Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Field of Invention
The present invention relates to code passing between two (2) independent
systems connected via a Publicly Switched Telephone Network.
Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of Caller Identification Information,
as automatically supplied by Publicly Switched Telephone Network upon
initiation of a telephone call, as a code to pass information between two
1 o independent systems connected via the Publicly Switched Telephone
Network.
The invention is of general application but is best explained in relation to a
security system in which an alarm panel is connected to a central monitoring
computer via the Publicly Switched Telephone Network.
Security systems for both residential and commercial applications have
gained wide acceptance and central monitoring of such security systems is
typically recommended.
To protect a particular location, a number of sensors monitor the area and
these sensors communicate with an on-site alarm panel. The alarm panel acts
as a central source for the sensors and relays this information through a
Publicly Switched Telephone Network to a central monitoring computer. The
2 5 central monitoring computer, upon receipt of the information processes the
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information and based on this processed information, takes or initiates
certain
predetermined steps. These steps can include producing an operator report
and advising local police, fire-fighter or private security personnel. These
steps can vary further by the instructions from the customers or owners of the
alarm panel and the central monitoring computer operator.
The caller identification information is particular to subscribed telephone
service and may contain telephone number of the calling party, alpha-numaric
identification of the calling party, time and date of the call or other
1 o information. The time and date stamp, within the caller identification
information, could be used as a independent time stamp in case of problems
at a latter date.
Hartley et al, (United States Patent number 5,511,109) teaches a method of
15 using the Caller Identification Information as automatically supplied by
Publicly Switched Telephone Network and the information from alarm panel
to determine the steps to take. This method can become costly to the
customer if long distance telephone charges axe involved or in the case of a
wireless system, the airtime is chaxged to the customer.
Some regulations require the security system to be tested on a regular basis
and these tests add to the cost of ownership.
The present invention overcomes this disadvantage by using the Caller
2 s Identification Information to identify the customer or the location of the
alarm
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panel and also the problem within the monitored location.
Summary of the Invention
In a security system, according to the present invention, a central monitoring
computer has a number of telephone lines attached to it from the Publicly
Switched Telephone Network. The telephone numbers of these telephone
lines (at the central monitoring computer) are assigned to each sensor or zone
connected to the remote security panel in a manner that a different telephone
1 o number is dialed for each sensor or zone that is tripped.
According to the invention, when an alarm condition occurs, the telephone
number assigned to the sensor or the zone, is dialed out by the security
panel.
15 From the Publicly Switched Telephone Network, the central monitoring
computer, receives the caller identification information on one of the
attached
telephone lines and identifies the location of alarm panel from the caller
identification information and the type of sensor or zone from the telephone
line that received the caller identification information. With this type of
2 o arrangement, long distance telephone charges or in the case of a wireless
system, the airtime is not charged, to the customer, as the 'voice' channel is
not used.
The receiving arrangement for the caller identification information can be
2 s separate from the central computer, but can be an integral part of the
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computer, if desired.
The caller identification information and the identification of the telephone
line that received the caller identification information is combined as an
s electronic signal for subsequent processing. Such subsequent processing is
typically carried out by a computer to combine with pre-stored instructions
from the customer, but in a simple system the signal may be sent to a printer
for printing a report.
1 o A security system according to the present invention, comprises a host of
alarm panels, each of which, on occasion, receives signals from sensors
indicating the presence of an alarm condition in the space being monitored.
Each alarm panel is capable of originating a telephone communication, using
the telephone number assigned to the sensor, over a Publicly Switched
15 Telephone Network with a central monitoring computer. The central
monitoring computer receives the caller identification information from the
Publicly Switched Telephone Network and combines it with the identification
of the telephone line that received the information to processes the
information and based thereto, adopts an appropriate course of action. A
2 o receiving arrangement acts as an intermediary between the computer and any
of the alarm panels. The receiving arrangement receives telephone network
information, which contains the caller identification information, from the
Publicly Switched Telephone Network, which is particular to subscribed
telephone service used by the central monitoring computer. The caller
2 5 identification information received from the receiving arrangement is
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combined with the identification of the telephone line that received the
information in an electronic signal for further processing.
Furthermore, the present invention can send a coded message from the central
5 monitoring computer, with its attached multiple telephone lines, to a remote
alarm panel, attached to the Publicly Switched Telephone Network, with a
receiving arrangement to receive telephone network information which
contains the caller identification information. Each of the phone lines at the
central monitoring computer is assigned a code, and to send a code to a
1 o remote alarm panel, a telephone line at the central monitoring computer,
with
the appropriate code, is used to call the remote alarm panel. The receiving
arrangement at the remote alarm panel, receives the telephone network
information which contains the caller identification information, as a code,
sent from the central monitoring computer. The remote alarm panel can
process the code in pre-stored steps.
The ability of the present invention to send and receive information can also
be used in other application, for example sending a pre-set message to a
cellular telephone without incurring the air-time charges, a vending machine
2 o sending a pre-stored message over a long distance call without the long
distance charges, or sending meter reading information to a central computer
by dialing different numbers for each digit (each telephone number
representing a digit).
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Brief Description of the Drawings
In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred embodiment
of the present invention,
Figure 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of transmitting messages from
the central computer to a remote alarm panel;
Detailed Description of the Invention
As shown in Figure 1, in one embodiment the present invention comprises a
security system generally shown as 10, includes a host of sensors 12 which
typically monitor a given space and provide information to a particular alarm
panel 14 regarding the status of such monitored space. A number of alarm
panels 14 are shown and each alarm panel would be associated with a
particular location or premises being monitored. There are typically at least
several sensors which provide information to a given alarm panel. Upon
detection of an alarm condition by one of the sensors 12, a signal is sent to
2 o the alarm panel 14, which then dials a telephone number associated with
the
tripped sensor 12. Tone Detector 16, a commercial part M980 or M981 from
Teltone, is used detect number rings made by the Publicly Switched
Telephone Network 20 to receiving arrangement 26. The network information
or caller identification information is typically passed to the receiving
2 5 arrangement 26 after the first ring and so panel 14, can typically hang-up
after
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the second ring. The panel counts the number of rings by using "ring back
tones" via tone detector 16.
Figure 1 illustrates this telephone connection by telephone channel 18 being
connected to Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20 which is connected
by channel 24 to receiving arrangement 26. In a normal system, the alarm
information would be forwarded through the Publicly Switched Telephone
Network 20 to a receiving arrangement 26 which then forwards the
information on to the central monitoring computer 30 through communication
1 o channel 28. The Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20 can be a land line
system, a wireless system, a cellular system or any combination thereof or
other combinations or systems that provide a Publicly Switched Telephone
Network.
1 s Receiving arrangement 26 recognizes call identification information or
information particular to the telephone service which the alarm panel 14 uses
to effect the telephone call. Other information could be provided by the
Publicly Switched Telephone Network which is useful to, or processed by,
the central monitoring computer 30. In the schematic, the Publicly Switched
2 o Telephone Network 20 has a computer indicated as 22 which inputs this
caller identification into the signal provided to the destined receiving
arrangement 26. The receiving arrangement 26 receives the caller
identification information which is typically communicated between the first
and second rings of the incoming call from alarm panel 14. The receiving
2 5 arrangement 26 identifies itself to central monitoring computer 30 via
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communication channel 28 and then forwards the caller identification
information. Typically, the caller identification information (typically a
telephone number) is used to identify the alarm panel 14 that placed the call
and the identification of the receiving arrangement 26 is used to identify the
type alarm from the panel 14. The caller identification should be accurate, as
it is provided by the Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20 and is not
subject to possible alarm panel installation errors or purposeful corruption
at
the protected premises.
1 o For the purposes of meter reading or similar applications, the originating
telephone number, which is part of telephone network information, identifies
the equipment at the originating site, while the telephone number of the
receiving arrangement, called by the originating equipment, indicates the
information sent by the originating equipment.
Incoming communication from Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20 on
channel 24 is connected to receiving arrangement 26 which extracts and
interprets, in conventional fashion, the caller identification information as
supplied by the Publicly Switched Telephone Network and generates an
2 o electronic signal corresponding to same. If desired, the caller
identification
information can be immediately displayed (not shown). The caller
identification information is then combined with the identification of the
receiving arrangement for forwarding to central monitoring computer 30 for
further processing.
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A 'handshake' with receiving arrangement 26, is assumed by alarm panel 14,
after Tone Detector 16 detects a preset number of rings. Tone Detector 16
can detect other tones on the Publicly Switched Telephone Network such as
"line busy" and "reorder tones", and these tones can be used by the panel as
error indication.
The combined caller identification information and receiver arrangement
identification could, if desired, be immediately output to output device (not
shown), such as a printer or an LED, LCD or other display. The combined or
linked information is also made available as an electronic or other digital
data
signal to central monitoring computer 30 via channel 28. The receiving
arrangement 26 and central monitoring computer 30 can be separate as shown
in Figure 1 or combined into one unit.
1 s During initial installation, the alarm panel 14 can be required to
complete an
initial installation communication with the central monitoring computer 30
which will receive and store the location of alarm panel by the caller
identification information and type of sensor by the identification of the
receiving arrangement 26. All of the information could be stored in customer
2 o database 40 including the steps to take in case of an alarm condition.
An alternate phone number, of a receiving arrangement with communication
capability, could be programmed into alarm panel 14 to force it to stay online
with central monitoring computer 30. This alternate telephone number could
2 5 be used to test the alarm panel 14 or to remotely re-program it from the
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central monitoring computer 30.
It can be appreciated that the type of information provided by the Publicly
Switched Telephone Network may vary. This information can be the
5 telephone number of the service, the identity of the subscriber of the
service
or any other particular code provided by the Publicly Switched Telephone
Network. The present system merely uses the fact that there is identity
information of the original party provided by the many Publicly Switched
Telephone Networks and also the fact that an alarm panel 14 can dial a
1 o number of different telephone numbers ( a different telephone number for
each sensor 12). This information can be used by the central monitoring
computer 30 or central station to reduce data transmmision costs. The central
station 30 need not always be a computer, as in a simple system, it may be a
printer for producing a report of an occurrence and details thereof.
Alarm panels which communicate with receiving arrangements associated
with a central station are well known and complete a particular procedure,
typically referred to as a "handshake" between the alarm panel and the
receiving arrangement, prior to the receipt of the alarm information. The
2 o present system utilizes the Publicly Switched Telephone Network tones such
as "ring back tones" to complete the "handshake" procedure, caller
identification information to identify the calling panel and the receiving
arrangement identification to identify the problem at the monitored premises,
this information is provided in a data signal for processing by the central
2 5 computer or a central station.
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Figure 2 illustrates a system for transmmiting a coded signal from the central
station or central monitoring computer 30 to a alarm panel 14 via the Publicly
Switched Telephone Network 20.
The central monitoring computer 30 selects an appropriate telephone dialer
46, which corrosponds to the required code, via select channel 48. The
telephone dialer 46, which is connected to Public Switched Telephone
Network 20 via telephone channel 50, dials the telephone number of the
1 o required panel 14. The receving arangement 26, at panel 14, receives the
caller identification information from the Publicly Switched Telephone
Network 20 via telephone channel 18. The decoded caller identification
information is sent to panel 14 for further processing. Thus the
identification
of the dialing telephone dialer 46 is received by panel 14 and this
information
is used as a code to take some type of action. The code could be to "reset"
the panel 14, to "redial" the telephone number or simply to request the panel
14 to send the next code.
There are concerns that security systems can be sabotaged or subject to error.
2 o The alarm panel information travaling through the Publicly Switched
Telephone Network 20 is subject to errors created by noise or sabotage, as
the caller identification information is created within the Publicly Switched
Telephone Network by computer 22, such errors are eliminated. Furthermore,
in a wired telephone network, the alarm panel can be moved around by the
2 5 owner as the caller identification information always identifies the
current
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location of the alarm panel.
Sabotage of central monitoring computer 30 can occur by flooding of the
receiving arrangement 26 with false calls. The receiving arrangement
typically pass on the identity of the originating telephone service and this
information could be compared to customer database 40 by the central
monitoring computer 30. If the information does not compare then a sabotage
can be assumed and the originating telephone could be identified by its caller
identification information.
to
The present invention, thus, provides the means of sending a coded signal
from alarm panel 14 to central monitoring station 30 and also receive a signal
from the central monitoring computer 30 to alarm panel 14.
15 A preferred embodiment of the invention having thus been described by way
of example only, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that
modifications and adaptations may be made without departing from the scope
of invention, as set out in the appended claims.
