Alarm signaling technology

• US 9,013,295 B1
• Filed: 04/14/2014
• Issued: 04/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2010
• 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, Slavin, Alison Jane, Martin, Jean-Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phung
• Application Number:
  US14/252,325
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• Field of Search: 340/506, 340/527, 340/528, 340/539.14, 340/502, 340/505, 340/541, 455/404.1
• US Class Current: 340/506
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/005 Alarm destination chosen according to a hierarchy of available destinations, e.g. if hospital does not answer send to police station
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/006 Alarm destination chosen according to type of event, e.g. in case of fire phone the fire service, in case of medical emergency phone the ambulance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/02 Monitoring continuously signalling or alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/046 prevention of tampering with detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/185 Signal analysis techniques for reducing or preventing false alarms or for enhancing the reliability of the system

Abstract

Techniques are described for handling an event where a control panel or an alarm signaling device is tampered with or destroyed by a disablement tactic, e.g., a “crash and smash intrusion.”

Claims

1. A server 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;

aggregating data related to alarm system tampering;

generating a pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data; and

performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events.

2. The server of claim 1, wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises receiving alarm system data related to events from multiple, different monitored locations.

3. The server of claim 2, wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises identifying alarm system data associated with instances in which alarm system tampering events were incorrectly detected.

4. The server of claim 2, wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises identifying instances in which alarm system tampering events were correctly detected.

5. The server of claim 2, wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises identifying instances in which alarm system tampering events occurred, but were not detected.

6. The server of claim 1, wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises aggregating data in geographic regions to detect patterns of alarm system tampering events in a geographic region.

7. The server of claim 1, wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises analyzing the aggregated data and identifying one or more patterns that correlate to alarm system tampering events.

8. The server of claim 1, wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises generating a regionalized pattern to detect patterns associated with a particular region.

9. The server of claim 1, wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises:

considering successful tampering detections and identifying alarm system behavior common in the successful tampering detections;

considering unsuccessful tampering detections and identifying alarm system behavior common in the unsuccessful tampering detections.

10. The server of claim 1, wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises updating the pattern as new data is aggregated and analyzed.

11. The server of claim 1, wherein performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events comprises comparing the generated pattern to future alarm system behavior patterns to identify similar patterns that indicate alarm system tampering events.

12. The server of claim 1, wherein performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events comprises using the generated pattern to modify parameters of detecting alarm system tampering events.

13. The server of claim 1, wherein performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events comprises, based on the generated pattern suggesting an increase in a number of alarm system destruction events in a particular region, reducing an escrow period for alarm signals from alarm systems in the particular region.

14. A method comprising:

aggregating data related to alarm system tampering;

generating a pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data; and

performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events.

15. The method of claim 14

wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises:

receiving alarm system data related to events from multiple, different monitored locations;

identifying alarm system data associated with instances in which alarm system tampering events were incorrectly detected;

identifying instances in which alarm system tampering events were correctly detected; and

identifying instances in which alarm system tampering events occurred, but were not detected; and

wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises;

considering successful tampering detections and identifying alarm system behavior common in the successful tampering detections;

considering unsuccessful tampering detections and identifying alarm system behavior common in the unsuccessful tampering detections.

16. The method of claim 14:

wherein aggregating data related to alarm system tampering comprises aggregating data in geographic regions to detect patterns of alarm system tampering events in a geographic region; and

wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises generating a regionalized pattern to detect patterns associated with a particular region.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein generating the pattern representative of alarm system tampering events based on the aggregated data comprises updating the pattern as new data is aggregated and analyzed.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events comprises comparing the generated pattern to future alarm system behavior patterns to identify similar patterns that indicate alarm system tampering events.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events comprises using the generated pattern to modify parameters of detecting alarm system tampering events.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein performing pattern matching using the generated pattern to identify future alarm system tampering events comprises, based on the generated pattern suggesting an increase in a number of alarm system destruction events in a particular region, reducing an escrow period for alarm signals from alarm systems in the particular region.