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EP-4416947-B1 - APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

EP4416947B1EP 4416947 B1EP4416947 B1EP 4416947B1EP-4416947-B1

Inventors

  • Amir, Ohad
  • SCHNAPP, JONATHAN MARK

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20221010

Claims (14)

  1. An apparatus (200) comprising at least one processor (210) configured to: instruct transmission of end-user audio data to a remote system (125) over a voice call, wherein the end-user audio data represents a sensed audio signal to convey speech of an end user and is transmitted in real time with respect to sensing of the audio signal; and in response to a determination that, during the voice call, the voice call is of insufficient quality, perform a messaging process, the messaging process comprising: presenting an audio output to the end user; capturing an audio response of the end user; and instructing transmission of a message to the remote system (125), wherein the message comprises a representation of the captured audio response, and wherein the transmission of the message is not constrained to be transmitted in real time with respect to sensing of said captured audio response; wherein the messaging process comprises a messaging dialogue between the end user and a remote system (125) or a human operator of the remote system (125), the messaging dialogue further comprising receiving signals representative of an incoming message received from the remote system (125), wherein the incoming message identifies information to be presented to the end user, and instructs a corresponding audio output to the end user.
  2. The apparatus (200) of claim 1, wherein the initiating of the voice call is in response to a detected emergency event.
  3. The apparatus (200) of claim 1 or 2, wherein transmitting of the audio data in real time is provided by configuring a quality of service, QoS, to be for the voice call and wherein the transmission of the audio data comprises transmission using a first protocol and the transmission of the message comprises transmission using a second, different protocol, wherein the first protocol is User Datagram Protocol, UDP and the second protocol is Transmission Control Protocol, TCP.
  4. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus (200) comprises a first output buffer configured to buffer the end-user audio data before transmitting the end-user audio data over the voice call, wherein the first output buffer contributes a delay of no more than 100 ms to the transmitting of the end-user audio data.
  5. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus (200) comprises a second output buffer configured to buffer the audio response, wherein the second output buffer contributes a delay of more than 10 seconds to transmission of the message.
  6. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one processor (210) is configured to obtain the determination that the voice call is of insufficient quality based on network performance parameters determined by a recipient of the end user audio data, the network performance parameters being received by the apparatus (200) or wherein the determination that the voice call is of insufficient quality is received from a remote device, or wherein the determination that the voice call is of insufficient quality is obtained based on a measurement of network reception at the apparatus (200), wherein the apparatus (200) assumes the voice call is of insufficient quality based on a determination that network reception is below a predetermined threshold.
  7. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein the message comprises one or more of a) to b):- a) a transcription of the captured audio response, wherein the at least one processor (210) is configured to perform speech to text processing of the captured audio response to obtain the transcription; b) a code that is indicative of content of the captured audio response, wherein the code corresponds to a selection from a plurality of predefined expected audio responses that is determined to match said audio response.
  8. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein at least one of a) to c):- a) the incoming message comprises an audio recording of an operator, and the audio output comprises outputting the recording; b) the incoming message comprises a transcription of an audio recording of an operator, and the at least one processor (210) is configured to perform text to speech processing of the incoming message to obtain the audio output, the audio output comprising an audio version of the transcription; c) the incoming message comprises a code identifying the information to be presented to the end user, and the at least one processor (210) is configured to select the audio output from a plurality of known audio outputs based on the code.
  9. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein the at least one processor (210) is further configured to, in response to receipt of the incoming message, capture a further audio response of the user of the apparatus (200) and instruct transmission of a further message comprising a representation of the captured further audio response.
  10. The apparatus (200) of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus (200) comprises a mobile personal emergency response system, mPERS (200), device.
  11. A system (100) comprising: the apparatus (200) of any of claims 1 to 10; and at least one device from which the apparatus (200) can receive a signal and detect the emergency event based on the received signal.
  12. A method performed by an apparatus, comprising: instructing transmission of end-user audio data to a remote system (125) over a voice call, wherein the end-user audio data represents a sensed audio signal to convey speech of an end user and is transmitted in real time with respect to sensing of the audio signal; and in response to a determination (418, 423) that, during the voice call, the voice call is of insufficient quality, performing a messaging process, the messaging process comprising: presenting an audio output to the end user; capturing an audio response of the end user; and instructing transmission (424) of a message to the remote system (125), wherein the message comprises a representation of the captured audio response, and wherein the transmission of the message is not constrained to be transmitted in real time with respect to sensing of said captured audio response, wherein the messaging process comprises a messaging dialogue between the end user and a remote system (125) or a human operator of the remote system (125), the messaging dialogue further comprising receiving signals representative of an incoming message received from the remote system (125), wherein the incoming message identifies information to be presented to the end user, and instructing a corresponding audio output to the end user.
  13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising, in response to receipt of the incoming message, capturing (430) a further audio response of the user of the apparatus (200) and instructing transmission of a further message comprising a representation of the captured further audio response.
  14. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of claim 12 or 13.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates in some aspects to an apparatus, system and method, for example an apparatus of an emergency call capable system and a method of operation of the apparatus. Background An emergency call capable system may comprise one or more emergency call capable devices configured to make emergency calls to a monitoring station, for example an Alarm Receiving Center (ARC). Such emergency call capable devices may be provided in security (e.g. intrusion detection), care (e.g. health monitoring/fall detection/distress actuators) and/or safety (e.g. fire) systems. For example, an emergency call may be initiated by a site-installed control hub of an emergency call capable system. The control hub may initiate a call in response to an event sensed by a sensing or monitoring device (e.g. motion sensor, door/window sensor, active reflective wave detectors such as radar, sonar, lidar, etc). Alternatively, the sensing or monitoring device may initiate the call. For example, the call may be initiated by installed sensing or monitoring devices that communicate to a remote server by Wi-Fi (RTM) or cellular rather than via a control hub. In one example, the call may be initiated by one or more mobile personal emergency response system (mPERS) devices. The call may alternatively be initiated by the monitoring station in response to the monitoring station receiving a notification of the event. In any case, there are instances in which an emergency call may be connected but in which the emergency call has unsatisfactory quality. For example, there may be too high a proportion of packet loss. The poor quality may result in the person at the monitoring station being unable to ask important questions or hear what is being said by the person for whom the call is made. It is therefore an aim of the present disclosure to obviate or at least mitigate at least one of the above or other shortcomings of the prior art or provide a useful alternative in the marketplace. Reference to any prior art in this specification is not an acknowledgement or suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction, or globally, or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be understood, regarded as relevant/or combined with other pieces of prior art by a person skilled in the art. Relevant prior art can be found in US 10 516 777 B1. Summary The object of the invention is achieved by the subject-matter of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. Further examples are provided for facilitating the understanding of the invention. Brief description of the several views of the drawings Embodiments will now be described by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 depicts an example of an emergency call capable system in communication with a server and an Alarm Receiving Center (ARC);Figure 2A is a schematic illustration of a control hub which may be or form part of the emergency call capable system in an embodiment;Figure 2B is a schematic illustration of a mobile personal emergency response system (mPERS) device which may be the emergency call capable system in another embodiment;Figure 3 is a process flow diagram showing operation of specific elements of the control hub or mPERS device in an embodiment;Figure 4 is a sequence diagram showing an exemplary communication between a caller and an Alarm Receiving Center;Figure 5 is a sequence diagram showing communication between a control hub or an mPERS device and a server in an embodiment; andFigure 6 is a sequence diagram depicting an exemplary automatic call quality determination method. Detailed description As used herein, except where the context requires otherwise, the terms "comprises", "includes", "has", and grammatical variants of these terms, are not intended to be exhaustive. They are intended to allow for the possibility of further additives, components, integers or steps. Figure 1 depicts an example of an emergency call capable system, generally denoted 100. The example system 100 is an emergency call capable system for monitoring at least one person, e.g. for their care. The person may also be described as a user or end user of the system. In this example, the system includes components installed on a premises 135 at which they reside, such as independent-living facilities for the elderly. However, in other embodiments the system may not be bound to any premises. Further, it will be understood that this embodiment is provided for purposes of example only, and the other emergency call capable systems for different purposes may fall within the scope of the disclosure. For example, in other embodiments the emergency call capable system 100 may additionally or alternatively comprise an intruder alarm system capable of initiating emergency calls in response to a detected security threat. In yet further embodiments, the emergency c