WO2000008877A1

WO2000008877A1 - In-house pager system for broadcasting local information

Info

Publication number: WO2000008877A1
Application number: PCT/GB1999/002373
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Jeremey Kew
Original assignee: Baa Plc
Priority date: 1998-07-31
Filing date: 1999-07-23
Publication date: 2000-02-17
Also published as: AU5054699A; GB2340279A; GB9816562D0

Abstract

There is described a method and apparatus for communication with persons occupying an area (1) divided into a plurality of zones (2, 3, 4, 5) including an area entry zone (2) and an area exit zone (5). The method comprises (a) providing each such person, at said area entry zone (2), with a paging receiver; (b) issuing, via a paging transmitter, instructions to said person concerning movement of said person from the zone currently occupied by said person to another zone; and (c) removing said paging receiver from said person at said area exit zone (5).

Description

Title - IN-HOUSE PAGER SYSTEM FOR BROADCASTING LOCAL INFORMATION

This invention relates to a local communications system, and in particular to a system for communicating with persons in an establishment such as an airport departure terminal, thereby to promote and manage the flow of persons through that establishment.

Conventionally, passengers arriving at an airport departure terminal report to the appropriate check-in desk for their flight. At the check-in desk the passenger is allocated a seat, handed a boarding pass and instructed to proceed to the departure lounge. At the entrance to the departure lounge a security officer checks that the passenger is in possession of a valid boarding pass and, if so, the passenger is allowed entry to the departure lounge. Once in the departure lounge the passenger either proceeds directly to the gate from which his flight will board (if departure is imminent and a gate has already been allocated) or, more commonly, waits until a gate has been allocated. Information about flight times and the corresponding gates is normally displayed on information screens which are generally not visible from all parts of the departure lounge. A passenger will therefore generally from time to time inspect the display screen, which may necessitate leaving his seat, in order to ascertain whether he is yet required to move to the boarding gate, and if so to which gate.

The need to constantly monitor information which is displayed on information screens places a burden on waiting passengers. For some passengers, such as those with poor eyesight, it may actually be difficult to read the information displayed. Other passengers may be fatigued and may fall asleep in the departure lounge. Others may simply overlook the passage of time and may remain in the departure lounge when the flight has in fact been called.

For the above reasons, the display of information on visual information screens may be ineffective in creating the desired flow of passengers from one area of the terminal to the next, eg from the departure lounge to the allocated gate.

In addition to the visual displays of information, audio announcements are commonly made over public address systems. Again, however, such announcements may not have the desired effect. Announcements are commonly indistinct, particularly in environments with high levels of background noise. Such a problem may be particularly acute for passengers who are hard of hearing. Announcements may also not be made in a language which a particular passenger understands. The announcement may not waken a sleeping passenger. Again, therefore, the measures taken to create the desired flow of passengers may be ineffective.

The outcome of the shortcomings of conventional passenger communication systems in airport terminals is that passengers may not reach the boarding gate at the required time. This results in reminder announcements having to be made via the public address system. In extreme cases, individual missing passengers may be identified in such messages by name and called to the gate. However, if the passenger is, for instance, asleep in the departure lounge then such messages will again be ineffective. The result is that the passenger may not be alerted to the need to go to the boarding gate and the aircraft may then leave without him.

The problem of failure of passengers to respond to visual and audible announcements is compounded by the fact that the airline operator generally has no information as to the whereabouts of the passenger. Other than knowing that a particular passenger has checked-in, the airline has no knowledge as to the passenger's subsequent movements. The passenger may, for example, not have gone directly to the departure lounge, perhaps so as to remain with family members or associates who have accompanied him to the airport but who are not travelling. Even if the passenger has entered the departure lounge he may have moved a considerable distance from the area in which he might be expected to be waiting. Some departure lounges, for instance, are very extensive and may be connected to shopping malls and the like which the passenger has visited.

There has now been devised a communications system, eg for promoting and managing the flow of persons through an establishment such as an airport departure terminal, which overcomes or substantially mitigates the above-mentioned disadvantages.

According to the invention, there is provided a method of communication with persons occupying an area divided into a plurality of zones including an area entry zone and an area exit zone, which method comprises

(a) providing each such person, at said area entry zone, with a paging receiver;

(b) issuing, via a paging transmitter, instructions to said person concerning movement of said person from the zone currently occupied by said person to another zone; and

(c) removing said paging receiver from said person at said area exit zone.

The communications method according to the invention is advantageous primarily in that it promotes movement of the persons through the area, from one zone to the next, in the desired manner. Each person receives instructions concerning their desired movements without the need to monitor information screens or the like, and the likelihood of a person failing to move to a desired zone is thereby reduced. Further benefits and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following description.

Each paging receiver which is issued to persons at the area entry zone preferably carries an identification label. Such a label associates a particular person with a particular paging receiver. This enables information to be transmitted to individual persons, or to members of a particular set of persons. The label may, for instance, be a bar code or the like applied to the exterior of the paging receiver. Alternatively, or in addition, the label may comprise a proximity device which interacts with a proximity reader when the device passes within range of the reader. Such readers may be positioned at the entry or exit point of one or more zones, so as to record the movement of the carrier from one zone to another. Such readers may also be positioned at locations within a particular zone, so that information concerning the position of the carrier within a particular zone is also recorded.

Where the area is an airport departure terminal, the area entry zone is preferably in the "landside" part of the building. The paging receiver would typically be issued to an arriving passenger at the check-in desk. Other zones would then include those in the "airside" part of the building, ie the departure lounge and the boarding gates. Intermediate zones may be defined, eg corridors or walkways between the departure lounge and the boarding gates. Where the paging receivers carry identification labels, readers for these are preferably located at the points of entry to each successive zone. Thus, the label would be read on a passenger entering the departure lounge (ie passing from landside to airside) and again on entering the boarding gate, at which point he would normally also surrender the paging receiver. Thus, the system also provides positional information concerning the locations of individual persons within the area. This enables further targeting of messages to individuals or sets of persons (eg to passengers on a particular flight who are still landside, passengers on a particular flight who have not yet left the departure lounge after being called for boarding etc).

In addition to messages to persons intended to promote the movement of those persons from zone to zone, the system may also be used to transmit other information. For instance, again in the context of an airport departure terminal, the system may be used to transmit promotional or marketing information, eg concerning offers available at retail outlets located within the departure lounge. Again, such outlets may be provided with readers, enabling further positional information to be stored, as well as information concerning products purchased etc which may be useful market research information.

In addition to acting as a receiver for the transmitted information, the paging receiver may be provided with a transmission facility, though this may be limited. For example, the paging receiver may be equipped with means for indicating a response to a message, so as to indicate to the system that a message has been received and understood. For example, the paging receiver may be equipped with a button which can be pressed by the carrier to confirm that a message has been received.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided apparatus for use in the method of the invention, which apparatus comprises

(a) a radiopaging transmitter,

(b) a plurality of paging receivers,

(c) a distribution point within an area comprising a plurality of zones at which a paging receiver is issued to persons entering the area, and

(d) a collection point at which the paging receivers are surrendered by persons leaving the area. As described above, the area is commonly an airport departure terminal. Thus, in a more specific embodiment the invention provides an airport equipped with a radiopaging transmitter and a plurality of paging receivers, and having a departure terminal comprising a plurality of zones through which departing passengers pass in sequence, wherein the paging receivers are carried by passengers between a check-in zone at which a paging receiver is issued to a passenger and a boarding gate at which the paging receiver is collected from the passenger, and wherein instructions concerning movement of the passenger from one zone to another are transmitted via the radiopaging transmitter.

Although of particular utility in airports, the system according to the invention may find application in a number of other environments. Other forms of transport terminal, eg ferry terminals or possibly railway stations, are other examples which are clearly analogous to airports. Other possibilities include exhibition sites, theme parks and the like, in which visitors may be intended to follow an itinerary. Such an itinerary may include performances which take place at specified times and the system may be used to direct visitors to the sites of such performances at the appointed times.

The radiopaging transmitter and paging receivers utilised in the method of the invention may be of generally conventional construction. The transmitter will generally be operably linked to a control unit adapted to store information such as the identity and flight details of the passenger to whom each paging receiver has been issued, and the location of that person.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of illustration only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a schematic view of an airport passenger terminal, showing the stages in transit of a passenger from arrival at the terminal to embarkation on an aircraft;

Figure 2 illustrates schematically a plurality of messages which may be displayed to a passenger passing through the stages shown in Figure 1. Referring first to Figure 1, an airport passenger terminal is generally designated 1 and includes a number of zones through which departing passengers pass. These include an entrance hall 2 with a row of check-in desks 20, a departure lounge 3, and a corridor 4 leading to boarding gates 5. In practice, of course, there would be numerous gates, but for clarity only one is shown in the drawing.

Movement of departing passengers through the terminal 1 is monitored and controlled by a communications system comprising a central control unit 100 which is linked to bar code readers 102,103,130,104,105, the positions of which are described more fully below, and to a radiopaging transmitter 110. Connections of the central control unit 100 to the bar code readers 102,103,130,104,105 are depicted by broken lines in Figure 1.

Movement of a passenger through the terminal 1, from arrival at the airport to embarkation on his aircraft, is depicted schematically by the arrows in Figure 1, the various locations of the passenger being indicated by the letters A-I.

On arrival at the airport (position A), a passenger enters the entrance hall and reports to the check-in desk 20 appropriate to his flight (position B). At the check-in desk 20, in addition to conventional check-in procedures, the passenger is handed a paging receiver 200 (shown in Figure 2) . The paging receiver 200 carries a bar code 201 which is read by a bar code reader 102 forming part of the check-in desk equipment. This operation correlates the paging receiver with the particular passenger, the identity of the passenger, his flight details etc being transmitted by the bar code reader to the central control unit 100. Other information concerning the passenger may also be tr.ansmitted to the central control unit 100, such as the passenger's native language so that messages can be transmitted to him in that language.

The passenger is requested by the check-in attendant to proceed to the departure lounge 3. In addition, the paging receiver will receive and display a message from the radiopaging transmitter 110, such as

PLEASE GO TO DEPARTURE LOUNGE (see Figure 2a). This message is generally displayed for as long as the passenger remains in the entrance hall 2. In most cases the passenger will proceed immediately to the entrance to the departure lounge 3 (position C). However, the passenger may remain "landside" and if the passenger's departure time approaches without the passenger moving to the departure lounge 3 then the message may change to indicate greater urgency, eg to

PLEASE GO TO DEPARTURE LOUNGE NOW (Figure 2b) or

PLEASE GO TO DEPARTURE LOUNGE IMMEDIATELY (Figure 2c). Such increasingly urgent messages may be accompanied by other alerts, such as illumination of coloured LED's on the paging receiver 200 (eg in the familiar traffic light sequence), or a vibration of the paging receiver 200 (Figure 2b) or an audible alarm tone (Figure 2c).

When the passenger does enter the departure lounge 3 then, in addition to the customary security checks, the bar code 201 is read by a reader 103, which reports to the central control unit 100. The system then "knows" that the passenger has entered the departure lounge 3 and the messages transmitted to, and displayed by, the paging receiver 200 will change accordingly. As shown in Figure 2d, the message may be along the lines of

YOU HAVE APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES, THEN GO TO GATE 53 The time specified may be continuously updated.

Whilst in the departure lounge 3 (position D), the passenger may visit one or more retail outlets (positions E and F) in which, in addition to the usual boarding pass check, any transactions are accompanied by reading of the bar code 201 by a bar code reader 130. Information concerning the purchases made is then fed back to the central control unit 100 where it may be collated with other similar information to provide market research information (eg concerning types of purchases made by passengers to a particular destination etc) . Passengers in the departure lounge 3 may also receive promotional information, eg concerning offers available at the retail stores located within the departure lounge 3. For this purpose, the paging receiver 200 may have a display of several lines, only one of those lines being used for control messages, and the rest for a continuous stream of marketing information. If the passenger's flight time approaches and he has not yet moved to his boarding gate, then more urgent messages may be displayed, similar to those which are displayed to a passenger who fails to enter the departure lounge 3 following check-in. Such messages might be

PROCEED NOW TO GATE 53 (Figure 2e) or

GO IMMEDIATELY TO GATE 53 (Figure 2f). Again, such increasingly urgent messages may be accompanied by other alerts, such as illumination of coloured LED's on the paging receiver 200 (eg in the familiar traffic light sequence), or a vibration of the paging receiver 200 (Figure 2e) or an audible alarm tone (Figure 2f).

When the passenger does move to the boarding gate 5, he passes through an exit (position G) at which the bar code 201 is read by a reader 104, which informs the central control unit that the passenger is on the way to the gate 5. At the gate 5 (position H), the paging receiver 200 is collected from the passenger and the bar code 201 is read by a reader 105, thereby deactivating reception of messages by that paging receiver 200 (Figure 2g). The passenger enters the boarding gate 5 (position I) and then embarks on his aircraft.

Finally, as shown in Figure 2h, if a paging receiver 200 is lost by a passenger then that pager can be caused to display a message such as

PLEASE HAND ME IN TO INFORMATION DESK and the paging receiver can be caused to emit an audible alarm to attract attention.

The manner in which the messages are transmitted to the passenger may be generally conventional. Thus, in a typical paging system, messages are transmitted in a continuous data stream, all messages being received by every paging receiver 200. Each message will include a receiver identification code (RIC) which identifies those paging receivers 200 which are to display that message. Thus, each individual paging receiver (and hence each individual passenger) may have an RIC, and there may be RIC's common to all passengers on a particular flight, all passengers in a particular location etc etc. The RIC's applicable to each paging receiver will be altered automatically as the system logs movement of the passenger carrying the paging receiver from one zone to another. In other embodiments, the system may operate in accordance with other cordless telephony protocols or standards. One such standard in current use is DECT (Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephony) which permits a higher density of radio traffic than conventional paging systems.

Claims

1. A method of communication with persons occupying an area divided into a plurality of zones including an area entry zone and an area exit zone, which method comprises

(c) removing said paging receiver from said person at said area exit zone.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said paging receiver carries an identification label which associates a particular person with that paging receiver.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said identification label is a bar code or the like applied to the exterior of the paging receiver.

4. A method as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said label comprises a proximity device which interacts with a proximity reader when the device passes within range of the reader.

5. A method as claimed in Claim 4, wherein proximity readers are positioned at the entry or exit point of one or more zones, so as to record the movement of the carrier from one zone to another.

6. A method as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5, wherein proximity readers are positioned at locations within a particular zone, so that information concerning the position of the carrier within a particular zone is recorded.

7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the area is an airport departure terminal.

8. A method as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the area entry zone is in the "landside" part of the terminal, and other zones include zones in the "airside" part of the terminal.

9. Apparatus for use in the method of any preceding claim, which apparatus comprises

(a) a radiopaging transmitter,

(b) a plurality of paging receivers,

(d) a collection point at which the paging receivers are surrendered by persons leaving the area.

10. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9, wherein said paging receiver carries an identification label which associates a particular person with that paging receiver.

11. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10, wherein said identification label is a bar code or the like applied to the exterior of the paging receiver.

12. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10, wherein said label comprises a proximity device which interacts with a proximity reader when the device passes within range of the reader.

13. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 12, wherein proximity readers are positioned at the entry or exit point of one or more zones, so as to record the movement of the carrier from one zone to another.

14. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 12 or Claim 13 , wherein proximity readers are positioned at locations within a particular zone, so that information concerning the position of the carrier within a particular zone is recorded.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 9 to 14, which is located in an airport departure terminal, the distribution point being a check-in desk and the collection point being at a boarding gate.

16. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 9 to 15, wherein the paging receivers are provided with means for indicating a response to a message, so as to indicate that a message has been received.

17. An airport equipped with a radiopaging transmitter and a plurality of paging receivers, and having a departure terminal comprising a plurality of zones through which departing passengers pass in sequence, wherein the paging receivers are carried by passengers between a check-in zone at which a paging receiver is issued to a passenger and a boarding gate at which the paging receiver is collected from the passenger, and wherein instructions concerning movement of the passenger from one zone to another are transmitted via the radiopaging transmitter.