Alarm probability

• US 9,013,294 B1
• Filed: 01/24/2013
• Issued: 04/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Trundle, Stephen Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Previl, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US13/749,099
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• Field of Search: 340/501, 340/506, 340/517, 340/521, 340/565, 340/566, 340/541, 340/539.11, 340/539.1, 340/531, 340/527, 340/529, 340/522
• US Class Current: 340/501
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/00 Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/001 Alarm cancelling procedures or alarm forwarding decisions, e.g. based on absence of alarm confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/02 Monitoring continuously signalling or alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/188 Data fusion; cooperative systems, e.g. voting among different detectors

Abstract

Alarm system technology, in which an alarm event is detected at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state. Based on detection of the alarm event, an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation is determined and the alarm event is handled based on the determined alarm probability score.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

reporting, to a user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with a request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation;

receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback related to verification of whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the received feedback,

wherein reporting, to the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with the request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises reporting, to the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with the request to feedback indicating whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation or the alarm event does not relate to an emergency situation;

wherein receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback related to verification of whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback indicating whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation or the alarm event does not relate to an emergency situation; and

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the received feedback comprises determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the received feedback indicating whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation or the alarm event does not relate to an emergency situation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein reporting, to the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with the request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises:

accessing image data of an area of the property associated with the alarm event; and

providing, to the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the accessed image data with the request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises reporting, to a central monitoring service that dispatches emergency services in response to alarm events, the alarm event with an indication of the determined alarm probability score.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises:

comparing the determined alarm probability score to a threshold;

determining that the determined alarm probability score meets the threshold; and

based on the determination that the determined alarm probability score meets the threshold, reporting, to a central monitoring service that dispatches emergency services in response to alarm events, the alarm event.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving feedback indicating whether the alarm event was confirmed as being related to an emergency situation; and

updating one or more rules used in determining the alarm probability score based on the received feedback indicating whether the alarm event was confirmed as being related to an emergency situation.

7. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation, and

wherein performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

accessing contemporaneous sensor data collected by the alarm system, the contemporaneous sensor data being sensor data captured within a threshold period of time before or after the alarm event;

evaluating whether the contemporaneous sensor data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the contemporaneous sensor data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

8. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation, and

wherein performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

accessing historical usage data defined based on historical sensor data collected by the alarm system, the historical sensor data having been captured by the alarm system during past time periods that are similar to a time frame of the alarm event;

evaluating whether the historical usage data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the historical usage data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

9. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation, and

wherein performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system;

evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

10. The method of claim 9:

wherein accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system comprises accessing weather data that describes weather conditions at the property monitored by the alarm system at a time associated with the alarm event;

wherein evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises evaluating whether the weather data suggests that the alarm event could have been caused by weather conditions; and

wherein estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the weather data suggests that the alarm event could have been caused by weather conditions.

11. The method of claim 9:

wherein accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system comprises accessing crime data that describes crime activity in a region of the property monitored by the alarm system;

wherein evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises evaluating whether the crime data suggests that the alarm event matches crime activity reported in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system; and

wherein estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the crime data suggests that the alarm event matches crime activity reported in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system.

12. The method of claim 9:

wherein accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system comprises accessing locale data defined based on sensor data collected by other monitoring systems located in a region of the property monitored by the alarm system;

wherein evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises evaluating whether the locale data suggests that the alarm event is similar to other alarm events detected by the other monitoring systems located in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system; and

wherein estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the locale data suggests that the alarm event is similar to other alarm events detected by the other monitoring systems located in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system.

13. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

reporting, to a user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with a request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation;

receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback related to verification of whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation;

performing heuristics on available sensor data captured by the alarm system to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on a combination of the received feedback and the heuristics performed on the available sensor data captured by the alarm system.

14. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises;

comparing the determined alarm probability score to a threshold;

determining that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold; and

based on the determination that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold, delaying reporting of the alarm event to a central monitoring service that dispatches emergency services in response to alarm events to enable collection of more information related to whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

15. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises;

comparing the determined alarm probability score to a threshold;

determining that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold; and

based on the determination that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold, reporting, to a user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with a request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

16. A method comprising:

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises;

assigning a priority to the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score, the priority being assigned as one of a low priority, a medium priority, and a high priority, wherein the high priority is assigned based on the determined alarm probability score meeting a high threshold, the medium priority is assigned based on the determined alarm probability score meeting a low threshold, but not the high threshold, and the low priority is assigned based on the determined alarm probability score not meeting the low threshold; and

handling the alarm event based on the priority assigned to the alarm event.

17. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

reporting, to a user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with a request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation;

receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback related to verification of whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the received feedback,

wherein reporting, to the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with the request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises reporting, to the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with the request to feedback indicating whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation or the alarm event does not relate to an emergency situation;

wherein receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback related to verification of whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback indicating whether the the alarm event relates to an emergency situation or the alarm event does not relate to an emergency situation; and

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the received feedback comprises determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the received feedback indicating whether the the alarm event relates to an emergency situation or the alarm event does not relate to an emergency situation.

18. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation, and

wherein performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

accessing contemporaneous sensor data collected by the alarm system, the contemporaneous sensor data being sensor data captured within a threshold period of time before or after the alarm event;

evaluating whether the contemporaneous sensor data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the contemporaneous sensor data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

19. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation, and

wherein performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

accessing historical usage data defined based on historical sensor data collected by the alarm system, the historical sensor data having been captured by the alarm system during past time periods that are similar to a time frame of the alarm event;

evaluating whether the historical usage data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the historical usage data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

20. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation, and

wherein performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system;

evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation; and

estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

21. The system of claim 20:

wherein accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system comprises accessing weather data that describes weather conditions at the property monitored by the alarm system at a time associated with the alarm event;

wherein evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises evaluating whether the weather data suggests that the alarm event could have been caused by weather conditions; and

wherein estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the weather data suggests that the alarm event could have been caused by weather conditions.

22. The system of claim 20:

wherein accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system comprises accessing crime data that describes crime activity in a region of the property monitored by the alarm system;

wherein evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises evaluating whether the crime data suggests that the alarm event matches crime activity reported in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system; and

wherein estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the crime data suggests that the alarm event matches crime activity reported in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system.

23. The system of claim 20:

wherein accessing external data that is relevant to the alarm event and captured by a system other than the alarm system comprises accessing locale data defined based on sensor data collected by other monitoring systems located in a region of the property monitored by the alarm system;

wherein evaluating whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises evaluating whether the locale data suggests that the alarm event is similar to other alarm events detected by the other monitoring systems located in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system; and

wherein estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the external data suggests that the alarm event relates to an emergency situation comprises estimating the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on the evaluation of whether the locale data suggests that the alarm event is similar to other alarm events detected by the other monitoring systems located in the region of the property monitored by the alarm system.

24. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises;

reporting, to a user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with a request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation;

receiving, from the user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, feedback related to verification of whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation;

performing heuristics on available sensor data captured by the alarm system to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation based on a combination of the received feedback and the heuristics performed on the available sensor data captured by the alarm system.

25. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises;

comparing the determined alarm probability score to a threshold;

determining that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold; and

based on the determination that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold, delaying reporting of the alarm event to a central monitoring service that dispatches emergency services in response to alarm events to enable collection of more information related to whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

26. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein determining the alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation comprises performing heuristics on available data relevant to the alarm event to estimate the likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises;

comparing the determined alarm probability score to a threshold;

determining that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold; and

based on the determination that the determined alarm probability score does not meet the threshold, reporting, to a user device associated with the property monitored by the alarm system, the alarm event with a request to verify whether the alarm event relates to an emergency situation.

27. An electronic system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one processor having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

detecting an alarm event at a property monitored by an alarm system when the alarm system was set in an armed state;

based on detecting the alarm event, determining an alarm probability score that indicates a likelihood of the alarm event being an emergency situation; and

handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score,

wherein handling the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score comprises;

assigning a priority to the alarm event based on the determined alarm probability score, the priority being assigned as one of a low priority, a medium priority, and a high priority, wherein the high priority is assigned based on the determined alarm probability score meeting a high threshold, the medium priority is assigned based on the determined alarm probability score meeting a low threshold, but not the high threshold, and the low priority is assigned based on the determined alarm probability score not meeting the low threshold; and

handling the alarm event based on the priority assigned to the alarm event.