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 information passing between two (2)
independent systems connected via a Publicly Switched Telephone Network.
Background of the Invention
From its introduction, Publicly Switched Telephone Network has typically been
used to pass information between various parties connected to it. With the
advent of modems, electronic equipment at remote sites, such as security
1 o panels, vending machines, environment monitoring systems, meters, load
management system, etc, etc, send information to a central location or a
central
clearing house via the Publicly Switched Telephone Network.
Currently, to send information to a central clearing house, a modem at a
remote
site, goes ofd hook, dials the telephone number of a modem at the central
clearing house, waits for an answer, sends the information electronically and
then hangs-up.
As a number of remote sites call into the central clearing house at a same
time,
2 o a number of telephone lines are connected between the Publicly Switched
Telephone Network and the central clearing house. If one telephone line is
busy, the remote site dials the telephone number of the next line.
In some countries, call-charges apply whenever a remote modem makes a
2 5 connection with a modem at a central clearing house and long-distance
charges
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may also apply if the central clearing house is situated in a different
geographical location.
Even though some of the electronic equipment at remote sites, such as security
panels, vending machines, environment monitoring systems, meters, load
management system, etc, etc, send short information messages, the telephone
charges, especially with wireless telephone system, can be substantial if the
messages are sent on a regular basis.
1 o With the advent of Internet, email, containing information for a central
clearing
house, is used also. The maj or problem with this technology is the amount of
processing power and memory requirements.
The present invention overcomes the call-charges and long-distances charges by
including information within the telephone number and in case of email, by
including the information within the email address.
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
2 o computer via a Publicly Switched Telephone Network to send short
information messages.
Security systems for both residential and commercial applications have gained
wide acceptance and central monitoring of such security systems is typically
2 5 recommended.
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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 via a Publicly
Switched Telephone Network to a central monitoring computer. The central
monitoring computer, upon receipt of the information processes the information
and based on this processed information, takes or initiates certain
predetermined steps. These steps includes producing an operator report and
advising local police, fire-fighter or private security personnel. These steps
can
1 o 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-numeric
identification of the calling party, time and date of the call or other
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
2 o 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 becomes costly to the customer if
long
distance telephone charges are involved or in the case of a wireless system,
the
airtime is charged to the customer.
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Some regulations require the security system to be tested on a regular basis
and
these tests add to the cost of ownership especially with wireless telephone
system.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantage and achieves two-way
communication by:
1, Central monitoring computer identifies problems at a monitored
location by monitoring the telephone number dialed by a remote alarm
panel.
1 o 2, Central monitoring computer determines the location of the alarm
panel, by using the Caller Identification Information.
3, Remote alarm panel monitors for responses from the central
monitoring computer by using the Caller Identification Information of in-
coming calls.
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
2 o 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
number is dialed for each sensor or zone that is tripped.
2 5 According to the invention, when an alarm condition occurs, the telephone
CA 02249711 1998-10-20
number assigned to the sensor or the zone, is dialed out by the security
panel.
Thus the information is embedded within the telephone number to dial out.
From the Publicly Switched Telephone Network, the central monitoring
computer, receives the Caller Identification Information on one of the
attached
telephone lines which identifies the location of alarm and the type of sensor
or
zone from the telephone line that received the Caller Identification
Information.
1 o The Publicly Switched Telephone Network transmits the Caller
Identification
Information after the first ring with Bellcore protocol and before the first
ring
with British Telephone protocol. As Caller Identification Information is
typically received by the receiving arrangement while it is in on-hook
condition,
call charges, long distance telephone charges or in the case of a wireless
system,
the airtime charges are not charged, to the customer, as the 'voice' channel
is
not used
The receiving arrangement for the Caller Identification Information can be
separate from the central computer, but can be an integral part of the
computer,
2 o if desired.
The Caller Identification Information and the identification of the telephone
line that received the Caller Identification Information is combined as an
electronic signal for subsequent processing. Such subsequent processing is
2 5 typically carried out by a computer to combine with pre-stored
instructions from
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the customer, but in a simple system the signal may be sent to a printer for
printing a report.
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 Telephone Network
with a central monitoring computer. The central monitoring computer receives
1 o the Caller Identification Information, while in on-hook condition, 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 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 Identification
Information received from the receiving arrangement is combined with the
2 o identification of the receiving arrangement and thus the telephone line
that
received the information in an electronic signal for further processing.
Furthermore, the present invention sends a coded message from the central
monitoring computer, with its attached multiple telephone lines, to a remote
2 5 alarm panel, attached to the Publicly Switched Telephone Network, with a
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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 response code, and to send a response code
to a remote alarm panel, a telephone line at the central monitoring computer,
with the appropriate response 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
response code, sent from the central monitoring computer. The remote alarm
panel processes the response code in pre-stored steps.
The ability of the present invention to send and receive information is also
used in other application, for example sending pre-set messages to a cellular
telephone without incurring the air-time charges, vending machines sending
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).
For intemet environment, rather then composing a complete email which
requires large amount of memory, the email address is modified to contain the
2 o information for a central monitoring computer or a response for the remote
alarm panel. Typically, the information is put before the @ symbol and the
site
address is inserted after the @ symbol.
2 5 Brief Description of the Drawings
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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 the alarm panel
14,
which then dials a telephone number associated with the tripped sensor 12.
2 0 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 arrangement 26 after the
first
ring in North America and so panel 14, typically hang-up just before or after
the
2 5 second ring. The panel counts the number of rings by using "ring back
tones"
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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 channel 28.
The Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20 can be a land line system, a
1 o wireless system, a cellular system or any combination thereof or other
combinations or systems that provide a Publicly Switched Telephone Network.
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 Figure 1 , the Publicly Switched Telephone
Network 20 has a computer indicated as 22 which inputs this Caller
Identification into the signal provided to the destined receiving arrangement
26.
2 0 The receiving arrangement 26 receives the Caller Identification
Information
which is typically, in North America, communicated between the first and
second rings of the incoming call from alarm panel 14. The receiving
arrangement 26 identifies itself to central monitoring computer 30 via
communication channel 28 and then forwards the Caller Identification
2 5 Information. Typically, the Caller Identification Information (typically a
CA 02249711 1998-10-20
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 is accurate, as it is
provided by the Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20 and is not subject to
5 possible alarm panel installation errors or purposeful corruption at the
protected
premises.
For the purposes of meter reading or other similar applications the telephone
number of the receiving arrangement, called by the originating equipment,
10 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 20 and generates an
electronic signal corresponding to same. If desired, the Caller Identification
Information is immediately displayed (not shown). The Caller Identification
Information is then combined with the identification of the receiving
arrangement 26 for forwarding to central monitoring computer 30 for further
2 o processing.
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
detects other tones on the Publicly Switched Telephone Network such as "line
2 5 busy" and "reorder tones", and these tones can be used by the panel as
error
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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.
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
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
2 o with central monitoring computer 30. This alternate telephone number could
be
used to test the alarm panel 14 or to remotely re-program alarm panel 14 from
the central monitoring computer 30 or monitor the premises under surveillance
by alarm panel 14.
2 5 It can be appreciated that the type of information provided by the
Publicly
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Switched Telephone Network 20 ,may vary. This information can be the
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 20. The present system merely uses the fact that there is identity
information of the original party provided by the many Publicly Switched
Telephone Networks 20 and also the fact that an alarm panel 14 can dial a
number of different telephone numbers ( a different telephone number for each
sensor 12 or for each digit to transfer). Thus reducing the cost of data
transfers.
The central station 30 need not always be a computer, as in a simple system,
it
1 o 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 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
2 o information is provided in a data signal for processing by the central
computer
or a central station.
Figure 2 illustrates a system for transmitting a coded response signal from
the
central station or central monitoring computer 30 to a alarm panel 14 via the
2 5 Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20.
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The central monitoring computer 30 selects an appropriate telephone dialer 46,
which corresponds to the required response 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 required panel
14. The receiving arrangement 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
1 o is received by panel 14 and this information is used as a response code to
take
some type of action. The code could be to "reset" the panel 14, to "redial"
the
telephone number, to request the panel 14 to send the next code, or to select
one of the consumption meter attached to security panel 14.
There are concerns that electronic data signal, as created by modem, is
subject
to sabotage or error when travailing through the Publicly Switched Telephone
Network 20. Errors within the electronic signal, are created by the electronic
noise or cross talk within the Publicly Switched Telephone Network 20. As the
Caller Identification Information is created within the Publicly Switched
2 0 Telephone Network 20 by computer 22, such errors are eliminated.
Furthermore, in a wired telephone network, the alarm panel can be moved
around by the owner as the Caller Identification Information always identifies
the current location of the alarm panel.
Sabotage of central monitoring computer 30 can occur by flooding of the
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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.
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.
A number of consumption meters can be attached to security panel 14. For ease
of explanation only 2 meters 15 and 17 are shown in Figure 1 and 2. The meter
to read can be a request from central monitoring computer 30 via a response
code received by receiving arrangement 16 or preset meter reading based on
local date and time.
The alarm panel 14 reads the required meter, either meter 15 or 17 and saves
the information in local memory, not shown. If required, the data is
2 o compressed, using any of the compression methods, prior to embedding the
data into the telephone number. A number of telephone calls may be required
to transfer the whole data. The data to transfer can be current meter reading,
peak demand, difference from last reading, etc, etc.
2 5 Meter identification or digit identification can be added within the data
for
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transfer to central monitoring computer 30.
The number of digits, in a telephone number, that can be replaced depends on
the number of telephone lines 24. For example, with a 100 telephone lines 24,
5 the last 2 digits can be replaced. With 10 telephone lines only the last
digit can
be replaced. A compression technology could increase the number of digits to
transfer.
Currently with the advent of email address, most electronic equipment have a
1 o site address which are the characters after the @ symbol. Anything before
the
@ symbol still ends at the same site address. It is up to the local program to
decode the characters before the @ symbol. By embedding the data to transfer
before the @ symbol, the amount of processing power and the memory
requirements can be reduced.
Most electronic equipment, such as security panels, vending machines,
environment monitoring systems, meters, load management system, etc, etc, at
remote sites, have a need to receive or transmit short information messages
via
a Publicly Switched Telephone Network.
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.
