GB2476084A

GB2476084A - Emergency response service for mobile telephone users

Info

Publication number: GB2476084A
Application number: GB0921670A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mahdi Salad
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-12-10
Filing date: 2009-12-10
Publication date: 2011-06-15
Also published as: GB0921670D0

Abstract

An emergency response service is provided whereby a mobile telephone uses a dedicated communication channel to communicate with a service provider. The service provider is in communication with an emergency services provider. In response to an instruction from a user, the mobile telephone sends a first predefined alert signal over the dedicated communication channel to the service provider who then sends a second predefined alert signal to the emergency services, following which assistance is dispatched to the mobile telephone user. The mobile telephone may transmit GPS location data and may also transmit multimedia data such as video, photos or audio which may be evaluated by the service provider before deciding whether to send the second alert signal. The multimedia data may be recorded at a remote server for later retrieval (eg for crime investigation).

Description

Systems and methods for providing an emergency response service

Background of the Invention

The present invention concerns systems and methods for providing an emergency response service. More particularly, but not exclusively, this invention concerns a system and method for providing an emergency/forensic response service for a location aware wireless mobile communication system.

The invention is particularly concerned with systems incorporating the use of a mobile telephone. By "mobile telephone" is meant any device suitable for communication over a mobile telephone telecoms infrastructure, including but not limited to standard mobile telephones, "smartphones", suitably capable Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and the like.

US 2005/0221796 Al (Pellegrino et al), published 6 October 2005, describes a security system using a wireless communications device, for example a mobile telephone. A user can use the wireless device is able to contact a security provider, and the security provider can in turn contact an emergency response centre (for example a police, fire or ambulance service or similar) In a perceived emergency, a user contacts the security provider using the wireless device, for example by pressing a key or entering a code. Once contacted, the security provider ascertains the identity of the user. This may be done automatically, for example using the calling number when the wireless device is a mobile telephone.

The security provider then ascertains the geographic location of the user. The user may provide their location verbally. Alternatively, the user's location may be ascertained using global positioning satellite (GPS) data from the wireless device, or the "Enhanced 911 (E911) location service". (The E911 service provided by mobile telephone service providers in the United States, and allows the location of a mobile telephone to be identified using * information such as the base stations in which the mobile telephone is in radio contact.) * Once the service provider has the required identity location information, they can transmit it to the relevant emergency response centre to allow emergency support to be provided.

A user may also provide other information relating to the emergency to the service provider, for example while speaking to the service provider if the wireless device is a mobile telephone. The service provider can transmit this information to the relevant emergency response centre, or may from the additional information ascertain that emergency support is no longer required. (For example, a perceived threat from a stranger may turn out to be innocuous.) If the user has a wireless device with suitable photographic capabilities (for example as enjoyed by many current mobile * telephones) then they may use that to transmit photographic images, for example of their surroundings or an assailant, to the security provider.

The security provider may be employed within an existing service provider; for example the security service may be provided by a mobile phone service provider.

Alternatively, the security provider may be an independent provider with the primary purpose of providing individual security services.

WO 2006/104560 Al (Siemens Communications, Inc.), published 5 October 2006, describes a system for providing location, multimedia, and other information regarding an emergency situation from a wireless device such as a mobile telephone. The wireless device is arranged, in response to a single input from the user (for example the pressing of an emergency button), to send one or more Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages to one or more emergency contacts, which may include for example a police, fire or ambulance service or imilar, and/or a neighbour, spouse, next of kin and so on. The MMS message or messages may contain GPS data indicating the location of the wireless device, and audio, image or video data, if the wireless device has suitable capabilities.

It is a disadvantage of these systems that they do not provide a reliable, efficient system for providing an emergency response to a mobile phone user. The present invention seeks to solve or mitigate this and other problems associated with known emergency response systems.

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Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for providing an emergency response service, comprising: a telecoms infrastructure; amobile telephone arranged to communicate with the telecoms infrastructure; a service provider arranged to communicate with the telecoms infrastructure; an emergency services provider arranged to communicate with the service provider; wherein the telecoms infrastructure is arranged to provide a dedicated communication channel between the mobile telephone and the service provider; wherein the mobile telephone is arranged, in response to an instruction from a user of the mobile telephone, to send a first predefined alert signal over the dedicated communication channel to the service provider; and wherein the service provider is arranged, in response to a first predefined alert signal from the mobile telephone, to send a second predefined alert signal to the emergency services provider; and wherein the emergency services provider is arranged, in response to the second predefined alert signal to send assistance to the user of the mobile telephone.

The use of a dedicated communications channel between the mobile telephone and the service provider ensures that the alert signal sent by the mobile telephone is received by the service provider, ensuring the reliability of the system.

Further, the use of a second predefined alert signal between the service provider and the emergency services provider ensures a reliable response from the emergency services. Advantageously, the second predefined alert signal is sent via a dedicated communications channel between the service provider and the emergency. services provider.

The emergency services provider preferably provides police and ambulance services only, but other emergency services such as fire services may be provided.

Advantageously, the mobile telephone is arranged to capture and send multimedia data to the service provider.

Preferably, the multimedia data is sent via a dedicated communication channel between the mobile telephone and the service provider. The same dedicated communications channel as used for the first predefined alert signal may be used.

In this case, the multimedia data may comprise or may act as the first predefined alert signal. (In other words, the first predefined alert signal is the sending of the multimedia data.) Alternatively, a separate dedicated communications channel may be used.

Advantageously, the service provider comprises storage means for storing the multimedia data sent by the mobile telephone. The multimedia data can be used at a later time, for example as forensic data in an investigation in the case that a crime has been committed. For example, the voice and/or image of an assailant may be captured by the mobile telephone. As the multimedia data is stored by the service provider, remote from the mobile telephone, it is preserved even if the mobile telephone is damaged or lost (for example if it is destroyed by an assailant) Advantageously, the service provider is arranged to check the multimedia data before sending the second predefined alert signal. This allows the service provider to avoid sending the second predefined alert signal to the emergency services provider in the case of a false alarm.

Preferably the check is done by a human operator viewing the multimedia data sent by the mobile telephone.

Advantageously, the mobile telephone is further arranged to send location data to the service provider. The location data may be provided by a GPS unit. The service provider can use the location data to discern the geographical location of the mobile telephone, and advise the emergency services provider accordingly. Preferably, the service provider comprises a location management unit for processing location data from the mobile telephone to ascertain the geographic location of the mobile telephone.

Advantageously, the service provider is further arranged to obtain secondary location data for the mobile telephone from the telecoms infrastructure, and the location management unit is arranged to use the secondary location data when ascertaining the geographic location of the mobile telephone. This allows the geographical location of the mobile telephone to be discerned quickly, avoiding the lengthy Time To First Fix (TTFF) associated with GPS units.

The location management unit may provide an assisted-GPS (AGPS) service.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention there is provided a mobile telephone for providing an emergency response service, the mobile telephone being able to communicate with a service provider via a telecoms infrastructure over a dedicated conununication channel between the mobile telephone and the service provider, the mobile telephone being arranged, in response to an instruction from a user of the mobile telephone, to send a first predefined alert signal over the dedicated communication channel to the service provider to request that assistance be sent to the user of the mobile telephone.

Advantageously, the mobile telephone is further arranged to send location data to the service provider.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for providing an emergency response service, comprising the steps of: providing a dedicated communication channel between a mobile telephone and a service provider over a telecoms infrastructure; in response to an instruction from a user of the mobile telephone, sending from the mobile telephone to the service provider over the dedicated communication channel a first predefined alert signal; in response to the service provider receiving the first predefined alert signal, sending from the service provider to the emergency services provider a second predefined alert signal; in response to the emergency services provider receiving the second predefined alert signal, sending by the emergency services provider assistance to the user of the mobile telephone.

Advantageously, the method further comprises the step of capturing and sending multimedia data from the mobile telephone to the service provider. Advantageously, the method further comprises the step of storing the multimedia data sent by the mobile telephone. Advantageously, the method further comprises the step of the service provider checking the multimedia data before sending the second predefined alert signal.

Advantageously, the method further comprises the step of sending location data from the mobile telephone to the service provider. Preferably, the method further comprises the step of the service provider processing the location data from the mobile telephone to ascertain the geographic location of the mobile telephone. Advantageously, the method further comprises the step of the service provider obtaining secondary location data for the mobile telephone from the telecoms infrastructure to use when ascertaining the geographic location of the mobile telephone.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product arranged, when executed upon a mobile telephone, to give the mobile telephone of the second aspect of the present invention.

It will of course be appreciated that features described in relation to one aspect of the present invention may be incorporated into other aspects of the present invention. For example, the method of the invention may incorporate any of the features described with reference to the apparatus of the invention and vice versa.

Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings of which: Figure 1 shows the components of a mobile telephone according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows the elements of a telecommunication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, including the mobile telephone of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows the elements of the service provider of Figure 2; Figure 4 shows the operation of an alert service provided by the service provider of Figure 2; Figure 5 shows the operation of the mobile telephone of Figure 1 during the alert service; Figure 6 shows the operation of the service provider of Figure 2 to ascertain whether an alert signal is genuine; -10 -Figure 7 shows the operation and communication protocols of the service provider and emergency services provider of Figure 2.

Detailed Description

A mobile telephone for Use in a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 1. The operation of the mobile telephone 1 is controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 2. The CPU 2 is connected to a memory 3. The mobile telephone 1 has a radio transmitter/receiver unit 4 which it uses to communicate with a base station of a telecoms infrastructure, as described in more detail below.

The mobile telephone 1 is operated by a user via a keyboard 5, and information is displayed to the user via a display 6. The keyboard 5 and display 6 may be separate parts of the mobile telephone 1, or for example the display 6 may be touch sensitive and incorporate the keyboard 5 as a touch-screen keyboard. The mobile telephone 1 has a microphone 7 and speaker 8, to allow audio input and output during a telephone conversation, amongst other uses.

The mobile telephone 1 further has a GE'S unit 9, which provides GE'S location information, and a camera 10, which provides visual input, for example to allow photographs to be taken or videos to be recorded.

The mobile phone 1 incorporates a subscriber identity module (SIM) 11, which is used to identify the user of the mobile telephone 1 to the telecoms infrastructure, as described below.

-11 -A telecommunication system in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 2.

The mobile telephone 1 is in radio communication with the aerial of a base station 20, which is part of the general mobile telephone telecoms infrastructure 21. Network operators 22 and 23 are in communication with the telecoms infrastructure 21. Usually, different parts of the telecoms infrastructure 21 will be maintained by the different network operators, who have agreed to share use of the infrastructure. However, some network operators may provide services only, and not maintain any part of the telecoms infrastructure.

The SIN 11 of the mobile telephone 1 will have been provided to the user of the network operator 22, when they subscribe to the services of that network operator. The SIN 11 contains a unique serial number by which the user is identified when the mobile telephone 1 connects to the telecoms infrastructure 21, allowing the use of the mobile telephone 1 on the network to be monitored and controlled by the network operator 22.

The telecoms infrastructure 21 is further in communication with a service provider 24. The service provider 24 is in turn in direct communication with an emergency services provider 25, which may for example be local rescue emergency services or a police control centre.

The operation of the service provider 24 and emergency services provider 25 is described below. In an alternative embodiment, the service provider 24 and emergency services -12 -provider 25 may communicate via the telecoms infrastructure 21.

A dedicated communication channel 26 over the telecoms infrastructure 21 is provided between the mobile telephone 1 and the service provider 24. The dedicated communication channel 26 is provided by means of various protocols, as described in more detail below.

The structure of the service provider 24 is shown in detail in Figure 3. The service provider 24 is controlled centrally by a main server 500, which is in communication with the telecoms infrastructure 21. The main server 500 is connected to a user information database server 501, which stores information about users of the services provided by the service provider 24, *obtained for example when they subscribed to those services. The main server 500 is further connected to a multimedia data storage server 501, which stores multimedia data, and a monitoring console 503 on which a human operator can view multimedia data stored in the multimedia data storage server 501 (amongst other things).

The main server is further connected to a location management unit (LMU) 504. The LMU 504 processes raw location data and to provide detailed location information.

For example, the LMU 504 may take raw data from the GPS unit 9 of a mobile telephone 1, which will consists of raw signal data received from one or more GPS satellites, process that data to determine the position of the mobile telephone. The LMU 505 may further use information regarding the base station or stations with which the mobile telephone is in

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-13 -radio communication (such data can be provided by the network operator 22), for example, and use this additional data in conjunction with the GPS data to provide faster and/or more accurate location information. The use of an LMU 504 enables faster and more accurate location information to be provided for a device, while reducing the processing workload on the device. Services provided by a network operator that combine GPS information from a mobile telephone with information from the telecoms infrastructure such as the base station with which the mobile telephone is in radio communication are known as assisted-GPS (AGPS) services.

The operation of an alert service provided by the service provider 24 to the user of the mobile telephone phone 1 is shown in Figure 4. First, the user of the mobile telephone 1 activates the alert service (step 100) , for example by pressing a pre-defined key on the mobile telephone 1. The mobile telephone 1 then sends a pre-defined alert signal (SOS request") to the telecoms infrastructure 21, which is routed to the service provider 24 via the dedicated communication channel 26 (step 101) Following that, the mobile telephone 1 begins sending multimedia data to the service provider 24 (not shown in Figure 4), also via the dedicated communication channel 26.

In an alternative embodiment, a second dedicated communication channel is used to send the multimedia data to the service provider 24. The operation of the mobile telephone 1 is described in more detail below.

-14 -Once the service provider 24 has received the alert signal, it sends a stand-by alert signal to the emergency services provider 25 (step 300) . It then ascertains whether the alert signal has been sent because of a genuine emergency (step 102), and stores the multimedia data provided by the mobile telephone 1 in the multimedia data storage server 501 (step 103), both as described in more detail below.

If the alert signal is found to be genuine, then the service provider 24 sends a location request to the network operator 22 (step 104), which returns a location report (step 105) indicating the location of the mobile telephone 1. (The network operator 23 is able to obtain this location information from information about the base station 20 or stations in which the mobile telephone 1 is in radio contact. In addition, if the network operator 22 provides assisted-GPS (AGES) services to the mobile telephone 1, it will as a consequence have more detailed location information.) In an advantageous embodiment, the service provider 24 is itself a network operator 23; the service provider 24 then has immediate access to location data such as AGES data, and does not need to request that data from the network operator 23. Further, the user of the mobile telephone 1 does not have to separately authorise the network operator 23 to provide location data to the service provider 24, as would usually be required, as network operators are conventionally prevented by codes of conduct from releasing a location data without a user's explicit permission to do so.

-15 -Once the service provider 24 has obtained the location report from the network operator 23, it sends a confirmation alert signal to the emergency services provider 25 (step 106), followed by the location report (step 106a) and information about the user as identified by the unique serial number on the SIM 11 (step 106b) . The emergency services provider 25 then sends an acknowledgement message to the service provider 24 (step 107), which in response sends a message back to confirm that the acknowledgement message was received (step 108) The emergency services provider 25 then dispatches the appropriate emergency services to the user of the mobile telephone 1 (step 109), in accordance with the information provided by the service provider 24. For example, the emergency services provider 25 may send police and/or an ambulance to the location provided by the service provider 24. The entire process from activation of the service using the mobile telephone 1 (step 100) to dispatch of the emergency services (step 109) by the emergency services provider 25 should take place in less than 1 minute. In fact, ideally the checking step (step 102), which is performed by a human operator, will take less than 10 seconds, and the other steps which are entirely performed by software/hardware (e.g. the mobile telephone 1, telecoms infrastructure 21 etc.) will be near instantaneous.

Once the emergency services have dealt with the emergency, the emergency services provider 25 will provide appropriate details to the service provider 24 (for example, that the user has been taken to a particular hospital), who will inform the relatives and/or friends of the user -16 -accordingly. (The user can provide details of the relatives and/or friends to be informed when signing up to the alert service, for example.) (These steps are not shown in Figure 4.) The multimedia data provided by the mobile telephone 1 can also be used as forensic data in an investigation in the case that a crime has been committed. For example, the voice and/or image of an assailant may be captured by the mobile telephone 1. As the multimedia data is stored in the multimedia data storage server 501 (step 103), remote from the mobile telephone 1, it is preserved even if the mobile telephone 1 is damaged or lost (for example if it is destroyed by an assailant) In the alternative embodiment in which the service provider 24 and emergency services provider 25 communicate via the telecoms infrastructure 21, a further dedicated communication channel for communication between the service provider 24 and emergency services provider 25 may be provided.

The operation of the mobile telephone 1 during the alert service is shown in detail in Figure 5. As previously described, in a first step the user activates the alert service (step 100) . The mobile telephone 1 then sends an alert signal to the service provider 24 (step 101) Next, a message is displayed on the display 6 of the mobile telephone 1 to indicate that the service has been activated (step 202), for example "SOS Service Has Been Activated". The camera 10 and microphone 7 of the mobile telephone 1 are then activated (step 203) . The multimedia -17 -data captured by the mobile telephone 1, in other words the visual data captured by the camera 10 and the audio data captured by the microphone 7, is then streamed to the service provider 24 (step 204) . I'4ultimedia data is only streamed from the mobile telephone (i.e. the transfer is one way), and no visual data is displayed on the display 6 of the mobile telephone 1.

The operation of the service provider 24 to ascertain whether the alert signal is genuine (steps 102 and 103 of Figure 4) is shown in Figure 6. Once the service provider 24 has received the alert signal (step 101), it sends a stand-by alert signal to the emergency services provider 25 (step 300) as described above. After sending the alert signal, the mobile telephone 1 begins sending multimedia data to the service provider 24 (step 203, not shown in Figure 5) . The multimedia data is stored by the service provider 24 in the multimedia data storage server 501 (step 103, not shown in Figure 5) A human operator at the service provider 24 then ascertains whether the alert signal is genuine (step 301), by performing a number of actions. The human operator views the multimedia data stored in the multimedia data storage server 501 using the monitoring console 503 (in other words, they listen to the audio data and view the visual data) , for example to ascertain whether an emergency situation is in progress, to identify the surroundings or environment, whether it is day or night, and so on. This is cross-checked against information about the user held by the -18 -service provider 24, which is stored in the user information database server 501.

If the human operator decides that the alert signal was genuine, then the operation of the alert service proceeds as described in Figure 4 (moving on to step 104) . If, on the other hand, the human operator decides that the alert signal was not genuine, for example because they ascertain that the alert service was activated by mistake rather than in response to a genuine emergency, the service provider 24 send a stand-down signal to the emergency services provider (step 302), which in response sends a message back to confirm that the stand-down signal was received (step 303) The entire process from sending by the mobile telephone 1 of the alert signal (step 101) to sending by the service provider 23 of either the confirmation alert signal (step 106) or stand-down signal (step 302) should take place in less than 10 seconds.

Asa final step, the service provider 24 contacts the user to discover the reason for the false activation of the alert service (step 304).

Various communication and operation protocols are defined for the service provider 24 and emergency services provider 25, as shown in Figure 7. These protocols help ensure the reliability of the alert service when it is activated by a user by ensuring that reliable channels of communication are available for the transmission of the alert signals, multimedia data and so on between the mobile telephone 1, service provider 24 and emergency services -19 -provider 25, and by fixing the procedure for the alert service.

The protocols of the service provider 24 are as follows: A "Call Check Visual (A/V-Integrity)" protocol COy-i, that streams multimedia data one way, is used to ensure the integrity of the multimedia data transmitted by the mobile telephone 1 to the service provider 24.

A "Dedicated line (Q0S Guarantee)" protocol DL provides a dedicated channel for the alert signal from the mobile telephone 1 to the service provider 24, in particular ensuring that there is sufficient bandwidth allocation over the telecoms infrastructure 21 to ensure "Quality of Service" (Q0S), in other words to ensure that the alert signal is reliability and quickly transmitted. A related "Multimedia Storage Protocol (BW Allocation)" protocol MSP ensures that sufficient bandwidth allocations are made over the telecoms infrastructure 21 for transmission of the multimedia data from the mobile telephone 1 to the service provider 24. (In practice the two protocols DL and MSP form a single protocol that ensures reliability of communication for the alert signal and multimedia data.) A "Data/Security and Privacy Protocol (Encryption)" protocol DS&PC-EN allows the service provider 24 to send and receive data sent securely, for example encrypted data.

Such data may include the multimedia data sent by the mobile telephone 1, and information sent to the emergency services provider 25.

A "Call Routing to ERC" protocol CR-ERC defines the communication of the service provider 24 with the emergency -20 -services provider 25 (the "ERC" referred to in this protocol) . This communication may be over the telecoms infrastructure 21, or could for example be over a dedicated communications line.

Finally, an "Acknowledgement" protocol ACK defines the sending and receiving of acknowledgement messages to and from the emergency services provider 25.

The protocols of the emergency services provider 25 are as follows: A "Alert Protocol" protocol AP defines the communication of the emergency services provider 25 with the service provider 24. This protocol mirrors the CR-ERC protocol of the service provider 24.

The emergency services provider 25 also has DS&PC-EN protocol, identical to that of the service provider 24, to allow the emergency services provider 25 to send and receive data sent securely.

The emergency services provider 25 also has an ACK protocol, identical to that of the service provider 24, to define the sending and receiving of acknowledgement messages to and from the service provider 24. This protocol mirrors the ACK protocol of the service provider 24.

While the present invention has been described and illustrated with reference to particular embodiments, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention lends itself to many different variations not specifically illustrated herein.

Claims

S-21 -Claims 1. A system for providing an emergency response service, comprising: a telecoms infrastructure; a mobile telephone arranged to communicate with the telecoms infrastructure; a service provider arranged to communicate with the telecoms infrastructure; an emergency services provider arranged to communicate with the service provider; wherein the telecorns infrastructure is arranged to provide a dedicated communication channel between the mobile telephone and the service provider; wherein the mobile telephone is arranged, in response to an instruction from a user of the mobile telephone, to send a first predefined alert signal over the dedicated communication channel to the service provider; and wherein the service provider is arranged, in response to a first predefined alert signal from the mobile telephone, to send a second predefined alert signal to the emergency services provider; and wherein the emergency services provider is arranged, in response to the second predefined alert signal to send assistance to the user of the mobile telephone.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile telephone is arranged to capture and send multimedia data to the service provider.S

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3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the service provider comprises storage means for storing the multimedia data sent by the mobile telephone.
4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the service provider is arranged to check the multimedia data before sending the second predefined alert signal.
5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the mobile telephone is further arranged to send location data to the service provider.
6. A system as claimed in claim 5 wherein the service provider comprises a locafion management unit for processing location data from the mobile telephone to ascertain the geographic location of the mobile telephone.
7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the service provider is further arranged to obtain secondary location data for the mobile telephone from the telecoms infrastructure, and the location management unit is arranged to use the secondary location data when ascertaining the geographic location of the mobile telephone.
8. A mobile telephone for providing an emergency response service, the mobile telephone being able to communicate with a service provider via a telecoms infrastructure over a dedicated communication channel between the mobile telephone and the service provider, the mobile telephone being arranged, in response to an instruction from a user of the -23 -mobile telephone, to send a first predefined alert signal over the dedicated communication channel to the service provider to request that assistance be sent to the user of the mobile telephone.
9. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 8, wherein the mobile telephone is arranged to capture and send multimedia data to the service provider.
10. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the mobile telephone is further arranged to send location data to the service provider.
11. A method for providing an emergency response service, comprising the steps of: prbviding a dedicated communication channel between a mobile telephone and a service provider over a telecoms infrastructure; in response to an instruction from a user of the mobile telephone, sending from the mobile telephone to the service provider over the dedicated communication channel a first predefined alert signal; in response to the service provider receiving the first predefined alert signal, sending from the service provider to the emergency services provider a second predefined alert signal; in response to the emergency services provider receiving the second predefined alert signal, sending by the emergency services provider assistance to the user of the mobile telephone.S

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12. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of capturing and sending multimedia data from the mobile telephone to the service provider.
13. A method as claimed in claim 12, further comprising the step of storing the multimedia data sent by the mobile telephone.
14. A method as claimed in claim 12 or 13, further comprising the step of the service provider checking the multimedia data before sending the second predefined alert signal.
15. A method as claimed in any of claims 11 to 14, further comprising the step of sending location data from the mobile telephone to the service provider.
16. A method as claimed in claim 15 further comprising the step of the service provider processing the location data from the mobile telephone to ascertain the geographic location of the mobile telephone.
17. A method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising the step of the service provider obtaining secondary location data for the mobile telephone from the telecoms infrastructure to use when ascertaining the geographic location of the mobile telephone.-25 -
18. A computer program product arranged, when executed upon a mobile telephone, to give the mobile telephone of any of claims 8 to 10.