Handling, management and creation of ice contacts

A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium that stores program instructions the execution of which results in operations that comprise:

• receiving input at a user equipment that designates a particular entity recorded in a user equipment contacts database as being an entity to be contacted in case of an emergency;
• and
• setting an indication in a first field of a corresponding contacts database entry, where the first field is separate from a second field of the contacts database entry that stores a name of the entity, wherein a first portion of the indication designates the entity named in the second field as one to be contacted in the event of an emergency, and wherein a second portion of the indication further indicates an order of priority according to a user defined precedence for contacting the entity named in the second field to be contacted in the event of an emergency and displaying said named entities in said order,
• wherein the first portion of the indication comprises a first bit in the first field, wherein the second portion of the indication comprises at least one second bit in the first field, wherein the first bit indicates whether the entry represents an ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact, and wherein the at least one second bit corresponds to the order of priority of the ICE contact.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a data processor;
• a user interface;
• and
• a memory comprising stored data representing a contacts database, the contacts database comprising a plurality of entries, each entry comprising a plurality of fields, the plurality of fields comprising a name field, a contact field storing information indicating how an entity identified in the name field may be contacted, and a further field comprising a first portion and a second portion, the first portion indicating whether or not the entity named in the name field is to be contacted in the event of an emergency and the second portion further indicating an order of priority according to a user defined precedence for contacting the entity named in the name field to be contacted in the event of an emergency and displaying said named entities in said order;
• and
• a display screen, wherein the apparatus is configured to display said named entities in said order on the display screen,
• wherein the first portion comprises a first bit in the further field, wherein the second portion comprises at least one second bit in the further field, wherein the first bit indicates whether the entry represents an ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact, and wherein the at least one second bit corresponds to the order of priority of the ICE contact.

A method, comprising:

• in response to preparing to display a content of a name field of an entry in a contacts database, determining if a predetermined text string is present in the name field, the text string indicating that the contacts database entry is associated with entity to be contacted in case of an emergency;
• determining if an indication of an order of priority according to a user defined precedence for contacting the entity named in the name field to be contacted in the event of an emergency is present;
• if it is determined that the predetermined text string is present, displaying the content of the name field without displaying the predetermined text string;
• and
• if it is determined that the indication of the order of priority according to a user defined precedence is present, displaying the content of the name field in the order of priority without displaying the indication of the order of priority;
• wherein the indication comprises a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion of the indication comprises a first bit in a first field of the contacts database entry, wherein the second bit in the first field, wherein the first bit indicates whether the entry represents an ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact, and wherein the at least one second bit corresponds to the order of priority of the ICE contact.