Method and apparatus for locating wireless access points

1 . A computer-readable storage medium operating as an interactive voice response (IVR) system accessible by a calling party over a communication system, the storage medium comprising computer instructions for:

locating one or more wireless access points in response to a request from a calling party; and

submitting to the calling party one or more locations corresponding to one or more wireless access points found in the locating step.

2 . The storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the submitting step further comprises computer instructions for:

providing the calling party options to select from the one or more locations;

receiving a selection from the calling party; and

submitting the calling party detailed information corresponding to the selection made by the calling party.

3 . The storage medium of claim 2 , wherein information exchanged in the providing, receiving and submitting steps comprises voice messages and data messages.

4 . The storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the submitting step comprises transmitting to a wireless device of the calling party a wireless message comprising the detailed information.

5 . The storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising computer instructions for:

determining a location of the calling party; and

wherein the locating step comprising computer instructions for locating one or more wireless access points nearest to the location of the calling party.

6 . The storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the determining step further comprises computer instructions for locating the calling party according to one among a group of sources comprising an originating phone number of the calling party, a location provided by a wireless device of the calling party, a zip code entered by the calling party, and a voice message provided by the calling party representing the location of the calling party.

7 . The storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more access points correspond to one or more wireless service providers, and wherein the storage medium further comprises computer instructions for:

providing the calling party options to select from at least one among the one or more wireless service providers;

receiving a selection from the calling party; and

submitting the calling party detailed information of the selected wireless service provider.

8 . The storage medium of claim 7 , further comprising computer instructions for:

requesting from the calling party billable information;

supplying the billable information to the selected wireless service provider for validation; and

billing the calling party upon validation.

9 . The storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the locating step comprises computer instructions for searching a database for the one or more wireless access points according to the request supplied by the calling party.

10 . A wireless access point locator (WAPL) operating as an IVR system, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is programmed to:

locate one or more wireless access points in response to a request from a calling party; and

submit to the calling party one or more locations corresponding to one or more wireless access points found in the locating step.

11 . The WAPL of claim 10 , wherein the submit step the processor is further programmed to:

provide the calling party options to select from the one or more locations;

receive a selection from the calling party; and

submit the calling party detailed information corresponding to the selection made by the calling party.

12 . The WAPL of claim 11 , wherein information exchanged in the provide, receive and submit steps comprises voice messages and data messages.

13 . The WAPL of claim 11 , wherein the submit step the processor is further programmed to transmit to a wireless device of the calling party a wireless message comprising the detailed information.

14 . The WAPL of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

determine a location of the calling party; and

wherein the locate wherein the processor is programmed to locate one or more wireless access points nearest to the location of the calling party.

15 . The WAPL of claim 14 , wherein the determine step the processor is further programmed to locate the calling party according to one among a group of sources comprising an originating phone number of the calling party, a location provided by a wireless device of the calling party, a zip code entered by the calling party, and a voice message provided by the calling party representing the location of the calling party.

16 . The WAPL of claim 10 , wherein the one or more access points correspond to one or more wireless service providers, and wherein the processor is further programmed to:

provide the calling party options to select from at least one among the one or more wireless service providers;

receive a selection from the calling party; and

submit the calling party detailed information of the selected wireless service provider.

17 . The WAPL of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:

request from the calling party billable information;

supply the billable information to the selected wireless service provider for validation; and

bill the calling party upon validation.

18 . The WAPL of claim 10 , wherein the locate step the processor is programmed to search a database for the one or more wireless access points according to the request supplied by the calling party.

19 . In an interactive voice response (IVR) system, a method comprising the steps of:

locating one or more wireless access points in response to a request from a calling party; and

submitting to the calling party one or more locations corresponding to one or more wireless access points found in the locating step.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the locating step comprises the step of searching a database for the one or more wireless access points according to the request supplied by the calling party, and wherein the submitting step further comprises steps of:

providing the calling party options to select from the one or more locations;

receiving a selection from the calling party; and

submitting the calling party detailed information corresponding to the selection made by the calling party.