Patents

Keshav, alongside Dylan Gleicher and Alexander Bake, holds a patent on real-time text (RTT) communication rendered over the web for the purposes of enabling 911 dispatchers to communicate with citizens during emergencies.

RTT is a proven, FCC-recommended technology for communicating with constituents with hearing or speaking disabilities.

  • RTT can eliminate need to purchase specialized devices, such as TTYs, to send text in real time over wireless phones
  • Both parties to an RTT call can send and receive text in real time at the same time, unlike TTYs, which requires turn-taking
  • RTT provides callers with more characters for typing than TTYs do. For example, with RTT, you can use the “@” key, alphabets in multiple languages, and emojis, allowing conversations using the full “international character set.”
  • Both RTT and voice can be used, either at the same time or interchangeably, during the same call.

Abstract

In one general aspect, a method of facilitating real-time text-based communication between a caller and 911 operator includes using a console of an authorized 911 operator to perform the following steps: creating an event associated with a mobile device of the caller, wherein the event includes the caller’s phone number; establishing an SMS session via an API of an SMS service provider for transmitting text messages soliciting or requesting a real-time text session, wherein a solicitation or response to a request includes a link to a web application which the caller can use to establish a secure communication session; and keeping record of how the real-time text changes over time in order to allow 911 personnel to replay the interaction.

A full-duplex chatroom is established whereby 911 operators and callers can send and receive messages via an over-the-top system which only depends on standard, readily available web technologies. The system is capable of sending a link via an SMS API to a 911 caller, at the 911 operator’s discretion, which is capable of establishing a secure, real-time communication channel.