Geographic routing of emergency service call center emergency calls
View Patent ↗The present invention is related to the delivery of requests for emergency service initially handled by an emergency service call center to a public safety answering point. The invention additionally allows for enhancement information to be provided to a public safety answering point operator visually in connection with calls routed to that public safety answering point. This information may include caller identification, and additional information, such as information regarding the location of the caller and the nature of the emergency. Furthermore, the routing of requests for emergency service to an appropriate public safety answering point can be accomplished for requests received over a wide geographic area. In particular, requests can be appropriately routed even though they may originate from locations encompassed by different E9-1-1 tandems. The present invention is particularly well suited for use in connection with automatic collision notification and personal alarm monitoring call centers serving areas encompassed by more than one E9-1-1 tandem.
1. A method for routing a request for emergency services to one of a plurality of public safety answering points, each public safety answering point serving one of a plurality of emergency service zones, comprising:
receiving first location information regarding a first request for emergency services;
determining a first emergency service zone that includes a first location identified by said received first location information;
associating a first routing number with said first request for emergency services, wherein said first routing number is operable to route said first request for emergency services to a switch associated with said first emergency service zone;
associating a first request identifier with said first request for emergency services, wherein said first request identifier uniquely identifies said first request for emergency services and wherein said first request identifier uniquely identifies a first one of said plurality of public safety answering points associated with said first emergency service zone; and
storing at least a portion of said received first location information.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first location information does not comprise a telephone number.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving second location information regarding a second request for emergency services;
determining a second emergency service zone that includes a second location identified by said second location information;
associating a second routing number with said request for emergency services, wherein said second routing number is operable to route said second request for emergency services to a switch associated with said second emergency service zone;
associating a second request identifier with said second request for emergency services, wherein said second request identifier uniquely identifies said second request for emergency services and wherein said second request identifier uniquely identifies a second one of said plurality of public safety answering points associated with said second emergency service zone; and
storing at least a portion of said received second location information.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of determining an emergency service zone that includes said first location comprises performing a point-in-polygon lookup.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein said first and second emergency service zones are served by different network switches.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said different network switches comprise different tandems.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request for said stored first location information, said request comprising said first request identifier; and
in response to said request, returning said stored first location information.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said request is received as a query from said first one of said plurality of said public safety answering points, and wherein said stored first location information is returned to said first one of said plurality of public safety answering points.
9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving a request for said stored second location information comprising said second request identifier; and
in response to said request, returning said stored second location information.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said request is received as a query from said second one of said plurality of public safety answering points, and wherein said stored second location information is returned to said second one of said plurality of public safety answering points.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first location information is received from an emergency service call center.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said emergency service call center comprises an automatic collision notification center.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein said first request identifier identifies said first request for emergency services as being associated with an emergency service call center, in addition to uniquely identifying said first request for emergency services.
14. An emergency services complex apparatus, comprising:
an input operable to interconnect said complex to a first communication network and to receive information related to a first request for emergency services comprising first location related information;
an output operable to interconnect said complex to the first communication network and to deliver a routing number and an identifier;
a positioning server wherein a plurality of tables of unique identifiers are stored therein, and wherein storage for information is provided, and wherein at least some of said information related to a first request for emergency services is stored in said positioning server;
a coordinate routing database, wherein boundary information for a plurality of emergency service zones is stored on said coordinate routing database, and wherein an emergency service zone that includes a location identified by said first location related information is provided to said positioning server;
an input operable to interconnect said complex to a second communication network and to receive a query for said information related to a first request for emergency services comprising an identifier delivered to said first communication network; and
an output operable to interconnect said complex to the second communication network, and to deliver at least some of said information related to a first request for emergency services stored on said positioning server in response to said query.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein said coordinate routing database comprises information regarding the boundaries of emergency service zones covering substantially all of the United States.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein said boundary information for a plurality of emergency service zones comprises geographic information system data.
17. A method for routing requests for emergency services, comprising:
receiving a first request for emergency services from a first communication device;
identifying said first communication device initiating said first request;
obtaining first location information related to said first request;
providing said first location information to a first network node;
receiving a first routing number and a first unique identifier from said first network node, wherein said first unique identifier is not received with said first request for emergency services and wherein said first unique identifier includes an identification of a third network node; and
routing said first request for emergency services over a public switched telephone network to said third network node, wherein said first routing number is used as a called number and said first unique identifier is used as a calling number.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein said first location information is obtained from said first communication device.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein said step of obtaining first location information comprises accessing a table of location information, wherein a location is associated with said first communication device.
20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
receiving a second request for emergency services from a second communication device;
identifying said second communication device initiating said second request;
obtaining second location information related to said second request;
providing second location information to said first network node;
receiving a second routing number and a second unique identifier from said first network node, wherein said second unique identifier includes an identification of a fourth network node; and
routing said second request for emergency services over a public switched telephone network to said fourth network node, wherein said second routing number is used as a called number and said second unique identifier is used as a calling number, wherein said first request for emergency services is received by a first public safety answering point identified by said first unique identifier that is served by a first tandem identified by said first routing number, and wherein said second request for emergency services is received by a second public safety answering point identified by said second unique identifier served by a second tandem identified by said second routing number.
21. An emergency service call center system for routing requests for emergency services and information, comprising:
an input from a communication network operable to receive a request for emergency services;
an output to the communication network;
an input from a first computer network;
an output to the first computer network;
a call center manager operable to receive a first request for emergency services from at least one of a computer network and the communication network;
a call center database operable to store first information regarding a location, wherein a query comprising said first information regarding a location from which the first request for emergency services originated is transmitted by said call center system over the first computer network, wherein a first identifier comprising a routing number and a second identifier comprising a request identifier and a public safety answering point identifier are received over the first computer network in response to said query, wherein said first identifier is associated with the first request for emergency services by said emergency service call center system as a called number to allow the first request for emergency services to be routed over the communication network to a network switch, and wherein said second identifier is associated with the first request for emergency services by said emergency call center system as a calling number.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein said input from the communication network and said output to the communication network together comprise an interface with the public switched telephone network.
23. The system of claim 22 , wherein said interface with the public switched telephone network comprises a primary rate ISDN interface.
24. The system of claim 21 , wherein said second identifier is not a telephone number of a device from which said request for emergency services was initiated.
25. The system of claim 21 , wherein said call center manager is operable to place an operator in voice communication with a party associated with the request for emergency services.
26. A method for routing an emergency call to an appropriate public safety answering point, comprising:
receiving at a call center a signal from a communication device related to a request for emergency services;
determining a geographic location of said communication device;
correlating said geographic location of said communication device to a public safety answering point;
obtaining a routing number from said emergency services complex;
obtaining an identification key from an emergency services complex, wherein said identification key is assigned by said emergency services complex to said signal from a communication device;
placing a telephone call to a public safety answering point over a first communication network using said routing number as a called number, wherein said identification key is associated with said telephone call and said public safety answering point as a calling number; and
providing said geographic location information to said public safety answering point over a second communication network.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein said signal received from a communication device comprises an initial telephone call.
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein said identification key assigned to said telephone call is not a telephone number of said communication device.
29. The method of claim 26 , wherein said first communication network comprises a public switched telephone network, and wherein said second communication network comprises a computer network.
30. The method of claim 26 , wherein said step of determining a geographic location of said communication device comprises receiving geographic location information from said communication device.
31. The method of claim 26 , wherein said step of determining a geographic location of said communication device comprises:
receiving source identification information from said communication device; and
correlating said source identification information to a geographic location.
32. The method of claim 26 , wherein said communication device comprises a mobile source.
33. The method of claim 26 , wherein said communication device comprises stationary source.
34. The method of claim 26 , further comprising passing data between a positioning server and an information retrieval center.