Automated emergency notification system

An apparatus for automatically placing at least one phone call to a selected group of called parties in response to a phone call from a calling party to a network comprising:

• an outcall platform, said outcall platform coupled to the network for establishing phone call to the called parties;
• a subscriber database, said subscriber database containing identification information for the calling party;
• an outcall database, said outcall database containing identification for each party to be called;
• and
• a call deactivation timer operably connected to said outcall platform for providing a call deactivation time period;
• wherein said outcall platform accesses said subscriber database and said outcall database to correlate identification information for the calling party to identification information for each of the parties to be called and wherein said outcall platform automatically initiates a phone call to at least one of the parties to be called based on said correlated identification information for the calling party and the party to be called if both (a) the phone call from the calling party to the network is to an emergency service provider and (b) either call deactivation is disabled or during the phone call from the calling party to the network a call deactivation signal is not received within the call deactivation time period.

A method for automatically placing a phone call to a first called party and to at least one selected second called party in response to a phone call connection request by a calling party comprising the steps of:

• receiving the phone call connection request at a public switched telephone network switch for establishing a phone call to the first called party;
• determining by said switch the identity of the calling party that has requested said phone call connection request;
• determining by said switch the identity of the first called party;
• correlating the identity of the calling party to the identity of the first called party;
• providing the identity of the calling party by said switch to an outcall platform;
• correlating the identity of the calling party to at least one of the selected second called party for establishing a phone call to the second called party;
• establishing a first phone call with the first called party by said public switched telephone network switch in response to said phone call connection request;
• determining whether notification is deactivated, wherein notification is deactivated if deactivation is enabled and a call notification signal is received from the calling party within a deactivation time period;
• and
• automatically establishing a second phone call with the selected second called party by said outcall platform in response to determining that the first called party is an emergency service provider if notification has not been deactivated.

A method for automatically contacting a selected second party in response to a phone call connection request by a calling party to a service provider network comprising the steps of:

• receiving the phone call connection request from the calling party for establishing a phone call to a first party at the service provider network;
• determining the identity of the calling party that has requested said phone call connection request;
• correlating the identity of the calling party to the selected second party;
• establishing a phone call with the first party by said service provider network in response to said phone call connection request;
• and
• automatically contacting the selected second party by said service provider network if the phone call connection request to the first party was to an emergency service provider and if notification is not deactivated, wherein notification is deactivated if deactivation is enabled and a call notification signal is received from the calling party within a deactivation time period.

A method for placing a plurality of phone calls to a first called party and to at least one of a pre-selected group of second called parties in response to a single phone call received from a calling party by a service provider network comprising the steps of:

• means for receiving a phone call connection request from the calling party for establishing a phone call to the first called party at the service provider network;
• means for determining the identity of the calling party that has requested the phone call connection;
• means for correlating whether the phone call connection request to the first called party is to an emergency service provider, and if so:
• a) establishing a phone call between the calling party and the emergency service provider in response to said phone call connection request;
• b) determining whether the calling party has enabled a notification delay feature and, if so, delaying a predetermined delay period;
• and
• c) automatically establishing at least one phone call with at least one of the pre-selected group of second called parties by said service provider network if a notification deactivation signal was not received from the calling party during the delay period.