Teletypewriter (TTY) for communicating pre-stored emergency messages to public safety answering points (PSAPS)

1. A teletypewriter (TTY) for communicating a pre-stored emergency message to a public safety answering point (PSAP), said TTY comprising:

an input/output (I/O) unit configured to communicate with a communications network using a TTY communications protocol;

a memory configured to store at least one pre-stored emergency message;

a user interface configured to enable a user to generate TTY messages to communicate via said I/O unit over the communications network; and

a processing unit in communication with said I/O unit, memory, and user interface, and configured to:

receive an emergency call signal initiated by a user interfacing with said user interface;

access a pre-stored emergency message stored in said memory;

dial a PSAP;

in response to an operator at a PSAP answering the call, communicate the pre-stored emergency message to a PSAP operator;

in response to determining that an acknowledgement response is received to indicate that a call connection is made with the PSAP, provide the user with an option to add an interpreter to the call; and

in response to the user electing to add the interpreter to the call, call an interpreter and add the interpreter to the call with the PSAP to create a 3-way call.

2. The TTY according to claim 1 , wherein said user interface is configured with a dedicated hard-button configured to cause said processing unit to access the pre-stored emergency message in response to the user activating the hard-button.

3. The TTY according to claim 2 , wherein said user interface is configured with multiple hard-buttons each respectively configured to cause said processing unit to access different pre-stored emergency messages stored in said memory.

4. The TTY according to claim 1 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to remain in an off-hook state after the pre-stored emergency message is communicated to the PSAP and an acknowledgement response is returned from the PSAP.

5. The TTY according to claim 1 , further comprising a GPS device, and wherein said processing unit is further configured to communicate GPS coordinates determined by said GPS device with the pre-stored emergency message.

6. A method for communicating a pre-stored emergency message from a TTY to a PSAP, said method comprising:

in response to receiving an emergency call signal, accessing a pre-stored emergency message stored in a memory;

dialing a PSAP;

communicating the pre-stored emergency message to a PSAP using a TTY communications protocol;

in response to determining that an acknowledgement response is received to indicate that a call connection is made with the PSAP, providing the user with an option to add an interpreter to the call; and

in response to the user electing to add the interpreter to the call, calling an interpreter and add the interpreter to the call with the PSAP to create a 3-way call.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the emergency call signal is generated in response to a user activating a hard-button on the TTY.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising accessing one of a plurality of pre-stored emergency messages in response to a user activating a respective one of a plurality of hard-buttons.

9. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising maintaining the TTY in an off-hook state after communicating the pre-stored emergency message to the PSAP.

10. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising communicating GPS coordinates to the PSAP with the pre-stored emergency message.

11. A TTY compatible device, said TTY compatible device comprising:

an I/O unit configured to communicate with a communications network using a TTY communications protocol;

a memory configured to store a plurality of messages for communicating to an emergency caller using a TTY;

a user interface configured to enable a user to select each of the emergency messages stored in said memory; and

a processing unit in communication with said I/O unit, memory, and user interface, and configured to:

display TTY messages received from an emergency caller;

access one of the messages in response to a selection by the PSAP operator; and communicate the selected message to the emergency caller; and

in response to a call connection being made with the emergency caller, present an option to the PSAP operator to connect an interpreter onto the call to create a 3-way call with the emergency caller, PSAP operator, and interpreter.

12. The TTY compatible device according to claim 11 , wherein said user interface includes a plurality of hard-buttons, each hard-button being associated with a respective message stored in said memory.

13. The TTY compatible device according to claim 11 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

display a plurality of selectable messages for a PSAP operator; and

communicate a selected message to the emergency caller using the TTY communications protocol.

14. The TTY compatible device according to claim 13 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

process an emergency message received from an emergency caller;

determine content of the emergency message; and

select a plurality of selectable messages for display based on the determined content of the emergency message.

15. The TTY compatible device according to claim 14 , wherein said processing unit is further configured to:

identify an emergency category to which the emergency message relates; and

select the plurality of selectable messages for display based on the identified emergency category.

16. The TTY compatible device according to claim 11 , wherein the TTY compatible device is configured with a user interface that enables the TTY compatible device to call a PSAP.

17. The TTY compatible device according to claim 16 , wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface.