# US 2024/0205657 A1 · System and method for providing local assistance to a caller whose location is unknown

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- Number: US 2024/0205657 A1
- Document ID: US20240205657A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 18/067,784
- Filed: 2022-12-19
- Published: 2024-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2022-12-19
- Assignees: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
- Applicants: Motorola Solutions, Inc.
- Inventors: HAIM KAHLON; GUY BURKO; JACOB SHEM TOV
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20240205657A1

## CPC

- H04W 4/90: Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
- H04W 4/023: {using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds}
- H04W 4/80: Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
- H04W 76/50: for emergency connections
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

Techniques for providing assistance to a caller whose location is unknown are provided. A request for assistance from a caller whose location is unknown is received at a public safety answering point from a calling device. A list of devices proximate to the calling devices is received from the calling device whose location is unknown. It is identified when a device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance. A request is sent to the identified device to provide local assistance to the caller whose location is unknown.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of providing local assistance to a caller comprising:
receiving, at a public safety answering point, a request for assistance from a caller whose location is unknown, the request for assistance received from a calling device;
receiving a list of devices proximate to the calling device from the calling device whose location is unknown;
identifying when a device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance; and
sending a request to the identified device to provide local assistance to the caller whose location is unknown.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
sending an indication to the calling device associated with the caller whose location is unknown to download a helper application, wherein the helper application collects the list of devices proximate to the calling device via a wireless connection; and
receiving, at the public safety answering point, from the helper application, the list of devices proximate to the calling device.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, at the public safety answering point, the list of devices proximate to the calling device from an application integrated with the calling device.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the list of devices proximate to the calling device further comprises a list of Bluetooth identifiers, wherein identifying when a device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance further comprises:
determining if the Bluetooth identifier is included in a list of people registered as willing to provide local assistance, wherein registration includes providing the Bluetooth identifier of the device.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining that there is no device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device that has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance;
sending a request to the calling device to solicit contact information for devices proximate to the calling device;
receiving contact information for devices proximate to the calling device; and
contacting a device proximate to the calling device using the contact information to request a user of the contacted device to provide local assistance to the caller whose location is unknown.

### Claim 6

A method for requesting local assistance comprising:
calling, with a calling device whose location cannot be determined, a public safety answering point to request local assistance;
identifying devices proximate to the calling device and adding the devices to a list of devices proximate to the calling device; and
sending the list of devices proximate to the calling device to the public safety answering point, wherein the public safety answering point identifies a device within the list of devices that is associated with a user that has volunteered to provide local assistance.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 further comprising:
receiving an indication to download a helper application, wherein the helper application collects the list of devices proximate to the calling device via a wireless connection; and
collecting, via the helper application over the wireless connection, devices proximate to the calling device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 further comprising:
collecting, via an application integrated with the calling device over a wireless connection, devices proximate to the calling device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 wherein the list of devices proximate to the calling device further comprises a list of Bluetooth identifiers for each device in the list of proximate devices.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 further comprising:
receiving a request to collect contact information from the list of devices proximate to the calling device;
requesting contact information for each device within the list of devices proximate to the calling device; and
sending the contact information for each device within the list of devices proximate to the calling device to the public safety answering point.

### Claim 11

A system for providing local assistance to a caller comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing a set of instructions thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
receive, at a public safety answering point, a request for assistance from a caller whose location is unknown, the request for assistance received from a calling device;
receive a list of devices proximate to the calling device from the calling device whose location is unknown;
identify when a device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance; and
send a request to the identified device to provide local assistance to the caller whose location is unknown.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11 further comprising instructions to:
send an indication to the calling device associated with the caller whose location is unknown to download a helper application, wherein the helper application collects the list of devices proximate to the calling device via a wireless connection; and
receive, at the public safety answering point, from the helper application, the list of devices proximate to the calling device.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11 further comprising instructions to:
receive, at the public safety answering point, the list of devices proximate to the calling device from an application integrated with the calling device.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The system of claim 11 wherein the list of devices proximate to the calling device further comprises a list of Bluetooth identifiers, wherein the instructions to identify when a device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance further comprises instructions to:
determine if the Bluetooth identifier is included in a list of people registered as willing to provide local assistance, wherein registration includes providing the Bluetooth identifier of the device.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11 further comprising instructions to:
determine that there is no device in the list of devices proximate to the calling device that has been registered as belonging to a person willing to provide local assistance;
send a request to the calling device to solicit contact information for devices proximate to the calling device;
receive contact information for devices proximate to the calling device; and
contact a device proximate to the calling device using the contact information to request a user of the contacted device to provide local assistance to the caller whose location is unknown.