Community Safety SMS Mapping for Emergency Source Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current emergency notification systems lack efficient two-way communication capabilities, particularly in handling non-preprogrammed responses and user location mapping, limiting the effectiveness of emergency response in situations like campus emergencies.
Innovation Solution
A community safety system that enables bi-directional communication via common short code SMS notifications, allowing users to send free-form messages, determines user location, and relays messages to relevant administrators and users, while providing emergency source tracking and secure communication channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If one-way SMS broadcast notification system is used, then system simplicity is maintained, but two-way communication capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces feedback mechanisms by enabling users to send free-form SMS responses to broadcast notifications. The notification management entity processes these responses and relays them to administrators, creating a closed-loop communication system that maintains simplicity while achieving two-way interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification management entity serves as an intermediary that handles the complexity of two-way communication. It receives free-form SMS messages from users, processes them according to predetermined rules, and relays relevant information to administrators, thereby shielding users from system complexity while enabling rich interaction.
2Productivity
If preprogrammed responses are required for SMS replies, then message processing efficiency is improved, but communication flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically processes SMS responses by evaluating each free-form message against predetermined criteria. Responses that meet the criteria are automatically processed and relayed to administrators, while others are handled differently. This dynamic approach maintains processing efficiency for valid messages while accommodating flexible user input.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of message format from fixed preprogrammed responses to variable free-form text. By maintaining predetermined processing rules while accepting variable input, the system achieves both flexibility in user expression and efficiency in message processing through parameter-based filtering and routing.
3Reliability
If user location mapping is not implemented, then system complexity is reduced, but emergency source tracking capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by obtaining and storing user location information in advance, before emergencies occur. User devices continuously or periodically report location data to the notification management entity, which stores this information for rapid retrieval and tracking during emergency situations, enabling fast response without adding complexity during critical moments.
Data Source
AI summary
A community safety system (CSS) including a notification management entity (NME) comprising servers, the NME communicatively coupled to multiple user devices and one or more administrator devices (collectively, registered user devices). The CSS includes a plurality of registered users, wherein registered users may share their own location, as well as sighting information about the location of a source of an emergency (e.g. a perpetrator) with the NME of the CSS. The NME may generate and provide display objects on a visualization interface of one or more users mobile devices displaying a map, the display objects indicative of user locations and/or emergency source location in the map displayed (e.g., in accordance with the map coordinate system).