Notification apparatus, system, and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for notifying personnel associated with a facility of the status of such facility including whether a notice condition presently exists at such facility, the apparatus comprising:
- a primary power source, a user interface located in or adjacent a facility, the user interface including a microprocessor, a user input device in communication with the microprocessor, and a first transceiver in communication with the microprocessor; and
a plurality of remote communication tokens, each token including a remote power source, an actuator, a microcontroller in communication with the actuator, a second transceiver in communication with the microcontroller wherein each of the second transceivers are configured for sending signals to and receiving signals from the first transceiver, and a display in each of the remote communications tokens for displaying information based on signals received from the first transceiver, wherein human interaction is required from a first person to input a confirmation code to the user interface indicating whether the facility is safe to enter for subsequent arriving persons or whether a notice condition exists at such facility, wherein, if the notice condition exists and the confirmation code has been entered indicating such notice condition, a subsequently arriving person using a particular communication token, upon properly engaging the actuator of such particular communication token, will receive a warning message on the subsequently arriving person'"'"'s particular communication token display while the subsequently arriving person is still safely outside the facility, such warning message indicating the subsequently arriving person should remain outside of the facility.
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Abstract
A notification apparatus, system, and method that provides up-to-the-minute status information for a facility or a group of facilities to an administrator and to persons who work at or otherwise frequent such facility or group of facilities.
22 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for notifying personnel associated with a facility of the status of such facility including whether a notice condition presently exists at such facility, the apparatus comprising:
- a primary power source, a user interface located in or adjacent a facility, the user interface including a microprocessor, a user input device in communication with the microprocessor, and a first transceiver in communication with the microprocessor; and
a plurality of remote communication tokens, each token including a remote power source, an actuator, a microcontroller in communication with the actuator, a second transceiver in communication with the microcontroller wherein each of the second transceivers are configured for sending signals to and receiving signals from the first transceiver, and a display in each of the remote communications tokens for displaying information based on signals received from the first transceiver, wherein human interaction is required from a first person to input a confirmation code to the user interface indicating whether the facility is safe to enter for subsequent arriving persons or whether a notice condition exists at such facility, wherein, if the notice condition exists and the confirmation code has been entered indicating such notice condition, a subsequently arriving person using a particular communication token, upon properly engaging the actuator of such particular communication token, will receive a warning message on the subsequently arriving person'"'"'s particular communication token display while the subsequently arriving person is still safely outside the facility, such warning message indicating the subsequently arriving person should remain outside of the facility. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
- a primary power source, a user interface located in or adjacent a facility, the user interface including a microprocessor, a user input device in communication with the microprocessor, and a first transceiver in communication with the microprocessor; and
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5. A method of confirming the status of a facility including whether a notice condition presently exists at such facility, the method comprising the steps of (a)(1) conducting a manual security sweep of a facility;
- (a)(2) inputting a confirmation code manually at a user interface based on a result of the manual security sweep;
(a)(3) updating a present status condition of the facility automatically using the user interface in response to the manually input first confirmation code;
(b) transmitting a first request signal from a remote communication token within a minimum range of the user interface located in or proximate the facility;
(c) receiving the first request signal at the user interface;
(d) transmitting a first reply signal from the user interface in response to the first request signal, wherein the transmitted first reply signal is based on the present status condition of the facility;
(e) receiving the first reply signal at the remote communication token; and
(f) displaying a message on the remote communication token indicating the present status condition of the facility, wherein human interaction is required from a first person to input the confirmation code to the user interface indicating whether the facility is safe to enter for subsequent arriving persons or whether a notice condition exists at such facility, wherein, if the notice condition exists and the confirmation code has been entered indicating such notice condition, a subsequently arriving person using a particular communication token, upon properly engaging an actuator of such particular communication token, will receive a warning message on a communication token display on the subsequently arriving person'"'"'s particular communication token while the subsequently arriving person is still safely outside the facility, such warning message indicating the subsequently arriving person should remain outside of the facility. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18)
- (a)(2) inputting a confirmation code manually at a user interface based on a result of the manual security sweep;
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11. A notification system for notifying personnel associated with one or more facilities of the status of at least one of the one or more facilities including whether a notice condition presently exists at one or more of the facilities, the notification system comprising:
- a user interface located in or adjacent each facility, each user interface including a microprocessor, a user input device in communication with the microprocessor, and a primary transceiver in communication with the microprocessor; and
a plurality of remote communication tokens, each remote communication token including an actuator, a microcontroller in communication with the actuator, a secondary transceiver in communication with the microcontroller wherein each of the secondary transceivers are configured for sending signals to and receiving signals from a primary transceiver of the one or more user interfaces, and a display in each of the remote communications tokens for displaying information based on signals received from a primary transceiver of the one or more user interfaces, wherein human interaction is required from a first person to input a confirmation code to at least one of the user interfaces indicating whether the facility associated with the at least one of the user interfaces is safe to enter for subsequent arriving persons or whether a notice condition exists at the facility associated with the at least one of the user interfaces, wherein, if the notice condition exists and the confirmation code has been entered indicating such notice condition at the facility associated with the at least one of the user interfaces, a subsequently arriving person using a particular communication token, upon properly engaging the actuator associated with the particular communication token, will receive a warning message on the subsequently arriving person'"'"'s particular communication token display while the subsequently arriving person is still safely outside the facility associated with the at least one of the user interfaces, such warning message indicating the subsequently arriving person should remain outside of the facility associated with the at least one of the user interfaces. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- a user interface located in or adjacent each facility, each user interface including a microprocessor, a user input device in communication with the microprocessor, and a primary transceiver in communication with the microprocessor; and
Specification