Patent Application
20140122323
The application pertains to regional security systems. More particularly, the application pertains to such systems which can operate on an unmonitored basis, but wherein third party monitoring can be provided on-demand.
Residential and commercial security monitoring systems can effectively provide indicators of alarm, or event indicating conditions such as intrusions, smoke, gas, fire, water leakage or the like. In response to such indicators, first responders such as fire or police services can be contacted. The contact usually requires some form of recognition and then communications to the appropriate service.
Current residential and commercial security systems are unmonitored, self-monitored, or, are professionally monitored by a central station, or third party monitoring service. Unmonitored and self-monitored systems do not require paying a monthly monitoring fee to a displaced monitoring station, or, other third party monitoring service, and are increasingly popular. The disadvantage however is that an event may be missed. In that event, police/fire services might not be dispatched to a building.
For those people who are reluctant to pay a regular monthly fee for security monitoring, it would be advantageous to be able to order “monitoring-on-demand”. For example, if a home owner is leaving town for a weekend they might want professional monitoring of the home. However they might not want monitored security for the rest of the week when they are at home since security may not have the same value proposition at those times. An analogy may be “zipcar” where city dwellers who use the subway during the week might only need a car for an occasional weekend retreat upstate.
One way of providing monitoring-on-demand would be to build a central station business model where the account is only charged for an “arm-away” event. A disadvantage is that the account holder is still captive to the pricing of a single central station.
While disclosed embodiments can take many different forms, specific embodiments hereof are shown in the drawings and will be described herein in detail with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles hereof, as well as the best mode of practicing same, and is not intended to limit the claims hereof to the specific embodiment illustrated.
In embodiments hereof a monitoring-on-demand service could directly undertake requested monitoring of a regional security system, or could redirect messages for service to the physically closest, or to the lowest bidding central station service. For example a service provided by Honeywell International, Inc. assignee of this application, commercially offered under brand name, ALARMNET, could be used to gather “armed away” events and establish a monitoring session (pay per hour or pay per day) with an established monitoring station with the lowest rates, or it could directly provide monitoring for these variable, or, fixed term sessions. The method of payment should be flexible, and convenient, preferably electronic, as this type of customer does not want a fixed monthly contract. For example, a pay-per-use arrangement, via a mobile phone based electronic wallet near field communications (NFC) system can be used.
In one aspect, an NFC reader can be incorporated into a security system. When the associated phone or smart card is swiped/held/bumped or moved in the reader field, the system recognizes a request for monitoring, arms-away, and deducts a payment for a predetermined arming period. The associated central station, or alternatively a brokered central station provided via a redirection service such as the ALARMNET service, then begins monitoring the system for the fixed period, or until the phone, or card, is re-swiped to stop monitoring. Charges and associated payments also cease.
The NFC payment method provides a secure, simple, one-time payment method and provides the advantages of unmonitored security (no monthly fee) with those of a monitored system—i.e., police/fire response when needed. In accordance herewith, a method for providing “monitored security on demand” can include NFC transceivers for a financial transaction to enable/disable security system monitoring. Advantageously, such methods provide intermittent professional third party system monitoring when the occupant or user of the monitored space is out of town or otherwise unavailable to self-monitor the system and premises.
In another aspect, payment can be implemented from a website using a credit card for a real-time payment, or, via a service such as PAYPAL and a user's pre-paid account. Payments could also be made at a retail kiosk.
Service activating devices can also include wireless tablets, personal digital assistant-type products, or computers without limitation. Keyboards associated with the respective security system can also be enabled to receive demands for monitored security. Dates and, or time durations can also be specified by any of the entry devices.
Security system 12 can include a near field communications reader 14 which can communicate wirelessly with a user device 20. Device 20 can include without limitation, smart phones, smart cards or the like. As discussed above such instruments can be used to enter a demand for monitoring and establish the required credit, or payment arrangements via a credit or payment system 24 with which the system 12 can communicate for example via the Internet.
Demands for monitoring of the operation of system 12 can also be entered by a user via internet enabled tablets or computers, such as unit 22, without limitation. Alternately, a security system, keyboard 14a, in wired or wireless communication with system 12 can be used to enter the request for monitoring service, and specify schedule and duration as needed.
Requests for monitoring can be forwarded, for example by system 12, or the credit establishing entity 24, to an election/monitoring element 26 which can evaluate the request, and determine if unit 26 should carry out the monitoring or if the request should be forwarded to a member of a plurality 30 of available monitoring stations/ services MS-1 . . . MS-n. Evaluation of a monitoring station MS-i can be based on location, duration that monitoring has been requested, financial issues based on information received from entity 24 or the like, all without limitation.
In summary, monitoring-on-demand can be provided for a residential or commercial security system as requested. Coverage periods and payment arrangements can be entered. An evaluation can be carried out to determine which one, of an available plurality of monitoring services, should be selected to implement the requested monitoring.
From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.
Further, logic flows depicted in the FIGURES do not require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be add to, or removed from the described embodiments.
