Patent ID: 8319833

Claim:
A surveillance system for observing a remote, permanent location and providing information about events occurring at that location comprising: sensor means fixedly installed at the remote location for obtaining real time information about the location which is used to make a threat assessment of activities occurring at the location and determine what action, if any, is to be taken if the assessment results in the determination of an imminent threat, the sensor means including at least one video sensor used in combination with one or more user selected sensors which include an audio sensor, sensors for detecting the presence of people and objects, chemical, biological, and/or nuclear sensors, and explosives sensors, the respective sensors being used in a desired combination depending upon the location under surveillance to obtain different types of information necessary to determine what is happening, or not happening, at the location in order to perform the real time threat assessment; sensing means for precisely identifying the location of each of the sensors; transmission means for converting outputs from the respective sensors into a secure or encrypted format and for transmitting the resultant information from the remote location to another location distant therefrom using an encrypted internet protocol standards based radio frequency transmission network in a point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, or mesh network configuration; and, display means at the distant location for converting the information received at the distant location into a video display format and for displaying the information, in real time, to at least one user for real time viewing in a fixed, portable, or mobile display configuration of the information by the user for the user to perform the threat assessment at the remote location and to be able to immediately respond to what is happening, or not happening, at the remote location and to undertake appropriate action in response to the immediate situation at the remote location.