Surveillance and alerting system and method
First Claim
1. A combination surveillance and paging system, comprising:
- means for monitoring a surveillance area, said surveillance area including a parking space at a business establishment;
means connected to the monitoring means for detecting that a vehicle has entered the parking space;
means responsive to the detecting means for alerting an employee responsible for serving customers that the vehicle has entered the parking space;
a timer;
a controller connected to the detecting means, the alerting means, and the timer; and
means for reporting to the controller that the employee has responded to the alerting means.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A combination surveillance and alerting system and method in a restaurant that serves take-out customers. A video camera monitors a parking space for take-out customers, and sends video to an image recognition program, which detects when a vehicle enters the parking space. The detection triggers a controller to start a timer and instruct an on-premises paging transmitter to page an employee responsible for serving takeout customers. The image recognition program detects when the employee enters a greeting zone for greeting customers, and the controller prepares an elapsed greeting time report for management. The image recognition program also detects when the vehicle leaves the parking space, and the controller prepares a total service time report for management.
19 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A combination surveillance and paging system, comprising:
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means for monitoring a surveillance area, said surveillance area including a parking space at a business establishment; means connected to the monitoring means for detecting that a vehicle has entered the parking space; means responsive to the detecting means for alerting an employee responsible for serving customers that the vehicle has entered the parking space; a timer; a controller connected to the detecting means, the alerting means, and the timer; and means for reporting to the controller that the employee has responded to the alerting means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A combination surveillance and paging system in a restaurant that serves takeout customers, comprising:
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a video camera for monitoring a parking space for the takeout customers; an image recognition program connected to the video camera for detecting that a vehicle has entered the parking space; an on-premises paging transmitter for paging an employee in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the parking space; a timer; and a controller connected to the image recognition program, the paging transmitter, and the timer; wherein the image recognition program is operable to report to the controller that a vehicle has entered the parking space, and the controller is adapted to start the timer and instruct the paging transmitter to page the employee; wherein the image recognition program is further operable to detect when the employee enters a zone for greeting customers, and to report to the controller that the employee has entered the greeting zone; and wherein the controller is further adapted to obtain from the timer, an elapsed greeting time between the time the vehicle entered the parking space and the time the employee entered the greeting zone, and to prepare a report comprising the elapsed greeting time. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A method of managing a surveillance area, comprising the steps of:
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monitoring the surveillance area with a video camera, wherein the surveillance area includes a takeout parking space at a restaurant; sending video from the video camera to an image recognition program, said program being adapted to detect changes in the video image meeting predefined criteria that indicate when a vehicle has entered the parking space; detecting by the program that a vehicle has entered the parking space; alerting an employee responsible for serving takeout customers in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the parking space; starting a timer when the vehicle enters the parking space; detecting when the employee responds to the alerting step; and reporting an elapsed greeting time between the time the vehicle entered the parking space and the time the employee responded to the alerting step. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification