GB2412209A

GB2412209A - Messaging apparatus method and device

Info

Publication number: GB2412209A
Application number: GB0404463A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew J Hawkes
Original assignee: Air Tube Conveyors Ltd
Current assignee: Air Tube Conveyors Ltd
Priority date: 2004-02-28
Filing date: 2004-02-28
Publication date: 2005-09-21
Also published as: GB0404463D0

Abstract

A messaging apparatus comprises a wrist-watch pager 1, and control unit 2 for receiving a help request entered at a predetermined location such as a supermarket checkout. The control unit 2 transmits the help request to the pager 1 which has a display 7 for displaying a message corresponding to the help request. The control unit 2 is operative to cancel the message remotely from the pager 1 in response to a cancellation request entered at the checkout.

Description

1 2412209 Messaging Apparatus, Method and Device This invention relates to

a messaging apparatus, method and device, and in particular but not exclusively, to an apparatus, device and method for enabling personnel distributed across a site, for example a supermarket, to respond to calls for assistance.

Radio pagers have been in use for many years lor communicating messages from a central control to individual pagers earned by personnel who may be roaming within a building or geographical area. These radio pagers have been used m a supermarket environment, where there is a need for checkout operators to summon assistance from personnel located elsewhere within the store. For example, a checkout operator may need to call for help in order to obtain change for the till; security clearance for a payment; cleanup of a spillage; product replacement; supervisor assistance and so on.

Conventional messaging devices for summoning assistance comprise a terminal at each checkout. Each terminal is hard wired to a central control for transmitting RF signals to pagers carried by non-checkout staff. The terminals allow the operator to enter a desired request, by way of a keypad, touch sensitive screen or a plurality of push-buttons corresponding to pre-defined requests. The RF signals may be coded for receipt by the next pager whose turn it is to take a help request or for receipt by a group of pagers carried by staff members designated to respond to a particular request type. Each checkout is typically equipped with a visual indicator such as a hght which is illuminated when the operator makes a request. This helps members of the staff find the relevant checkout and reassures the customer at the checkout in question that assistance has been summoned.

The pagers themselves include conventional battery powered pager circuitry capable of receiving standard paging (POGSAG) transmissions together with a message display for displaying one message at a time. The pager circuitry includes a memory for storing further messages until cancellation by the staff member carrying the pager, the display showing the most recently received message. Means is provided on the pager to allow the staff member to scroll through messages stored therein. The pagers often include a beeper or vibrator to alert the staff member that a message has been received.

Problems have been encountered with the use of these conventional paging devices especially in environments where it is desired to summon a response from pager holders, as distinct from those where it Is merely required to transmit information.

For example, m the supermarket environment, when a first request for assistance is received by any given pager, the holder of that pager can be expected to respond to the request.

When a pager carrier responds to a message, the usual procedure is for the request to be cancelled at the checkout terminal either on arrival or when the Job Is completed.

This switches off the light indicator. The pager holder may or may not remember to cancel the request on the pager itself. If cancelled on receipt, as distinct from on arrival at the summoning checkout, then there is a risk that the request may be forgotten should the holder's attention be distracted on his way to the checkout. If it is not cancelled, then it is still possible for the request to be forgotten because a subsequent request will override the display of the previous one. The risk of the holder forgetting the first request owing to a distraction therefore remains. Even if the holder responds to the first request, subsequent requests for assistance by other checkout operators can be missed. This can arise especially In relation to a second message received by a staff member's pager in the case where a third message is received by that pager. Receipt of the third message overrides display of the second message. If the second message was received by the pager while the first message was being handled, it may never have been read by the pager holder.

Even if the pager holder does remember to scroll through the stored messages, it is found that they can become confused as to which requests have been dealt with and which remain unanswered. They can even try to answer more than one request at a time and so try to do two jobs at once. It Is therefore easy to appreciate how the pager holder can fail to notice receipt of a request for assistance (in the above described example the second message) with the consequence that requests go unanswered.

This leads to frustration on the part of the supermarket customers and staff alike.

It is found that in practice, pager holders are apt to forget to cancel requests even If they have responded to them. This compounds the problem of unanswered requests because not only Is there the risk of the pager holder overlooking requests, but the memory may eventually become full, preventing further receipt of messages by that pager.

Additional practical problems with the use of conventional pagers anse. They are not convenient to wear on the staff member's clothing and so are frequently dropped, leading to breakage. Their batteries discharge and staff forget to replace them. Staff forget to collect them at the begmmng of their shift or return them at the end.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a method of messaging and device therefore which alleviate problems arising from forgetting to cancel pager requests.

According to the present mventon, there is provided a messaging apparatus comprsmg a pager, and means for receiving a help request at a predetermined location and for transmitting the help request to the pager, wherein the pager includes a display for displaying a message corresponding to the help request and the means includes message cancellation means operative for cancelling the display of the help request from the pager.

The means for receiving the help request preferably includes a terminal situated at the predetermined location and a control unit situated either at the predetermined location or remotely therefrom. In the former case, the control unit may be integral with the terminal. In the latter case, communication between the control unit and terminal may be by way or a hard wired or RF link, this facilitating the adoption of a plurality of terminals at different predetermined locations with the control unit being located at one of the terminal locations or at a location remote from all of them.

In a preferred embodiment of the present Invention, the pager comprises a memory for storing one message at a time so that the pager is operative only t'or non-scrollable display of said one message. In this embodiment, the terminal Is operative for transmitting, to the receiving means, a message cancellation request that may be input at the predetermined location. The receiving means is operative for relaying this request to the pager. The pager includes circuitry operative for controlling the display to display the message corresponding to the help request and, on receipt of the message cancellation request, to cancel the displayed message. The pager is also provided with a display for displaying the predetermined location, m addition to the actual help message, so that the staff member carrying the pager knows where to go to respond to the request. The pager may be programmed to display the tme/date or user identification In place of the displayed message.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus is installed In a supermarket, a terminal being located at each checkout and the pagers being camed by staff members who are 'on-call' to assist checkout operators.

The terminals may be operative for receiving dil'ferent kinds of request and transmitting corresponding help requests to pagers camed by staff assigned to respond to that kind of request. The control unit may be operative for assigning requests to pagers on a prioritized basis according to a predetermined criteria. This can be facilitated by programming each pager with a unique address. For example, the criteria may be that pagers assigned to cleaning staff will receive messages relevant to cleaning requests. In addition, the criteria may take mto account the frequency with which messages are sent to any given pager so as to distribute work as evenly as possible amongst the staff.

According to the present invention, there is further provided a device for use in a messaging apparatus, the device comprising means for recevmg and displaying a message corresponding to a help request issued from a remote location, and means for cancelling display of the message upon receipt of a message cancellation message from the remote location, wherein the device is configured to be worn on or carried about a person.

The device may be a pager configured to store and display one message only at a time so that there is no need for a message scrolling function. The device may advantageously include an audible alarm and/or a vibrator For alerting the user of the receipt of a message. This may be instead of or in addition to an LED on the device, also for warning the user of the receipt of a message. The message display itself may be an LCD. The device may comprise a memory for storing user identification information for display in place of the message upon cancellation thereof. s

Alternatively or in addition, the device may display the time and/or date in the absence of any message. The device may be powered by a disposable or rechargeable battery sufficient to maintain operation for an eight hour shift.

A storage rack may be provided for storing the pagers when not in use. The rack may be provided with cradles for supporting the pagers and connecting them Lo a battery charger. Each pager may be equipped with an electronic article surveillance tag (AM) so that an alarm can be sounded if a staff member forgets to return the pager to the rack upon leaving the supermarket at the end of a shift. Alternatively, an RFID tag can be used for this purpose. Provision of the RFID tag allows the pagers to inform the control umt of which pagers are in use at any given time. This enables the control unit to transmit messages only to those pagers which are In use. In the event of a pager being lost or damaged, this fact can be registered In the control unit by a supervisor. The control unit may be configured so that the system performs the required functions described herein. A keypad or other input device is provided for this purpose. For example, the control unit may be a personal computer with appropriate electronic interfaces. In this way it would be possible for the system to know which pagers are in use and theirJob allocation.

In a preferred embodiment, the device may be provided with straps and configured to be worn on a person's wrist. This overcomes the problem of finding a suitable place on a person's clothing for attaching a conventional paging device on the one hand while facilitating easier visual access to the pager display on the other.

According to the present invention, there IS further provided a method of messaging comprising entering a help request at a predetermined location, transmitting the help request to a pager, displaying a message corresponding to the help request on the pager and subsequently cancelling remotely from the pager, at the predetermined location, the display of the help request on the pager.

The step of cancelhng the message display at the pager includes transmitting a message display cancel signal to the pager from the predetermined location.

The method is suitable for implementation in a supermarket comprsmg a plurality of checkouts, each one corresponding to the predetermined location. The pagers are earned by staff members who are 'on-call' to assist checkout operators.

Embodiments of the present invention have the advantage that by requiring only a single message cancellation step at the checkout, they can reduce the possibility of staff forgetting to cancel the help message displayed on their pagers. This also reduces the risk of a staff member overlooking successive calls for assistance from checkout operators. Embodiments generally improve the successful communication of help requests to appropriate members of on-duty staff without the tendency to lead

to confusion associated with prior art systems.

By adopting a pager of size similar to a wrist watch, and providing a strap so the pager can be worn on the staff member's wrists, the risk of loss or damage to the pager is reduced. The absence or at least reduced number of user operational buttons and controls on the pager relative to a conventional pager simplifies operation and allows a reduction in size. The non-scrollable message display function facilitates use of a smaller memory and does not need a large screen capable of displaying long messages. This also allows a reduction in size relative to that of a conventional pager.

The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing elements of a messaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as used in a supermarket; Figure 2 Is a block diagram showing the messaging apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 Is a functional block diagram of a messaging device embodying the present mventon; and Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating operation of the messaging apparatus of Figure 1.

In figure 1, a messaging apparatus for a supermarket illustrates a pager 1 m communication with a control unit 2 and a combined checkout touch screen and keypad 3. A light cube 4 Is positioned at the checkout to alert customers and staff of a request for help made by the checkout operator. An electronic article surveillance (EAS) system located at the staff and visitor entrance of the supermarket is indicated by reference numerals Sa and Sb. Operation of the apparatus will be described in more detail below with reference to figure 3. The pager 1, has the size of a wrist watch and is provided with a strap 6 so the staff member can wear the pager on the wrist. The pager I has a display 7 for displaying a help message sent from one of the checkouts and an auxiliary display 7a for displaying the checkout making the request.

An acoustic-magnetc (AM) tag 8 Is Inserted Into the strap 6 for triggering an alarm in the EAS system in the event the staff member attempts to leave the supermarket via the EAS tagging gates Sa, Sb without first returning the pager 1 to a designated docking station or rack (not shown).

In figure 2, terminals 10a to 10e represent checkout counters of the supermarket.

Each of the terminals 10a to 10e is operative for receiving a call request from the checkout operator. The terminal may be a keypad or touch sensitive pad havmg keys dedicated to particular call out requests, and may be integrated within the EPOS (Electronic Point Of Sale) computer system of the supermarket.

Each terminal 10a to 10e is coupled to a control unit 12 by way of a hardwred kink or an RF communication system indicated generally by reference numeral 13. In either case, an RF transmitter 14 is provided and is operative for transmitting radio messages to paging devices lSa- 15c earned by staff members working within the supermarket. Each pager is pre-programmed with a unique address so that the control unit 12 knows which pager it is sending any given message to.

In figure 3, the functional blocks of a pager are shown. The pager comprises a microprocessor 20 which includes a memory and firmware for storing the instructions necessary for the operation of the pager. For example, the memory may store the identity job type or pager identity of the member of staff carrying the pager as well as the date/time. The latter mformaton may be transmitted from the control unit 12 and received at the pager by way of an RF module 21. The control unit 12 will have been programmed with information associated with each pager identty/job type. That is, the pager address will have been assigned to a particular job, for example, 'cleaner number 3'. This allows the control unit 12 to allocate requests to the appropriate pager. The apparatus may include proximity sensors distributed around the supermarket for sensing the presence and identity of pagers. The location of pagers within the supermarket can be relayed back to the control unit 12 and used to allocate help requests to the supervisor closest to the checkout requrmg assistance. The pagers may be provided with a radio frequency identification tag (RFID) for this purpose.

The pager Is powered by a battery 22 and provided with a charging circuit 23 operative to recharge the battery 22 when not In use and stored In a docking station or rack (not shown) at the staff entrance to the supermarket. When docked, external contacts (not shown) on the pager electrically connect the charging circuit to the charging facility of the docking station. A signal Is sent to the control unit 12 to indicate that the pager is not in use. The docking of the pager may serve to clock the staff member out at the end of a work shift. Conversely, removal of the pager from the docking station could serve to clock the staff member in at the beginning of a shift. The pager is provided with two means of alerting its carrier, namely, a red LED 24 operative to flash on receipt of a message from the control unit 12 and a vibrate alert 25. A display 26 is provided for displaying the actual message (see "under 18" In Figure 1 - a message to indicate the nature of the request, in this case a minor attempting to make an illegal purchase). The pager display 26 also indicates the checkout making the help request, or this may be indicated separately by a supplementary display 27. The pager Is provided within a moulded plastics case having small apertures for providing technician access to programming contacts and processor reset.

Figure 4 is a flow chart showing a sequence of operations when the apparatus described with reference to Figures l to 3 Is used m the supermarket environment. At step 30, a member of the supermarket staff sitting at one of the checkouts mutates a call for assistance by keying in an appropriate request at the terminal lOa - toe. The checkout terminal Illuminates a light cube 4 located above the checkout at step 31 to indicate to the customer that assistance has been requested and to help the paged supervisor to locate the checkout in question. The control unit 12 logs the time and date of receipt of the request and allocates the request to the pager 15a- 15c carried by a supervisor at step 32. The control unit 12 Its programmed for 'intelligent allocation' of the request. By 'intelligent allocation' Is meant that the control unit 12 allocates requests in such a way as to distribute workload evenly between the appropriate supervisors, this possibly depending on where the pagers are at the time of the request. The control unit 12 transmits a message corresponding to the request to the allocated paging device at step 33. The control unit 12 inhibits the sending of another message to that pager until it has received a message cancellation signal In respect of that pager from the checkout to which that pager has been instructed to attend. This is because the pagers embodying the present mventon only store/display one message at a time.

On receipt of the message, at step 34 the pager alerts the carrier thereof by flashing the red LED 24 and activating the vibrating alert 25. The display 26, which may have been displaying the carrier's identity job title (e.g. 'clean 3') or pager number (e.g. 5) or the time and date, is changed to display the message. The identity of the checkout Is indicated on the display 26 or on the dedicated display 27. The supervisor carrying the pager then responds to the call by visiting the checkout In question. The supervisor or checkout operator cancels the call at the checkout terminal at step 36.

The terminal is operative to switch off the light cube 4 at step 37 and transmit a signal to the control unit 12 so the latter can log the response to the request and send a 'clear message' signal to the pager at step 38. The mcro-processor 20 clears the display 26 and dedicated checkout display 27 in response to receipt of the 'clear message' signal.

In place of the message, the display may display the time and date or simply leave the display blank. The red LED is deactivated by the mcroprocessor 20. The control unit 12 notes that that pager is now available for receipt of a further message. The control unit 12 Is operative to take over the management of the pager display so that if, for example a high priority call for first aid or security is received, then the control unit can send a new message to over-ride an existing one. In this case, the control unit 12 remembers the original message so that it can be re-sent after the high priority call has been dealt with. In the event of a call not being responded to within a preset time, the control unit 12 may be configured to forward the message to an alternative pager, such as the pager of a supervising manager.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to a supermarket but other applications are envisaged to fall within the scope of the invention, such as airports, train stations, educational establishments, hospitals and the like.

Claims

Clalms 1. A messaging apparatus comprsmg a pager, and means for receiving

a help request at a predetermined location and for transmitting the help request to the pager, wherein the pager includes a display for displaying a message corresponding to the help request and the means includes message cancellation means operative for cancelling the display of the help request from the pager.
2. A messaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pager comprises a memory for stormg one message at a time so that the pager is operative only for non- scrollable display of said one message.
3. A messaging apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the means for receiving the help request includes a terminal situated at the predetermined location and a control unit situated either at the predetermined location or remotely therefrom.
4. A messaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the terminal Is operative for transmitting, to the receiving means, a message cancellation request input at the predetermined location, the receiving means is operative for relaying this request to the pager, and the pager includes circuitry operative for cancelling the displayed message on receipt of the message cancellation request.
5. A messaging apparatus according to any one of the proceeding claims, wherein the pager is provided with a display for displaying the predetermined location in addition to the actual help message.
6. A messaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit is operative for assigning requests to pagers on a promised basis according to a predetermined criteria.
7. A messaging apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control umt is operative for over-nding the message displayed on the pager by an alternative message and subsequently re-sendmg said over-ridden message to the or a different pager.
8. A supermarket comprising a messaging apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims.
9. A device for use in a messaging apparatus, the device comprising means for receiving and displaying a message corresponding to a help request issued from a remote location, and means for cancellmg display of the message upon receipt of a message cancellation message from the remote location, wherein the device is configured to be worn on or carried about a person.
to. A device according to claim 9 comprising a pager configured to store and display one message at a time.
l 1. A device according to claim 10, including an audible alarm and/or a vibrator for alerting the user of the receipt of a message.
12. A device according to claim l l further Including an LED for warning the user of the receipt of a message.
13. A device according to any one of claims 9 to 12 comprising an electromc article surveillance tag (AM).
14. A device according to any one of claims 9 to 13, further comprising an REID tag can be used for holding pager identification mformaton.
15. A device according to any one of claims 9 to 14 comprising straps for facilitating wearing of the device on a person's wrist.
16. A method of messaging comprising entering a help request at a predetermined location, transmuting the help request to a pager, displaying a message corresponding to the help request on the pager and subsequently cancelling remotely from the pager, at the predetermined location, the display of the help request from the pager.
17. A method of messaging according to claim 16, comprising the step of canceling the message display at the pager by transmitting a message display cancel signal to the pager from the predetermined location.
18. A method of messaging according to claim 17, comprising the step of temporarily substituting a displayed message for a higher priority message.