Automated, remotely-verified alarm system with intrusion and video surveillance and digitial video recording

• US 9,600,987 B2
• Filed: 11/05/2014
• Issued: 03/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CheckVideo, LLC (Kastle Systems International LLC)
• Original Assignee: CheckVideo, LLC (Kastle Systems International LLC)
• Inventors: Jackson, Randall R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Chan
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOI, TIMOTHY WING HO
• Application Number:
  US14/533,916
• Publication Number:
  US 20150063643A1
• Time in Patent Office: 867 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/196 using television cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19602 Image analysis to detect motion of the intruder, e.g. by frame subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19663 Surveillance related processing done local to the camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19669 Event triggers storage or change of storage policy
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19684 Portable terminal, e.g. mobile phone, used for viewing video remotely
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19695 Arrangements wherein non-video detectors start video recording or forwarding but do not generate an alarm themselves
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/008 Alarm setting and unsetting, i.e. arming or disarming of the security system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 29/00 Checking or monitoring of signalling or alarm systems; Prevention or correction of operating errors, e.g. preventing unauthorised operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

An automated self-monitored alarm verification solution including at least a premises portion, a server portion, and an end user device portion. Alarm verification includes capturing by an image capture device at least one image in response to a detection event, and transmitting a first data signal including the image to a local signal processing device. The signal processing device transmits a second signal including at least a portion of the image to a remote hosted server according to at least a first set of predetermined parameters. After receiving the second signal, the server transmits a third signal including at least a portion of the image from the hosted server to a user device. Using the user device, a user views the image and indicates a validity status of the alarm based at least in part on the content of the image.

Claims

1. A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to be executed by a processor, the code comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive from a sensor an indication of an event at a monitored premise;

analyze, using video analytics and based on the indication of the event, an image associated with the event to automatically identify whether the image satisfies an alarm trigger;

send to a first user, according to a set of configuration parameters defined by the first user, and based on the image failing to satisfy the alarm trigger, a first signal representing the indication of the event such that the first user can access the image associated with the event;

send to a second user, according to the set of configuration parameters, a second signal representing the indication of the event such that the second user can access the image associated with the event;

receive a verification notification that the second user has verified the event as a valid alarm event; and

send, in response to the verification notification a signal to an emergency response service provider to provide the emergency response service provider access to the image associated with the event.

2. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first signal includes a first link such that the first user can access data associated with the event, the second signal includes at least one of (1) a second link such that the second user can access only a subset of the data associated with the event, or (2) the image associated with the event.

3. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first signal includes a first link such that the first user can access data associated with the monitored premise, the second signal includes a second link such that the second user can access only a predetermined subset of the data associated with the monitored premise, the predetermined subset of the data defined at least in part by the first user.

4. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the second user includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal representing the indication of the event such that the second user can verify the event.

5. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of configuration parameters are a first set of configuration parameters, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

define a second set of configuration parameters different from the first set of configuration parameters based at least in part on a signal received from the first user.

6. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the second user includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal representing the indication of the event such that the second user can access the image associated with the event only after a positive authentication of the second user.

7. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the image is a substantially current image associated with the monitored premise.

8. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to receive the image associated with the event from an image capture device different from the sensor.

9. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the second user includes code to cause the processor to send securely to the second user the second signal such that the second user is authorized to and can access a substantially current image associated with the monitored premise.

10. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive from the first user an instruction, the instruction representing that the second user is authorized to access the image associated with the event, the code to cause the processor to send to the second user includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal based on the instruction.

11. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the set of configuration parameters includes a set of transmission parameters, the set of transmission parameters including instructions to send at least one of the first signal or the second signal via at least one of a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, or an electronic mail (e-mail) message.

12. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the event at the monitored premise occurs during a time period, the image associated with the event is captured by an image capture device during the time period.

13. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive, from at least one of the first user or the second user, a signal indicating a request to disarm at least one of (1) the sensor or (2) a device associated with the sensor, such that at least one of the first user or the second user does not receive the first signal or the second signal.

14. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the image associated with the event is an image of interest from a plurality of images associated with the event, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive from an image capture device the plurality of images associated with the event; and

analyze the plurality of images to identify the image of interest from the plurality of images, the first signal representing the indication of the event such that the first user can access the image of interest.

15. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the image is a first image, the first image is from a first image capture device configured to capture the first image at a first location of the monitored premise, the code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal includes code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal such that the first user can access a second image associated with the event, the second image being from a second image capture device configured to capture an image at a second location of the monitored premise, the second location being different from the first location.

16. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the second user includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal based on not receiving a response to the first signal from the first user within a predetermined time period.

17. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the verification notification includes an identification code associated with the second user and provided by the second user when verifying the event as the valid alarm event.

18. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 1, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to receive the image associated with the event from an image capture device different from the sensor, the sensor without image capture capability.

19. A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to be executed by a processor, the code comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive from a sensor an indication of an event at a monitored premise, the indication of the event detected by the sensor based on non-image data;

analyze, using video analytics and based on the indication of the event, an image associated with the event to automatically identify whether the image satisfies an alarm trigger;

send to a first user, according to a set of configuration parameters defined by the first user, and based on the image failing to satisfy the alarm trigger, a first signal representing the indication of the event such that the first user can access data associated with the event, the data including the image; and

send to a second user, according to the set of configuration parameters, a second signal representing the indication of the event such that the second user can access data associated with the event.

20. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 19, wherein:

the first user has a first level of access, the code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal includes code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal representing the indication of the event such that the first user can access data associated with the event and the first level of access,

the second user has a second level of access, the code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal representing the indication of the event such that the second user can access data associated with the event and the second level of access, the data associated with the first level of access being different than the data associated with the second level of access, the second level of access being defined at least in part by the first user.

21. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the data associated with the second level of access is a subset of the data associated with the first level of access.

22. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the first user includes code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal representing the indication of the event such that the first user can access the image associated with the event.

23. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal includes code to cause the processor to send to the first user the first signal at a first time, the code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal (1) at a second time after the first time, and (2) in response to the absence of receiving a verification signal from the first user during a time period between the first time and the second time.

24. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 19, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive a verification signal from the second user in response to the second signal; and

send, based on the verification signal and to an emergency response service provider, a third signal representing the indication of the event.

25. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 20, the code further comprising code to cause the processor to:

receive from the first user an instruction that the second user is authorized to access the data associated with (1) the event, and (2) the second level of access,

the code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal based on the instruction from the first user.

26. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the code to cause the processor to send to the second user includes code to cause the processor to send to the second user the second signal based on failing to receive a response to the first signal from the first user within a predetermined time period.

27. A method, comprising:

receiving from a sensor an indication of an event at a monitored premise, the indication of the event detected by the sensor based on non-image data, the event occurring from a first time to a second time;

analyzing, using video analytics and based on the indication of the event, a first image associated with the event to automatically identify whether the first image satisfies an alarm trigger;

sending, to a first user and based on the first image net failing to satisfying the alarm trigger, a first signal representing the indication of the event such that the first user can access a set of images associated with the monitored premise, the set of images including the first image, a second image, and a third image, the second image being captured by an image capture device before the first time, the third image being captured after the second time, the image capture device being separate from the sensor; and

sending, to a second user, a second signal representing the indication of the event such that the second user can access the set of images associated with the monitored premise.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the sending to the second user includes sending a representation of a message, the message including at least one of (1) an instruction on how to respond to the indication of the event, or (2) a location associated with the monitored premise.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving from the second user a verification signal representing verification of the event; and

sending, in response to the verification signal and to an emergency response service provider, a fourth signal representing the indication of the event.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein at least one of the first signal or the second signal includes a link such that the first user or the second user can access the set of images via the link.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving a third signal from the first user representing instructions to notify the second user of the event, the sending the second signal to the second user being based on the third signal.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the sending to the second user includes send to the second user the second signal based on failing to receive a response to the first signal from the first user within a predetermined time period.