Method and apparatus for event notification based on the identity of a calling party
An event notification system notifies one or more designated persons of an event or emergency that has been reported by an endpoint to a receiver. When a call is received by the receiver, an event notification process identifies the endpoint. One or more designated persons are identified that should be notified when a call is received from this endpoint. The notification message that is generated and optionally the particular designees that are notified can be based on information about the call. The event notification may be triggered by a received call. The designated persons can be notified by an event notification system using a communication flow expression according to the delivery preferences of each designated person. The disclosed event notification system optionally obtains the responses of the designees, and records the status of the notification process.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at an event notification system, a communication;
generating, at the event notification system, a notification message, wherein the notification message includes information about a response to the communication, wherein the response is dispatched prior to the generation of the notification message;
generating, at the event notification system, a communication flow expression which contains at least one instruction concerning a transmission of the notification message, wherein the communication flow expression specifies a first recipient for the notification message; and
executing the communication flow expression, at the event notification system, and sending the notification message from the event notification system to the first recipient.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification message is provided to the first recipient in accordance with preference information for the first recipient.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the preference information includes at least one media preference.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the preference information includes at least one human language type preference.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification message is generated in response to the received communication being placed to a specified telephone number.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification message notifies the first recipient of an emergency that has been reported to the event notification system.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification message notifies the first recipient of a telephone call that has been placed to a help desk.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving, at the event notification system, at least one response to the notification message.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of receiving, at the event notification system, at least one status update from a designated person.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of dispatching a response to the communication.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of receiving, at the event notification system, at least one status update from a person associated with the response.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of notifying the first recipient of a status update.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication flow expression describes whether a second recipient is notified based on a response from the first recipient.
14. An apparatus comprising:
a memory; and
at least one processor, coupled to the memory, operative to:
receive a communication;
generate a communication flow expression when the communication is received, wherein the communication flow expression contains at least one instruction concerning a transmission of a notification message, wherein the communication flow expression contains an indication of a time of contact and an identification of a recipient, and wherein the time of contact is a time at which the notification message is set to be transmitted, and wherein the time of contact is in the future relative to the time at which the communication flow expression is generated; and
execute the communication flow expression at the time of contact and send the notification message to the recipient as a result of the execution, wherein the execution action comprises substituting the identification of the recipient with contact information for the recipient.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the notification message is provided to the recipient in accordance with preference information specified by the recipient.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the notification message notifies the recipient of a reported emergency.
17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the notification message notifies the recipient of a telephone call that has been placed to a help desk.
18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive at least one response to the notification message.
19. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive at least one status update.
20. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to dispatch a response to the communication.
21. An article of manufacture for providing a notification of an event, the article of manufacture comprising a machine readable and recordable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:
receiving a communication;
generating a notification message, wherein the notification message includes information about a response to the communication, wherein the response is dispatched prior to the generation of the notification message;
generating a communication flow expression which contains at least one instruction concerning a transmission of the notification message; and
executing the communication flow expression and sending the notification message from the event notification system to a recipient that is identified in the communication flow expression.