Emergency Service Request System for Online Collaboration Calls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing online communication services, such as videoconferencing platforms, lack an efficient mechanism for users to request emergency services on behalf of participants in distress, especially when the distressed participant is incapacitated and unable to seek help themselves, and the solution must account for users in different jurisdictions and locations.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows users to initiate an emergency response procedure through a user interface during a conference call, which includes notifying the distressed participant, setting a timer for cancellation, and connecting to a public safety access point (PSAP) using location information, potentially adding the PSAP to the conference call and alerting proximate users for assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a participant in a videoconference call witnesses another participant in distress and attempts to request emergency assistance, then emergency service can be requested on behalf of the distressed person, but the system complexity increases due to needing to handle location information, PSAP routing, and conference call integration
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically retrieves location information from the distressed participant's device and uses it to route the emergency call to the appropriate PSAP without requiring the assisting participant to manually input location details. The timer mechanism also operates automatically, reducing the need for manual intervention while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication service acts as an intermediary between the conference call participants and the emergency services infrastructure. It receives the emergency service request, retrieves location data, determines the appropriate PSAP, and establishes the connection, thereby shielding users from the complexity of direct PSAP routing while enabling easy emergency service access.
2Loss of time
If the system automatically connects to the appropriate PSAP using location information, then response time is reduced, but the risk of connecting to the wrong PSAP increases when participants are in different jurisdictions
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback to participants about the location information detected and the PSAP that will be contacted before the emergency call is established. This allows participants to verify the correctness of the location and PSAP routing, enabling correction if the wrong jurisdiction is identified, thus maintaining reliability while enabling快速响应.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically retrieving and validating location information before establishing the emergency call connection. It determines the appropriate PSAP in advance and provides this information to participants for verification, ensuring accurate routing is established before the actual emergency call begins, thereby reducing both response time and routing errors.
3Reliability
If the system provides a timer for cancellation of the emergency service request, then false alarms are reduced, but the time to establish emergency connection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The timer mechanism provides a brief cancellation window that is sufficient to prevent false alarms from accidental button presses, but is deliberately limited in duration to minimize the delay before emergency services are contacted. The timer duration is calibrated to be just long enough to allow for intentional cancellation while being short enough to ensure rapid emergency response, balancing reliability and response time requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Technology disclosed herein includes a method of operating a communication service. The method includes hosting a conference call comprising bidirectional communications between at least a first endpoint and a second endpoint; receiving, in the context of the conference call, a request from the first endpoint for emergency service on behalf of a user at the second endpoint, wherein the request is initiated by user input received at a user interface on the first endpoint; and establishing a connection between the second endpoint and a public safety access point to obtain the emergency service for the user.