Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing alerts and notifications

1. A method for providing alerts and notifications to Internet Protocol-enabled devices, comprising:

receiving an alert message from a content source;

retrieving a set of Internet Protocol device addresses associated with accounts subscribing to an alert service; and

transmitting the alert message to the Internet Protocol-enabled devices corresponding to the set of Internet Protocol device addresses associated with the accounts subscribing to the alert service;

wherein transmitting the alert message is performed via one of two available delivery modes, the two available delivery modes comprising:

a first delivery mode comprising transmitting the alert message to only those Internet Protocol device addresses having both a subscription to the alert service and a geographic identifier matching a geographic identifier in the alert message; and

a second delivery mode comprising transmitting the alert message, along with the geographic identifier, to all Internet Protocol device addresses having a subscription to the alert services, the corresponding Internet Protocol devices displaying the alert message when the geographic identifier in the alert message matches a geographic identifier of the corresponding Internet Protocol-enabled devices, the method further comprising:

configuring subscriber accounts for providing the alerts and notifications by using user credentials and an identifier of a respective selected device specified in the account to route a sign on request from the respective selected device to a network authentication element for providing a single sign on credential for a user of the respective selected device, the network authentication element validating devices across a plurality of network types via authentication systems corresponding to each of the network types, the network types including circuit-switched networks and packet-switched networks; and

providing the user with access to the alert services via any of the plurality of devices and over multiple network types via the single sign on credential;

wherein the method further comprises:

configuring tiered storage locations for media content including the alert message based upon proximity of the storage locations to the Internet Protocol-enabled devices;

analyzing factors that impact access to, and quality of, the media content provided over the network,

identifying a current storage location of the media content;

creating decision criteria and metrics for re-allocating selected media content to alternate storage locations in response to the analyzing, the alternate storage locations forming at least a portion of the tiered storage locations;

re-allocating the selected media content to at least one of the alternate storage locations in response to the analyzing; and

updating an inventory database to reflect the at least one of the alternate storage locations of the selected media content.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the geographic identifier with the alert message;

wherein retrieving a set of Internet Protocol device addresses includes searching the accounts for geographic information matching the geographic identifier.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the geographic identifier comprises:

a zip code.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Internet Protocol device addresses include:

a media access control address.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content source includes:

an AM broadcast station;

an FM broadcast station; and

an emergency broadcast station.

6. A system for providing alerts and notifications to Internet Protocol-enabled devices, comprising:

a notification server; and

an alerts application executing on the notification server, the alerts application performing a method, comprising:

receiving an alert message from a content source;

retrieving a set of Internet Protocol device addresses associated with accounts subscribing to an alert service; and

transmitting the alert message to the Internet Protocol-enabled devices corresponding to the set of Internet Protocol device addresses associated with the accounts subscribing to the alert service;

wherein transmitting the alert message is performed via one of two available delivery modes, the two available delivery modes comprising:

a first delivery mode comprising transmitting the alert message to only those Internet Protocol device addresses having both a subscription to the alert service and a geographic identifier matching a geographic identifier in the alert message; and

a second delivery mode comprising transmitting the alert message, along with the geographic identifier, to all Internet Protocol device addresses having a subscription to the alert services, the corresponding Internet Protocol devices displaying the alert message when the geographic identifier in the alert message matches a geographic identifier of the corresponding Internet Protocol-enabled devices, the method further comprising:

configuring subscriber accounts for providing the alerts and notifications by using user credentials and an identifier of a respective selected device specified in the account to route a sign on request from the respective selected device to a network authentication element for providing a single sign on credential for a user of the respective selected device, the network authentication element validating devices across a plurality of network types via authentication systems corresponding to each of the network types, the network types including circuit-switched networks and packet-switched networks; and

providing the user with access to the alert services via any of the plurality of devices and over multiple network types via the single sign on credential:

wherein the method further comprises:

configuring tiered storage locations for media content including the alert message based upon proximity of the storage locations to the Internet Protocol-enabled devices;

analyzing factors that impact access to, and quality of, the media content provided over the network, identifying a current storage location of the media content;

creating decision criteria and metrics for re-allocating selected media content to alternate storage locations in response to the analyzing, the alternate storage locations forming at least a portion of the tiered storage locations;

re-allocating the selected media content to at least one of the alternate storage locations in response to the analyzing; and

updating an inventory database to reflect the at least one of the alternate storage locations of the selected media content.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the alerts application further performs:

receiving the geographic identifier with the alert message; wherein retrieving a set of Internet Protocol device addresses includes searching the accounts for geographic information matching the geographic identifier.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the geographic identifier includes:

a zip code; and

a federal information processing standard code.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the Internet Protocol device addresses include:

a media access control address; and

a globally unique identifier.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the content source includes:

an AM broadcast station;

an FM broadcast station; and

an emergency broadcast station.

11. A non-transitory computer program product for providing alerts and notifications to Internet Protocol-enabled devices, the computer program product including instructions for implementing a method, comprising:

receiving an alert message from a content source;

retrieving a set of Internet Protocol device addresses associated with accounts subscribing to an alert service; and

transmitting the alert message to the Internet Protocol-enabled devices corresponding to the set of Internet Protocol device addresses associated with the accounts subscribing to the alert service;

wherein transmitting the alert message is performed via one of two available delivery modes, the two available delivery modes comprising:

a first delivery mode comprising transmitting the alert message to only those Internet Protocol device addresses having both a subscription to the alert service and a geographic identifier matching a geographic identifier in the alert message; and

a second delivery mode comprising transmitting the alert message, along with the geographic identifier, to all Internet Protocol device addresses having a subscription to the alert services, the corresponding Internet Protocol devices displaying the alert message when the geographic identifier in the alert message matches a geographic identifier of the corresponding Internet Protocol-enabled devices, the method further comprising:

configuring subscriber accounts for providing the alerts and notifications by using user credentials and an identifier of a respective selected device specified in the account to route a sign on request from the respective selected device to a network authentication element for providing a single sign on credential for a user of the respective selected device, the network authentication element validating devices across a plurality of network types via authentication systems corresponding to each of the network types, the network types including circuit-switched networks and packet-switched networks; and

providing the user with access to the alert services via any of the plurality of devices and over multiple network types via the single sign on credential:

wherein the method further comprises:

configuring tiered storage locations for media content including the alert message based upon proximity of the storage locations to the Internet Protocol-enabled devices;

analyzing factors that impact access to, and quality of, the media content provided over the network,

identifying a current storage location of the media content;

creating decision criteria and metrics for re-allocating selected media content to alternate storage locations in response to the analyzing, the alternate storage locations forming at least a portion of the tiered storage locations;

re-allocating the selected media content to at least one of the alternate storage locations in response to the analyzing; and

updating an inventory database to reflect the at least one of the alternate storage locations of the selected media content.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , further comprising instructions for performing:

receiving the geographic identifier with the alert message; wherein retrieving a set of Internet Protocol device addresses includes searching the accounts for geographic information matching the geographic identifier.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the geographic identifier includes:

a zip code; and

a federal information processing standard code.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the Internet Protocol device addresses include:

a media access control address; and

a globally unique identifier.

15. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the content source includes:

an AM broadcast station;

an FM broadcast station; and

an emergency broadcast station.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring subscriber accounts for providing the alerts and notifications, the configuring comprising:

receiving a device identifier for each device of a corresponding account and receiving user credentials for the account, each of the accounts specifying network access privileges for a user;

authenticating the user credentials; and

storing the device identifiers with the user credentials within respective accounts upon successful authentication of the user credentials..

17. The method of claim 2 , wherein the geographic identifier includes:

a federal information processing standard code.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Internet Protocol device addresses include:

a globally unique identifier.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the factors include popularity of the media content, costs of transporting the media content through the network, timing of demand for the media content, and costs of storage space.