Patent ID: 8521121

Claim:
A wireless communications device, comprising: electronics components; a power-on button; an emergency message button; a standard power-up sequence module that, in response to a user activating a power-on button while the wireless communications device is in a power-off mode, causes the wireless communications device to perform a standard power-up sequence to turn on said electronics components; and an abbreviated power-up sequence module that, in response to the user activating an emergency message button while the wireless communications device is in a power-off mode, causes the wireless communications device to perform an abbreviated power-up sequence to turn on at least a portion of said electronics components while not turning on a display screen of the wireless communications device; and one or more emergency message modules that, as part of the abbreviated power-sequence, provide to the user a list of a plurality of selectable emergency messages for a user to select an emergency message from among multiple forms of messages, the multiple forms of messages comprising one or more text messages, one or more recorded voice messages, and one or more email messages, receive an emergency message selection from the user of one of the plurality of selectable emergency messages, generate the selected emergency message to be transmitted to a public safety answering point (“PSAP”), communicate the emergency message to the PSAP, receive a confirmation receipt from the PSAP that the emergency message was received by the PSAP; and, in response to receiving the confirmation, provide a visual indicator indicating to the user that the emergency message has been received by the PSAP, the visual indicator comprising illumination of an illumination device other than the display screen.