Patent ID: 8279067

Claim:
A method of alerting a user of unauthorized tampering with a shipping container, comprising: securing a seal device to a shipping container, the seal device including a bolt receiving area; inserting, by a user at the container, an electronic bolt into the bolt receiving area of the seal device; reading, by the seal device, a serial number stored in the electronic bolt; communicating, from the seal device, to a user application, insertion of the bolt; scanning, by the user via a handheld device, an electronically readable element on the seal device representative of an identification of the seal device; communicating, from the handheld device to the user application, the identification of the seal device; associating, in a database by the user application, the bolt serial number and the identification of the seal device; communicating, by the user application, a confirmation to the seal device; communicating, by the user application, a confirmation to the handheld device; receiving, at the seal device, sensor data indicative of tampering; communicating, by the seal device to the user application, an alert; wherein the seal device is one of a plurality of wireless communications devices, and wherein the method further includes connecting, by the seal device, to a network via a gateway of a plurality of gateways, each gateway of the plurality of gateways being associated with a location; wherein the method further includes communicating an indication of the seal device's connection to the user application; wherein the method further includes comparing, by the user application, the location associated with the gateway to a stored database; wherein the method further includes selecting, based on this comparison, a profile corresponding to the location associated with the gateway; and wherein the method further includes communicating, from the user application to the seal device, an identification of the selected profile together with an instruction to engage the selected profile.