Abstract:
Apparatus and method for working with existing alarm monitoring systems to provide a second notification of an event at a remote location that is being monitored by the system that is directed to a law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the remote location is located. As a result of this second, direct notification, the response time of the law enforcement agency is significantly reduced, increasing the likelihood that remedial action can be taken before injury or loss of life or damage to property.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to methods and systems for monitoring for events at remote locations. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and systems for monitoring the premises at a location remote from a monitoring station for the occurrence of events that could be an indication of a security breach or other emergency. 
         [0002]    With recent political and social changes in the world, security monitoring of remote premises has become an important and necessary business. With ever-increasing demands on law enforcement agencies, private business has played an increasingly significant role in securing both business and residential premises. Companies such as ADT (Atlanta, Ga.), Brink&#39;s Company (Richmond, Va.), and Protection One (Lawrence, Kans.) have enjoyed substantial growth as more and more private residences are monitored for the occurrence of events that could be an indication of a security breach or other emergency from a remote location, and those providers, and many other businesses, provide similar services, some of which are very sophisticated, for business and other premises. With the increasing importance of information in the business world, the information technology sector has become involved in business premises monitoring to both take advantage of the sophisticated electronics and software that have been developed for security purposes (technology that enables one to view multiple, real-time cameras at a remote location is now routine, for instance) and to utilize and protect using technologies such as high speed and wireless Internet and cellular communications. 
         [0003]    In spite of the increasingly sophisticated hardware and software that is available for premises monitoring and security, except for those businesses that maintain their own private security forces and/or that essential to government services such that they are staffed with law enforcement personnel, there is a weak link in the remote monitoring system. Specifically, when an event that is indicative of a security breach or other emergency is detected, action needs to be taken to secure the premises. Although many other responses may also be set in motion by detection of such an event, the action that must be taken to secure the premises usually involves a premises visit by a law enforcement officer who is stationed at the law enforcement agency in the particular location in which the premises are located. In a true emergency, the time that elapses between detection of the event and the arrival of the law enforcement officer on the premises is critical, and any reduction in this response time is a desirable goal when premises are being monitored from a remote location. 
         [0004]    The length of the response time is influenced by several factors. If one considers, for instance, common residential alarm monitoring services such as those provided by the afore-mentioned ADT, Brinks, and/or Protection One, the occurrence of the event is detected by the monitoring company, at which time the company attempts to reach persons on premises by telephone call. Depending upon the results of that telephone call, the monitoring company may then notify the dispatcher of the local law enforcement agency, after which the law enforcement agency dispatches an officer to the premises. Delays may occur at each and/or all of these steps to the point that it is not uncommon for the law enforcement officer to arrive at the premises for several minutes or even hours after the event is detected. Of course even a few minutes is more than enough time for occurrence of damage to the premises or injury to persons living or working on the premises such that, although such companies provide valuable services, the value of their services can be compromised by the nature of the on-premises event(s) that trigger the response and the time it takes to respond to that/those event(s). 
         [0005]    It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for reducing the time between occurrence of an event that may be indicative of a security breach or other emergency at a remote location and a visit by a law enforcement officer to the premises. 
         [0006]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system that works with existing remote alarm monitoring systems to reduce response time. 
         [0007]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for outputting two or more notifications of an event that may be indicative of a security breach or other emergency at a remote location. 
         [0008]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for direct notification of a law enforcement agency upon detection of an event that may be indicative of a security breach or other emergency at a remote location. 
         [0009]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for direct notification of a law enforcement agency upon detection of an event that may be indicative of a security breach or other emergency at a remote location that provides information as to the type of event that was detected. 
         [0010]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for producing two signals upon detection of an event that may be indicative or a security breach or other emergency at a remote location, the first signal being routed to an alarm monitoring company for the purpose of enabling the alarm monitoring company to handle the signal in the manner in which other incoming signals are handled, and the second signal being likewise routed to a monitoring company for the purpose of directly notifying a the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the remote location is located if the detection of the event, thereby reducing the time that elapses from detection of the event until a responding law enforcement officer arrives at the remote location. 
         [0011]    This list of several of the objects of the present invention is not intended to be all-inclusive. Other objects, and the advantages, of the present invention will be made clear to those skilled in the art by the following description of several embodiments thereof. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    These objects, and many others, are met in the present invention by providing a method of monitoring an alarm system at a remote location for the occurrence of an event triggering an alarm, the remote location being provided with one or more sensors for detecting the event and outputting an electrical signal to an alarm monitoring station upon detection of the event, comprising the steps of detecting the signal output from the sensor located at the remote location with a receiver, the receiver outputting a signal to a server, matching the signal output from the receiver to an account stored in a database in the server, the account including information identifying both the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the remote location is located and the alarm system at the remote location, and outputting a first signal to the central alarm station operated by the monitor of the alarm system at the remote location in accordance with the information in the account to which the output signal from the receiver is matched. Likewise, a second signal is also output from the alarm system at the remote location to a monitoring company for the purpose of notifying a law enforcement agency for the jurisdiction in which the remote location is located, the second output signal including information as to the location of the remote location and the identity of the law enforcement agency in which the remote location is located, in accordance with the information in the account to which the output signal from the receiver is matched. The second signal is preferably output concurrently with, or at least as approximately the same time, as the first signal, hence the present invention is conveniently referred to as a system or process for dual alarm notification. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a representative type of known alarm monitoring system. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the integration of the known alarm system of  FIG. 1  with the dual alarm notification system of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    Referring now to the figures, the present invention is best understood with reference to an existing remote alarm monitoring system of a type such as that shown in  FIG. 1 . In the case of an existing monitoring system, a plurality of detectors, each of the type that output a signal, are located at a home or business and comprise part of what may be referred to as the “on-premises alarm system”  10 . The on-premises alarm system  10  includes a control panel  12  and may be comprised of several detectors, such as intrusion/door detector(s)  14 , motion detector(s)  16 , window detector(s)  18 , and an input  20  (usually in the form of a keypad) for supervisory and other functions. The alarms system  10  may also include a so-called “panic button” (sometimes integrated into the keypad) and fire and/or smoke detectors (not shown). Control panel  12  includes hardware for processing and forwarding signals through a telephone modem  22  to a remote monitoring company  34  (see below). In addition to the supervisory keypad  20 , the on-premises system  10  also includes hardware and software (not shown) for detecting low battery, phone line loss, detector malfunction, etc. that also produces an output to the monitoring company. Upon detection of an event, or primary alarm  22 , an on-premises alarm system of the type shown at reference numeral  12  transmits a signal via the telephone company  24  into which the alarm system  12  is tied and to which the owner and/or operator of the home or business  10  subscribes. Those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this disclosure will recognize that the primary alarm signal can be transmitted via standard telephone service and/or via cellular alarm communicator, and that the alarm system may also include backup capability, for instance, by routing an additional call to the monitoring company through the cellular alarm communicator/cell provider to which the owner and/or operator of the home or business  10  subscribes. The call is received by the monitoring company that operates a so-called central station  36  that includes an alarm receiver  38 . The alarm receiver  38  is provided with alarm software  40  of a type known in the art and available commercially that deciphers and prioritizes the incoming call from the alarm system  10 . Fire is generally regarded as the highest priority, even over an intrusion alarm signal, by such alarm monitoring companies; the signals are viewed by an operator  42  employed by or contracted to the monitoring company on a computer display (not shown) for appropriate action by the operator. 
         [0016]    In conventional remote alarm monitoring systems such as that shown in  FIG. 1 , upon receipt of an intrusion alarm (fire alarms are generally routed directly to the fire station located near the premises at which the alarm system is located), operator  42  places a first call  44  to the home/business at which the alarm system  10  is located, giving rise to three possibilities. The person who answers the first call  44  may have the password  48  for that particular account, in which case, the call is closed  50 . However, the person who answers the first call  44  may not know the account password  52 ; alternatively, the first call  44  may not be answered  54 . If the person who answers does not know the account password, operator  42  notifies the police or other law enforcement agency  56  for the jurisdiction in which the home/business  10  is located. If no answer, the operator  42  makes a second call  58  to the home/business  10  and operator  42  then either closes the call  50  or notifies the law enforcement agency  56  depending upon the results of that second call  58 . 
         [0017]    The integration of the dual alarm notification system of the present invention with an existing alarm system of the type shown in  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the notification  68  produced by the alarm software  66  of the system of the present invention and the notification  56  from the operator  42  of the monitoring company both arrive at the police station dispatcher  72 . The difference, and the consequent reduction in response time resulting from the present invention, is in the time that elapses between the time T 1  when the event is detected by, for instance, the motion detector  16  at the premises at which alarm system  10  is located and the time T 2  when the police dispatcher  72  receives notification  56  (from an alarm system of the type shown in  FIG. 1 ) and the notification  68  (from the dual notification system of the present invention). This difference in times T 1  and T 2  is such that when the system of the present invention is combined with an existing system as shown in  FIG. 2 , the call from the operator  42  of monitoring company confirms an emergency  76  rather than notifies of the emergency that has already caused the dispatcher  72  to send a police officer  74  to the premises at which the alarm system  10  is located. Experience with prior known methods and systems indicates that in the case of conventional remote monitoring systems of the type shown in  FIG. 1 , this difference between times T 1  and T 2  varies from about a minute to as long as several minutes, and in some isolated cases, portions of an hour. In the case of the method and system of the present invention, it has been found that the time that elapses between times T 1  and T 2  is generally less than one minute, and sometimes the time that elapses between times T 1  and T 2  can be measured in seconds. 
         [0018]    Referring now specifically to  FIG. 2 , the present invention is described as follows. Most alarm control panels  12  that comprise an alarm system  10  are provided with the capability to make two (or even more) calls to different telephone numbers. In the method of the present invention, the first call output from the alarm system  10  through telephone company  24  is to the remote monitoring company for handling in the manner described above. The second call (and note that the first and second calls are designated as being first and second herein as a way to differentiate between calls and not because they are necessarily made in that sequence; to the contrary, many control panels have the capacity to make both calls so quickly that the two calls are, in effect, simultaneous) from the alarm system  10  through phone company  24  is to the operator  60  of the system of the present invention. Those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this invention will recognize that the calls that are output from alarm system  10  are shown in the figures as being accomplished over telephone service with the alarm system modem being tied into a conventional two conductor telephone line at the home or business at which alarm system  10  is located to transmit the alarm signal in a manner that is similar to the manner in which a fax machine sends data or a dial-up modem transmits data between a computer and a host server over the Internet. The output from alarm system  10  to either of the remote monitoring company or the operator  60  of the method of the present invention is also accomplished via cell phone or radio frequency (RF) transmission. The cellular device or RF transmitter may also be connected to the two-conductor telephone line so that in the event telephone service is lost (for instance, by a burglar who cuts the telephone line), the cellular device takes over and transmits the alarm signal. Cell communication backups that emulate a dial tone or telephone line and provide full data communication for the alarm system are known in the art. In an alternative embodiment contemplated by the method and system of the present invention, the output from alarm system  12  to remote monitoring company  60  is also accomplished by VOIP, implemented with IP modules at the home/business at which the alarm system  10  is located and remote monitoring company and/or operator  60  and broadband modem(s) for transmission over the Internet and/or over municipal (or other) wireless network. 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the second call from the on-premises alarm system  10  is received by the remote monitoring company  60  of the system of the present invention at a remote location  62 . The signal is received at alarm receiver  64  and processed by the alarm software  66  that resides on a computer (not shown) operated by company  60 . Alarm software  66  functions to produce an output notification from the remote monitoring company  60  directly to the police/law enforcement agency  56  in the jurisdiction in which the home/business at which alarm system  10  is located. The output notification is received, for instance, at a police station  70  by a dispatcher  72 , who dispatches a responding police officer  74 . Although other alternatives are available and specifically contemplated by the present invention such that the invention is not limited in its scope to e-mail, in the presently preferred embodiment, this output notification takes the form of a pre-formatted e-mail from monitoring company  60  that is sent to the police/law enforcement agency  56  that includes the address of the premises at which alarm system  10  is located, the type of alarm, the identify of the owner/occupant of the premises, any other useful and/or required information as may be helpful or necessary to the law enforcement officer, the owner/occupant of the premises, and/or monitoring company  60 . 
         [0020]    As described above, the output from alarm system  12  to operator  60  is detected by an alarm receiver  64  at the remote location  62 . Alarm receiver  64  is available commercially from such vendors as Honeywell (FBI, Ademco SILENT KNIGHT) and General Electric (Osborne-Hoffman OH-2000, GE/Caddx, ITI), and is designed to receive, display, and route data with programmable phone line settings that is comprised of a master central processor and one or more line cards (not shown) that is/are connected to a server (not shown). The line cards support caller ID and Caller Name Delivery and are individually programmable for format priority and ring parameters. 
         [0021]    The alarm software  66  that resides on the server is available commercially under the trademarks and/or from vendors such as ADSW-NT Software, Microkey (Kissimmee, Fla.), ALARM CENTER (Security Information Systems, Inc. (Orlando, Fla.)), and Patriot (Dowagiac, Mich.). Such software picks up the call from the alarm panel  12  of the on-premises alarm system  12  and queries the control panel for the particular code/I.D. number assigned to that control panel. If the code/I.D. is recognized by software  66 , the server on which software  66  resides accepts information from the control panel  12  identifying the contact and/or zone from which the signal originates and matches that information to the appropriate account stored in the database residing on the server. Included in the account information is the identity of the law enforcement agency  56  in the jurisdiction in which the premises at which alarm system  10  is located and, if the alert/output notification is accomplished by e-mail in the presently preferred embodiment described above, the e-mail address of law enforcement agency  56  so that the software generates that e-mail without intervention by operator  60 . 
         [0022]    Although described in terms of the embodiments shown in the figures, these embodiments are shown to exemplify the present invention and not to limit the scope of the invention, it being recognized by those skilled in the art that certain changes can be made to the specific structure of the embodiments shown and described without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications, and other modifications that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention, are intended to fall within the scope of the following claims.