Abstract:
A regional surveillance system includes a plurality of local geo-tagged surveillance systems each of which is associated with a predetermined virtual neighborhood. The surveillance systems wirelessly communicate alarm or incident indicating messages, along with neighborhood defining indicia to a common control unit. The common control unit evaluates the incoming messages, and responsive to predetermined criteria, determines which members of a plurality of subscribers should be notified by an alarm or incident indicating message. Once the appropriate subscribers receive the message(s) then a determination can be made as to which, if any, non-subscribers should be notified.

Description:
FIELD 
     The application pertains to regional monitoring to provide improved security to a subscriber group. More particularly, it pertains to defining a virtual neighborhood via geo tagging each one of a plurality of local security, or surveillance, systems which can in turn forward messages, alarms, to a common control unit for selective dissemination to subscribers. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A neighborhood watch, or crime watch, includes an organized group of citizens devoted to preventing crime and vandalism within a neighborhood. This activity requires dedicated people and their time. Electronic surveillance systems installed in individual premises will prevent crime and vandalism only for the individual premises, not the neighborhood. 
     It would be desirable to address a broader region which might include one or more premises. Preferably existing surveillance systems could be used in a broader context to support preventing crime or vandalism in a neighborhood. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating aspects of a system in accordance herewith; and 
         FIG. 2  is another block diagram illustrating additional aspects of the system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While disclosed embodiments can take many different forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described herein in detail with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles thereof as well as the best mode of practicing same, and is not intended to limit the application or claims to the specific embodiment illustrated. 
     Disclosed embodiments couple output messages, or alarms from electronic surveillance systems scattered throughout a virtual neighborhood through a network control center to benefit the neighborhood or an organized group of subscribers to prevent crime and vandalism. 
     Electronic surveillance systems can forward criminal or vandalism indicating messages, or events, to subscribers, or responders, through the network control center. Information from a plurality of electronic surveillance system and alarms from the surveillance system is managed by the network control center. Geo tagged surveillance systems can be grouped through the network control center. Criminal or vandalism indicting events detected by the surveillance systems will be shared across the group to prevent crime or vandalism within an organized, virtual, neighborhood. 
     Alarms can be shared based on the settings in surveillance systems. Surveillance systems can forward events or alarms to one or more organized groups based on suspicious activities with in the neighborhood. The surveillance area for the neighborhood can be geo fenced through a map based solution. All electronic surveillance systems managed by the network control system with geo tags within that range will be grouped for a neighborhood watch implemented in part with that plurality of electronic surveillance systems. 
     Neighborhood watch with electronic surveillance systems will also help the local group by providing regional alarms relative to life critical threats like fire or toxic gas attacks. The members of the group can be warned of the seriousness of the approaching life threat. The neighborhood watch system and method described here will work through the network control center. All of the electronic surveillance systems are grouped through the network control center. 
     Neighborhood watch is an integral part of the tagged, neighborhood electronic surveillance systems. The first step in implementing the neighborhood watch includes registering and tagging the electronic surveillance systems with the network control system. The neighborhood watch initiation can be implemented through an authorized dealer network supported by the Network Control Center. Defining the area for a requested, virtual, neighborhood and enabling tagging the surveillance systems as being in the neighborhood is part of the dealer&#39;s job. 
     A dealer will be provided a map based solution to define the neighborhood. Once a dealer geo fences the neighborhood, all the electronic surveillance systems within the geo fence will be listed for selection. The defined neighborhood can be updated with additions and deletes. The neighborhood related notifications are based on the settings in an individual electronic surveillance system. Surveillance system owner notifications can be provided with a higher priority than neighborhood notifications. 
     Surveillance systems in the neighborhood can be identified with individual geo tags. Signals or information from surveillance systems in the neighborhood are coupled to the network control center. The center, after determining that a given surveillance system is in a defined neighborhood, can respond to messages, or alarms, carry out privacy checks, and issue event notifications to subscribers, 1 . . . n in the neighborhood. Also, surveillance system owners can manually raise events or alarms between organized groups based on suspicious activities seen within a neighborhood. 
     With respect to  FIG. 1 , a neighborhood watch system  10  includes a plurality of electronic surveillance systems  12 . The members of the plurality  12  have been marked with Geo Tags. The Tags identify the members of the plurality  12  within the virtual boundaries of the neighborhood. 
     One or more authorized dealers  16  can assist in tagging the members of the plurality  12  Communications between the dealers  16  and the surveillance systems in the plurality  12  can, for example be wireless via a local Wi-Fi, or Internet, communications system. 
     The dealers  16  can provide information to a network control center  20 , during initial set-up, or subsequently, as to members of the plurality  12  which have been Geo Tagged and identified as part of a defined neighborhood. Different groups of authorized dealers can establish a plurality of Geo Tagged neighborhoods, some of which might overlap one another. In some circumstances, a given system might be identified as being part of two or more neighborhoods. 
     Subsequently, the members of the plurality  12  can individually, and wirelessly, or via wired links, for example Internet/GSM, communicate, alarm or incident indicating messages, along with their respective Geo Tag, as indicated at  24  to the control center  20 . Communications can be implemented via a cellular Internet/GSM type system, without limitation. 
     The control center  20  can include an alarm message receiver  26  which responds to those messages or incident reports that are associated with one or more pre-defined neighborhoods of which the center  20  is aware. Message type, and situation seriousness can be evaluated, as at  28  along with carrying out a privacy check. The privacy check can take into account the preferences as to notices to be sent to the owners of the systems  12 , or the subscribers to be notified. 
     Event notification, as at  30 , can be carried out using the communications network  24  to provide messages to members, or subscribers  36  of the virtual neighborhood defined by the systems  12 . Subscribers  36 , members of the community, can be informed as to incident related messages from some or all of the members of the plurality  12 , consistent with privacy policy  28 . 
     Thus, some alarm or incident messages from members of the plurality  12  might be shared with all members of the plurality  36 . On the other hand, based on the neighborhood privacy policy relative to one subscriber or another, some of the notifications might be communicated to only a subset of the subscribers  36 . The extent of communication of messages is something that could be established individually by members of the plurality  36 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , surveillance systems  12 - 1 ,  12 - 2  . . .  12 - n  (which could be different from one another) are able to communicate with the control center  20  and forward alarm or incident messages, tagged as being part of a pre-defined neighborhood. The messages can be evaluated as appropriate, based on subscriber privacy policies. Notifications, or messages, can be forwarded to some or all of the subscribers  36 - 1 ,  36 - 2  . . .  36 - m . It will also be understood that alarm related, or incident related, information can be provided selectively via the control center  20  to non-subscribers in a selected neighborhood but with a lower priority. Subscribers would receive messages with the highest priority. 
     From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims. Further, logic flows depicted in the figures do not require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be add to, or removed from the described embodiments.