118 is also stored in association with the user profile.

When the emergency notification system 112 receives the active shooter notification including the identifier of the mobile device 118, the emergency notification system 112 queries the user profile database to access the user profile of the caller 116 that is stored in association with the identifier of the mobile device 118. The emergency notification system 112 provides the information in the user profile of the caller 116 as well as an active shooter alert and the location data of the mobile device 118 to the call-taking/dispatch terminal 106 for presentation to the call-taker/dispatcher 108. The call-taker/dispatcher 108 can then dispatch the responding officer(s) 120 to the location of the mobile device 118 in the manner described above.

The emergency notification system 112 additionally sends out active shooter alerts to the mobile devices of any registered users associated with the caller 116. To this end, the emergency notification system 112 stores sets of user profiles in the user profile database in association with one another. For instance, the emergency notification system 112 can associate the user profiles of users who belong to the same organization (e.g., the employees of a business, the faculty of a school, the faculty and students of a school, the members of a club, and the like) with an organization identifier that corresponds to the organization. And when one member of the organization presses the active shooter icon 202a, the emergency notification system 112 identifies all other user profiles associated with the same organization identifier and sends an alert to the mobile devices corresponding to the identified user profiles. In this manner, all registered users in the organization are alerted of the active shooter and can responsively initiate a lockdown emergency response in which the members of the organization lock and/or barricade themselves in a nearby room while the responding officers 120 neutralize the active shooter threat.

As further shown in FIG. 2, the emergency notification application 200 causes the mobile device 118 to display various other selectable icons 202 in addition to the active shooter icon 202a. Examples of these icons include (i) a medical icon 202b, the selection of which causes the mobile device 118 to send a request to the PSAP 102 for emergency medical assistance, (ii) a 9-1-1 icon 202c, the selection of which causes the mobile device 118 to initiate an emergency phone call to the PSAP 102, (iii) a staff assist icon 202d, the selection of which causes the emergency notification system 112 to send a preconfigured or customized notification to registered users within the same organization as the caller 116, (iv) a police icon 202e, the selection of which causes the mobile device 118 to initiate a call to the local police station, and (v) a fire icon 202f, the selection of which causes the mobile device 118 to send an alert to the PSAP 102 that a fire is present and that firefighters should be dispatched to the scene. However, the present disclosure concerns scenarios in which end-users of the emergency notification application 200 are in a lockdown situation, such as when the active shooter icon 202a has been selected. As such, the present disclosure will not provide a detailed explanation of the functions of these other icons 202.

In line with the discussion above, once the caller 116 has selected the active shooter icon 202a, the emergency notification system 112 alerts other registered users in the same organization as the caller 116 of the active shooter, and the organization enters a lockdown situation while the responding officer(s) 120 neutralize the active shooter threat. Once the threat is neutralized, the responding officer(s) 120 may attempt to access various locked down rooms of the organization to evacuate the occupants of the room who have sheltered in place. And, as further noted above, it may be desirable for the room occupants to verify the identity of any responding officer 120 seeking access to the room in order to avoid mistakenly granting access to an active shooter impersonating a responding officer 120. One way to verify the identity of the responding officer 120 seeking access is to provide a unique shared access phrase from a trusted source to both the responding officer 120 and the occupants of the room. In this manner, the room occupants can refuse to grant access to the room unless the responding officer 120 is able to speak or otherwise confirm the shared access phrase, thereby verifying the identity of the responding officer 120. Example implementations of this solution are described in further detail below.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example method 300 implemented by various components of the PSAP 102, such as the emergency notification system 112, the dispatch system 110, and the call-taking/dispatch terminal 106, for verifying the identity of a responding officer 120 attempting to access a room in a lockdown situation.

At block 302, the method 300 involves receiving a notification that a lockdown situation is in effect, such as by receiving a notification of a lockdown situation from a mobile device of an individual in the lockdown situation. In line with the discussion above, in some examples this may involve the emergency notification system 112 receiving an active shooter notification from the mobile device 118 based on the caller 116 selecting the active shooter icon 202a in the emergency notification application 200. And as further described above, in some examples, this may involve the call-taking/dispatch terminal 106 receiving information about the active shooter notification and/or a user profile of the caller 116 from the emergency notification system 112. However, in other examples, the notification of the lockdown situation can be received in other ways. For instance, as further described above, the caller 116 may place an emergency call that is routed to the PSAP 102. The caller 116 may notify the call-taker/dispatcher 108 of the lockdown situation, and the call-taker/dispatcher 108 may send a notification of the lockdown situation to the emergency notification system 112 by way of the call-taking/dispatching terminal 106. Any other examples of receiving such a notification of the lockdown situation are contemplated herein as well.

At block 304, the method 300 involves sending a CAD message for dispatching responding officers 120 to the lockdown situation. In line with the discussion above, this may involve the call-taking/dispatch terminal 106 receiving dispatch instructions from the call-taker/dispatcher 108 and responsively causing the dispatch system 110 to route the dispatch instructions to the mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120 for instructing the responding officers 120 to respond to the active shooter threat.

At block 306, the method 300 involves identifying the mobile devices of individuals in the lockdown situation. In line with the discussion above, this may involve the emergency notification system 112 receiving an identifier of the mobile device 118 with the active shooter notification and accessing a database of user profiles to determine that the identifier of the mobile device 118 is associated with an organization identifier. The emergency notification system 112 then queries the user profile database to identify all user profiles associated with the organization identifier as well as the mobile devices associated with the identified user profiles.

At block 308, the method 300 involves receiving a request for an access phrase for verifying an identity of an officer 120 seeking access to a room in the lockdown situation. In line with the discussion above, the request for the access phrase may be initiated when one of the responding officers 120 is seeking access to a particular room in a lockdown situation.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example user interface of the mobile device 118 running the emergency notification application 200 through which the caller 116 can request the access phrase while in a locked down room. The emergency notification application 200 may cause the mobile device 118 to display this interface in response to the caller 116 selecting the active shooter icon 202a. As shown, the interface includes a selectable access phrase request button 402. Upon selection of the access phrase request button 402, the mobile device 118 sends an access phrase request over the communication network(s) 114 to the emergency notification system 112. While FIG. 4A depicts the access phrase request button 402 displayed on the mobile device 118 of the caller 116 (i.e., one of the occupants in a locked down room), the mobile device 122 of the responding officer 120 may display the same or similar access phrase request button 402 by also running the emergency notification application 200 (or a public safety version of the emergency notification application 200). Further, in some examples, the responding officer 120 can request the access phrase in other ways, such as by using the mobile device 122 to issue a voice request to the call-taker/dispatcher 108 (e.g., by way of the communication network(s) 114, the dispatch system 110, and the call-taking/dispatch terminal 106), and the call-taker/dispatcher 108 can responsively transmit an access phrase request to the emergency notification system 112 (e.g., by way of the call-taking/dispatch terminal 106) In this manner, the request for the access phrase can be initiated by the responding officer 120 seeking access to the room and/or by any of the individuals sheltering in place in the room.

At block 310, in response to receiving the request for the access phrase, the method 300 involves generating and transmitting the access phrase to the mobile device of the officer 120 seeking access to the room in the lockdown situation and to the mobile devices of individuals in the room, such as to mobile device 118 of caller 116.

The access phrase can take various forms. In some examples, the access phrase is a set of alphanumeric characters, such as a string of alphanumeric characters having a predefined length. In some examples, the access phrase is a single word or a set of words. For instance, the access phrase can take the form of a set of words that can be easily read aloud, as this may make it easier for the responding officer 120 to read the access phrase aloud to the room occupants and may likewise make it easier for the room occupants to hear and confirm the access phrase. As one example, the access phrase can take the form of a two word phrase including an adjective followed by a noun, which is a common grammatical structure in the English language. However, the access phrase can take various other forms as well.

The access phrase can be generated in various ways. In some examples, the emergency notification system 112 randomly or pseudorandomly generates the access phrase. As one example, the emergency notification system 112 can generate the access phrase by randomly or pseudorandomly generating a string of alphanumeric characters of a predefined length. As another example, the emergency notification system 112 can include or have access to a random or pseudorandom word or phrase generator, which the emergency notification system 112 can leverage to randomly or pseudorandomly generate one or more words of the access phrase. As yet another example, the emergency notification system may store or otherwise have access to a set of preconfigured access phrases and may generate the access phrase by randomly or pseudorandomly selecting one of the preconfigured access phrases. Any other techniques for generating the access phrase can be employed as well.

Further, the access phrase can be transmitted to the mobile device of the officer 120 seeking access to the room in the lockdown situation and to the mobile devices of individuals in the room in various ways. In some examples, the emergency notification system 112 can broadly transmit the access phrase to all mobile devices involved in the lockdown situation. For instance, the emergency notification system 112 can transmit the access phrase over the communication network(s) 114 to all of the mobile devices associated with the same organization as the caller 116 and identified at block 306 while also causing the dispatch system 110 to transmit the access phrase to all of the mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120 dispatched to the lockdown situation at block 304.

In other examples, the emergency notification system 112 can take a more targeted approach. As one example, when the mobile device that initiated the request for the access phrase is a mobile device of an individual in a locked down room, such as mobile device 118 of caller 116, the emergency notification system 112 can send the access phrase to the requesting mobile device as well as to any mobile devices 122 of responding officers 120 within a threshold distance (e.g., 10 meters) of the requesting mobile device. To do so, the emergency notification system 112 can receive location data of the requesting mobile device, which the requesting mobile device can send periodically and/or in response to selection of the access phrase request button 402, as well as location data of the mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120, which (as noted above) the mobile devices 122 provide to the dispatch system 110. Based on this location data, the emergency notification system 112 can determine the locations of the requesting mobile device and the mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120 for purposes of identifying which mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120 are within the threshold distance of the requesting mobile device. Similarly, when the mobile device that initiated the request for the access phrase is a mobile device 122 of a responding officer 120, the emergency notification system 112 can send the access phrase to the requesting mobile device as well as to any mobile devices of locked down individuals (e.g., the mobile devices identified at block 306) within the threshold distance of the requesting mobile device. To facilitate this, the emergency notification system 112 can receive location data from each of the mobile devices of the locked down individuals, perhaps in response to the caller 116 selecting the active shooter icon 202a, and can use this data in a similar manner to determine the locations of these mobile devices and transmit the access phrase to the mobile devices within the threshold distance of the requesting mobile device.

After the transmission of the access phrase at block 310, the mobile devices that receive the access phrase display a visual representation of the access phrase. FIG. 4B illustrates an example user interface of the mobile device 118 running the emergency notification application 200 through which the mobile device 118 can display the access phrase 404. As shown, the displayed access phrase takes the form of a two-word phrase including an adjective followed by a noun—namely, “Green Tiger.” However, in other examples, the access phrase can take any of the forms described above. While FIG. 4B depicts the access phrase 404 being displayed on the mobile device 118 of the caller 116 (i.e., one of the occupants in a locked down room), the mobile device 122 of the responding officer 120 may display the access phrase 404 in the same or similar manner by also running the emergency notification application 200 (or a public safety version of the emergency notification application 200).

Further, while not depicted in FIG. 4B, in some examples, in addition to transmitting the access phrase, the emergency notification system 112 can transmit personally identifiable information of the responding officer 120 seeking access to the locked down room for display alongside the access phrase. For instance, the emergency notification system 112 can identify the responding officer 120 seeking access to the room based on the responding officer 120 initiating the request for the access phrase and/or based on location data from the mobile device 122 of the responding officer 120, as described above. Upon identifying the responding officer 120 seeking access to the room, the emergency notification system 112 can request and receive personally identifiable information of the officer 120 from the dispatch system 110, which can be configured to store personally identifiable information for each of the responding officers 120. The personally identifiable information can take various forms and can include, for instance, a name, badge number, rank, photograph, and the like, of the responding officer 120. In this manner, the individuals in the locked down room can use both the access phrase and the personally identifiable information to verify the identity of the responding officer 120 seeking access to the room.

Attention is next directed to FIG. 5, which depicts a schematic block diagram of an example computing device 500. The computing device 500 may represent a structure of any suitable component of the public safety communications system 100, including, but not limited to, the PSAP 102, the phone system 104, the call-taking/dispatching terminal 106, the dispatch system 110, the emergency notification system 112, the mobile device 118 of the caller 116 (and/or any other individual in the lockdown situation), and the mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120. While the computing device 500 is depicted in FIG. 5 as a single component, when the computing device 500 represents a structure of the public safety communications system 100, functionality of the computing device 500 may be distributed among a plurality of components. Further, in such examples, functionality of the PSAP 102, the phone system 104, the call-taking/dispatching terminal 106, the dispatch system 110, the emergency notification system 112, the mobile device 118 of the caller 116 (and/or any other individual in the lockdown situation), and the mobile devices 122 of the responding officers 120 may be combined in any suitable manner.

As depicted, the computing device 500 includes at least a processor 502, a data storage 504, and a communication interface 506, all of which may be communicatively linked by a communication link 508, which may take the form of a system bus or some other connection mechanism.

The processor 502 may comprise one or more processor components, such as general-purpose processes (e.g., a single- or multi-core microprocessor), special-purpose processors (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit or digital-signal processor), programmable logic devices (e.g., a field programmable gate array), controllers (e.g., microcontrollers), and/or any other processor components now known or later developed.

The data storage 504 may comprise one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums, examples of which may include volatile storage mediums such as random-access memory, registers, cache, etc. and non-volatile storage mediums such as read-only memory, a hard-disk drive, a solid-state drive, flash memory, an optical-storage device, etc. The data storage 504 may also be provisioned with software components that enable the computing device 500 to carry out the operations disclosed herein. These software components may generally take the form of program instructions that are executable by the processor 502 to carry out the disclosed operations.

The communication interface 506 may be configured to facilitate wired and/or wireless communication with other computing devices or systems. As such, the communication interface 506 may take any suitable form for carrying out these functions, examples of which may include an Ethernet interface, a serial bus interface (e.g., Firewire, USB 3.0, etc.), a chipset and antenna adapted to facilitate wireless communication, and/or any other interface that provides for wired and/or wireless communication. The communication interface 506 may also include multiple communication interfaces of different types. Other configurations are possible as well.

Although not shown, the computing device 500 may additionally include one or more other interfaces that provide connectivity with external user-interface components (sometimes referred to as “peripherals”), such as a keyboard, a mouse or trackpad, a display screen, a touch-sensitive interface, a stylus, a microphone, a headset, speakers, etc., which may allow for direct user interaction with the computing device 500.

It should be understood that the computing device 500 is one example of a computing device that may be used with the embodiments described herein. Numerous other arrangements are possible and contemplated herein. For instance, other computing devices may include additional components not pictured and/or more or fewer of the pictured components.

In the foregoing specification, various examples have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present teachings. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.