AU2002300513B2 - Method of Border Management - Google Patents

Description

12-RUG-2002 16:53 FROM PJ PRRKTO0662399P3 TO 0061262B37999 P.03 2 METHOD OF BORDER MANAGEMENT FIELD OF INVENTION The invention relates to a method of border management partieoilarly but not solely designed for enhancing border security, improving risk management, and facilitating passenger travel. The invention could be applied to international travel by air, boat, train or bus where applicable.

BACKGROUND TO INVENTION International travel, even before the events of September It 2001 was a rather cumbersome process. A passenger on an international flight, for example, is involved with manual filling in of departure cards, departure fee or tax collection, manual processing, and multiple queues for various services. The organisations affected by the current process are the airport authority, different airline companies, border agencies and travel agents apart from the travelers themselves. The present process can lead to increased queues, airport congestion, less efficient administrative processes, increased costs and reduced customer satisfaction.

The events of September 11, 2001 have put additional pressures on this situation, Border security, predicated on a relatively benign international environment, has meant a relatively low level of border agency interaction with people crossing the border.

However, heightened risk awareness, strengthened processe, better management and greater scrutiny are now essential. The increase in international terrorist activities and related security threats along with increasing drug trafficking, fraudulent travel documents as well as continuing growth in passenger numbers affects Border Agencies, passengers, airlines and airport authorities, the impact being greater border risk and security vuinerabilities while exacerbating problems already experienced.

12-PUG-2002 16:54 FROM P5 PARK TO 6061262837999 P.04 3 It would be particularly desirable to reduce wait time significantly for a passenger, to streamline administrative processes, to reduce costs, to improve data accuracy and enhance risk management. This would deliver a positive experience to airline passengers as they proceed through the airport processes. Improved journey management and the associated improvement ini customer service exends to airlines, the promise of higher customer satisfaction, and the capability to cost-effectively process larger numbers of passengers through existing airports. At the same time Border Agencies will be assured of better risk management and improved security.

There have been some developments toward more efficient processing of passengers, One such development is the reservation and payment for airline tickets online. One example of electronic tickets is ticketless travel, or electronic ticketing, which is becoming commonplace. Electronic tickets enable passengers to book tickets over the phone or over the Internet, eliminating the need for the airline or the travel agent to issue a paper ticket.

Airlines and other service providers ini the value chain are now implementing wireless technology, Wireless access connects passengers having wireless devices from virtually anywhere to an airline system. Through celiphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other mobile devices, passengers can quickly check in and select their seat directly from the device, view updated arrival and departure information, and receive notification from either the airline or travel agency when changes occur mid-journey, such as when a flight has been delayed or cancelled.

Some jurisdictions have implemented initiatives to issue a smarteard clearance system to replace passports for cross-border travel.

Some airports have installed self-service kiosks. Customer-oriented kiosk applications can offer passengers the capability to make travel reservations, check in, receive boarding passes, select seas, check frequent flyer miles, request upgrades, purchase a ticket, print e-ticket receipts, or check bags, all without waiting in line for an agent. Self-service 24-OCT-2007 13:30i FROM A~ J PARKTo 612879P./i TO 0061262837999 P.11/16 0 4 kiosks deliver fast and direct services to passengers right at the point of service, thereby minimising check-in queues, reducing check-in unit costs and increasing customer satisfaction.

Biometric technology creates highly accurate digital records of a person's physiological en features. These records can be safely stored for later comparison against a live image that O is captured from the user at the time the service is delivered. The devices create 0 electronic digital templates that are stored and compared to live images when there is a need to verify the identity of an individual. Biometric technologies, based on for io example fingerprints, voice, iris, hand geometry, and face recognition, have been used in some cross-border systems to facilitate travel.

Much of the existing methods arc focused on particular points in the process departure flow and do not provide an entire solution for departure. None of the prior art techniques provide an integrated method for border management. It would be particularly desirable, for example, to collect information from a passenger and then share this information electronically with other service providers in the travel process.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION In broad terms in one form, the invention comprises a method of border management comprising the steps of storing passenger passport data in a travel database; storing a passenger reservation number in the travel database; maintaining a central database; transmitting the passport data and the reservation number to a passenger registrant record in the central database; issuing a clearance to board to a passenger Ibllowing, validation against the central database; and updating the passenger registrant record in the central database.

COMS ID No: ARCS-165949 Received by IP3 Australia: Time 11:31 Date 2007-10-24 24-OJCT-2007 13:30 FROM A J P0A6168799RK21 TO 0061262837999 P.12/16 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Preferred forms of the method of border management will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures in which: en Figure I show a block diagram of the preferred farm system in which the invention operates; o and Figure 2 shows a process description of the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORMS Figure 1 illustrates a Preferred system 10 in which one form of the invention may be implemented. Conceptually the system 10 comprises one or more travel agents 100 for 1S passenger information and ticketing, one or mare airline systems 200 for ticketing and checkin, one or more airport authorities 300 for departure fee or tax pmocessing, a central system 400 operated for example by Customs or a border agency, for capturing movements and alert checking and one or more government departments 500. for example the Department of Statistics for batch systems data collection.

The invention will be described with reference to both Figure I and Figure 2 interchangeably.

The system 10 includes one or more travel agents I 10, for example 11ICA. Each travel agent could be interfaced to or at least have access to one or more travel databases, for example travel agent I 10A is interfaced to travel database 120A. Travel database 120A comprises a series of records representing travel data for a particular passenger.

It is envisaged that travel database 120 for example travel database 12OA could be maintained by a travel agent. Alternatively, the travel database 120 could be maintained by an individual organisation or by a third party and accessible over the Internet.

COMS ID No: ARCS-165949 Received by P1 Australia: Time 11:31 Date 2007-10-24 12-FtJO-2002 16:54 FROM AS PARK TO 0061262837399 P.07 12-AUG-2002 16:54 FROM AJ PARK TO 0061262837999 P.07 6 The system 10 further includes one or more airlines 2 10, for example 210OA. Each airline could be interfaced to an airline database, for example airline 210A is interfaced to airline database 220A. The airlie database 220A includes a series of records representing flight data, for example flight number, origin, destination, time of destination, time of arrival, and price.

The system 10 also includes one or more airport companies or authorities 300, for example 310A. One example of an airport company is Auckland International Airport in Limited (AIAL). The Airport Authority 310 maintains arn airport database, for example 320A, which is described below, The central system 400 is preferably maintained by arn organisation, such as the New Zealand Customs Service in New Zealand or its equivalent in couintries outside New Zealand. The central system 400 typically includes a workstation 410) which is interfaced to travel agents 100, airlines 200, airport companies or authorities 300 and government agencies 500. The workstation 410 preferably includes a data memory and processor provided with appropriato ports and communication interfaces to enable data transfer between the various components of the system.

The workstation 410 is interfaced to a plurality of business rules which could be implemented as an alert list 420. The alert list could store data on certain individuals or passport numbers or other travel document references. Various organisations, for example Courts, Police, Inland Revenue, Immigration, Customs and welfare agencies or any other authority, could place an alert with Customs relating to a certain individual or a passport number. The authority could also provide instructions, for example an alert placed by the police could provide instructions to inform the police should a certain individual or passport be encountered. Police, for example, may place an alert on a person due to previous convictions or a person of interest, so that the person's movements can be monitored. The alert list could preferably be searched by an individual name, a 24-OCT-2007 13:31 FROM A J PARKTO 6l2879P.31 TO 0061262837999 P.13/16 07 passport number, a gender, date of birth, nationality or country of birth. The alert list could comprise a series of records, each identified by a suitable unique record identifier.

More generally, the alert list is an example of a plurality of business rules representing one or more passengers. Passenger data could be checked for applicability of these business rules.

The central system 400 could further comprise a central database 430 which further O comprises a series of registrant records 440, The central database 430 could be replaced by a distributed database for example. The central database will be further described below. The workstation 410 is also interfaced to a passenger travel database 450 in which is stared a series of passenger travel records 460.

It is typical to position a Customs station at a departure gate 470 through which a passenger landside passes to go airside ready to depart. '[he departure gate 470 of the invention could be interfaced to the workstation 410 and to a printing device 480.

The integration and operation of the various componenrts of the system 10 are described below and can be divided into four steps, namely Pre-flight process, Departure process, Inflight process, and Post-arrival process.

Pr-c-Flight Process Pre-flight processes include Registration and Ticketing with Risk Management at each step.

Registration B~ach passenger contacts a travel agent 110 for example travel agent I IOA, either in person or by telephone, fax or email- Each travel agent or airline maintains a tradvel agent database 120, for example 120A. The travel agent I IOA is interfaced to one or more airlines 200 COMS ID No: ARCS-165949 Received by 1P Australia: Time 11:31 Date 2007-10-24 12-flUG-2002 16:55 FROM RJ PPRK TO 0061262837999 P.09 12-AUG-2002 1:55 FROM AlJ PRK TO 00126237999 P.09 8 and particularly airline CRS (client reservation systems) to check travel options and to make bookings.

Each passenger thus 'enrols' by providing passenger data which may include bio-data, travel document, travel purpose data and biometric data. The travel agent 110A gathers passport data and other statistical data from the passenger. This data is stored in and validated against a central system 400 including the central database 430 which approves or declines the registration. A registrant record 440 is created for registered passengers.

At the time of booking for travel each passenger contacts the travel agent to request and finalise travel arrangements. The passport data and statistical data is stored as a record, for example 130A in the travel database 120A together with itinerary data. The travel database i 20A preferably includes a series of travel records, each record identified by a reservation number or other unique identifier. The reservation number is preferably a unique combination of text and/or numbers which identifies an individual and an itinerary. The travel agent 110A transmits data from a passenger travel document, for example passport biodata, and statistical data to the central system 400. Any changes to passenger details are preferably updated in the registrant record, as this could affect the passenger's entitlement to travel.

Ticketing When it is time for the travel agent 110 IOA to issue a ticket to the passenger, the travel agent 110A checks the central database 430 for the registrant record 440 representing the passenger wishing to travel. The alert list 420 could also be checked at this stage. If a passenger is entitled to travel, the passenger's itinerary, reservation number and departure card data, which has been stored in database 130A, is transmitted from the travel agent database 120A to the workstation 410 where it is stored in the central database 430 and/or the passenger travel database 450. The workstation 410 acknowledges receipt of the transferred data and checks to ensure that the passenger represented by the data transferred from the travel agent I10A is found in the central database 430. If the 12-AUG-2002 16:55 FROM PJ PARKTO0628399.1 TO 0061262837999 9 individual is not found in the central database 430, a rejection message is sent back to travel agent I IGA.

In this way, itinerary data, reservation number and associated departure card data are sent to the workstation 4 10 at the time of ticketing. Changes to ticketing, for example dates of travel, could be represented by transmitting a cancellation record fromn the travel agent 11i0A to the workstation 410, followed by an updated travel record to the workstation 410.

An airport authority 320 may charge a departure fee and this departure fee is preferably collected by the travel agent 11IDA as an agent for the airport authority at the time of ticketing.

The travel agent 1 I A preferably provides the passenger with terms and conditions of travel, for example quarantine and Customs regulations, requirements to notify the travel agent I I OA of any changes in flight detailIs and so on.

Departure Process The Departure Process covers Cheick-in by Airline and Gate processing.

Check-in When the passenger arrives at the Airline counter for chock-in, the Airline captures passenger data for example using document readers that automatically capture information from machine readable travel documents. This data is validated against passenger and itinerary data held on the airline database 220A and also validated against central database 430. When a clearance to board message is obtained, the passenger is issued a clearance to board (such as a boarding pass) by the airline. The central. system also creates an expected movement record for the passenger in anticipation of their arrival at the destination airport.

12-PUG-2002 16:55 FROM P5 PRRKTO0628399P1 TO 0061262337999 P.11 Gate Once the passenger has had a clearance to board issued and is ready to board, the customer presents a valid travel document such as a passport to an officer at the departure gate 470. The officer scans the passport and transmits passport data to the workstation 410. The workstation 410 performs a further search through the alert list 420 to ensure that the passenger is cleared for travel. Once again, the workstation 410 could transmit a rejection message to the departure gate 470 to enable the passenger to be apprehended.

If the passenger does not appear in the alert list 420, the workstation 410 checks the itinerary record 460 of the passenger in the travel database 450 to validate the passenger, to ensure that the passenger is travelling on the correct flight. If the flight on which the passenger desires to travel matches the data stored in the appropriate record 460, a message is transmitted to airline 210, the message including the passenger record and passenger reservation number. The airline 210CA retrieves from the airline database 200 boarding pass data and transmits this boarding pass data including a reservation number back to the departure gate 470 to be printed on printing device 480. The boarding pass is presented to the passenger, granting the passenger airside, enabling the passenger to pass through the departure gate 470.

The workstation 4 10 updates the appropriate registrant record 440 to record movement of the passenger airside, The workstation 410 transmits passenger movement to airport 3 1 A for reconciliation of the departure fee or tax against travel agent 1 I1OA. Itinerary and departure card details are preferably also sent to government agencies 5O0representing statistics, immigration and aviation security.

In-flight Process Information on all passengers and crew on an incoming aircraft available to Border Agencies is transmitted by the Airline within about 30 minutes of the aircraft departing.

This advance information processed electronically permits a thorough and rigorous 12-AUG-2002 16:56 FROM P5 PARKtO0626399.1 TO 0061262837999 P.12 11 screening of inbound passengers to be accomplished, targeting those passengers that present the highest risk, and allowing for the faster throughput of low risk passengers.- The central database and related systems 400 allow collating, processing, and disseminating of passenger information before the passenger actually arrives at the border. This includes advance warning regarding any possible alert matches, quicker processing at the Customs primary processing line, management of workload for an incoming flight and data mining of summarised flight/voyage information and whole of flight risk profiling, Post-Arrival Process The Post-arrival process includes operationsl processing at the Border, Risk Management activities as well as subsequent reconciliation and related actions.

is Primary Line Border Agency ground staff process passengers once they arrive at their destination using expected movement data and risk assessments obtained earlier. Actual movement records for arrival are created.

Departure Fee or Tax The passenger record is updated in the central database 430 to record passenger movement together with a travel agent identifier including a reservation number from previously captured itinerary data stored in the travel database 450. Departure fees collected by the travel agent 1110 are preferably transferred to the airport 3 10 using a suitable clearance house. The workstation 410 provides both the travel agent 1 10 and the airport 3 10 transaction data for reconciliation and audit purposes.

By collecting data initially from passengers and then sharing this data electronically among service providers, the invention enables passengers to reduce wait time significantly, streamline administrative processes, reduce costs and improve data accuracy. The invention eliminates the need for passengers to fill in departure cards and for the organisations to collect departure fees and taxes, thereby removing the need for multiple queues.

It is envisaged that the method of the invention could be applied to any form of international travel other than air travel. Where appropriate, the invention could be applied to international travel by boat, train or bus.

The term "comprising" as used in this specification and claims means "consisting at least in part of'. That is to say, when interpreting statements in this specification and claims which include "comprising", the features prefaced by this term in each statement all need to be present but other features can also be present. Related terms such as "comprise" and "comprised" are to be interpreted in a similar manner.

In this specification where reference has been made to patent specifications, other external documents, or other sources of information, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the invention. Unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to such external documents is not to be construed as an admission that such documents or sources of information are prior art or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

The foregoing describes the invention including preferred forms thereof. Alterations and modifications as will be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated within the scope hereof, as defined by the accompanying claims.

95968-1

Claims (1)

1. 24-OCT-2007 13:31 FROM A J PARK<T 622379 .51 TO 0061262837999 P.15/16 0 13 WHAT WE CLAIM IS: I. A method of border management comprising the steps of, storing passenger passport data in a travel database; O storing a passenger reservation number in the travel database; Cfl maintaining a central database; o transmitting the passport data and the reservation number to a passenger registrant 0 record in the central database; issuing a clearance to board to a passenger following validation against the central database; and updating the passenger registrant record in the central database. 2. A method of border management as claimed in claim I further comprising the step of validating passenger data against the central database after storing the passenger passport data in the travel database. 3. A method of border management as claimed in claim I or claim 2 further comprising die step of validating passenger passport data against the central database prior to issuing a ticket to the passenger 4. A method of border management as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising the steps of: maintaining a plurality of business rules representing one or more passengers; and checking the passenger passport data for applicability of the business rules. A method of border management as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the passenger registrant record includes bio-data. 6. A method of border management as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the passenger registrant record includes itinerary data. COMS ID No: ARCS-165949 Received by 11 Australia: Time 11:31 Date 2007-1O-24 24-OCT-2007 13:31 FROM A J PARK TO 061262837999 P.16/16 14 7. A method of border management as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the passenger registrant record includes travel purpose data. 8. A method of border management, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying figures. TOTAL P.16 COMS ID No: ARCS-165949 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:31 Date 2007-10-24