Patent ID: 6788766
Filing Date: 2004-09-07
Classification: H04M,H04W

Abstract:
A data server for facilitating communication between consenting participants via a telephone network said data server comprising, in combination,a database for storing cross-referencing data that specifies, for each of given one of said participants, the current geographic location of said given participant and the telephone number of said given participant, means for receiving log-in messages from a new participant, said log-in message containing data specifying the current geographic location of said new participant and the telephone number of said new participant, means for posting the data contained in each of said log-in messages in said database, means for receiving a broadcast request from a requesting one of said participants, said broadcast request specifying a geographic region within which a targeted subset of said participants are currently located, means responsive to said broadcast request for submitting a query to said database to obtain the telephone numbers of each participant in said targeted subset of said participants, and means for broadcasting an information message via said telephone network to each of said telephone numbers.