Patent ID: 7889718

Claim:
A method of dispatching emergency services based on a communication from a network device, comprising: receiving the communication from the network device, the communication initiated by a caller; determining a network address associated with the network device; determining whether the network address is associated with a single physical location using a test; if the network address is associated with a single physical location, identifying location information associated with the network device; if the network address is not associated with a single physical location: determining whether the network address has an associated alternative service provider, wherein the alternative service provider is an Internet Service Provider that handles emergency calls on behalf of users of the Internet Service Provider; and if the network address has an associated alternative service provider, determining whether the alternative service provider can handle the communication, if the alternative service provider can handle the communication, transferring the communication to the alternative service provider; if the alternative service provider cannot handle the communication, contacting the alternative service provider for location information; determining whether contacting the alternative service provider resulted in receiving location information; if contacting the alternative service provider did not result in receiving location information, having an attendant speak with the caller to obtain location information; and correlating the location information to identify a public service access point and transferring the communication and the location information to the public service access point.