GB2478997A

GB2478997A - Action monitoring systems, and barrier entry/exit systems

Info

Publication number: GB2478997A
Application number: GB1005147A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Benjamin Joseph Murphy
Original assignee: MURJA INNOVATIONS Ltd
Current assignee: MURJA INNOVATIONS Ltd
Priority date: 2010-03-26
Filing date: 2010-03-26
Publication date: 2011-09-28
Also published as: GB201005147D0

Abstract

In a monitoring system, ID 44 is received from a subject, such as a person or vehicle, which has performed a particular action, such as entering through door 10 or passing an entry/exit barrier. Each record of database 48 contains the ID of a subject, a communications address, such as an email address or mobile phone number of the person, the person's carer or the vehicle's owner, and data for a time-dependent rule as to whether or not an enquiry is to be made regarding the particular action. Upon receipt of an ID, processor 42 looks up the ID in the database and, if present, obtains the rule data and applies the current time to the rule to determine whether or not an enquiry is to be made. If so, an enquiry, such as an instant message or an SMS text, is transmitted to the communications address, and any reply that the person makes is received. The system may be used to inquire why an employee was late for work, with the reply including an excuse or reason from the employee. The system could also be used to track absence from schools or used to alert owners of the theft of their vehicle from a car park.

Description

TITLE

Action monitoring systems and barrier entry/exit systems

DESCRIPTION

This invention relates systems for monitoring actions of subjects and also to barrier entry/exit systems.

Figure 1 schematically shows a door entry/exit system typical of the prior art. A door in a doorway 12 has an electrically-controllable lock 14. To one side of the doorway 12, an entry unit 16 can be activated by a person who wishes to pass through the doorway 12 in an "in" direction. To the opposite side of the doorway 12, an exit unit 18 can be activated by a person who wishes to pass through the doorway 12 in the opposite "out" direction. The entry unit 16 and exit unit 18 are able to produce an "entry ID" signal 20 and an "exit ID" signal 22, respectively, indicative of the identity of the person who wishes to pass through the doorway 12. This may be done using any of many known techniques, such as reading a personalised magnetic stripe card or personalised smart card that the person inserts into a reader of the entry or exit unit 16,18, detecting a personalised radio frequency identification (RFID") tag carried by the person, or by fingerprint, voice or retinal-scan recognition techniques.

When the entry or exit unit 16,18 is activated, it passes the ID signal 20,22 to a control unit 24, which responds by deciding whether or not to send an "unlock" signal 26 to the door lock 14 and also by recording the event. Specifically, the control unit 24 may include a microcontroller 28, a real-time clock 30, a personnel database 32, and a temporary event database 34. The personnel database 32 may include a record for each person for which the control unit 24 has been programmed containing the ID of that person and rules regarding times of day, or times and days of the week, or times and dates, when they are permitted to enter and/or exit through the doorway 12. Accordingly, when the control unit 24 receives an entry or exit ID signal 20,22, its microcontroller 28 determines whether or not to supply an unlock signal 26 from (i) the ID indicated by the entry or exit ID signal 20,22, (ii) whether it is an entry ID signal 20 or an exit ID signal 24, (iii) the time and date indicated by the clock 30 and (iv) the rules for entry and exit times contained in the record in the personnel database 32 for the person with that ID. Also, the microcontroller 28 may optionally add a new record to the temporary event database 34 containing the current time and date obtained from the clock 30, the ID, a door direction flag indicative of whether entry or exit was requested and a lock result flag indicative of whether or not the door was unlocked.

The control unit 24 is capable of communication with a door management computer or device 35 by any suitable external connection 36 such as a USB or network connection so that (i) the clock 30 can be set, (ii) the personnel database 32 can be updated and (iii) when the computer or device 35 is operational, the records in the temporary event database 34 can immediately be downloaded to a more permanent database 37 maintained by the door management computer 35 and (iv) the temporary event database 34 can be cleared. In a workplace environment, the downloaded event records can provide useful data from the points of view of payroll calculation, staff management, safety and security. However, if, for example, an employee's remuneration is based solely of the time during which they have been detected as being present in a particular building, or in any of a number of buildings that are monitored, it can produce anomalies. An employee may have a perfectly legitimate excuse for being later than expected arriving at a building, for leaving earlier than expected, or for popping out of the building during working hours. If a system such as described above is used for payroll calculation, it can therefore either result in an unfair system, or it can entail payroll staff needing to make numerous enquiries of employees as to their reasons for being absent from a building, possibly several weeks previously so that, by the time the enquiry is made, the employee may have forgotten.

An aim of the present invention, or at least of specific embodiments of it, is to improve on a system such as has been described above and also to extend the system to other applications.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for monitoring actions of subjects (such as persons or vehicles). The system includes an ID receiving means for receiving an ID of a subject that has performed a particular action (such as attempting to enter through a door or other barrier, attempting to exit through the barrier, or has merely become present in a detection zone). The system also includes a database of subject records, each record containing an ID of a respective subject, a communications address (such as an instant messaging address or mobile phone number) and data for a time-dependent rule as to whether or not an enquiry is to be made regarding the particular action. In the case where the subject is a person, the communications address may be their communications address, or a communications of some other person. In the case where the subject is a vehicle, the communications address may the communications address of the person responsible for the vehicle. The system furthermore includes an enquiry transmitting means for transmitting enquiries to communications addresses, and processing means operable, upon receipt by the receiving means of the ID of a particular subject: to look up, by the ID of the particular subject, the record for that subject in the database and, if present, to apply the current or a contemporary time to the rule data contained in that record to determine whether or not an enquiry is to be made, and if so to cause the enquiry transmitting means to transmit an enquiry to the communications address contained in that record. The system furthermore includes a reply receiving means for receiving replies from communications addresses.

Accordingly, when an action is taken that, in accordance with the rules for a particular subject, should be questioned, an enquiry is transmitted to the respective person, ready for the person to reply at the first possible opportunity.

The subject may for example be an employee, with an enquiry being sent to their workstation or mobile telephone if they enter their workplace late for work. As another example, the subject may be a child, with an enquiry being sent to their parent's mobile telephone if the child is late for school or to their teacher's mobile telephone if the child has left the school premises early. As a further example, the subject may be an employee's car, with an enquiry being sent to the employee's workstation or mobile telephone if the car enters the Upon receipt by the receiving means of the ID of a particular subject, the processing means is preferably operable to perform as aforesaid without delay so that the enquiry is made at the first possible opportunity The system may include an action database, and the processing means may be operable, each time that such an ID is received by the ID receiving means, to add data to the action database including the received ID. In the case where the action is the entering or exiting through a door, the action database can therefore build up a complete picture of who has gone through the door.

The system may also include an enquiry database, and the processing means may be operable, each time that such an enquiry is transmitted by the enquiry transmitting means, to add data concerning the enquiry to the enquiry database. The action database may be combined with the enquiry database and include a respective record for each action and any enquiry generated as a result of that action.

The system preferably furthermore includes a reply database, the processing means being operable, each time that such a reply is received by the reply receiving means, to add data concerning the received reply to the reply database. The reply database can then be analysed at a later time and for example decisions can be made as to whether or not replies are acceptable.

The processing means is preferably operable, each time that such a reply is received, to attempt to match that reply with a respective action or enquiry. The reply database is preferably combined with the action and/or enquiry database and includes a respective record for each action and/or enquiry and any reply matched with that action and/or enquiry. The combined database therefore creates a complete picture of, for example, who used a door and when, whether they we questioned about it, and what reply, if any, they made.

The ID receiving means may be operable to receive a date and time with the received ID indicative of the time and date that the respective action was performed. Alternatively or additionally, the system may further include a real-time clock for generating the current date and time. The processing means is then operable to apply the date and time received by the ID receiving means, or the date and time generated by the real-time clock, to the obtained rule data to determine whether or not an enquiry is to be made.

In one embodiment of the invention, the enquiry transmitting means and/or reply receiving means is/are operable to transmit and/or receive using a computer network-based messaging service, such as email, or more preferably an "instant messaging service" such as Windows Live Messenger, Jabber or other Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol ("XMPP") services. In another embodiment of the invention, the enquiry transmitting means and/or reply receiving means is/are alternatively or additionally operable to transmit and/or receive using a telephone network messaging service such as the Short Message Service ("SMS").

The system may also include means for detecting the ID of a subject who has become present in a monitoring zone and for supplying the detected ID to the ID receiving means.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a barrier entry and/or exit system having: an ID generating means for generating an ID of a subject using the barrier entry and/or exit system; and a monitoring system according to the first aspect of the invention, the ID receiving means of which is arranged to receive IDs from the ID generating means.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a door entry/exit system typical of the prior art as described above; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the door entry/exit system of Figure 1 and a first embodiment of personnel monitoring system according to the invention; and Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of personnel monitoring system according to the invention.

Referring to Figure 2, the system of the first embodiment of the invention has a logging and messaging unit 40 containing a processor 42 which can, via a suitable connection 44, poll the event database 37 of the door management computer 35 for new events added to the event database 37. For each new event, the logging and messaging unit 40 receives a record containing: * a "person ID" of the person who operated the entry unit 16 or exit unit 18 * a "door direction flag" indicative of whether entry or exit was requested * a "lock result flag" indicative of whether or not the door was unlocked and * "lock time and date" originally obtained from the clock 30 in the control unit 24.

The logging and messaging unit 40 includes its own real-time clock 46 and a personnel database 48 having a record for each person for which the unit 40 has been programmed. Each record of the personnel database 48 contains fields for: * a "person ID" identical to the person ID used by the control unit 24 of the door entry/exit system * "rule data" for a time-dependent rule as to whether or not that person is to be questioned regarding their use of the door entry/exit system and * a "communications address" for that person, which in the present embodiment is the person's instant messaging address.

The rule data may take many forms. For example, the rule data may indicate that a particular person is permitted to use the door 10 in one or the other or both directions without question during particular time slots on any day, or on particular days of the week, so that enquiries are not unnecessarily made of people. The rule data may also indicate that a person is not permitted to use the door 10 in one or the other or both directions without question during particular time slots on any day, or on particular days of the week, so that, for example, enquiries can be made of a person arriving late for work or leaving early. The rule data may also indicate that a person is permitted to exit the door 10 and then re-enter within a particular time interval up to a particular number of times per day, so that, for example, enquiries are not unnecessarily made of a person who is permitted to have a lunch break or particular number of smoking breaks per day. The rule data may also indicate that a particular person is expected to use the door 10 at least once per day on particular days of the week, so that, for example, enquiries can be made of a person who is absent from work all day.

The logging and messaging unit 40 includes a network and messaging interface 50 connected between the processor 42 and a local area network (LAN) 52 in the building that is being monitored. In the present embodiment, the network and messaging interface 50 is operable to receive from the processor 42 an instant messaging address and a message containing a unique enquiry ID from the processor 42 and to act as an XMPP client to send the message to that instant messaging address over the LAN 52 using the XMPP service. The network and messaging interface 50 is also operable to receive reply messages from the LAN 52 addressed to the network and messaging interface 50, and to pass the message and the instant messaging address of the sender to the processor 42.

The logging and messaging unit 40 includes a door usage database 53 having a record for usage that is made of the door 10. Each record of the door usage database 53 contains fields for: * "person ID" * "door direction flag" * "lock result flag" * "door time and date" * an "enquiry flag" which may be set to: "none" indicating that it was decided not to make an enquiry regarding the use of the door; "pending" indicating that an enquiry has been made but a reply has not been received; or "complete" indicating that a reply has been received to the enquiry * an "enquiry ID" which is generated by the logging and messaging unit 40 for each enquiry * "enquiry message text" composed by the logging and messaging unit 40 * "communications address" to which an enquiry is sent * "enquiry time and date" on which an enquiry is sent * "reply message text" contained in a reply that may be received in response to the enquiry and * "reply time and date" on which the reply is received.

The logging and messaging unit 40 also includes a web server 55 and a management interface 57 which will be described later.

The logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed with its own instant messaging address and a description of the door 10 with which it is associated, for example "the Main Door of Head Office." Figure 2 also shows a number of workstations 54A-D connected to the LAN 52. As shown in detail for the workstation 54A, each workstation 54A-D has a processor 56 which is connected to a keyboard 58 and monitor 60 and which can run an XMPP client application 62.

Furthermore, an XMPP server 68 is connected to the LAN 52.

In operation, on start up, the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed to log into the XMPP service using its instant messaging address.

Also, on start up, the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed to commence polling the event database 37 of the door management computer 35, for example every 15 seconds, for new records which have been added to the event database 37. Upon receipt of a new event record, the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed to add a new record to the door usage database 53 containing the person ID, the door direction flag, the lock result flag and the door time received from the event database 37. Also, the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed to look up the received person ID in its personnel database 48 and obtain the rule data and instant messaging address of that person. The logging and messaging unit 40 then applies the lock time and date and the door direction flag that was received from the event database 37 and the rule data obtained from the database 48 to the rule and determines whether or not to send an enquiry to the person. The rule data may be applied merely to the current door usage, for example in order to detect a person who is apparently arriving for work late or leaving early. However, the rule data may also be applied to the current door usage and earlier door usages by the person and stored in the door usage database 53, for example in order to detect a person who has taken more than their allocated number of smoking breaks. If the logging and messaging unit 40 decides not to make an enquiry, it sets the enquiry flag in the record in the door usage database 53 to "none." However, if it decides to make an enquiry, the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed generate a unique enquiry ID and to compose a relevant enquiry message, which may include multiple choice prompts for a reply. An example of such an enquiry message is: ###{Enquiry ID}### DoorMan Enquiry You entered the Main Door of Head Office at 8.50 am on Wednesday, 9 December, 2009. Your normal time to start work is 8.30 pm. Please reply with an explanation using one of the option numbers or free text: 1. On company business elsewhere.

2. Agreed in advance with manager.

3. Train delay.

4. Traffic delay.

The logging and messaging unit 40 then sends the message using the XMPP service addressed to the instant messaging address that was obtained from the personnel database 48 and also sets the enquiry flag in the record in the door usage database 53 to "pending" and completes the fields for the enquiry ID, the enquiry message text, the communications address to which the enquiry has been sent and the enquiry time and date obtained from the clock 46 indicating the time and date on which the enquiry was sent.

The message is passed via the LAN 52 to the XMPP server 68. If the person with the relevant instant messaging address is already logged onto the XMPP service, or when they next log onto the service, the message is forwarded from the server 68 to their workstation 54. For example, if the person has been late for work, and they then go to their workstation 54A and switch it on and it auto-loads the XMPP client 62, the message will be forwarded from the server 68 via the LAN 52 to the workstation 54A. The person can then reply to the message by pressing the key for the number of the relevant multiple choice answer, or by typing a free-text explanation, and then clicking the send button.

It will be appreciated that the enquiry message will presented to the person immediately they are at a computer at which they are logged on to the instant messaging service. In the majority of instances, this is likely to be soon after they have used the door 10 and before they might forget the reason. Also, replying to the enquiry message will only take the person a few seconds.

The reply message is sent by the reverse route from the workstation 54A to the logging and messaging unit 40. Upon receipt of such a message, the unit 40 extracts the enquiry ID from the reply message; then looks up the record with that enquiry ID in the door usage database 53; adds the reply message and the time and date of receipt, obtained from the clock 46 to that record in the enquiry database 53; and set the enquiry flag for that record to "complete." The logging and messaging unit 40 therefore builds up the door usage database 53 with records of information relating to each use of the door 10 and enquiries which have been made and replies which have been received regarding any unexpected use of the door 10. In order also to include information regarding expected use of the door 10 which has not been made (for example because an employee is absent from work all day), the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed to scan the personnel database 48 at predetermined intervals (for example once per day) for persons having rule data relating to expected use of the door 10. For each person found, the unit 40 then scans the door usage database 53 to determine whether the expected use of the door 10 has been made. If not, then the unit 40 adds a new record to the door usage database 53 and instigates an enquiry, as described above, except that, in this case, the fields for door direction flag, lock result flag and door time and date in the record of the door usage database 53 will be left blank.

As mentioned above, the logging and messaging unit 40 includes a web server 55 and management interface 57. Each workstation 54A-D includes a conventional web browser 64.

With appropriate authority, a user at a workstation 54A-D can use the web browser 64 to log into the management interface 57 which can then be used to interrogate the door usage database 53 and analyse the door usage data and the replies to enquiries, to grade replies according to their acceptability and to produce reports. The management interface 57 may also be used to update the personnel database 48 of the logging and messaging unit 40, for example to add and delete person records and to amend existing person records, for example to take account of revised working hours or practices and holidays.

The second embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Figure 3. The general principles of operation are similar to the embodiment of Figure 2. However, the system of Figure 3 uses communication by the Short Message Service ("SMS") of the Global System for Mobile Communications ("GSM") network 90.

Specifically, the LAN 52 is connected to the internet 84 via a router 86, and a server 88 of an SMS centre is connected between the internet 84 and the GSM network 90. The logging and messaging unit 40 includes a client 92 for the SMS centre which, during start up of the logging and messaging unit 40 is programmed to log into the SMS centre server 88. At least some of the records of the personnel database 48 of the logging and messaging unit 40 include, -10 -as the communications address of the person 98, the telephone number of their mobile telephone 96.

The system of Figure 3 operates in the same way as described above in determining whether or not to instigate an enquiry. When it does, the logging and messaging unit 40 sends the message via the LAN 52, router 86 and internet 84 to the SMS centre server 88 together with an instruction to send the message to the mobile telephone number of the person 98. In response, the SMS centre server 88 send the message as a text message via the GSM network and an appropriate GSM base station 94 to the mobile telephone 96. The person 98 can then reply to the text message by selecting reply' on their telephone 96, pressing the key for the relevant multiple choice answer, or by keying-in a free-text explanation, and pressing the send' key. The reply message is then sent from the telephone 96 by the reverse route back to the logging an messaging unit 40, where the reply message is treated in a similar way to described above with reference to Figure 2 in connection with an instant message.

It will be appreciated that the systems of Figures 2 and 3 may be combined, with each record in the personnel database 48 including a flag indicating whether communication with the respective person is to be made by instant message or SMS text. This is useful in an organisation which has some personnel who usually work at a workstation, and other personnel who do not.

Many modifications and developments may be made to the embodiments of the invention described above.

For example, the system may be arranged to monitor more than one door and to determine whether or not to make enquires of a person in dependence upon their usage of two or more of the doors. This is useful, for example, where an employee may enter or leave a building at which he works by any of two or more doors, or where an employee needs to move between two or more buildings while at work.

Although the embodiments of the invention have been described for use with a door entry/exit system, they may be used similarly in connection with other barrier systems, such as car park barrier systems. In this case the system may alternatively recognise the vehicle rather than the driver, for example using known registration plate recognition techniques. If an enquiry is to be made, the system then sends the enquiry to the person who is responsible for the vehicle. This has the additional advantage that, if a vehicle is stolen from a workplace car park -11 -at an unusual time, the person responsible for the vehicle will immediately be alerted to the fact that the vehicle has been taken.

In other embodiments of the invention, a door or barrier as such need not be involved, and the door entry/exit system described above may be replaced by a system which merely detects, for example using RFID tags and readers, whether a person, or other subject such as a vehicle, has passed from a first location to a second location, or from the second location to the first, or indeed whether a subject has merely been present in a single particular location.

In some embodiments of the invention where people are monitored, any enquiry need not be sent to the person who has been detected, but may be sent to somebody else. For example, in school scenario, in the case where a child has not been detected as having arrived at school by a particular time, an enquiry message may be sent to the child's parent, and in the case where a child has been detected as having left school earlier than a particular time, an enquiry message may be sent to the child's teacher.

Although the embodiments of the invention have been described so that they can be retro-fitted to an existing door entry/exit system, the logging and messaging unit 40 may, of course, be integrated into a new door entry/exit system, barrier system or subject detection system.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the invention have been described above purely by way of example and that many modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

-12 -CLAIMS1. A system for monitoring actions of subjects, comprising: ID receiving means for receiving an ID of a subject that has performed a particular action; a database of subject records, each record containing: an ID of a respective subject, a communications address for a respective person and respective data for a time-dependent rule as to whether or not an enquiry is to be made regarding the particular action; enquiry transmitting means for transmitting enquiries to communications addresses; processing means operable, upon receipt by the receiving means of the ID of a particular subject: to look up, by the ID of the particular subject, the record for that subject in the database and, if present, to apply the current or a contemporary time to the rule data contained in that record to determine whether or not an enquiry is to be made, and if so, to cause the enquiry transmitting means to transmit an enquiry to the communications address contained in that record; and reply receiving means for receiving replies from communications addresses.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein: upon receipt by the ID receiving means of the ID of a particular subject, the processing means is operable to perform as aforesaid without delay.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein: the system further includes an action database; and the processing means is operable, each time that such an ID is received by the ID receiving means, to add data to the action database including the received ID.

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4. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the system further includes an enquiry database; and the processing means is operable, each time that such an enquiry is transmitted by the enquiry transmitting means, to add data concerning the enquiry to the enquiry database.
5. A system as claimed in claim 4 when dependent on claim 3, wherein: the action database is combined with the enquiry database and includes a respective record for each action and any enquiry generated as a result of that action.
6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the system further includes a reply database; and the processing means is operable, each time that such reply received by the reply receiving means, to add data concerning the received reply to the reply database.
7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the processing means is operable, each time that such a reply is received, to attempt to match that reply with a respective action or enquiry.
8. A system as claimed in claim 7 when dependent on claim 6 when dependent on any of claims 3 to 5, wherein: the reply database is combined with the action and/or enquiry database and includes a respective record for each action and/or enquiry and any reply matched with that action and/or enquiry.
9. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the ID receiving means is operable to receive a date and time with the received ID indicative of the time and date that the respective action was performed.
10. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the system further includes a real-time clock for generating the current date and time.

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11. A system as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein: the processing means is operable to apply the date and time received by the ID receiving means or the date and time generated by the real-time clock to the obtained rule data to determine whether or not the person is to be questioned.
12. A system as claimed in any preceding claims, wherein: the enquiry transmitting means and/or reply receiving means is/are operable to transmit and/or receive using a computer network-based messaging service.
13. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein: the computer network-based messaging service is an instant messaging service.
14. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein: the enquiry transmitting means and/or reply receiving means is/are operable to transmit and/or receive using a telephone network-based messaging service.
15. A system as claimed in any claim, wherein: the system further includes means for detecting the ID of a subject that has become present in a monitoring zone and for supplying the detected ID to the ID receiving means.
16. A monitoring system substantially as described with reference to Figure 2 or 3 of the drawings.
17. A barrier entry and/or exit system having: ID generating means for generating an ID of a subject using the barrier entry and/or exit system; and a monitoring system as claimed in any preceding claim, the ID receiving means of which is arranged to receive IDs from the ID generating means.-15 -
18. A barrier entry and/or exit system substantially as described with reference to Figure 2 or 3 of the drawings.