WO2002005220A1

WO2002005220A1 - Integrated telephone/proximity access control system

Info

Publication number: WO2002005220A1
Application number: PCT/GB2001/003122
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Bennett
Original assignee: Network Systems Group Limited
Priority date: 2000-07-12
Filing date: 2001-07-11
Publication date: 2002-01-17
Also published as: AU2001270791A1; GB2368955A; GB0016970D0

Abstract

A supervisory system, especially for controlling access to dwellings in a building, comprises a control panel (1) operable by a caller to attract the attention of the called party and further provided with means (5) to record a pictorial image of the caller. A still or moving digital image is captured either by the called party at will or automatically when the called party is unavailable to accept the call. The image is stored remotely at a central location where it can only be accessed by the called party or authorised personnel when a password, PIN code or the like is entered. The caller may record an audio/video message. The called party may be alerted to that fact and/or a message to that effect may be forwarded to the called party at another destination.

Description

INTEG ATED TELEPHONE/PROXIMITY ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to systems for use in controlling access to premises. In particular, the invention is concerned with providing means for record- ing an event associated with particular premises, such as the occurrence of a caller to those premises. In a specific form of the invention, the system may also or alternatively capture the still or moving image of a caller for concurrent or later retrieval as part of a security/social monitoring system. Background to the Invention It is fairly common nowadays for multi-occupancy premises, especially blocks of flats, sheltered homes for the elderly, even offices, to have some means of controlling access to premises. The employment of a receptionist, concierge or other official to supervise entry can be strict or user-friendly, as the situation demands, but carries a high cost implication to the owners and/or occupiers of the premises and is not always the best way of controlling access.

Telephone or video entry systems are known, in which the called party may speak live to a caller or may be able to view the caller via a video camera set up at a central entry point to premises. This enables a called party to decide whether to accept the caller into the premises, usually by operating a remote door release to permit the caller to gain entry to the premises. The main drawback with such systems is that there is no provision for recording a caller's attempt(s) to contact the called party. In addition, there is normally no opportunity for a remote supervisor or monitoring centre to have access to information about callers to premises for security or other reasons. More seriously perhaps is the fact that in known systems installed in flats in a building it is often the case that signals from the video camera are piped through a communal television aerial system to television sets in the flats. It is therefore possible for the occupant of any flat within the building theoretically to "tune-in" to the signals intended for anyone else's flat in the building. Such systems can hardly then be termed private or secure. A slightly improved version of this system would allow the called party to moni- tor the call from a handset with a built-in monitor screen, thereby overcoming, to a certain extent, the risk of intrusion by another occupant within the building.

It could be desirable for occupants to have some form of record of the identity of a caller who may happen to visit the premises whilst the occupant is either out or un- able to answer. There are clear advantages, from a security point of view, if the identity of an undesirable caller could be recorded or captured in some convenient way. This feature could be provided in parallel with the security aspect of access control systems. It would also be beneficial, in certain circumstances, if access to the premises could be controlled more strictly and yet, from the supervisor's point of view, in a man- ner which allowed changes to the system, for example when occupants change, to be carried out more efficiently and with a minimum of disruption to the system. Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, the invention seeks to provide a supervision system for inter alia controlling access to premises, in which a pictorial image of a caller is captured and stored for subsequent retrieval.

The image may be a still or moving image captured by digital techniques. It may be stored in a secure location to which electronic access may be had only by a limited class of authorised persons, such as the called party, the supervisor of the premises or for example a local authority. Suitable passwords may be necessary to access the loca- tion for retrieval of the image.

The image is preferably transmitted to a storage location and/or retrieved by the called party over the public switched telephone network or an internet, intranet, LAN, Ethernet or other computer-based network link. In addition, the stored image may be accompanied by data representing the date and time of day, and dwelling num- ber, key fob number etc, at which the caller visited the premises. The system may also give the caller the opportunity to leave an audio/visual message. To cover situations when the called party is unavailable to take the call, the system may be arranged to "flag" the called party's "mail box" on the system or forward on an electronic message in order to alert the called party to the fact that a caller has visited and perhaps left a message. The system may include at least one door entry panel adapted to be fitted at an entrance to a building. Each such panel comprises buttons or other means enabling a caller to enter a called party's number, an optional numeric display, and reader means to interrogate a fob, key, swipe card or other security device which is encoded with identification data. The panel preferably also includes means, such as circuit boards, connectors, modules and the like, allowing communication between the panel and the called party.

The called party may view the picture data over a community television network distributed around the building or may view the data via a dedicated handset provided with picture display means.

The panels may be connected to control rack(s) containing at least a power supply module, preferably with battery back-up, and optionally a gateway communications module allowing a remote supervisory centre to be connected, and a local output control module, allowing communication with a local printer, paging system and such like or the video camera recording and communications module.

An audio module providing audio amplification of speech signals will normally be located within the entrance panel.

A plurality of such panels may be connected in a network allowing communication between them and a remote control centre via the Internet. The data to be recorded may be transmitted to a dedicated location on storage means, preferably located on a secure server accessible only by authorised persons upon verification of a password, PIN code or the like. The data location may be arranged such that, when full, the earliest data on that location is overwritten first. Brief Description of the Drawings The preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an overview of the system according to the invention; Figure 2 is block diagram of the system; and

Figure 3 is a table summarising the components and main functions of the sys- tern. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The system is intended to be installed in a building or group of buildings in a complex. Each main entrance to the premises would be equipped with a door entry panel such as shown at 1 in Figs 1 and 2. The panel comprises a back plate 2 for rigid and secure attachment to a housing or recess conveniently located adjacent the main entry door or in an entrance lobby or vestibule in the building. The plate is preferably of a size to fit a standard housing for entry control devices (not shown).

The panel includes the option of a display 3, a number of buttons indicated generally at 4, a video/ still camera 5, a loudspeaker 6, microphone 7, and an access control reader 8. The panel itself is preferably made of stainless steel or other strong, tarnish- resistant material. The buttons 4 are preferably vandal-proof and are preferably grouped and numbered to provide the digits 0-9, as on a conventional numeric pad, plus "Call", "Cancel" and "Trade" buttons where convenient. Instead of discrete buttons, the same functions may be provided by a piezo-electric module embedded within or behind the face plate 1 . The buttons enable a caller to select a particular flat number, by operating the corresponding combination of buttons. Alternatively, a trader can simply operate the "Trade" button, which may require an additional access code to be entered in order to gain access. The "Cancel" button enables an incorrect key entry to be cancelled. In the overview shown in Fig 1 , the panel is connected to a control unit 9 containing an input/output module known as the local output control module 10, still picture communication module 1 1 and a video camera recording and communication module 12. The still and video camera modules may be provided together or only one need be provided or rendered operational, depending on the level of service required. The control unit 9 is coupled either over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) 1 3 or a Local Area Network (LAN) 14 with conventional TCP/IP Protocol, to a secure server 1 5 forming part of the supervisory arrangements of the system. Either link 1 3, 14 enables transfer of data representing the still or moving image captured from the camera to be sent to the server 1 5 of a control centre which, among other things, stores the image (stills) or provides a gateway link to the video in a "mail box" corresponding to the occupant, encoded data on a key fob or swipe card or the flat number of the building. Where the capture and storage of video/moving images are provided, the system needs additional components in the form of a streaming server 16 and a broadcaster server 17. All three servers 15 to 17 are coupled to- gether by a PSTN link 18 or an optional LAN, Internet or Intranet link 19 to a computer 20, connected by the same said links, which is provided with a conventional or tailor-made web browser enabling the control centre supervisor and the flat occupant to gain access to the data stored in the occupant's "mail box" via the secure server 15. The connection method for the three servers and the browser as shown in Fig 1 is the preferred method.

Details of the individual modules will become apparent from the following description with reference to Figure 2, taken in conjunction with the table in Figure 3 which gives a summary of the main components and functions of the individual modules. Each door panel (there may be up to 16) has a number of connections associ- ated with respective aspects of security. These include inputs 31 , enabling the door lock to be released by an occupant leaving the building and operating a door exit button (not shown); output connections 32 to release the door lock when either the exit button is operated or the occupant operates a remote unlock control from his or her flat; inputs 33 from door switches confirming door closed/door locked status; inputs 34 from fire alarm sensors eg to signal an emergency alert to each flat or operate the lock release mechanism; anti-tamper inputs 35 to signal interference by unauthorised persons; and inputs for an external reader generally used for a remote rear access door, if provided, which may be programmed to read key fobs, credit-card style passes or the like as part of the access control to the building. Each door panel is connected over a network to a control rack 21 itself associated with further modules 22 to 25, as shown in Fig 2. Of these, module 25 consists of system power unit with battery back-up. Modules 23 and 24 comprise a gateway communications module 23 and a local output control module 24, both of which are optional. In addition, module 22 consists of an interface controller for telephone hand- sets of a specific type, designated as "Type 3", which will be provided for certain types of installation as opposed to "Type 1 " which is shown in the drawing as an alternative and are linked to audio patch panels 29. Module type 22 and 29 provide the routing and possibly audio amplification for communication between the occupants, a caller and possibly also a supervisor at a remote control centre and/or a remote concierge facility. Conventional, state-of-the-art audio components may be used for the door panels and control rack but the system provider may install a variety of alternative telephony handsets and connection bus options for the audio patch panels. Data communications and control between the door panels, the control rack and the audio patch panels are preferably effected via a common high-speed serial data bus. The optional gateway com- munications bus module 23 enables connection to a standard Ethernet bus 30, thereby making it possible for data within any part of the system to be copied to other systems or have its local data modified by data sent to it by other remote systems or to have its data modified using standard desk-top PC browser software.

The main components of the system are interconnected by a common 6-wire bus comprising 12VDC power, RS485 serial data (twisted pair) and audio (telephone microphone, panel speaker, panel microphone and telephone earpiece). Up to 32 modules, each with a unique address, can be connected to the bus.

The control rack 21 comprises a standard enclosure with a power supply providing 12VDC for system power and 13.8VDC for float charging the battery back-up from a 240VAC mains supply. 24VDC supply is provided by stacking two 12VDC supplies. Protection fuses, LED indicators and condition monitoring via the RS485 bus interface are all provided as standard.

The gateway interface module 23 is based on a PCB assembly and connects the system's RS485 communications bus to Ethernet. This module enables a serial connec- tion, using conventional TCP/IP Protocol, for browser support. The Module incorporates a flash memory microprocessor with a facility for on-board firmware reprogram- ming via a connector. The module also contains all the necessary interfaces for RS485, RJ45 (ethernet) and RS232 connections and external memory for web page generation support. The optional local output control module 24 contains the same constructional features as the gateway module 23 and is capable of connection to a printer and/or camera system as well as having eight switched outputs for ancillary control.

Likewise, the audio patch panel modules 29 and interface controller 22 are similarly constructed and provide, in particular, facilities for telephone off-hook/privacy monitoring, telephone ringing control and tone generation to the door panel loudspeaker and telephone remote door release switch monitoring. The audio patch panel module may have either of two configurations, depending on whether it is a common multi-drop bus with 16 telephone select lines or 16 x relay-isolated star connected. The access control module 8 in each door panel 2 is really the hub of the access control system. In addition to the features mentioned above, this module includes a flash memory processor with on-board firmware reprogramming via an external connection, a removable EEPROM for transfer of data between units, an antenna connection for an RF proximity based reader, and a jumper link for initialisation by the installa- tion engineer.

Entry to the building by an occupant requires certain "authorisation" as part of the overall system. Occupants may be provided with key fobs, swipe cards or the like containing encoded information pertinent to the flat, the occupant or some other philosophy. The fob needs to be presented to a reader or the card swiped through a reader in order for the encoded data to be read and input into the door access control software for verification. Depending on the level of security offered, the caller may also be required to enter a code number, PIN or the like before the system responds positively and permits entry by releasing the door lock via a signal transmitted over connections 32 in Fig 2. When a visitor who is not an occupant calls at the building and operates the buttons on the control panel to call a particular flat, if the occupant is at home and wishes to respond, he or she can lift a handset or switch a cordless handset off-hook to communicate audibly and/or visibly by means of the audio/video link between the control panel and the installation at the occupant's flat, be it by means of a separate monitor or via the occupant's community television system. If the occupant declines to take the call or is out, the system may then switch to automatic recording mode to capture a still or moving (video) image of the caller and record the date and time of the call and the number of the called dwelling. Alternatively, the system may be set up always to capture this information whenever a caller operates any of the buttons or calls any of the dwellings from the door panel 1. In this way, a complete record of the identities and times of callers to the building over a predetermined period of time may be created. The data is transmitted, as previously explained, over one of the links to a server which stores the image (still) or provides a gateway link to the video in an individual mail-box location at the secure server 15. The data can be retrieved at any time by the occu- pant, the supervisor or the network administrator. A suitable password, PIN code or other means of security must first be entered by the person seeking access to the information and subsequently verified and accepted by the system. Failure to enter the appropriate code will deny access to the data. It is envisaged that the system would provide the caller with a message inviting him/her to leave an audio and/or video mes- sage for the occupant. This could be given if the occupant does not respond to the caller within a predetermined period, for example 30 seconds.

Where the door access control system is stand alone, ie it is not connected to any other building or does not form part of a remotely supervised network, the secure server 1 5 would be installed locally within the building. The optional modules of the system would not then necessarily be needed. The still/moving video images and/or audio messages would still be captured, stored and retrieved in the same way as described above. Where the system forms part of a larger network, covering perhaps several buildings within a community, as many door control panels as necessary would be networked together as shown in Figure 2. Here, the control racks 21 of different buildings or of different parts of one large building are connected to the system control browser 26 either through Ethernet-type connection 30 and/or through an Internet link 27 including modems 28.

In either case, changes to the security level and/or access control for all occupants can be made universally across the network by the supervisor. In the stand-alone mode, reprogramming can be effected at the door entry panel 2, thereby eliminating the need for access to individual flats or a central control unit remote from the reader location. Electronic "Add" and "Delete" functions to fobs and such like can be performed via the keypad, a special "Engineer" key (not shown) and confirmation by the numeric display 3. In the case of a networked system, the gateway controller 23 provides an embedded TCP/IP communication link directly to a local PC Ethernet network. All system data can then be administered remotely using standard PC web browser software from any convenient location.

From a practical point of view, an individual "mail-box" has a finite capacity. It is therefore necessary for the software to recognise when an individual mail-box is full (ie when the allocated space in a memory, hard drive etc has been fully utilised) and then to overwrite the oldest data in the mail-box when a new message is to be recorded.

Prior to overwriting, a warning message may be transmitted via electronic means alerting the occupant or supervisor that this information may be overwritten within the next "x" days. This will give the above people a warning that the above event is likely to happen.

Further system and controller specification details are indicated in the following tables: System

Controllers

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A supervision system for controlling access to premises, comprising control panel means operable by a caller to said premises to initiate a "caller present" signal, and recording means operable in response to said signal to record a pictorial image of a said caller.

2. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 1 , further comprising timer means adapted to operate said recording means if the called party does not respond within a predetermined time after said signal has been initiated.

3. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 1 , wherein said recording means is operated by the called party.

4. A supervision system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said image is a still or moving digital image.

5. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 4, further comprising image storage means for storing said pictorial image(s) in a secure location to which electronic access may be had only by a limited class of authorised persons.

6. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said electronic access is achieved through use of one or more passwords, PIN numbers or the like, in order to retrieve a stored image.

7. A supervision system as claimed in either of Claims 5 or 6, further com- prising means whereby said image(s) are transmitted to, and retrieved from said storage location over the public switched telephone network or an internet, intranet, LAN, ethernet or other computer-based network link.

8. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means to store, in addition to said pictorial image(s), identification data relating to the date and time of the call and the identity of the called party.

9. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means operable to permit the caller to record an audio/visual message for the called party.

10. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means operable, in the event that the called party is unable to accept the call, to alert the called party to the fact that a call has been made.

11. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, further com- prising means operable, in the event that the called party is unable to accept the call, to forward a message to the called party to alert the called party to the fact that a call has been made.

12. A supervision system as claimed in Claims 9 and 11 , wherein said message also contains information indicating that the caller has recorded a said audio/visual message.

13. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said control panel means comprises a respective control panel adapted to be fitted at each entrance to said premises, each said control panel comprising manually operable means, such as buttons or the like, enabling a caller to enter a called party's number. .

14. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 13, wherein each said control panel further comprises reader means to interrogate a fob, key, swipe card or other security device which is encoded with caller identification data.

15. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 13 or 14, wherein each said control panel further comprises circuit means, including circuit boards, connectors, modules and the like, allowing two-way communication between a caller and the called party.

16. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 15, wherein said circuit means is adapted to enable said called party to view the said pictorial image(s) via a community television network distributed around the said premises.

17. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 15, wherein said circuit means is adapted to enable said called party to view the said pictorial image(s) via a dedicated handset or other device provided with picture display means.

18. A supervision system as claimed in any of Claims 13 to 17, further comprising a plurality of said control panels connected to control rack(s) containing at least a power supply module and a gateway communications module connecting said supervisory system at said premises with a remote supervisory centre.

19. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 18, further comprising a local output control module, allowing communication with a local printer, paging system and such like or a video camera recording and communications module.

20. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each ' said control panel means further comprises an audio module providing audio amplification of speech signals.

21. A supervision system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each of a plurality of said control panel means is connected in a network allowing communication between them and a remote control centre via the Internet.

22. A supervision system as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said storage location contains dedicated storage means per called party, so arranged that, when full, the earliest data on stored on that party's location is overwritten first.

23. A supervision system substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.