Method and apparatus for providing intelligent emergency paging

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing intelligent paging services. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automating the process of notifying people upon the sudden occurrence of an event.

[0003] People affected by the sudden occurrence of a particular event (such as an emergency situation), frequently have a need to inform others that the event has occurred. For example, a pregnant woman who suddenly enters labor may wish to notify her doctor, her husband, and/or other relatives. In another example, an employee may wish to inform a software technician, a supervisor, and other co-workers when a network computer system crashes.

[0004] Currently, people are “manually” notified about the occurrence of events such as those described above. Manual notification may begin with an originating person making a telephone call, sending a page, or sending an electronic mail (e-mail) message to one or more other people. These telephone call, page, or e-mail recipients may then contact other people who should be informed of the occurrence of the event.

[0005] One of the drawbacks of the manual notification method is the amount of time required to sequentially inform each person of the emergency situation. Another drawback is that the originator must somehow quickly obtain (or remember) a list of people who should be notified and obtain (or remember) a telephone number, a pager number, or an e-mail address for each person. If a key person is unable to be reached through the first notification means, alternate notification means must also be available to the originator. The above notification activity places an additional burden on a person who is likely also required to handle the unexpected event.

[0006] One method for shifting the notification burden from the person involved in the unexpected event is known as The Companion Service®, available from the Ameritech Corporation. The Companion Service® comprises a small transmitter, a receiver adapted to be connected to a telephone line, and a monitoring station. The transmitter may be worn around a customer's neck or attached to the customer's clothing. The transmitter includes one or more buttons which, when depressed, cause the transmitter to transmit a signal to the receiver. The receiver is connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) via a telephone line within the customer's home or another premises occupied by the customer. The monitoring station includes a means for receiving telephone calls (such as a telephone) and one or more human operators.

[0007] In the event of an emergency, the Companion Service® customer depresses one of the transmitter buttons and thus causes the transmitter to transmit a signal to the receiver. Upon receiving a signal from the transmitter, the receiver utilizes the PSTN to complete a telephone call to the monitoring station. Various equipment or a human operator at the monitoring station use the incoming telephone call to identify both the person assigned to the originating transmitter and the location from which the transmitter signal originated. The human operator then dials 911 and summons medical personnel to the customer's location.

[0008] One of the drawbacks of the Companion Service® is that the service only notifies one entity of the emergency situation. Many emergency situations require notifying more than one party or entity. As mentioned above with reference to the scenario where the computer system crashes, the following people may need to be notified: a software technician, a supervisor, and other co-workers.

[0009] The present invention provides a method and apparatus for providing intelligent paging services. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a server receives a paging request from a customer. The page request may be, for example, a telephone call initiated by the customer from a telephone. The server then determines the identity of the customer who initiated the page request and (if necessary) the condition which prompted the identified customer to initiate the page request. The identity and condition information is then used to identify a predetermined list of one or more parties who should be contacted on behalf of the customer and how they should be contacted. Examples of the contact methods the server may execute include making a telephone call to a designated number via a public switched telephone network (PSTN), sending a page to a designated pager via the PSTN, and/or sending an electronic mail (e-mail) message to an Internet Protocol (IP) addressable device via an IP network.

[0010] In view of the above, it can be appreciated that there is a need for a method and apparatus which solves the above described problems.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system suitable for practicing one embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an intelligent paging server in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart with steps for providing intelligent paging services in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automating the process of notifying people upon the sudden occurrence of an event such as an emergency. Upon receiving a call from a customer, the system in accordance with one embodiment executes a predetermined series of actions which may include contacting a list of people via telephone, pager, or e-mail.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system suitable for practicing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an intelligent paging server 102 is adapted to be connected to a database 104. Intelligent paging server 102 may be, for example, a UNIX or Windows server modified as described below with reference to FIG. 2. Database 104 may be, for example, an Oracle or Informix database. Intelligent paging server 102 is adapted to be connected to a telephone network such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 106. A pager 110 and a telephone 112 are each adapted to communicate with other devices via PSTN 106. Intelligent paging server 102 is also adapted to be connected to an Internet Protocol (IP) network 114, such as the Internet. An IP addressable device 116, such as a general purpose computer, is adapted to be connected to IP network 114.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an intelligent paging server in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, an intelligent paging server 202 comprises a processor 204 adapted to be connected to a computer readable memory 206. Computer readable memory 206 stores computer program code segments which, when executed by processor 204, implement the main functionality for this embodiment of the invention. These computer program code segments are included within a paging module 208. Although in this embodiment of the invention, the computer program code segments are shown in one module, it can be appreciated that this module can be further separated into more modules and still fall within the scope of the invention.

[0017] Before the invention may be used to provide intelligent paging services, users provide information to be stored in files within database 104. These files enable the user to custom tailor the system's response to events the user identifies. For the purpose of an example, assume intelligent paging server 102 supports a web site which prompts users for paging information. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a user utilizes a general purpose computer (such as IP addressable device 116 and IP network 114) to access the uniform resource locator (URL) for the web site supported by intelligent paging server 102. Paging module 208 then enables the user to download both a form and a program written in a programming language (such as Java) from the web site to IP addressable device 116. The Java program is executed by the processor on IP addressable device 116. The Java program enables the user to interactively provide the information required to complete the downloaded form. Paging module 208 receives the information input by the user into the downloaded form and stores the information within database 104.

[0018] The process of filling out the downloaded form results in a file created for the user within database 104. The Java program thus prompts the user to identify events to which the system should respond, the people who should be notified, and the methods for contacting these people. For example, a user may identify an event as his wife going into labor. The user may then enter the people the system should identify and how to contact these people. For example the user may enter the following contact instructions: send a page to the doctor, telephone the user, and e-mail other relatives. The user may draft the content of the e-mail message and include this message with the file. For example, the user may store an e-mail message which states: “Judy is going into labor.” The system may then send this e-mail message to the relatives when the user contacts the system as described below.

[0019] In another embodiment, the user may create a file by dialing a telephone number and verbally giving the information to a live operator who utilizes a keyboard to enter the information into database 104. In yet another embodiment, the user may verbally enter the information over a telephone in response to voice prompts from paging module 208 and voice recognition software. In this embodiment, voice recognition technology is utilized to convert the user's spoken words into corresponding data which may be stored within the file. Utilizing the verbal method, the user may be able to pre-record a message which informs the recipient that a particular event has occurred. For example, after being contacted by “Judy” who has gone into labor, the system may call the user and play a pre-recorded message which states “Judy has gone into labor.”

[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart with steps for providing intelligent paging services in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. These steps may be implemented, for example, as a computer program or as computer hardware using well-known signal processing techniques. If implemented in software, the computer program instructions are stored in computer readable memory, such as Read-Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), magnetic disk (e.g, 3.5″ diskette or hard drive), optical disk (e.g., CD-ROM) and so forth. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the computer program instructions are included within paging module 208 and executed by processor 204 within intelligent paging server 102.

[0021] In step 302 of FIG. 3, Intelligent paging server 102 receives an incoming telephone call from a customer who has experienced the occurrence of an event which requires the notification of other individuals. This call may be received via a telephone connected to PSTN 106.

[0022] In step 304, the system determines the identity of the caller. In one embodiment of the present invention, the caller may be identified using automatic number identifier information (ANI). As used herein, the term ANI is understood to encompass any information which is transmitted with a telephone call which contains information concerning the dialing location from which a call originates. This information may be, for example, “caller ID” information or similar information. In another embodiment of the present invention, the system determines the identity of the caller using dialed number identification service (DNIS ) information. DNIS information identifies a caller based upon the number dialed. Thus, each customer accesses intelligent paging server 102 using an individually assigned telephone number. In another embodiment of the present invention, the caller may be identified by prompting the caller to respond to one or more queries using dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) information. The customer sends DTMF information to the system by depressing appropriate buttons on a touch tone telephone. In another embodiment, customers may identify themselves by depressing buttons on a touch tone telephone to enter a personal identification number (PIN) assigned to the customer. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the caller may be identified using voice recognition techniques. In this embodiment, intelligent paging server 102 is modified to include a speech engine such as ViaVoice by the IBM corporation. The speech engine analyzes voice signals received within the incoming telephone call to identify customers of the system.

[0023] Once the caller has been identified, in step 306, the system determines the reason for the call. The call may have been placed, for example, because a medical emergency has taken place or because a computer system has crashed. The system may determine the reason for the call using one or more of the techniques described above with reference to step 304. For example, in response to prompts from the system, the caller may dial a “1” on their touch tone telephone to indicate that the caller has entered labor.

[0024] After the system has identified the caller and the reason for the call, the system proceeds to step 308 and uses this information to determine the appropriate action. This step may entail, for example, searching database 104 for a file which corresponds to the determined identification and reason information. This file includes a series of actions previously determined by the customer. For example, the customer may have constructed a file which instructs the system to telephone emergency medical personnel, send a page to a particular doctor, telephone a spouse at work, and send an e-mail message to one or more relatives in the event the customer calls into the system and indicates she has gone into labor. The same customer may have constructed a different file which includes different actions in the event the customer calls into the system and indicates the computer system at work has crashed. The actions within the file may also include a step which attempts to contact an individual through an alternative method if the intended party does not acknowledge receipt of the first contact attempt within a specified period of time.

[0025] In another embodiment of the present invention, the system includes the ability to modify a person's calendar in the event of an emergency situation. For example, intelligent server 102 may access an electronic calendar stored on line (such as the Outlook calendar available from the Microsoft Corporation) via an IP network, retrieve telephone numbers for people involved in particular appointments entered on the calendar, and call those involved to inform them the appointments have been canceled.

[0026] Once the appropriate actions have been identified, in step 310, the system executes these actions. Thus, the intelligent paging server 102 may complete a telephone call to one party via PSTN 106, send a page to another party via the PSTN and/or send an e-mail message to another party via IP network 114.

[0027] Although several embodiments are specifically illustrated herein, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of the present invention are covered by the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention. For example, in step 302 of FIG. 3, the system may be initially notified of an emergency situation via a pager such as pager 110 of FIG. 1 or via a data message received from an IP addressable device connected to an IP network such IP addressable device 116 of FIG. 1.