said phone call connection request;
`b) determining Whether the calling party has enabled a
`noti?cation delay feature and, if so, delaying the
`phone call to the at least one second called party by
`a predetermined delay period; and
`c) automatically establishing at least one phone call
`With at least one of the pre-selected group of second
`called parties by said service provider netWork if a
`noti?cation deactivation signal Was not received
`from the calling party during the delay period.
`2. The method of claim 1 Wherein the steps of automati
`cally establishing a phone call With the second party and the
`third party further comprises the steps of:
`determining a priority order for automatically establishing
`the phone calls to the second party and the third party;
`and
`automatically establishing said phone calls in said priority
`order.
`3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of
`playing a pre-recorded voice message for the second party
`by said service provider netWork upon ansWering of the
`phone call by the second party.
`4. The method of claim 1 Wherein said step of determining
`the identity of the calling party that has requested said phone
`call connection request comprises the step of determining an
`automated number identi?er (ANI) for the calling party.
`5. The method of claim 1 Wherein said step of determining
`the identity of the calling party that has requested said phone
`call connection request comprises the step of receiving an
`identi?cation code input by the calling party into said
`service provider netWork.
`6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
`inputting data into a speech template by said service
`provider netWork, said data identifying the calling
`party; and
`transmitting said speech template to the second party in
`the phone call to the second party.
`7. An apparatus for auto