Distributed monitoring for a video security system

• US 7,015,806 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2001
• Issued: 03/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Comcast Cable Communications LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Original Assignee: @Security Broadband Corporation
• Inventors: Naidoo, Surendra N., Glasgow, William P., Feldkamp, Gregory E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mullen, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US09/969,521
• Publication Number:
  US 20030062997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,631 Days
• Field of Search: 340/541, 340/539.1, 340/539.16, 340/539.17, 340/539.22, 340/539.25, 340/531, 340/506, 348/143, 348/152, 348/153, 348/154, 348/155, 348/159, 379/37, 379/39, 379/40, 379/42, 379/44
• US Class Current: 340/531
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19669 Event triggers storage or change of storage policy
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1968 Interfaces for setting up or customising the system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19691 Signalling events for better perception by user, e.g. indicating alarms by making display brighter, adding text, creating a sound
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A system and method for distributed monitoring and remote verification of conditions surrounding an alarm condition in a security system. A security gateway detects alarm conditions at a premises and records video relating to the alarm condition. The security gateway transmits an alarm notification and the video across a network to a security system server in substantially real time. The security system server relays information to one or more distributed monitoring clients using rules-based routines for verification of the alarm condition. An operator at a monitoring client determines whether the alarm condition represents an actual alarm event and activates an appropriate response.

Claims

1. A security system for providing security monitoring, comprising:

a security gateway located at a designated premises, wherein the security gateway is operable to detect an alarm condition and to record video of at least a portion of the premises relating to the alarm condition, said video hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

a security system server operatively coupled to the security gateway, wherein the security gateway is configured to transfer to the security system server a notification of the alarm condition and the corresponding Alarm Video in substantially real time;

a plurality of monitoring clients operatively coupled to the security system server;

the security system server utilizing rules-based routing to select, based upon a predefined set of one or more rules, one or more of the plurality of monitoring clients, hereafter referred to as designated monitoring clients, to receive the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video;

wherein the security system server is configured to transfer the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to said designated monitoring clients; and

wherein said designated monitoring clients are configured to display at least a portion of the Alarm Video and wherein said designated monitoring clients are configured to notify the security system server whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said set of rules comprises one or more minimum resource requirements that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said one or more minimum resource requirements comprises an availability requirement.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said set of rules comprises an availability requirement that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is operatively coupled to the security system server through the Internet.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the security system server is further configured to transfer alarm information to the designated monitoring clients.

8. A security system for providing security monitoring, comprising:

a security gateway located at a designated premises, wherein the security gateway is operable to detect an alarm condition and to record video of at least a portion of the premises relating to the alarm condition, said video hereinafter, referred to as the Alarm Video;

a security system server operatively coupled to the security gateway, wherein the security gateway is configured to transfer, to the security system server, a notification of the alarm condition and the corresponding Alarm Video in substantially real time; and

a plurality of monitoring clients operatively coupled to the security system server;

wherein;

the security system server is configured to transfer the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more of the plurality of monitoring clients, referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of one or more rules;

said designated monitoring clients are configured to;

(1) display at least a portion of the Alarm Video and (2) notify the security system server whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

said set of rules comprises a geography requirement that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

9. A security system for providing security monitoring, comprising:

a security gateway located at a designated premises, wherein the security gateway is operable to detect an alarm condition and to record video of at least a portion of the premises relating to the alarm condition, said video hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

a security system server operatively coupled to the security gateway, wherein the security gateway is configured to transfer, to the security system server, a notification of the alarm condition and the corresponding Alarm Video in substantially real time; and

a plurality of monitoring clients operatively coupled to the security system server;

wherein;

the security system server is configured to transfer the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more of the plurality of monitoring clients, referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of one or more rules;

said designated monitoring clients are configured to;

(1) display at least a portion of the Alarm Video and (2) notify the security system server whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition;

said set of rules comprises one or more minimum resource requirements that must be met by said designated monitoring clients; and

said one or more minimum resource requirements comprises a network-efficiency requirement.

10. A security system for providing security monitoring, comprising:

a security gateway located at a designated premises, wherein the security gateway is operable to detect an alarm condition and to record video of at least a portion of the premises relating to the alarm condition, said video hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

a security system server operatively coupled to the security gateway, wherein the security gateway is configured to transfer, to the security system server, a notification of the alarm condition and the corresponding Alarm Video in substantially real time; and

a plurality of monitoring clients operatively coupled to the security system server;

wherein;

the security system server is configured to transfer the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more of the plurality of monitoring clients, referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of one or more rules;

said designated monitoring clients are configured to;

(1) display at least a portion of the Alarm Video and (2) notify the security system server whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is designated as having a proficiency, and wherein said set of rules comprises a proficiency requirement that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

11. A method for providing monitoring in a security system comprising a security system server operatively coupled to a plurality of monitoring clients, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients, comprising:

the security system server receiving notification of an alarm condition and video corresponding to the alarm condition, said video corresponding to the alarm condition hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

the security system server utilizing rules-based routing to select, based upon a predefined set of one or more rules, one or more of the plurality of monitoring clients, hereafter referred to as designated monitoring clients, to receive the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video;

the security system server routing the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to the designated monitoring clients;

the designated monitoring clients displaying the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm video;

the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients determining whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition, the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients issuing a notification of the operator'"'"'s determination.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said set of rules comprises one or more minimum resource requirements that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said one or more minimum resource requirements comprises an availability requirement.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein, upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition, the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients selectively notifying:

(a) a customer at whose premises said security system server is located; and

/or (b) a public safety agency.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition is indeterminate as to whether an actual alarm condition exists, the respective operator at each of said designated monitoring clients selectively:

(a) requesting additional video from said security system server; and

/or (b) initiating two-way communication with a customer at whose premises the notification of the alarm condition originated.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition indicates that no alarm condition exists, the respective operator at each of said designated monitoring clients selectively:

(a) resetting sensors that transmitted the notification of the alarm condition to the security system server;

(b) adjusting sensitivity of the sensors that transmitted the notification of the alarm condition to the security system server; and

/or (c) logging the false notification of the alarm condition.

17. A method for providing monitoring in a security system comprising a security system server operatively coupled to a plurality of monitoring clients, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients, comprising:

the security system server receiving notification of an alarm condition and video corresponding to the alarm condition, said video corresponding to the alarm condition hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

the security system server routing the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more monitoring clients, hereinafter referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of rules;

the designated monitoring clients displaying the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm video;

the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients determining whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition, the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients issuing a notification of the operator'"'"'s determination;

wherein said predefined set of rules comprises a geography requirement that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

18. A method for providing monitoring in a security system comprising a security system server operatively coupled to a plurality of monitoring clients, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients, comprising:

the security system server receiving notification of an alarm condition and video corresponding to the alarm condition, said video corresponding to the alarm condition hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

the security system server routing the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more monitoring clients, hereinafter referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of rules;

the designated monitoring clients displaying the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm video;

the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients determining whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition, the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients issuing a notification of the operator'"'"'s determination;

wherein said set of rules comprises one or more minimum resource requirements that must be met by the designated monitoring clients and wherein said one or more minimum resource requirements comprises a network-efficiency requirement.

19. A method for providing monitoring in a security system comprising a security system server operatively coupled to a plurality of monitoring clients, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients, comprising:

the security system server receiving notification of an alarm condition and video corresponding to the alarm condition, said video corresponding to the alarm condition hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

the security system server routing the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more monitoring clients, hereinafter referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of rules;

the designated monitoring clients displaying the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm video;

the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients determining whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition, the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients issuing a notification of the operator'"'"'s determination;

wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is designated as having a proficiency, and wherein said set of rules comprises a proficiency requirement that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

20. A method for providing monitoring in a security system comprising a security system server operatively coupled to a plurality of monitoring clients, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients, comprising:

the security system server receiving notification of an alarm condition and video corresponding to the alarm condition, said video corresponding to the alarm condition hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

the security system server routing the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to one or more monitoring clients, hereinafter referred to as designated monitoring clients, based upon a predefined set of rules;

the designated monitoring clients displaying the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm video;

the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients determining whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition; and

upon determining that the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition, the respective operator at each of the designated monitoring clients issuing a notification of the operator'"'"'s determination;

wherein said set of rules comprises a network-efficiency requirement that must be met by the designated monitoring clients.

21. A security system for providing security monitoring, comprising:

a plurality of security gateways, each located at a designated premises, wherein each security gateway is operable to detect an alarm condition and to record video of at least a portion of the respective premises relating to the alarm condition, said video hereinafter referred to as the Alarm Video;

a plurality of security system servers, each security system server operatively coupled to at least some of the plurality of security gateways such that each of the plurality of the security gateways is operatively coupled to at least one of the plurality of security system servers, wherein each security gateway is configured to transfer to the one or more security system servers to which said security gateway is operably coupled, a notification of the alarm condition and the corresponding Alarm Video in substantially real time;

a plurality of monitoring clients operatively coupled to the plurality of security system servers;

each one of the plurality of security system servers utilizing rules-based routing to select, based upon a predefined set of one or more rules, one or more of the plurality of monitoring clients, hereafter referred to as corresponding designated monitoring clients, to receive the notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video;

wherein each one of the plurality of security system servers are configured to transfer the received notification of the alarm condition and the Alarm Video to said corresponding designated monitoring clients; and

wherein said corresponding designated monitoring clients are configured to display at least a portion of the Alarm Video, and wherein said corresponding designated monitoring clients are configured to notify the corresponding one of the plurality of security system servers whether the notification of the alarm condition corresponds to an actual alarm condition.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is operatively coupled to the security system server through the Internet.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the plurality of monitoring clients is located at a location apart from the other of the plurality of monitoring clients.