Assigning priorities to portable communication devices based on roles associated with an incident profile

A method of assigning a priority to a portable communication device in a communication system. The method includes determining an incident profile. The incident profile defines an expected timeline having a first incident stage, a first role associated with the first incident stage, a second incident stage, and a second role associated with the second incident stage. The first role is different than the second role, and the incident profile indicates a desired priority rank for the first role and the second role. The method also includes assigning a priority rank to a first portable communication device when the first portable communication device corresponds to the first role during the first incident stage, detecting a transition between the first incident stage and the second incident stage, and assigning the priority rank of the portable communication device according to the second role during the second incident stage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Public service agencies address various types of incidents. In an attempt to ensure that different members of the public service agency can readily communicate with each other, a communication system is deployed and shared by the members of the public service agency. Typically, each member is provided with a portable communication device which is used to communicate with other members of the public service agency via the communication system. The communication system may, however, have limited communication resources. Different priority levels are, therefore, assigned to each portable communication device to properly allocate the communication resources among a particular group of members or across the public service agency. Generally, members or users of the communication system with lower priority levels have more limited access to the communication resources than those users with higher priority levels. These priority levels are statically assigned to various mobile devices based on, for example, the position of the user associated with the mobile device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While assigning static priorities to particular portable communication devices helps to better allocate the communication resources within a communication system, these static priorities are not flexible to adapt to the many different situations often encountered by members of the public service agency. For example, the members of the public service agency (also referred to as users herein) may fulfill different roles based on the type of incident they are addressing, and may face different situations while responding to calls for service. In one example, the public service agency corresponds to a fire department in which hose operators generally have a lower priority than firefighters part of a break-in crew. The hose operator, however, may warrant better access to the communication resources when, for example, the hose is inoperable or the hose operator faces a similar difficult or unexpected situation. In other examples, other low priority users may temporarily warrant higher priority to communicate other unexpected situations. Yet, with statically assigned priorities, the hose operators may have to wait for available resources to communicate that there is a problem with the hose, while the break-in crew members enjoy a higher priority rank without a high need during that particular situation.

In some embodiments, the portable communication devices may be configured with an emergency call button that provides the portable communication device with a higher priority (in some instances, the emergency call button provides the user with the highest priority) within the communication system. Many members of the public service agency, however, reserve the use of the emergency button for life-threatening situations. Additionally, the emergency call button relies on the user of the portable communication device to determine that a higher priority is necessary. While attending an incident, however, the member of the public service agency (sometimes referred to as users herein) cannot reasonably discern whether their currently assigned priority is appropriate for their situation. Accordingly, the emergency call button also fails to provide the necessary flexibility to adequate allocate the communication resources among users of the communication system.

One embodiment provides a method of assigning a priority to a portable communication device in a communication system. The method includes determining, with an electronic processor, an incident profile defining an expected timeline. The expected timeline has a first incident stage, a first role associated with the first incident stage, a second incident stage, and a second role associated with the second incident stage. The first role is different than the second role, and the expected timeline indicates a desired priority rank for the first role and the second role. The method also includes assigning, with the electronic processor, a priority rank to the portable communication device when the portable communication device corresponds to the first role during the first incident stage, detecting, with the electronic processor, a transition between the first incident stage and the second incident stage, and assigning, with the electronic processor, the priority rank to the portable communication device based on the second role associated with the second incident stage in response to detecting the transition to the second incident stage.

Another embodiment provides a communication controller for a communication system. The communication controller includes an interface and an electronic processor coupled to the interface. The interface is configured to access an incident profile defining an expected timeline having a first incident stage, a first role associated with the first incident stage, a second incident stage, and a second role associated with the second incident stage. The first role is different than the second role, and the incident profile indicates a priority rank for the first role and the second role. The electronic processor is configured to assign a first priority rank to a portable communication device, the portable communication device corresponding to the first role, during the first incident stage, and detect a transition from the first incident stage to the second incident stage. The electronic processor is also configured to assign a second priority rank to the portable communication device based on the second role associated with the second incident stage, after the transition to the second incident stage, and prioritize a communication resource to the portable communication device when the portable communication device has a higher priority rank among other portable communication devices in the communication system.

FIG. 1is a diagram of an example communication system100that allows various members of a public service agency to communicate with each other and that provides dynamically adapted priority ranks to the portable communication devices of the communication system100. The public service agency may be, for example, a police department, a fire department, an emergency medical services department, and the like. As shown inFIG. 1, the communication system includes a first portable communication device105and a second portable communication device110that communicate over a first network115. Typically, each portable communication device105,110is associated with a specific user (that is, a member of the public service agency) and allows the user to communicate with other users over the first network115. Each portable communication device105,110may be, for example, a smartphone, a cellphone, a two-way radio, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and in some embodiments, a desktop computer.

The communication system100also includes a communication control server120. The communication control server120is in communication with the first portable communication device105and the second portable communication device110over the network115. The communication control server120also accesses a historical dispatch information database123over a second network135. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication control server120also communicates with a remote command center140that is outside the communication system100. In some embodiments, the communication control server120communicates with the remote command center140over the second network135. The remote command center140may be, for example, a center staffed by other members of the public service agency and may communicate commands to the communication control server120to change the priority ranks of the portable communication devices105,110. In some embodiments, the remote command center140may correspond to, for example, the main office or headquarters for the public service agency. In some embodiments, the communication system100may include more or less components than those explicitly described herein.

The first and second networks115,135may include wired networks, wireless networks, or combinations of the same and may be implemented using a wide area network, such as the Internet or cellular long-term evolution (LTE) network, a local area network, such as a Wi-Fi network, or combinations or derivatives thereof. It should be understood that the portable communication devices105,110, the control server120, and the database123may communicate over more than the communication networks illustrated inFIG. 1and different pairs of components may communicate over different networks. Also, in some embodiments, the control server120may communicate with the database123over a dedicated connection rather than a communication network.

The dispatch information database123stores historical dispatch information. Historical dispatch information refers to information regarding previous incidents resolved by the public service agency, and may include information such as, for example, the incident type, the expected travel time to the site of the incident, the distance to the incident site, the neighborhood surrounding the incident site (also referred to as the geographic region of the incident site), traffic conditions encountered while traveling to the incident site, weather condition during the incident (for example, precipitation, wind conditions, humidity levels, and the like), the members of the public service agency who participated in the response, specific buildings and/or type of buildings involved in the incident, types and/or number of entries into the building or incident site, severity of incident, scale of incident (for example, how many people were affected by the incident), whether medical assistance was required or provided, what type of medical assistance was provided (for example, how severe the injuries were, what type of injuries were encountered, whether transportation to a nearby medical facility was provided, and the like), the source of the incident (for example, where a fire may have started), number of witnesses of the incident, surveillance equipment availability (for example, if any cameras recorded the incident), equipment used to address the incident (for example, gas masks, carbon monoxide meters, hoses, fire blankets, and the like). The dispatch information database123may include more or less information regarding the incidents resolved by the public service agency.

The dispatch information database123may also store information regarding the role of each member of the public service agency during the incident. For example, the dispatch information database123may store information such as different stages of addressing the incident, the role assigned to each member of the public service agency, the level of participation of each member during different stages of the incident, messages exchanged between members responding to the incident (for example, exchanged radio messages and/or text messages), and the like.

The control server120assigns priorities to the portable communication devices105,115to dynamically allocate the resources of the communication system based on historical dispatch information, for example, accessed from the database123. In the example shown inFIG. 2, the control server120includes an electronic processor200(for example, a microprocessor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or another suitable electronic device), a storage device205(for example, a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium), a first communication interface210to communicate with the first network115, and a second communication interface215to communicate with the second network135. It should be understood that the control server120may include additional components than those illustrated inFIG. 2in various configurations and may perform additional functionality than the functionality described in the present application.

The electronic processor200, the storage device205, the first communication interface210, and the second communication interface215communicate over one or more wired communication lines or buses or wirelessly. The storage device205includes read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), other non-transitory computer-readable media, or a combination thereof. For example, the storage device205stores non-transitory computer readable instructions to be retrieved and executed by the electronic processor200to identify and assign different priority settings to each portable communication device105,110. As discussed in more detail below, the storage device205also stores a plurality of incident profiles217and a plurality of user behavioral profiles220.

FIG. 3illustrates a method300of assigning priority ranks to the portable communication devices105,110based on the roles for the users of the portable communication devices105,110and the historical dispatch information. As shown inFIG. 3, the electronic processor200determines an incident profile for the incident to be resolved (block305). In the illustrated embodiment, the electronic processor200determines the incident profile based on the dispatch information received from the dispatch information database123and based on the incident type of the current incident. For example, when the members of the public service agency receive a call for service, the electronic processor200determines the incident type associated with the call for service and determines an incident profile based on the incident type.

The incident profile defines an incident timeline to aid the electronic processor200to change the priority ranks of the portable communication devices105,110.FIG. 4illustrates an exemplary incident timeline320. As shown inFIG. 4, the incident timeline320includes a plurality of incident stages323,326,329,332,335,338. The incident stages323,326,329,332,335,338represent the development of an incident while the members of the public service agency resolve the incident. In the example illustrated, incident timeline320represents the timeline for addressing a fire incident, and includes six different incident stages that allow the users to address the fire incident. In the illustrated embodiment, the incident stages include a traveling stage323during which the users (e.g., the responders from the public service agency) travel to the incident site, a break-in stage326during which the users enter the premise at the incident site, a control fire stage329during which the users control the fire at the incident site, a victim treatment stage332during which the users provide assistance to victims at the incident site, an inspection stage335during which the users inspect the incident site to gain information regarding the source and start of the incident, and a departure stage338during which the users leave the incident site. The incident timeline320ofFIG. 5also illustrates an abnormal situation515detected by the electronic processor200and discussed in further detail below. Each incident timeline, however, includes a different number of incident stages, and the incident stages may be different than those illustrated inFIG. 4.

Each incident stage is associated with a high priority role (for example, high priority roles340,342,344,346,348,350,352,354) and a desired priority rank for the high priority role based on which roles are expected to warrant higher priority access to the communication resources during each particular incident stage. In some embodiments, the desired priority rank may be implied for the high priority role. For example, in some embodiments the incident stage may be associated with a single high priority role indicating that the highest priority rank is desired. In other embodiments, the incident profile may explicitly specify the desired priority rank for the high priority role (and/or other roles). For example, the traveling stage323is associated with two high priority roles: a traffic controller340and a firefighter driver342. The traffic controller and/or the firefighter driver are expected to be the most probable users to encounter an unexpected or abnormal situation and warrant more immediate access to the communication resources during the traveling stage323. As shown inFIG. 4, the high priority role for each incident stage may be different. In some embodiments, however, a portable communication device105,110may be associated with more than a single role during the response to the incident stage. For example, with respect to the illustrated embodiment, in some instances the portable communication device105,110associated with the firefighter driver role342may also be associated with the hose operator role346. In some embodiments, the roles associated with each portable communication device105,110change during each incident response. In such instances, the electronic processor200determines the role associated with each portable communication device105,110based on a user input, keyword detection, and/or a lookup table.

Additionally, each incident stage323,326,329,332,335,338is associated with a predetermined period (or duration) that specifies the expected duration of the incident stage based on the dispatch information from the historical dispatch information database123. With reference to the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 4, the traveling stage323is associated with a first predetermined period from t0to t1, the break in stage326is associated with a second predetermined period from t1to t2, the control fire stage329is associated with a third predetermined period from t2to t3. Similarly, the victim treatment stage332is associated with a fourth predetermined period from t3to t4. The inspection stage335is associated with a fifth predetermined period from t4to t5, and the departure stage338is associated with a sixth predetermined period from t5to t6. Each predetermined period may be a different duration specifically determined for the particular incident stage, for example, based on the historical dispatch information. In embodiments in which the incident timeline includes more or less stages, the predetermined periods for each of the stages may be longer or shorter than the ones illustrated inFIG. 4.

Referring back toFIG. 3, the electronic processor200assigns a high priority rank to the first portable communication device105when the first portable communication device105corresponds to the high priority role associated with a first incident stage (for example, the traveling stage323) at block356. In the example ofFIG. 4, the electronic processor200assigns a higher priority rank to the first portable communication device105when the first portable communication device105is associated with the traffic controller and/or the firefighter driver role. In some embodiments, each incident stage includes a list ranking different roles in terms of priority levels. For example, an incident stage may include a list ranking the top priority role and the second priority role. Notably, the list may not include all the roles associated with a particular incident stage as some of the roles may not be expected to become high priority. In such embodiments, the electronic processor200assigns the priority ranks to the portable communication devices105,110of the communication system100according to the list associated with the current incident stage. For example, the list may specify that the traffic controller and the firefighter roles are high priority roles, while the hose operators are medium priority roles, and the medical firefighters are low priority roles during the traveling stage323. In other embodiments, however, the incident timeline320only specifies the high priority roles associated with each incident stage323,326,329,332,335,338.

After assigning the high priority rank to the first portable communication device105during the first incident stage, the electronic processor200detects a transition between the first incident stage and the second incident stage (block360). For example, the electronic processor200detects a transition between the traveling stage323and the break-in stage326. The electronic processor200may detect the transition between different incident stages based on, for example, determining that the predetermined period of time associated with the first incident stage (for example, the traveling stage323) has elapsed, detecting a transition message transmitted among the portable communication devices105,110, receiving a message from the remote command center140, and/or a combination thereof. For example, the electronic processor200detects the transition between the first incident stage323and the second incident stage326when the first predetermined period from t0to t1elapses. Analogously, the electronic processor200detects the transition between the second incident stage326and the third incident stage329when the second predetermined period from t1to t2elapses.

In some embodiments, the electronic processor200also monitors messages transmitted among the portable communication device105,110and detects the transition between two incident stages by detecting transition messages exchanged by the portable communication devices105,110. The portable communication devices105,110may exchange text messages and/or voice messages over the network115. Accordingly, the transition messages may include text messages, voice messages, or a combination thereof The transition messages indicate the end of a particular incident stage and/or the beginning of a particular incident stage. For example, a transition message indicating the end of the traveling stage323may include a voice message from the firefighter driver of “we have arrived at the incident site,” or a message with similar content. In some embodiments, the electronic processor200detects specific keywords in the messages transmitted among the portable communication devices105,110and determines whether the messages constitute a transition message. For example, the electronic processor200may detect keywords such as arrived, ETA (estimated time of arrival), going in, found, victim, close, and the like. In one example, the electronic processor200determines that a message such as “going in now” may indicate the beginning of the break in stage326shown inFIG. 4. The electronic processor200may detect different keywords based on the incident timeline320. For example, the incident timeline320may also include a list of keywords associated with each stage transition. Because different incident timelines include different incident stages, each incident timeline may be associated with a different set of keywords that indicate transitions in the incident stages. By monitoring the communication among the portable communication devices105,110, and detecting the transition of incident stages based on keywords from the different messages, the electronic processor200can more adequately and precisely determine the priority of the portable communication devices105,110and can more efficiently allocate the resources of the communication system100.

After the electronic processor200detects the transition between incident stages, the electronic processor200changes the priority rank of the first portable communication device105based on the second priority role associated with the second incident stage (block365). With reference to the example ofFIG. 4, the electronic processor200changes the priority of the first portable communication device105in response to detecting the transition between the traveling stage323and the break in stage326. In particular, the electronic processor200decreases the priority rank of the first portable communication device105associated with the firefighter driver role because the break in stage326is associated with the second high priority role of firefighter setup personnel, not the firefighter driver role. Accordingly, the priority rank of the first portable communication device105decreases, but when, for example, the second portable communication device110is associated with the firefighter setup personnel role, the priority rank of the second portable communication device110increases in response to the electronic processor200detecting the start of the break-in stage326.

Although the detection of transition between incident stages and the change of priority rank for a portable communication device105,110has been discussed with respect to the traveling stage323(for example, the first incident stage) and the break in stage326(for example, the second incident stage), the electronic processor200continues to detect the transition between the different incident stages (that is, between the second incident stage and the third incident stage, between the third incident stage and the fourth incident stage, and the like) of the incident timeline320, and changes the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110according to the high priority roles associated with each incident stage. The electronic processor200thereby provides dynamically assigned priority ranks to the portable communication devices105,110based on the roles associated with the portable communication devices105,110(for example, whether the portable communication device105is associated with a firefighter driver role), and the current incident stage.

Although the incident timeline320provides an adequate basis for the electronic processor200to dynamically change the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110according to the development of the incident, the electronic processor200also adapts the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110when unexpected and/or abnormal situations arise.FIG. 5illustrates a method500of adapting the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110based on unexpected and/or abnormal situations. As shown inFIG. 5, the electronic processor200defaults to assigning the priority ranks to the portable communication devices105,110according to the incident timeline320(block505). The electronic processor200monitors the communications between the portable communication devices105,110(block510), and determines whether an abnormal situation is present (block515). When the electronic processor200determines that no abnormal situation is present, the electronic processor200continues to assign the priority ranks to the portable communication devices105,110based on the incident timeline320(block505)

When, on the other hand, the electronic processor200determines that an abnormal situation is present, the electronic processor200interrupts following the incident timeline320and changes the priority of the portable communication devices105,110based on the abnormal situation (block520). The electronic processor200may return to following the incident timeline320after determining that the abnormal situation is resolved. The electronic processor200detects abnormal situations by detecting abnormal conditions in the transmissions between the portable communication devices105,110. In some embodiments, the electronic processor200accesses the user behavioral profiles220and compares the current communications to the user behavioral profiles220. The electronic processor200then determines that an abnormal situation is present when the transmissions between portable communication devices105,110deviate significantly from the user behavioral profiles220. In other words, the electronic processor200detects that an abnormal situation is present when unusual user behavior is detected.

For example, the electronic processor200may determine that an abnormal situation is present when the transmission rates from a particular portable communication device105,110change significantly. The electronic processor200may expect, based on, for example, the user behavioral profiles, a particular transmission rate from the first portable communication device105based on the role associated with the first portable communication device105and the type of incident. The electronic processor200, however, detects an abnormal condition when the transmission rate for the first portable communication device105exceeds the expected transmission rates by a transmission threshold (for example, three times higher or lower than the expected transmission rates). The first portable communication device105(that is, the user associated with the first portable communication device) may have an increased transmission rate because, for example, the user may be trying to communicate an emergency situation to the remainder of the response team. In other embodiments, the electronic processor200may detect an abnormal condition based on other characteristics of the transmissions of the portable communication devices105,110, such as, for example, the transmission power from each portable communication device105,110because an abnormal situation may cause the transmission power from a portable communication device105,110to decrease.

In some embodiments, the electronic processor200also detects an abnormal condition when a portable communication device105,110transmits an emergency message or transmission. The emergency message may be transmitted by the portable communication device105by, for example, pressing an emergency button while transmitting a message. In some embodiments, the portable communication devices105,110include a button or different type of actuator that enables the portable communication device105,110to indicate that an emergency message is being transmitted. The electronic processor200detects the emergency message and determines that an abnormal condition (for example, a mayday situation525) is present.FIG. 4illustrates an example of an abnormal condition detected by the electronic processor200represented by the mayday interruption515. In the illustrated example, the second portable communication device110associated with, for example, the firefighter victim, transmits an emergency message. As shown inFIG. 4, the mayday interruption525is not typically part of the incident timeline320(that is, the mayday interruption525does not correspond to one of the incident stages defined by the incident timeline) and includes different high priority roles than those associated with the incident stages. WhileFIG. 4illustrates the mayday interruption515occurring during the control fire stage329, in other embodiments, the abnormal situation may occur during a different incident stage.

As mentioned above, once the electronic processor200detects an abnormal situation, the electronic processor200changes the priority ranks of the portable communication devices105,110based on the abnormal situation. For example, when the electronic processor200detects the emergency message from the second portable communication device110, the electronic processor200increases the priority rank of the second portable communication device110. Analogously, when the electronic processor200detects the increased transmission rates from the first portable communication device105, the electronic processor200increases the priority rank of the first portable communication device105. As shown inFIG. 4, the abnormal situation (for example, the mayday interruption525) may also be associated with high priority roles (for example, the firefighter victims530and the firefighter rescuers535). In such instances, the electronic processor200increases the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110associated with the high priority roles specified by the specific abnormal situation.

In some embodiments, the electronic processor200maintains the priority rank of the portable communication devices (for example, the second portable communication device110) associated with the abnormal situation until the abnormal situation is resolved. The electronic processor200may detect that an abnormal situation is resolved based on, for example, detecting that the communication conditions (for example, the transmission rates) between the portable communication devices105,110have returned to normal. In other embodiments, the electronic processor200may detect that the abnormal situation is resolved by detecting a transition to another incident stage as discussed above with respect to block360. For example, the electronic processor200determines that an abnormal situation is resolved by detecting keywords, or referring back to the incident timeline320.

In some embodiments, the electronic processor200also receives a command from the remote command center140to change the priority ranks of the portable communication devices105,110. The remote command center140may send instructions to the electronic processor200to increase or decrease the priority rank for at least one of the portable communication devices105,110. The electronic processor200, upon receiving the instructions from the remote command center140, changes the priority ranks of the portable communication devices105,110according to the instructions received from the remote command center140. In one embodiment, the electronic processor200receives a command from an external device (for example, the remote command center140) outside the communication system100to change the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110and changes the priority rank of the portable communication devices105,110according to the command.

FIG. 6illustrates a method600of generating an incident profile. As shown inFIG. 6, the electronic processor200first receives historical dispatch data from the dispatch information database123(block605). The electronic processor200then divides the historical dispatch information by incident type (block610). In other words, the electronic processor200groups together the dispatch data corresponding to the same incident type. For example, if the public service agency responds to three different types of incidents such as, for example, a fire incident, a medical emergency incident, and a vehicle collision incident, the historical dispatch data is divided into three groups in which each group corresponds to a different type of incident.

The electronic processor200then determines an expected number of incident stages and the nature of the incident stages based on the incident type and the historical dispatch information (block615). Since responding to each incident type typically requires different actions by different people (that is, by different users or members of the public service agency), the incident timeline includes a different number of incident stages based specifically on the incident type. For example, the incident timeline320ofFIG. 4corresponds to a fire incident, which typically (that is, based on the historical dispatch data) includes six different incident stages (that is, incident stages323,326,329,332,335,338). When the incident type, however, is a medical emergency, the incident timeline may include fewer incident stages such as, for example, a traveling stage, a victim treatment stage, an inspection stage, and a departure stage. Accordingly, the incident timeline includes different incident stages based on the incident type. The electronic processor200determines the number and the nature of the incident stages based on the historical dispatch data for the different incident types.

Additionally, the electronic processor200determines the predetermined period associated with each of the incident stages based on the historical dispatch information (block620). In particular, the electronic processor200determines the predetermined period for each incident stage based on different parameters that may affect the specific incident stage. In other words, the electronic processor200determines the parameters that are most probable to affect the duration of each incident stage, and determines the predetermined period of each incident stage based on those parameters. With reference to the exemplary incident timeline320ofFIG. 4, the electronic processor200determines the first predetermined period associated with the traveling stage323based on, for example, an estimated travel time to the incident site. The electronic processor200estimates the travel time based on, for example, the distance to the incident site, the neighborhood of the incident site, traffic encountered while traveling to the incident site, and weather conditions encountered while traveling to the incident site.

The electronic processor200then determines the second predetermined period associated with the break-in stage326based on different parameters than those used to determine the first predetermined period. Specifically, the electronic processor200determines the duration of the second predetermined period based on, for example, a type of building associated with the incident, a number of entries into the building, the type of entries into the building, and the like. In the illustrated example, the electronic processor200determines the third predetermined period based on, for example, a type of fire, a scale of the fire (for example, how much the fire has spread and/or the possibility of the fire spreading), the wind conditions at the incident site, and the like. The electronic processor200determines the fourth predetermined period based on, for example, a type of burn suffered by a victim, the degree of the burn(s) suffered by the victim, and/or whether the victim was provided with medical transportation to a nearby medical facility. The electronic processor200also determines the fifth predetermined period based on, for example, the source of the fire, the number of witnesses available, and whether any surveillance data was collected. Finally, the electronic processor200determines the sixth predetermined period based on, for example, the equipment that was utilized to respond to the incident and that may need to be stored after the incident is resolved.

Since a different incident timeline is generated for each type of incident, the electronic processor200then determines whether the historical dispatch data is to be analyzed for more incident types (block625). When the electronic processor200determines that the incident profiles have been created for all the incident types of the historical dispatch data, the electronic processor200proceeds to store the incident profile in the storage device205(block630). On the other hand, when the electronic processor200determines that more incident profiles are to be created for different incident types, the electronic processor200returns to block615to determine the number of incident stages and the predetermined period for each incident stage for a different incident type. As discussed above with respect toFIG. 3, when a new incident occurs and the public service agency begins to respond to it, the electronic processor200accesses the storage device205and retrieves an incident profile based on the type of the current incident (block635). The electronic processor200then dynamically assigns the priority ranks of the portable communication devices105,110according to the accessed incident timeline, as described above with reference toFIG. 3.

In some embodiments, the electronic processor200may repeat the method600ofFIG. 6periodically to update the incident profiles based on newly acquired historical dispatch data. For example, the electronic processor200may generate new incident profiles every three months to use the most recent historical dispatch data, and may update the incident profiles stored in the storage device205.

FIG. 7illustrates a method700of accessing a user behavior profile based on the historical dispatch information. In some embodiments, the electronic processor200generates user behavior profiles to provide a baseline for detecting keywords and/or abnormal communication conditions of the portable communication devices105,110. As shown inFIG. 7, the electronic processor200receives information from the historical dispatch information database123(block705). The received information includes, for example, messages exchanged by the portable communication devices105,110, exchange rates for portable communication devices105,110associated with particular roles during various incident responses, and the like. The electronic processor200then divides the received information by particular roles associated with the relevant portable communication devices105,110(block710). For example, the electronic processor200divides the historical dispatch information based on the information related to portable communication devices associated with the firefighter driver role, the hose operator role, and the medical firefighter role separately. The electronic processor200then determines specific statistics associated with each role associated with the portable communication devices105,110based on the historical dispatch information (block715). The statistics may include, for example, expected transmission rates for a portable communication device105,110associated with a specific role (for example, expected transmission rates for a portable communication device105,110associated with a hose operator). In some embodiments, the statistics may also be divided by the incident stage, for example, indicating the expected transmission rate for a hose operator during the break-in stage. The statistics may range from expected transmission rates, specific messages typically transmitted, times with higher or lower expected transmission rates, and the like. The electronic processor200then stores the statistics for the portable communication devices105,110associated with specific roles as a user behavioral profile in the storage device205(block720). When the electronic processor200accesses an incident profile, the electronic processor200may then also access the user behavioral profiles for the roles associated with the incident profile (block725).

As described above with respect to the incident profiles, in some embodiments, the electronic processor200repeats method700of generating the user behavioral profiles periodically to update the profiles with the most recently obtained historical dispatch information. Additionally, although the incident profiles and the user behavioral profiles have been described as being generated by the electronic processor200, in some embodiments, a separate electronic processor within or outside of the communication system100generates the incident profiles and the user behavioral profiles. In such embodiments, the electronic processor200receives the incident profiles and the user behavioral profiles from databases.FIG. 8illustrates an exemplary communication system800in which the electronic processor200does not generate the incident profiles and/or the user behavioral profiles. The communication system800ofFIG. 8includes similar components to the communication system100ofFIG. 1, and similar components have been given similar reference numbers plus700, and descriptions of such components are omitted for the sake of conciseness.

As shown inFIG. 8, the communication control server820communicates with an incident profile database825and with a user behavioral profile database830over the second network835. The communication control server820receives the incident profiles from the incident profile database825, and the user behavioral profiles from the user behavioral profile database830. The communication control server820then uses the incident profile and the user behavioral profile to dynamically assign priority ranks to the portable communication devices805,810and communicate with the portable communication devices805,810over the first network815. In some embodiments, the incident profile defines the incident timeline described above, but also includes the user behavioral profiles for the roles associated with the incident type of the incident profile. In such embodiments, the communication control server820may only communicate with the incident profile database825to obtain the incident profile for the desired incident.