Patent Application
20060176170
This invention relates to security systems, and more particularly, to automatically extracting data from security systems to allow for centralized monitoring of security guard tours.
It is well known and quite common for commercial and industrial premises to be protected by security companies providing on-site security guards as a service. A security company typically employs guards, which are assigned to patrol the premises of the customers of the security company. To ensure that the premises are protected, each guard is responsible for thoroughly and regularly patrolling all or part of the premises. The security company will specify a “tour” to be completed by a particular guard at predetermined intervals. A tour comprises a number of checkpoints located along a predefined route. While completing a tour, a guard inspects the customer's property, checking the security of doors and windows, and looking for intruders or other unauthorized activity. In addition, guards take note of situations that may tangentially affect security, including maintenance problems such as lighting fixture failures. To verify completion of each tour, a guard may be required to record the status of the premises at each checkpoint.
The tour record can be created manually, such as by writing entries into a log book, which is subsequently submitted to the security company. Electronic tour tracking systems automate the process of logging the tour. With an exemplary electronic tour tracking system (ETTS), a guard touches a wand to a button fixed at each checkpoint, thereby creating an electronic record of the date and time that the checkpoint was toured. The record is stored in the wand until the guard uses a docking station where a means for extracting the electronic record from the wand uploads the information to a central monitoring center (CMC) which may be located on or off the customer premises.
If the guard encounters any condition or event that should be brought to the attention of the security company and/or customer, the guard may be able to enter additional information into the wand. The additional information is entered using a keypad, or a portable set of buttons to which the guard can touch on the wand. Each of the portable set of buttons corresponds to a different condition or event, such as “broken lock” or “theft detected.” When the data from the wand is extracted and uploaded, an exception is generated, which may appear as an icon alarm or other alert mechanism at the CMC.
CMC operators typically simultaneously monitor more than one customer site in more than one geographic location, and potentially all of the customers served by the security company. When the customer sites do not include the latest software upgrade and/or are not generally compatible with the CMC systems, then data can be lost or corrupted and sometimes without the CMC operator knowing that there is a problem with the uploaded information.
In addition, upgrading software dedicated to uploading data from a local security system can be an inefficient and costly process. In many cases different customer sites run different software. As a result, the software upgrading process has to be customized to be compatible for each customer site and has to be done locally at each individual customer site. Due to the costly nature of such a process, software upgrading is not done as frequently as it should be for a number of customer sites. Often to save costs, the installation of software upgrades at customer sites are done by untrained or inadequately trained personnel. As a result, many software upgrades are inadequately completed or not completed at all. This adds to the delay of having the upgraded software on-line with the rest of a security monitoring system, which can cripple the monitoring of a remote customer site. All these factors add to the inefficiency and cost of maintaining a software system for uploading data from a local security system. Thus, a need exists for a more efficient and reliable system for uploading data from a local security system.
The present invention comprises data extraction and processing systems and methods for extracting security tour data collected by tour guards and stored in local security systems for delivery to a central monitoring center. Security tour data is collected locally by a security system and periodically checked to determine if it has previously been sent to a central monitoring center, and if it hasn't then that security tour data is prepared and sent to the central monitoring center. As new data extraction routines are become available, they are automatically identified by the local security systems and downloaded. Once downloaded, the current data extraction routine is replaced with the new data extraction routine.
The present invention is directed to a software system that automatically can extract newly recorded security information whenever it occurs and upload that information to the CMC (which may or may not be remotely located from where the security information is being electronically recorded) using the same network the CMC is connected to and utilizing simple communication protocols such as FTP. Moreover, the system extracting the recorded security data and uploading it to the CMC is automatically updated and replaced remotely and automatically when new security recording functionality is incorporated into the security system.
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The present invention is described below with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of systems, methods, apparatuses and computer program products according to an embodiment of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the figures, in which like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several drawings. The inventions may be implemented through an application program running on an operating system of a computer. The inventions also may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor based or programmable consumer electronics, mini-computers, mainframe computers, etc.
Application programs that are components of the invention may include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that implement certain abstract data types, perform certain tasks, actions, or tasks. In a distributed computing environment, the application program (in whole or in part) may be located in local memory, or in other storage. In addition, or in the alternative, the application program (in whole or in part) may be located in remote memory or in storage to allow for the practice of the inventions where tasks are performed by remote processing devices linked through a communications network. The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to the automated extraction and transmission of guard tour data from a security guard system and to a CMC according to a predefined periodic time interval, where the extracting system is self-updating and can be integrated into standard computer systems, rather than require its own dedicated server.
The three software routines include a data extraction routine 110, a data extraction replacer 112 and a data extraction updater 114. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention the software routines are implemented in Visual Basic 6 and run on the Microsoft Windows operating system on the local computer 108, however, one of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate implementing the same functionality of the present invention in a number of comparable software languages (e.g., C++, Java, etc.) and various operating systems (e.g., Linux, DOS, Unix).
The local computer 108 of the customer premise 124 is connected to a central monitoring device through a network 118. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the network 118 may be a WAN, LAN, PSTN, Wireless, or any other type of network appreciable by one of ordinary skill in the art. The network also may support various protocols, such as FTP. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, the local computer 108 may be integrated with the local security system 100. This can be done by integrating the local computer 108 into the security system docking station 104 or portable devices carried by security guards such as the security guard wand devices 102 themselves or other devices such as radios, PDA's, etc. Alternatively, the local computer 108 and the local security system 100 may be remote from each other so as to communicate through a connection 106. The connection 106 may be a local network such as a LAN, WLAN and/or Bluetooth enabled or any other communication means appreciable by one of ordinary skill in the art. Further, in alternative embodiments of the present invention the local computer 108 and local security system may also access the same memory devices (e.g., combine the local security system database 122 and the database 116 as one memory device).
As shown in
If step 200 determines that no indicator is set, then step 202 is invoked to create one. This ensures that no other data extraction will occur until this routine ends. Next, at step 204, the application checks to see if it needs to be replaced. To do this, a local folder location located in the database 116 is read to check if a new data extraction routine exists (referred to as “tpclient_new.exe” in
If no executable file is found, the data extraction routine's next step 210 is to identify the most recently downloaded guard tour data that was downloaded by a security device (e.g., security wand or pen) of the local security system 110 to the guard tour system's database 122 or some other storage location. In an alternative form of the present invention, the guard tour system's database 122 and the database 116 can be located in the same storage device. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention the guard tour data is stored in the form of a text file, although one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the use of other formats of data storage and form.
Next, step 212 is invoked to determine if the identified guard tour data has previously been uploaded to the CMC 120. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that is can be done by time stamping the logged guard tour data or various types of time indicators or flags that are updated and/or included with the guard tour data when it is logged. In the present embodiment, the tour data and the time it was logged is used to determine if the tour data has been previously extracted and uploaded before by the data extraction routine 110. If that guard tour data has been previously extracted and uploaded by the data extractor routine 110, then the application proceeds to step 218, deletes the flag it set, waits a specified time interval, and starts over with the checking the indicator and proceeds with the aforementioned steps.
If the tour data has not been previously uploaded, then step 214 prepares the tour data for upload and step 216 transmits (or uploads) the tour data to the CMC 120. After step 216 is completed the application proceeds to step 218. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the preparing step 214 may be done by automatically creating a formatted text file for each day that has passed since the tour data was last transmitted to a CMC plus one extra day. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other time intervals than a day may also be used in the preparing step. In a typical operation, only hours pass between each upload, however the system uploads both the current day's data and the prior day's data. This provides a snap-shot of what data has been logged for at least the past 24 hours, and this information can be analyzed in whole or in part at the CMC 120.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the tour data is transmitted via FTP protocol, however, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate various ways of transmitting the same data (e.g., email, fax, LAN, WLAN, dedicated modem, dial-up, Ethernet, etc.). Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the CMC can be remote from the system running the data extraction routine or integrated with it. Once the files have been uploaded via FTP, the system waits a specified time interval and the data extraction process starts over.
If no flag is found at step 300, step 302 creates one to ensure other applications do not start while it is running. Next, step 304 retrieves the most recent version file of the data extraction routine 110 from the database 116. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the version file can be retrieved from various data storage locations. The version file (referred to as “tpclient.exe production software version” file in
Next, step 306 reads the data extraction routine local software version which is stored in a database 116, and if the production version is higher (i.e., newer) than the local version, then step 308 is invoked, and the application downloads the latest version of the data extraction routine 110 from the CMC 120 and stores it to the database 116, and if required, renames the latest version, such as “tpclient_new.exe.”. If the production version is the same as what is used currently by the local computer or is an older version, then the application does not perform a download. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention the data extraction updater can use the same network 118 to retrieve new updated data extraction routines for storage in the database 116 or any other alternative data storage location (e.g., local security system database 122).
If no flag is found, step 402 creates one to make sure other applications do not start while it is running. After creating a flag, step 404 is invoked to read a local folder located in a database 116. Next, step 406 checks that both the new data extraction routine (referred to as “tpclient_new.exe” in
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the data extraction routine 110, data extraction replacer 112, and data extraction updater 114 may be integrated with one another as opposed to being three separate routines. Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that both the data extraction replacer 112 and the data extraction updater 114 themselves can be replaced or updated with the use of the CMC 120 the same way the data extraction routine 110 can and is described as above. In addition, the data extraction routine 110, data extraction replacer 112, and data extraction updater 114, do not need to be run on a local computer 108 at a customer premise 124, but can be integrated and implemented on the security guard docking stations 104, or portable devices carried by security guards such as the security guard wand devices 102 themselves or other devices (e.g., radios, PDA's, etc.).
Accordingly, many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/642,599 filed Jan. 10, 2005, titled “Data Extraction and Processing Systems and Methods,” which is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60642599 | Jan 2005 | US |
