AU2014100107A4 - Alarm event management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to alarm management systems. Commercial and residential premises are frequently fitted 5 with alarm systems. In most cases alarms triggered by these systems are not efficiently managed and have substantial operating costs. The present invention provides an alarm event management system which addresses triggered alarms in an automated fashion, improving 10 efficiency and value for the users of the alarms system. (Figure 5) U)U ol F-4I C:I I 0 IIu L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Description

- 1 ALARM EVENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The present invention relates to an alarm event management system. 5 Commercial and residential premises are frequently fitted with alarm systems. The system monitors the premises in a number of different ways including motion sensors, surveillance cameras and entry detectors. Security 10 companies, as well as police forces in certain jurisdictions, provide services by which the alarm systems at a premise can be configured to notify the security company in the event that the alarm is triggered. 15 In such systems, the alarm system includes a communication module which sends a message to the security company. Typically, the message identifies the premises and may also include details about the event which has triggered the alarm or the location of the alarm event. These 20 messages are sent to a monitoring centre for the security company, placed in a queue, monitored and managed by a security response unit. The security response unit team typically contacts the registered user of the alarm system by phone to inform of the alarm event and request 25 instructions as to whether any action is required. If physical investigation of the site is required then the security response unit will arrange for dispatch of a mobile security unit to the premises to investigate. 30 In many cases the client is unavailable. In such situations the default arrangement may be to dispatch a security unit to inspect the premises. Commonly, when the monitoring centre is able to contact 35 the client, the client may choose to either ignore the alarm event, on the basis that they anticipate that the alarm event was triggered inadvertently or due to a false - 2 alarm, or investigate the alarm event themselves. In both cases the support team at the monitoring centre have added little personal input to the client. The time 5 spent by the security support team is an expensive resource and, given the sensitivity and urgency of the alarm event situations, could result in delays in handling genuine concerns due to being occupied on the telephone and discussing alarm events with disinterested clients. 10 A further challenge for security companies is that insurance companies often require the security companies to comply with security standards. One of the requirements of the standards is usually relocated to the 15 maximum time period allowed to address any alarm event. For example, in Australia, to comply with a class 1 standard, the monitoring centre of the security company must be able to address every alarm request within 2 minutes. 20 Embodiments of the present invention address these problems. Summary of the Invention 25 In accordance to the first aspect, the present invention provides a method for managing alarm events comprising the steps of: receiving a notification of an alarm event, the 30 notification comprising alarm event information; using the alarm event information to identify a client associated with the alarm; notifying the client of the alarm event and providing at least one predefined response option to the client, 35 wherein one predefined response option requests no action from an event response management unit; wherein, if a predefined response requesting no - 3 action is not received from the client within a predefined time period the notification of the alarm event is provided to an event response management unit. 5 In some embodiments, a further predefined response option requesting action from the event response management unit is provided to the client and if the predefined response requesting action from the event response management unit is received during the predefined time period the 10 notification is forwarded to an event response management unit. Further, if no predefined response is received within the predefined time period, a notification may be sent to the event response management unit. The system may be monitoring a receipt of a response from the client 15 during the predefined time period. A notification log associated with the alarm event may be opened upon receipt of notification of an alarm event. In embodiments, the notification log is archived on 20 receipt of the predefined response indicating no action is required from the event response management system during the predefined time period. The notification to the client may be provided over a mobile communication network to a mobile communication device. The notification may be 25 provided via Short Messaging Service (SMS). The predefined response options may be itemised. In some embodiments, the notification of the alarm event includes at least one of: 30 location of the alarm event; client ID associated with the location of the alarm event; information identifying a sensor which triggered the alarm event; 35 video data associated with the alarm event; or audio data associated with the alarm event.

- 4 In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of identifying alarm management notification preferences associated with the client before notifying the client of the alarm event. 5 In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of billing the client in dependence on the predefined response selected by the client to respond to the alarm event. The client may be billed a first amount if the 10 client requests no action by the event response management unit and a second amount if the client requests action from the response management unit or if no response is provided by the client within the predefined time period. 15 In advantageous embodiments of the invention the steps on the method of the first aspect of the invention are performed automatically by an alarm event management system. 20 In accordance to the second aspect, the present invention provides an alarm event management system comprising: a communication module capable of receiving and transmitting notifications of alarm events; a processing unit which processes alarm events; 25 a timing management unit which manages timers associated with alarm events; a database comprising clients and alarm events related information; an automatic response unit which manages notification 30 of alarm events received by the communication module; an event response management unit; wherein the automatic response unit comprises: a client notification unit which notifies a client of the alarm event and provides at least one 35 predefined response option to the client, the at least one predefined response option requests no action from the event response management unit; - 5 a monitoring unit which communicates with the communication module and the timing management unit to monitor if a response is received from the client in a predefined time period. 5 In some embodiments, the timing management unit starts a timer for an alarm event notification when the alarm event notification is received by the communication module and the monitoring unit monitors if a response is received 10 form the client for the predefined time period referring to the timer. In some embodiments, if the monitoring unit does not receive a response in the predefined time period the 15 automatic response unit forwards, through the processing unit, the alarm event notification to the event response management unit and the timing management unit starts a new timer for the alarm event. 20 In some embodiments, the client notification unit provides a further predefined response option to the client, the further predefined response option requests action from the event response management unit. 25 In some embodiments, if the monitoring unit receives the further predefined response option in the predefined time period; the automatic response unit does forward, through the processing unit, the alarm event notification to the event 30 response management unit; the timing management unit creates a new timer for the alarm event notification; and the alarm event notification is logged in the database as forwarded to the event response management 35 unit. The processing unit may create a notification log - 6 associated with the alarm event in the database upon receipt of notification of an alarm event from the communication module. The communication module may transmit the notification of the alarm event to the client 5 over a mobile communication network. The notification of the alarm event to the client may be provided via a communication network to a mobile communication device and may be in the form of a Short Messaging Service (SMS). The predefined response options may be itemised. The 10 notification of the alarm event may be provided to the client in accordance with a set of preferences associated with the client stored in the database. In some embodiments, the alarm management system further 15 comprises a client billing unit issuing a received alarm notification fee to a client account when a notification of an alarm event for the client account is received from the communication module. The alarm notification fee may vary depending on the predefined response option selected 20 by the client. The alarm notification fee may be a first amount if the client predefined response requires action from the event response management unit and a second amount if the client predefined response does not require action from the event response management unit. 25 In some embodiments, the client billing unit comprises a billing interface which communicates with a client's mobile communication provider and bills alarm notification fees to the client through the a client's mobile 30 communication provider. Brief Description of the Figures The present invention will now be described, by way of 35 example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a premises monitored by - 7 a series of monitoring sensors; Figure 2 shows the notification between a premises and a security monitoring centre in an embodiment of the present invention; 5 Figure 3 shows a notification message from the monitored premises in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 shows the flow of notifications and communications between the alarmed premises, the 10 monitoring centre and the client in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 shows the components within the security monitoring centre for managing an alarm notification event; 15 Figure 6 shows the interaction between the various components of the system on receipt of an alarm event. Detailed Description of the Drawings 20 Figure 1 shows a typical monitoring system for a commercial or private property including a series of security devices. The premises includes a building 10 and an outdoor area 20 secured by a gated perimeter 25. The premises include a number of security monitoring units 25 including motion sensors, video recording and sensors on doors and windows. The gate 40 on the perimeter includes a sensor 50 to detect opening of the gate. In the outdoor area, video 30 cameras are positioned to monitor activity within the outside region of the premises. The premises also include motion sensors 70 and 75 positioned in the outside region of the premises to detect motion. The building 10 includes a number of further sensors and monitoring 35 systems located within it. In figure 1, the main door to the building 80 has a sensor 85 to detect opening of the door. Inside the premises a number of video cameras 90, - 8 92, 94, 96 and motion sensors 100, 102 and 104 are positioned around the interior of the building to monitor motion and to record activity in various areas within the building. The system may include additional sensors 5 including noise sensors or electrical activity sensors (not shown in figure 1) to detect activity within the property. Each of the security sensors is connected to an alarm 10 monitoring system 110 by wired or wireless connections. The system detects when one of the sensors is triggered and records the trigger event. In practice, to each of the different sensors is allocated a particular ID and when that sensor sends a signal it will include its ID to 15 identify itself. If, for example, an intruder enters the perimeter through gate 40 the sensor 50 on the gate would be activated and would notify the alarm control system. Once the intruder has entered through gate 40 his movement may be picked up by motion sensors 70 and 75. Activation 20 of these sensors would also be alerted to the security system. Cameras 60 and 65 may also detect a presence of the intruder and alert the alarm system accordingly. Depending on the way the alarm system is configured an audio alarm in the proximity of the property may be 25 activated alerting the intruder to the fact that he has been detected. The alarm monitoring system of figure 1 is connected to all sensors in the property. On receipt of an activation 30 notification from one or more of the sensors the system checks its preferences in how to react to the notification. As mentioned above, in many cases the system will trigger an audio alarm positioned in the vicinity of the property. The system may also trigger 35 activation of various other monitoring systems, for example additional video surveillance cameras.

- 9 In the system of the present invention the alarm monitoring system is connected to a communication module. The communication module allows the alarm system to communicate externally from the property. In embodiments 5 of the present invention, the system is linked to a security company. Referring now to figure 2, there is shown a monitoring centre 200 in accordance with some embodiments of the 10 present invention. The security company manages the monitoring centre 200. The alarm system 110 from premises 5 is configured to be able to communicate with the monitoring centre 200 of the security company. On triggering of an alarm event the alarm system 110 15 automatically sends notification 15 of the alarm event to the monitoring centre 200. The notification sent to the security company's monitoring centre is in a predefined format and includes a series of information to identify the alarm event. The monitoring centre must address the 20 notification in a predetermined time period from the reception of the notification. In embodiments of the invention, the monitoring centre matches the client id with the information comprised in the notification and contacts the clients in an automated manner 20. In 25 advantageous embodiments, the monitoring centre contacts the client on a mobile device and provides to the client the possibility of addressing the alarm notification from the same device. 30 As shown in figure 3, in some embodiments, the notification 30 includes identification of the premises 31 and client ID 33 associated with the premises. The notification may also include information identifying the sensors 35 that have been triggered and the location of 35 the sensors within the premises and additional information 37. For example, the premises may be separated in several defined areas, including outside areas, offices, lobby, - 10 staircase, etc. The notification may include further information including the time of which the sensor was triggered. 5 It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the information included in the notification can be tailored specifically by the client depending on its particular requirements, the arrangement of the premises and the type of surveillance system installed on the premises. The 10 client may also select when notifications are initiated, for example, the client may choose to only send notification to the monitoring centre in the event that the sensors within the building on the premises are activated or select that notification only be provided 15 during certain time periods, for example outside of working hours or other selected time periods. The choices for notification may be influenced by the clients' arrangements with the security company or with his own insurance company. 20 On subscription with the security company the client will set a series of preferences in relation to managing alarm events. In the preferred embodiment discussed below, the security company, on receiving an alarm event from the 25 client's alarm system, contacts the client on his/her mobile communication device by sending a Short Message Service (SMS) notification. When the client subscribes with the security company a client profile and data file is established identifying preferred contact details. The 30 file will include further client information including billing details, a list of secondary contact details, a list of and any preferred action in terms of which mobile support units are used in the event of an emergency. 35 The process for handling an alarm event as well as the components within the monitoring centre responsible for management of the alarm event is described in further - 11 detail with reference to figures 4, 5 and 6. The monitoring centre 200 includes two general areas for management of notifications of alarm events, namely an 5 automatic response section 210 and a manual response section 220, shown generally in figure 4. The automatic response section 210 manages notifications automatically without any manual input and the manual response section 220 forwards notifications of alarm events to an alarm 10 response team of operators. All incoming alarm event notifications are received by a monitoring centre communication module 230. The incoming notifications are automatically directed to the processor 15 unit 212 for management. Once the processor has received the incoming notification at step 300, figure 6, it analyses the notification to identify the client ID. The client ID may be easily retrievable from the notification, for example placed in the header. Once the processor has 20 identified the client ID it creates an alarm event log and starts a timer 214 associated with the alarm event log. The timer is used to monitor the duration of time which is passed at any point from when the monitoring centre receives notification of the alarm event. The timer may 25 trigger a stopwatch running against the event or may simply place a time stamp on the log. The processor uses the client ID to query the client database. This query happens at step 310. The client 30 database is stored within a memory section 216 of the monitoring centre storage system 215. The client database includes information about each client and premises monitored by the security company and, in particular, contact details for the client in the event that an alarm 35 event is received by the monitoring centre. The client data associated with the client ID including any preferences of the client is extracted and provided - 12 through the processor at step 320. The processor adds the client information to the event log and stores the event log in an active memory 218 within the monitoring centre storage system 215. 5 Once the processor has retrieved the contact details for the client, a client notification is created. The client notification includes two options for the client. Option one is that the client wishes the security company to take 10 no further action regarding the alarm event. This may be, for example, that the client is aware that the alarm has been triggered by a false alarm event or that the client wishes to investigate the premises himself. The second option provided to the client is for the security company 15 to investigate the alarm event on behalf of the client. The client notification is transmitted to the client registered mobile communication device through the monitoring centre communication module 230 via SMS 330. 20 An example of a client SMS notification is provided below: An alarm event has been triggered at [ADDRESS] at [ TIME]. Trigger event details: perimeter gate opened. 25 Reply 1: No action by Security Company Reply 2: Security Company to investigate premises. The client notification identifies the premises and time of the notification along with the identification of the 30 sensor and location of the sensor that has been triggered. The SMS provides predefined and limited options for response to the client. 35 On transmission of the SMS message to the client, the processor stores confirmation of the fact that it has sent the SMS within its active memory 218 with the event log - 13 340. The processor also sends a request to start a timer 350 to the timer unit 212. In the event that the client responds to the SMS the 5 client's SMS will be received by the monitoring centre communication module 230 and forwarded to the processor 212. The response will be associated to the event log stored in the active memory in order that the full details of the event are recognised. 10 If the client responds selecting option '1' that no action is required at 360, the event log is completed confirming that the monitoring centre received notification from the client that no action was required and that the event can 15 be closed. The time at which the response was received is logged 370 with the file and the event log is removed from the active memory 380 and moved to the main memory and stored against the client's account. 20 In the event that the client responds with option '2', indicating that it wishes the monitoring centre to investigate the alarm event, the processor associates the response to the event log 410, it records the timer at which the response was received against the log and 25 deletes the event log from the active memory 410. At this point, the processor sends a copy of the event log to the main memory 400 of the monitoring centre and routes a copy of the event log to the manual response section 220 for action at 420. 30 The manual response unit 224 has an event queue database 222. Any events for action coming into the manual response unit 224 are sent to the event queue 222. The event queue stores all incoming events, notifications and 35 records the time at which they are received. The event queue may be positioned by time of receipt or there may be other means for ordering the queue. For example, if a - 14 security company has different levels of client membership then clients paying a premium membership may automatically be moved to the top of the queue for action. Other ways of managing the queue may also be employed by the security 5 company. The manual response unit 224 has access to the event queue and can access the queue to retrieve the event log and determine how to deal with the event. The manual response unit 224 also has access to the main memory of the monitoring centre and is able to access client data 10 and preferences in order to determine how the event should be handled. For example, the client may require that any alarm event passed to the manual response unit 224 should require call out of a security response team to investigate the premises. Alternatively, the client may 15 require that the manual response unit 224 telephones a particular contact to discuss the details of the event before any decision is made on how to continue. Of course, there are many options for management of any alarm event and these will be known by those skilled in the art. 20 The options discussed above in relation to the responses received by the client operate on the basis that the responses received within a predefined time frame. The time at which the monitoring centre first receives 25 notification of the alarm event is stored by the processor against the event log. As discussed above, in many situations the monitoring centre is required to have contacted and received confirmation and action from a client within a predetermined period of time. Once the 30 alarm event notification is received by the monitoring centre the system monitors the time. The predetermined time period may be specific to a particular client or may be a general time period for all clients. For every alarm event the processor calculates the expiry time of which 35 the monitoring centre must have notified and received confirmation of action from the client.

- 15 The system monitors the timers for every active alarm event. In the event that no response from the client is received within the predetermined time period the processor adds this information that no response has been 5 received to the event log and deletes the event log from the active memory 440. The event log is then stored in the main memory 450 of the monitoring centre and passed to the manual response unit queue 460. At this stage, a new timer is created and monitored by the manual response unit 10 224. From this point onwards the event log is handled by the manual response unit 224. Responses received by the client after the predetermined time period may be taken into account by the manual response unit 224. 15 Again, once the event log is provided into the manual response unit 224 event queue it is handled by the manual response unit 224. Embodiments of the present invention provide the advantage 20 that initial engagement with the client on receipt of an alarm event is handled automatically. The ability of the automatic response section 210 of the monitoring centre to retrieve client's information and contact the client quickly by SMS increases speed and reduces overheads on 25 the manual response unit 224. Importantly, the client is provided with predetermined options of how to respond to the alarm event along with information about the event itself, typically, within a few seconds of the alarm being triggered. In the event that the client wishes to take no 30 action in relation to the event, the monitoring centre is informed of this quickly and without having incurred any overhead on the manual response unit 224. In the event that the client wishes the security company to arrange a security check of the premises then this request is 35 provided to the manual response unit 224 within a short, typically two minutes, time period of the event. This two minute delay is short in relation to the typical response - 16 time of a security officer visiting the premises. In further embodiments of the system a client billing module is incorporated into the monitoring centre. 5 Depending on the commercial arrangements between the client and the security company the client may be charged differently for an alarm event to which he responds by SMS that no action is necessary and/or an alarm event which is passed to the manual response unit 224, whether or not the 10 client responds to the SMS. In preferred embodiments of the system the processor is also linked to a client billing unit. Once the event log is closed the processor passes the event log to the 15 billing entity for billing. The billing unit determines the level of charge associated with the actions of the monitoring centre. The client billing unit bills fees to the client account 20 when a notification of an alarm event for the client account is handled by the monitoring centre. The fee varies depending on the predefined response option selected by the client. Generally a first amount is billed 25 if the client predefined response requires action from the event response management unit. A second amount is billed if the client predefined response does not require action from the event response management unit. 30 The client billing unit is able to communicate with the client's mobile network provider and charge the alarm event handling fees directly to the client mobile phone bills. In this way the client does not have to handle bills coming from the security company. The client has an 35 easy access to the security company's charges through his/her phone bill and is only charged for every alarm request that the security company handled. In addition, in - 17 the case where the client decided to address the alarm event notification autonomously, the amount charge to the phone bill by the security company will be marginal. 5 Management of the alarm events, in particular in relation to the recording of the timing of the event is also enhanced through use of the system. Specific times at which the monitoring centre was notified of the event, the client was notified of the event, the client responded to 10 the notification and the event log was closed or actioned are all recorded automatically within the event log. Such information is important for audit purposes of the security company and also any potential insurance claims or police investigations. 15 Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. An alarm event management system comprising: a communication module capable of receiving and 5 transmitting notifications of alarm events; a processing unit which processes alarm events; a timing management unit which manages timers associated with alarm events; a database comprising clients and alarm events 10 related information; an automatic response unit which manages notification of alarm events received by the communication module; an event response management unit; wherein the automatic response unit comprises: 15 a client notification unit which notifies a client of the alarm event and provides at least one predefined response option to the client, the at least one predefined response option requests no action from the event response management unit; 20 a monitoring unit which communicates with the communication module and the timing management unit to monitor if a response is received from the client in a predefined time period; wherein the client notification unit provides a 25 further predefined response option to the client, the further predefined response option requests action from the event response management unit.

2. The alarm management system of claim 1 wherein 30 if the monitoring unit does not receive a response in a predefined time period the automatic response unit forwards, through the processing unit, the alarm event notification to the event response management unit and the timing management unit starts a new timer for the alarm 35 event.

3. The alarm management system of claims 1 or 2 wherein - 19 the notification of the alarm event to the client is provided over a mobile communication network to a mobile communication device. 5

4. The alarm management system of any one of claims 1 to 3 further comprising a client billing unit issuing a received alarm notification fee to a client account when a notification of an alarm event for the client account is received from the communication module, wherein the alarm 10 notification fee varies depending on the predefined response option selected by the client.

5. A method for managing alarm events comprising the steps of: 15 receiving a notification of an alarm event, the notification comprising alarm event information; using the alarm event information to identify a client associated with the alarm; notifying the client of the alarm event and providing 20 at least one predefined response option to the client, wherein one predefined response option requests no action from an event response management unit; wherein, if a predefined response requesting no action is not received from the client within a predefined 25 time period the notification of the alarm event is provided to an event response management unit; wherein a further predefined response option requesting action from the event response management unit is provided to the client and if the predefined response 30 requesting action from the event response management unit is received during the predefined time period the notification is forwarded to an event response management unit.