Address validation for personal emergency response systems

Abstract

A server verifies that an address of record for a personal emergency response (PERS) device is in agreement with a current address of the PERS device. The PERS device has a docking station and a wearable unit. At start-up, the docking station places a call to the server and the server receives coordinates of the wearable unit. The coordinates are reverse-mapped into the current address and compared with the address of record. If the address and the address of record differ, the address of record is updated to reflect the current address.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method, comprising steps of:
 receiving a call from a movable landline device in a central processing system, at a start-up of the moveable landline device;   responsive to receiving the call from the movable landline device in the central processing system, receiving coordinates of a wearable unit in radio communication with the moveable landline device, in a server included in the central processing system, the received coordinates being obtained from a global positioning system (GPS) of the wearable unit;   reverse-mapping the received coordinates into a current address of the moveable landline device; and   storing, by the server, the current address of the moveable landline device in association with an identifier of the moveable landline device, for subsequently determining location of the moveable landline device during processing of a further call for the moveable landline device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising steps of:
 obtaining a telephone number associated with the received call;   obtaining an address associated with the telephone number;   comparing the address associated with the telephone number with the current address obtained from the reverse-mapping step; and   responsive to a difference between the address associated with the telephone number and the current address obtained from the reverse-mapping step, requesting a user of the wearable unit to verify the current address.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the central processing system is a personal emergency response system call center, and wherein requesting the user to verify the address comprises a call center agent placing a call to the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein obtaining the address associated with the telephone number includes:
 obtaining from the received call an identifier associated with the origin of the received call; and   referencing a database to identify an address associated with the identifier.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the identifier comprises an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) associated with the origin of the received call. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the identifier comprises Caller Identification (Caller ID) associated with the origin of the received call. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the central processing system is a personal emergency response system;   the moveable landline device and the wearable unit are associated with the personal emergency response system;   the movable landline device is a docking station; and   the wearable unit is a wireless device.   
     
     
         8 . An article of manufacture, comprising programming instructions for causing a processor of one or more servers to perform the method of  claim 1  and a machine-readable storage medium bearing the programming instructions. 
     
     
         9 . A server computer, comprising:
 an interface for communication with mobile stations through a mobile communication network;   a processor for controlling operations of the server, including communications through the interface; and   storage for user records and programming executable by the processor, wherein the programming configures the server to implement functions, including functions to:   receive a call from a movable landline device in a central processing system including the server, at a start-up of the movable landline device;   in response to the received call from the movable landline device in the central processing system including the server, receive coordinates of a wearable unit in radio communication with the movable landline device, the received coordinates obtained from a global positioning system (GPS) of the wearable unit;   reverse-map the received coordinates into a current address of the moveable landline device; and   store the current address of the moveable landline device in association with an identifier of the moveable landline device, for subsequently determining location of the moveable landline device during processing of a further call from the moveable landline device.   
     
     
         10 . The server of  claim 9 , wherein the programming further configures the server to implement further functions, including functions to:
 obtain a telephone number associated with the received call;   obtain an address associated with the telephone number;   compare the address associated with the telephone number with the current address obtained from the reverse-map function; and   in response to a difference between the address associated with the telephone number and the current address obtained from the reverse-map function, request a user of the wearable unit to verify the current address.   
     
     
         11 . The server of  claim 10 , wherein the verification request function further comprises functions to:
 prompt the central processing system to place an address verification call to the user; and   update the address associated with the moveable landline device based on accurate address information provided by the user during the address verification call.   
     
     
         12 . The server of  claim 10 , wherein the function to obtain the address associated with the telephone number further comprises functions to:
 obtain from the received call an identifier associated with the origin of the received call; and   reference a database to identify an address associated with the identifier.   
     
     
         13 . The server of  claim 12 , wherein the identifier comprises an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) associated with the origin of the received call. 
     
     
         14 . The server of  claim 12 , wherein the identifier comprises Caller Identification (Caller ID) associated with the origin of the received call. 
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 a call center configured to receive calls from a moveable landline device; and   a server computer configured to:   receive a call from a movable landline device in a central processing system including the server, at a start-up of the movable landline device;   in response to the received call from the movable landline device in the central processing system including the server, receive coordinates of a wearable unit in radio communication with the movable landline device, the received coordinates obtained from a global positioning system (GPS) of the wearable unit;   reverse-map the received coordinates into a current address of the moveable landline device; and   store the current address of the moveable landline device in association with an identifier of the moveable landline device, for subsequently determining location of the moveable landline device during processing of a further call from the moveable landline device.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the server computer is further configured to:
 obtain a telephone number associated with the received call;   obtain an address associated with the telephone number;   compare the address associated with the telephone number with the current address obtained from the reverse-map function; and   in response to a difference between the address associated with the telephone number and the current address obtained from the reverse-map function, request a user of the wearable unit to verify the current address.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the call center is a personal emergency response system call center;   the call center is further configured to place an address verification call to the user via a call center agent in response to the current address verification request; and   the server computer is further configured to update the address associated with the moveable landline device based on accurate address information provided by the user during the address verification call.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the server computer, to obtain the address associated with the telephone number, is further configured to:
 obtain from the received call an identifier associated with the origin of the received call; and   reference a database to identify an address associated with the identifier.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the identifier comprises one of an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) associated with the origin of the received call and a Caller Identification (Caller ID) associated with the origin of the received call. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the call center is further configured to accept the received call when the received call is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call delivered via a telephony service provided by a VoIP Analog Terminal Adaptor connected to the movable landline device.