Panic button IP device

Details Panic button IP device Panic button IP device

2000-06-02

2004-10-19

Maung, Zarni (Department: 2154)

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput

Computer conferencing

Demand based messaging

C370S310000, C370S312000, C370S338000, C600S300000, C379S036000, C379S037000, C379S045000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06807564

ABSTRACT:

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
(Not Applicable)
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
(Not Applicable)
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to emergency reporting devices, and more particularly, to a device that employs TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) messaging to report a user's emergency condition to an emergency service center (e.g., the police).
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1
illustrates a typical prior art emergency reporting arrangement using a telephone
10
. A person in need of emergency help dials a designated emergency reporting number (e.g., ‘911’) to connect to an emergency service center (ESC)
12
. The emergency service center
12
may be a 911response center, a police station, a hospital, a fire station, a combination of these places or any other location equipped for dispatching emergency relief. A carrier network
14
may electrically connect the telephone
10
to a receiving apparatus (e.g., an operator headset receiver) at the ESC
12
. The carrier network
14
may include, individually or in combination, the plain old telephone system (POTS), the more advanced public switched telephone network (PSTN), or a wireless communication network (e.g., a cellular phone network) when the telephone
10
is, for example, a cellular phone (“cell phone”).
Instead of dialing all the digits contained in the designated emergency reporting number (e.g., ‘9’,‘1’,‘1’), a user may instead “speed dial” the number by programming a single key on the telephone
10
. In this manner, the user need not press individual digits of the phone number, but, instead, may need to press only a pre-marked speed dial key. Some modem cell phones come equipped with a “button” or key on their keypads that is dedicated to dial a predetermined emergency phone number (e.g., ‘911’).
Another emergency reporting device is shown in
FIG. 2
, which depicts a prior art “panic button”
16
in communication with the emergency service center
12
. The panic button
16
may be broadly categorized as a wearable wireless transmitter that finds applications in situations when the user may not easily access the telephone
10
or when the user is not able to dial the ESC's
12
telephone number. Users of the panic button
16
may include, among others, elderly people and people with delicate health. Normally the user wears the panic button
16
around the user's neck and presses the panic button when an emergency condition arises. The panic button
16
wirelessly transmits an “alarm signal” to a base unit or receiving device (not shown) attached to the user's phone line. The alarm signal instructs the base unit to initiate a phone call to a preprogrammed phone number, usually the phone number of an establishment or company that provides support services and maintenance for such panic buttons in a given geographical area.
A support service provider (SSP)
18
receives the phone call from the base unit of the panic button
16
via the carrier network
14
. The base unit may send over the phone line an identification code or number pre-assigned to the panic button
16
by the SSP
18
. Therefore, an operator at the SSP
18
may immediately compare the received identification code with a customer database to identify the user of the panic button
16
. Upon identifying the user, the operator in the SSP's
18
facility may place a phone call to the ESC
12
giving requisite information (e.g., the name of the person in distress, the location where help is needed, any known medical history of the person requiring emergency help, etc.) to the operator or relief help dispatcher at the ESC
12
. All such information may be stored in the SSP's
18
customer database (not shown) when the panic button
16
is assigned to a particular user. Instead of manual database look-up, the SSP
18
may implement an automatic database search and comparison process to instantly identify the operator of the panic button
16
as soon as an alarm indication is received from the base unit.
Normally, the carrier network
14
in the panic button application of
FIG. 2
is a wireline network, e.g., the POTS or the PSTN. However, in a situation involving close monitoring of the elderly or the disabled (e.g., monitoring of patients in a large hospital complex), the panic button technology may be employed via a local wireless carrier network
14
. The patient may activate the personal panic button
16
and the carrier network
14
may wirelessly transfer the help request to appropriate staff or emergency relief personnel in the hospital's ESC
12
. The SSP
18
may not be needed in such an environment as symbolically indicated by the direct dotted connection between the panic button
16
and the ESC
12
.
From the foregoing, it can be observed that the prior art devices used to report emergency conditions (e.g., the telephone
10
in FIG.
1
and the panic button
16
in
FIG. 2
) primarily send emergency help request messages through telephone signals in a circuit-switched telephone environment, i.e., in a telephone environment that “dedicates” an actual physical circuit between the caller and the called party. This “traditional” approach to request emergency help by calling ‘911’ may not be effective sometimes, for example, when the person in need of help cannot dial the numbers to place a ‘911’ call or when that person cannot orally respond to the questions of an operator receiving the ‘911’ call. Furthermore, the operators or assistants receiving phone calls at the ESC
12
may get swamped by a large number of phone calls and may need to put the last caller on hold prior to reviewing the caller's emergency situation. This may not be desirable, especially when the caller's situation demands prompt and instant attention. Additionally, the ESC
12
or the SSP
18
may have a finite number of incoming telephone lines. In that situation, because of the circuit-switched nature of telephone communications, the person placing the emergency call may end up receiving a line “busy” signal instead of an operator's voice.
The availability of modern high-speed data processors and the continually growing popularity of the Internet make it desirable to offer an emergency reporting device that is capable of reporting a user's need for emergency help using TCP/IP message packets sent over the Internet to the ESC
12
. It is also desirable for the support service provider
18
or a telephone company (telco) to offer a subscription-based or usage-based emergency reporting service using TCP/IP messaging over the Internet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention contemplates a device for requesting emergency assistance, comprising a processing unit; a panic button coupled to the processing unit, wherein the panic button is configured to send a first indication to the processing unit when a user of the device activates the panic button; and a web browser module coupled to the processing unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to send a second indication to the web browser module in response to the first indication, and wherein the web browser module is configured to deliver a help request message in a TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) format to an emergency service center (ESC) in response to the second indication.
In one embodiment, the web browser module connects the device to the Internet and sends the help request message to the ESC over the Internet. The device may further include a memory unit to store the help request message to be sent to the ESC. The memory may also store various personal information about the user, e.g., the identity of the user, the location or address of the user, any known medical condition the user is suffering from, etc. Such additional information may be included by the processing unit as part of the help request message sent to the ESC. Furthermore, the user's voice may also be sent to the ESC as one or more TCP/IP data pa

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Panic button IP device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Panic button IP device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Panic button IP device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3266100