Abberation detection technology

• US 9,767,680 B1
• Filed: 09/30/2016
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2015
• 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): Singh, Hirdepal
• Application Number:
  US15/282,842
• Time in Patent Office: 354 Days
• Field of Search: 340506
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/00 Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/14 Central alarm receiver or annunciator arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/04 Monitoring of the 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

In some implementations, techniques are described for detecting abnormal installations in a property monitored by a monitoring (e.g., security) system. For instance, an aberration engine may be used to detect an abnormal sensor or system installation within a property based on comparing detected installation data against local installation patterns of local providers within a certain proximity to the property. In some examples, the attributes (e.g., installation time, components used, number of tests performed, etc.) of a monitoring system installation, including installation of components of the monitoring system, may be compared to average installation times of other nearby installations to detect abnormalities in the installation.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more computers, the method comprising:

aggregating, over a period of time and for multiple properties, past installation data indicating past installation events and timing of the past installation events that occurred during past installations of monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

analyzing, by at least one of the one or more computers, the aggregated past installation data to identify reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

storing, in electronic storage, successful installation pattern data descriptive of the identified reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

obtaining current installation data descriptive of one or more current installation events that have occurred during installation of a monitoring system that is being installed to monitor a particular property;

based on obtaining the current installation data, accessing, from the electronic storage, the successful installation pattern data descriptive of the identified reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

evaluating, by at least one of the one or more computers, the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data;

prior to completion of installation of the monitoring system at the particular property, detecting, by at least one of the one or more computers, an aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the evaluation of the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data; and

taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

2. The method of claim 1:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises receiving, from one or more components of the monitoring system being installed at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system and timing of the reports of the current installation events.

3. The method of claim 1:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by equipment of installation technicians that installed the monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises receiving, from equipment of a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, the reports of the current installation events from the equipment of the particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property.

4. The method of claim 1:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises;

collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the multiple properties;

collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by equipment of installation technicians that installed the monitoring systems at the multiple properties; and

correlating the events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the multiple properties with the events reported during installation by equipment of installation technicians that installed the monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises;

receiving, from one or more components of the monitoring system being installed at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

receiving, from equipment of a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, a combination of the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system, the reports of the current installation events from the equipment of the particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, and timing of the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system and the reports of the current installation events from the equipment of the particular installation technician.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises detecting that the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property is taking longer than a baseline timing of the past installations of monitoring systems at the multiple properties.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises detecting that a combination of types of components that have been detected as being installed for the monitoring system fail to match a combination of types of components installed in a threshold percentage of the past installations.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises detecting that the monitoring system lacks at least one component installed in a threshold percentage of the past installations.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises detecting that an order in which components that have been detected as being installed for the monitoring system fails to match an order of component installation in a threshold percentage of the past installations.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises detecting that installation of a particular component of the monitoring system is taking longer than a baseline timing of the past installations of the particular component in the monitoring systems at the multiple properties.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises transmitting, to a security provider, a notification of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises transmitting, to a user associated with the particular property, a notification of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises transmitting, to a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, a notification of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises transmitting, to a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, installation instructions directed to assisting the particular installation technician to correct the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property comprises requiring a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property to engage in a guided installation process directed to assisting the particular installation technician to correct the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

15. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

one or more storage devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

aggregating, over a period of time and for multiple properties, past installation data indicating past installation events and timing of the past installation events that occurred during past installations of monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

analyzing, by at least one of the one or more computers, the aggregated past installation data to identify reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

storing, in electronic storage, successful installation pattern data descriptive of the identified reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

obtaining current installation data descriptive of one or more current installation events that have occurred during installation of a monitoring system that is being installed to monitor a particular property;

based on obtaining the current installation data, accessing, from the electronic storage, the successful installation pattern data descriptive of the identified reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

evaluating, by at least one of the one or more computers, the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data;

prior to completion of installation of the monitoring system at the particular property, detecting, by at least one of the one or more computers, an aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the evaluation of the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data; and

taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

16. The system of claim 15:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises receiving, from one or more components of the monitoring system being installed at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system and timing of the reports of the current installation events.

17. The system of claim 15:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by equipment of installation technicians that installed the monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises receiving, from equipment of a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, the reports of the current installation events from the equipment of the particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property.

18. The system of claim 15:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises;

collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the multiple properties;

collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by equipment of installation technicians that installed the monitoring systems at the multiple properties; and

correlating the events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the multiple properties with the events reported during installation by equipment of installation technicians that installed the monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises;

receiving, from one or more components of the monitoring system being installed at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

receiving, from equipment of a particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, a combination of the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system, the reports of the current installation events from the equipment of the particular installation technician that is installing the monitoring system at the particular property, and timing of the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system and the reports of the current installation events from the equipment of the particular installation technician.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device encoded with computer program instructions that, when executed by one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

aggregating, over a period of time and for multiple properties, past installation data indicating past installation events and timing of the past installation events that occurred during past installations of monitoring systems at the multiple properties;

analyzing, by at least one of the one or more computers, the aggregated past installation data to identify reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

storing, in electronic storage, successful installation pattern data descriptive of the identified reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

obtaining current installation data descriptive of one or more current installation events that have occurred during installation of a monitoring system that is being installed to monitor a particular property;

based on obtaining the current installation data, accessing, from the electronic storage, the successful installation pattern data descriptive of the identified reoccurring patterns of successful installation events and timing of the successful installation events;

evaluating, by at least one of the one or more computers, the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data;

prior to completion of installation of the monitoring system at the particular property, detecting, by at least one of the one or more computers, an aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the evaluation of the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data; and

taking action related to the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property based on the detection of the aberration associated with the installation of the monitoring system at the particular property.

20. The device of claim 19:

wherein aggregating, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, past installation data comprises collecting, over the period of time and for the multiple properties, events reported during installation by components of the monitoring systems installed at the properties;

wherein obtaining the current installation data comprises receiving, from one or more components of the monitoring system being installed at the particular property, reports of the current installation events that have occurred during installation of the monitoring system at the particular property; and

wherein evaluating the current installation data against the successful installation pattern data comprises evaluating, against the successful installation pattern data, the reports of the current installation events from the one or more components of the monitoring system and timing of the reports of the current installation events.