System and method for delivering wireless emergency alerts to residential phones

1. A method for processing public warning messages at a residence, the method comprising:

receiving an alert message at a fixed wireless terminal at the residence that includes the fixed wireless terminal and a receiver and where the fixed wireless terminal and the receiver are communicatively coupled over a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network, and the alert message is a text-based file providing a warning message;

converting, by the fixed wireless terminal, the alert message from the text-based file to an audio file containing the warning message;

determining whether the receiver is currently in use;

issuing an alert, when the receiver is not currently in use, audible at the receiver;

determining the receiver is not taken off-hook subsequent to issuing the alert at the receiver;

starting a timer, by the fixed wireless terminal, in response to the determining the receiver is not taken off-hook;

reissuing the alert audible at the receiver in response to an expiration of a time period provided by the timer after the starting the timer; and

sending the audio file from the fixed wireless terminal to the receiver over the POTS network when it is determined that the receiver is taken off-hook subsequent to the reissuing the alert at the receiver,

wherein the alert message is contained within a Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) paging notification from an evolved Node B (eNode B) of an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), and

wherein the alert message is a SystemInformationBlock Type 12 (SIB12) message comprising a plurality of segments, and wherein the method further comprises:

assembling the text-based file of the alert message from the plurality of segments of the SIB12 message.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the text-based file of the alert message locally in a memory device at the fixed wireless terminal only for a configurable period of time after which the text-based file of the alert message is deleted.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

waiting, if the receiver is currently in use, for the timer to expire;

determining, after expiration of the time period of the timer, whether the receiver is currently in use;

issuing the alert, if the receiver is not currently in use after expiration of the timer, audible at the receiver; and

determining whether the receiver is off-hook.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiver interfaces with the fixed wireless terminal over a Registered Jack 11 (RJ11) interface and the audio file is sent to the receiver over the RJ11 interface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a number of alerts issued by the fixed wireless terminal to, and audible at, the receiver, before the receiver stops alerting, is configurable.

6. A non-transitory computer readable storage device for processing public warning messages at a residence, the computer readable storage device having computer executable instructions for performing the steps of:

receiving an alert message at a fixed wireless terminal at the residence that includes the fixed wireless terminal and a receiver and where the fixed wireless terminal and the receiver are communicatively coupled over a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network, and the alert message is a text-based file providing a warning message;

converting, by the fixed wireless terminal, the alert message from the text-based file to an audio file containing the warning message;

determining whether the receiver is currently in use;

issuing an alert, when the receiver is not currently in use, audible at the receiver;

determining the receiver is not taken off-hook subsequent to issuing the alert at the receiver;

starting a timer, by the fixed wireless terminal, in response to the determining the receiver is not taken off-hook;

reissuing the alert audible at the receiver in response to an expiration of a time period provided by the timer after the starting the timer; and

sending the audio file from the fixed wireless terminal to the receiver over the POTS network when it is determined that the receiver is taken off-hook subsequent to the reissuing the alert at the receiver,

wherein the alert message is contained within a Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) paging notification from an evolved Node B (eNode B) of an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), and

wherein the alert message is a SystemInformationBlock Type 12 (SIB12) message comprising a plurality of segments, and wherein the method further comprises:

assembling the text-based file of the alert message from the plurality of segments of the SIB12 message.

7. The computer readable storage device of claim 6 further comprising instructions for performing the step of storing the text-based file of the alert message locally in a memory device at the fixed wireless terminal only for a configurable period of time after which the text-based file of the alert message is deleted.

8. The computer readable storage device of claim 6 further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

waiting, if the receiver is currently in use, for a configurable timer to expire;

determining, after expiration of the configurable timer, whether the receiver is currently in use;

issuing an alert, if the receiver is not currently in use after expiration of the configurable timer, at the receiver; and

determining whether the receiver is off-hook.

9. The computer readable storage device of claim 6 , wherein the receiver interfaces with the fixed wireless terminal over a Registered Jack 11 (RJ11) interface and the audio file is sent to the receiver over the RJ11 interface.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage device of claim 6 , wherein a number of alerts issued by the fixed wireless terminal to, and audible at, the receiver, before the receiver stops alerting, is configurable.

11. A fixed wireless terminal for incorporation into a residential phone system at a residence including the fixed wireless terminal and one or more receivers external to the fixed wireless terminal and in communication with the fixed wireless terminal over a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) network, and where the residential phone system is configured to receive public warning messages, the fixed wireless terminal comprising a processor, a memory, a network interface, a text-to-speech synthesizer, and a timer,

wherein the fixed wireless terminal is configured to:

receive, at the network interface, a text based alert message from a wireless cellular network;

convert, by the text-to-speech synthesizer, the text based alert message to an audio based alert message;

determine whether the one or more receivers is currently in use;

issue an alert, when the one or more receivers are not currently in use, audible at the one or more receivers;

determine a receiver of the one or more receivers is not taken off-hook subsequent to issuing the alert at the one or more receivers;

starting a configurable timer, by the timer of the fixed wireless terminal in response to the determining the receiver is not taken off-hook;

reissue the alert audible at the one or more receivers in response to an expiration of a time period of the configurable timer, in response to the starting the configurable timer; and

transmit the audio based alert message to the receiver of the one or more receivers for playing the audio based alert message when it is determined that the receiver is taken off-hook subsequent to the reissuing the alert at the one or more receivers,

wherein the alert message is received from a Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) paging notification from an evolved node b (enodeb) of an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), and

wherein the alert message is a SystemInformationBlock Type 12 (SIB12) message comprising a plurality of segments, and prior to the fixed wireless terminal converting the text based alert message to the audio based alert message, the first wireless terminal assembles the text based alert message from the plurality of segments of the SIB12 message.

12. The fixed wireless terminal of claim 11 , wherein the one or more receivers communicate with the fixed wireless terminal over a Registered Jack 11 (RJ11) interface.

13. The fixed wireless terminal of claim 11 , wherein a number of alerts issued by the fixed wireless terminal to, and audible at, the receiver, before the receiver stops alerting, is configurable.