By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Computer Weekly News — According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by VerticalNews journalists, a patent application by the inventors Williams, Dean (Solana Beach, CA); Merritt, Pat (San Marcos, CA), filed on November 1, 2011, was made available online on May 9, 2013.
The assignee for this patent application, patent application serial number 286593, is Greatcall, Inc.
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “During times of emergency, it is important that officials be able to quickly communicate information about the emergency to large numbers of people. For example, when a tornado or other violent storm is detected, lives may be saved if citizens can be warned to take cover. Similarly, during a wildfire, it may be necessary to contact a large number of residents of the threatened area to effect a rapid evacuation.
“Various warning systems exist. For example, the Emergency Alert System in the United States enables officials to interrupt commercial radio and television broadcasts to make emergency announcements. The announcements can be targeted to particular geographic areas.
“The Reverse 911.RTM. system used in United States and Canada enables officials to place automated telephone calls to landline telephones in specific geographic areas. For example, authorities in a coastal area may use the Reverse 911.RTM. system to warn residents in low-lying areas of a possible tsunami after an earthquake has been detected.”
In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, VerticalNews editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “According to one aspect, a method of handling a text-based message by a communications device comprises receiving, by the communications device, a text-based message, and detecting, by the communications device, that the text-based message is an emergency notification message. At least some of the content of the text-based message is forwarded by the communications device over an electronic communication link to a computer system. The communications device receives, from the computer system via the electronic communication link, a transmission comprising data or signals that render at least some of the content of the text-based message in an audio format. The method also includes audibly playing a rendition of at least some of the content of the text-based message, using the data or signals received from the computer system. In some embodiments, forwarding at least some of the content of the text-based message over the communication link to the computer system includes forwarding at least some of the content of the text-based message over the electronic communication link to a private response center. In some embodiments, the method further includes ascertaining, by the communications device, the geographical location of the communications device, and transmitting an indication of the geographical location of the communications device to the computer system in conjunction with forwarding at least some of the content of the text-based message to the computer system. The text-based message may be a short message service (SMS) message or a cell broadcast message.
“According to another aspect, a communications device comprises a transceiver, a microprocessor, and a computer readable memory. The computer readable memory holds instructions that, when executed by the microprocessor, cause the communications device to receive a text-based message, detect that the text-based message is an emergency notification message, and forward at least some of the content of the text-based message over an electronic communication link to a computer system. The instructions further cause the communications device to receive, from the computer system via the electronic communication link, a transmission comprising data or signals that render at least some of the content of the text-based message in an audio format, and to audibly play at least some of the content of the text-based message, using the data or signals received from the computer system. The communications device may be incapable of displaying text. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the microprocessor, further cause the communications device to ascertain the geographical location of the communications device, and transmit an indication of the geographical location of the communications device to the computer system in conjunction with forwarding at least some of the content of the text-based message to the computer system. The text-based message may be a short message service (SMS) message or a cell broadcast message.
“According to another aspect, a method of operating a response center includes receiving a text-based electronic message, deriving, from the content of the text-based message, data or signals that render at least some of the content of the text-based electronic message into an audio format, and transmitting the data or signals to a remote communications device associated with the response center. The method may further include detecting that the text-based electronic message is an emergency notification message that is a short message service (SMS) message or a cell broadcast message. In some embodiments, the text-based electronic message is received from a particular remote communications device, and transmitting the data or signals to a remote communications device associated with the response center comprises transmitting the data or signals to the particular remote communications device. The method may further include receiving, from the remote communications device via an electronic communication link, in conjunction with receiving the text-based electronic message, an indication of the geographical location of the communications device. In some embodiments, the text-based message is received directly from an emergency alert gateway. In some embodiments, the method further includes identifying one or more remote communications devices within a geographical area to which the emergency notification message is targeted, and transmitting the data or signals to a remote communications device associated with the response center comprises transmitting the data or signals to the one or more identified remote communications devices. The selected communications devices may be identified as being within the geographical area to which the emergency notification message is targeted based on information previously received from the selected communications devices. Transmitting the data or signals to the remote communications device may include placing a telephone call to the remote communications device or sending a data file to the remote communications device. In some embodiments, deriving the data or signals that render at least some of the content of the text-based electronic message into an audio format comprises performing an automated text-to-speech conversion on at least part of the text-based electronic message, or comprises recording a human voice. Deriving the data or signals that render at least some of the content of the text-based electronic message into an audio format may include retrieving data or signals stored after a previous conversion of a like or similar text-based message. In some embodiments, the text-based electronic message is in a first language, and the method further comprises converting at least some of the content of the text-based message into a second language. In some embodiments, the method further includes maintaining in a computerized database a profile containing information relating to a person associated with the remote communications device. The profile may indicate that the person prefers to receive messages in a language different than that of the text-based electronic message, and the method may further comprise translating at least part of the content of the text-based electronic message into the preferred language. The profile may indicate that the person has a particular medical condition, and the method may further comprise prioritizing the transmission to the remote communications device based on the nature of the medical condition. In some embodiments, the method further includes prioritizing a transmission of the data or signals to a particular remote communications device based on information contained in either or both of the text-based electronic message and the profile. In some embodiments, receiving a text-based electronic message comprises receiving a first text-based electronic message from a particular remote communications device via a first communication channel and receiving a second text-based message via a second communication channel; and transmitting the data or signals to the remote communications device associated with the response center comprises transmitting the data or signals to the particular remote communications device via the first communication channel, and also transmitting the data or signals to one or more other remote communications devices from whom no text-based message was received.
“According to another aspect, a system for operating a response center includes a processor and a memory holding processor instructions. The instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the system to receive a text-based electronic message, derive, from the content of the text-based message, data or signals that render at least some of the content of the text-based electronic message into an audio format, and transmit the data or signals to a remote communications device associated with the response center. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform an automated text-to-speech conversion on the text-based electronic message to derive the data or signals. The instructions, when executed by the processor, may cause the system to record a human voice to derive the data or signals. The instructions, when executed by the processor, may cause the system to retrieve data or signals previously derived from a same or similar text-based message. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the system to maintain in a computerized database a profile containing information relating to a person associated with the remote communications device. The system may receive multiple text-based messages from multiple communications devices and maintain multiple profiles containing information relating to respective persons associated with the multiple communications devices, and the instructions, when executed by the processor, may further cause the system to prioritize responses to the text-based messages based on information contained in either the text-based messages, the profiles, or both the text-based messages and the profiles.
For more information, see this patent application: Williams, Dean; Merritt, Pat. Emergency Mobile Notification Handling. U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 286593, filed November 1, 2011, and posted May 9, 2013. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=2300&p=46&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20130502.PD.&OS=PD/20130502&RS=PD/20130502