WO2014072910A1

WO2014072910A1 - Smart alarm system with user confirmed video stream notification of psap in combination with data safety and public emergency involvement using smartphone agents

Info

Publication number: WO2014072910A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/059941
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bent ERECIUS CHRISTENSEN
Original assignee: Innoware A/S
Priority date: 2012-11-06
Filing date: 2013-11-06
Publication date: 2014-05-15
Also published as: DK201500228A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an alarm system, which based on the current and emerging field of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), provides user confirmed alarm event notification of the public emergency services via an automated central alarm monitoring and control centre, supporting secured live video streaming from the location of the alarm event, directly to the emergency dispatch, using a compact alarm system equipment based on ICT for fixed and mobile installations, and further supporting personal security using a smartphone application. A method of data protection is imposed restricting user access to surveillance data, to a current alarm event situation, where data access by public emergency services requires grant of access rights by the user, through a direct or indirect confirmation process. The aim of this procedure is to prevent misuse of surveillance data, both by users and public services, avoiding the concept of Big Brother like surveillance of private, business or public areas.

Description

SMART ALARM SYSTEM WITH USER CONFIRMED VIDEO STREAM NOTIFICATION OF PSAP IN COMBINATION WITH DATA SAFETY AND PUBLIC EMERGENCY INVOLVEMENT USING SMARTPHONE AGENTS FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an alarm system, which based on the current and emerging field of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), provides user confirmed alarm event notification of the public emergency services via an automated central alarm monitoring and control centre, supporting secured live video streaming from the location of the alarm event, directly to the emergency dispatch, using a compact alarm system equipment based on ICT for fixed and mobile installations, and further supporting personal security using a smartphone application.

A method of data protection is imposed restricting user access to surveillance data, to a current alarm event situation, where data access by public emergency services requires grant of access rights by the user, through a direct or indirect confirmation process. The aim of this procedure is to prevent misuse of surveillance data, both by users and public services, avoiding the concept of Big Brother like surveillance of private, business or public areas.

A further feature of the invention is the involvement of the public in crime and emergency response, through the use of smartphone agents, who are citizens in the local geographical area of the emergency, that will be notified of the

emergency event and type, in parallel with emergency services, allowing fast local response to emergency events, either by direct involvement or by observation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Existing alarm systems can in general terms be divided into 3 main categories: Owned alarm systems with direct notification via telephone, leased or owned alarm system with notification via an alarm monitoring and control centre and finally leased or owned alarm systems with alarm monitoring control centre combined with a watchmen service. Most systems are installed for the purpose of protecting values kept at private, business or public facilities. The method of detection, notification and response to alarm conditions has remained unchanged for decades. Concurrent systems involves several levels in the notification process, and even where video surveillance is installed, the surveillance data is often not available for emergency services until they arrive at the site. This has a delaying factor in the way emergency services can respond to an alarm notification.

For burglary the alarm notification process today is that alarm notifications are forwarded to an alarm monitoring and control centre or directly to the owner via the telephone network. Then the user or a security guard responds to the alarm by physically appearing at the site in order to confirm a burglary, prior to alerting the police. Most often, the burglar is long gone, and leaves little or no traces or other means of identification, which makes investigation difficult. In general an alarm system will not scare off burglars, as they know that alarm response is slow and chances of getting caught are slim. Alarm systems and services with integrated video surveillance have started to emerge on the market, which aids the

perpetrator identification part of the process, but the information is not forwarded real-time to the police, in time to support real-time identification, which can help improving the emergency response pattern.

Regarding fire alarms there are various systems available on the market, ranging from simple smoke detectors, to advanced fire detection systems with direct alarm notification to the fire brigade. All systems are prone to false alarming, due to equipment malfunction or unintended alarm activation due to smoking, cooking, welding or other smoke generating activities. The many false alarms, causes unnecessary dispatches of the fire brigade.

Facilities in danger of robberies are equipped with one or more alarm panic buttons, often in combination with burglary alarm systems, which when manually activated, transfers an alarm event notification to the monitoring control centre, which is authorized to alert the police or PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). Robberies are normally executed fast and most often the robber is disguised to hide the identity. In any case, the police will not know what kind of scenario they are responding to when arriving at the crime scene and investigation can only start once they are on site. Police patrols responding to the scene of an armed robbery, do so most often, without knowing the seriousness of the situation, as it can be anything from a false alarm to heavily armed and potentially violent robbers.

The market for mobile alarm systems for vehicles and other crafts is well established, with various solutions implementing detection for break-in and theft. These solutions can be combined with tracking solutions based on GPS and several companies have specialized in tracking services, most common for more expensive cars, trucks and boats. Systems exist with camera surveillance, but no system has been identified introducing forwarding of video streams to a monitoring control center or the police.

Handheld personal security solutions for citizens has started appearing also for the smartphone market, to help protecting citizens against attacks, assaults, street robbery and rape. Existing solutions all rely on activating an application on the smartphone, which sends locations information, SMS, pictures and video to friends or other predefined helpers such as security companies. None of these solutions ensure immediate and fast help in the area of the incidence, and starting an application on a smartphone while under attack might be difficult if not impossible. In addition to above citizens walking in the streets are prone to theft of bags and smartphones, and with the ever increasing functionality of the smartphones they are used for many application such as navigation in the car, where it is easy to forget the phone in its holder, which again can cause break in to the car and theft of the smartphone.

Various systems are in place to aid tracking of missing people, especially elderly or children, but they are dedicated, and the solutions raise ethical questions on the rights to privacy versus personal security, e.g. in connection to Alzheimer patients. All existing security solutions face the same problem, that the notification process to the public emergency services often involves several time consuming steps, and the police or rescue service only gets an good overview of the situation, when they arrive on the site of the emergency event. Witness descriptions are often inaccurate and can be misleading, and in cases where video surveillance is installed, the video information is available only after the responding emergency units arrives on site.

In most cases emergency events take place within a short distance from other people in the area, both professionals and ordinary people, who could take immediate and fast action, if they were informed of the event. This is true for both security and rescue emergency events.

US patent US 2005/0174229 Al addresses some aspects of the problems described above, with a method of providing live video and audio data streams from a monitored site, via a central monitoring and data centre, to a public safety access point. From the central monitoring centre a field responder can be notified, also with a live video/audio feed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a pervasive security solution, which in an automated manner involves the user of an alarm system, the public emergency services and most importantly the public, in order to ensure a fast and effective emergency response, by forwarding confirmed alarm notifications, typically including AV (Audio/Video) data streams, from the emergency site to the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). The system is centred around an automated and computerized monitoring control centre, based on a fail-safe cluster server, which provides various services to ensure direct user confirmed alarm notification of a PSAP, providing live and stored video and audio streams from the location of the alarm event, together with user and location information. Data are buffered throughout the local system, such that the camera unit(s) buffers data, and transfers them to the central unit, which again buffer data towards the central alarm monitoring and control centre (AMCC), depending on transmission line bandwidth. In all cases a live feed is maintained, with reduced frame rate depending on bandwidth of the transmission line, while the full data set is maintained locally and transferred to the central alarm- monitoring server when the bandwidth allows it. This ensures a live AV feed from the monitored site, while ensuring that a full resolution video data set, for later investigation is made available. In an overall aspect, the invention preferably relates to a method of handling alarm events, the method comprising receiving an electronic alarm notification at a central alarm monitoring and control center from a location being remote to the central alarm monitoring and control center; determining whether an alarm event confirmation is required for transferring the alarm event to a PSAP if an alarm event confirmation is required, the central alarm monitoring and control center notifies one or more pre-defined users about the alarm event, said notification includes information as to the present scene at said location, and if one or more such confirmation are received by the central alarm monitoring and control center, directing the alarm event to the PSAP.

Methods according to the present invention typically utilize databases, hardware in general, such as computer servers, work stations and alarm systems and functionality provided by suitable instruction sets to processing units. This means e.g. that information is retrieved and stored in databases, information being received from e.g. alarm systems and that functionality as to e.g. processing of data may be distributed. Thus, although the wording "utilizes" is used herein, this does not necessarily mean that the feature referred to may not be a part of the invention. On the contrary, utilizing may refer to that the method includes various features.

In the present context a number of terms are used in a manner being ordinary to a skilled person, some of which will be summarized in the following :

Alarm event is preferably used to mean an event at a monitored site, requiring involvement of law enforcement or rescue authorities. Alarm notification is preferably used to mean a method of sending a message electronically to a user or PSAP, with information that an alarm event is taking place. An alarm event session preferably covers all activities and related data storage, in the time from an alarm event starts, until it is terminated by a user or a PSAP operator.

User is preferably used to mean a user of the alarm system is normally the subscriber, but the subscriber can assign other subscribers/SPHERE agents or create dedicated users, which are allowed to operate the alarm system or receive alarm confirmation notifications and access the system to engage the confirmation process. Initial user authorization by direct or indirect manual confirmation from one or more users is preferably used to mean that an alarm event session is initiated by a user manually, e.g. by activating a panic button or the user manually transmits a confirmation from e.g. smartphone. A computer software application is preferably used to mean a software product comprising instructions for logical processing unit, which software product when loaded into a memory accessible for the logical processing unit controls the operations of the logical processing unit.

The AMCC provides a method of data access exclusion of alarm system

subscribers/users and public authorities, thereby preventing misuse of private surveillance data. The user of the alarm system is normally the subscriber, but the subscriber can assign other subscribers/SPHERE agents or create dedicated users, which are allowed to receive alarm confirmation notifications and access the system to engage the confirmation process. The user of the alarm system is only authorized to access a live and stored surveillance data stream in case of an alarm event, and the public authorities are only granted data access through an alarm system user confirmation process. Thus the system cannot be used to spy on other people by an alarm system owner, nor can it be used by public authorities in connection with surveillance of private or public areas, to spy on the public. An alarm event is an event, taking place at a monitored site, requiring involvement of law enforcement or rescue authorities. An alarm session covers all activities and related data storage, in the time frame form an alarm event starts, until it is terminated by the PSAP or the alarm system user in case of a false alarm. Once an alarm session is closed by the PSAP, the users data access to the alarm event session data is removed. The alarm system user is not able to extract or download video streams for use elsewhere, e.g. for publishing on social medias.

The AMCC will continuously monitor all subscribed alarm systems and smartphone applications, via the Internet connection using an ID-based heartbeat function, issuing warning notifications to the alarm system subscriber is case of disruptions. This solution is comparable to services provided by the telephone companies alarm-nets. All transmission lines are protected from unwanted access using encrypted protocols such as VPN or similar.

The alarm system is a new development as existing systems does not provide the functionality necessary to support the overall concept functionality. The alarm system design is centred on a base station or central unit, which is implemented using mobile ICT technologies e.g. smartphone, allowing large-scale integration in a compact and user-friendly design. It is operated locally from one or more graphical touch displays, running an easy to use GUI (graphical user interface) known from e.g. smartphones. The display further implements fingerprint recognition and a build-in camera, allowing face recognition login, together with 2- way audio communication with build-in microphone and loudspeaker.

The alarm system works in a decentralized manner, as all communication to/from the central unit is carried out through wired or wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or a dedicated wireless protocol such as Bluetooth for handheld units. Power is provided through the LAN wires using PoE (Power over Ethernet) or similar (e.g. USB), while wireless unit are powered locally. All units' support the UPNP protocol allowing plug and play functionality for easy setup and configuration of the system. Each alarm zone will be equipped with one or more remote terminals such as camera units and sensors. Thus the alarm system is not preconfigured with a fixed number of zones, but zones can be added logically by configuration. The cameras are equipped with additional functionality such as motion detection (PIR or LIDAR), glass foil circuitry, open/close detection circuits for connection to door/window contacts or smoke detectors. For each function it is possible to configure a name, location and functionality, e.g. break-in, fire, panic button, etc. All attached units will automatically appear on the configuration utility at the graphical touch display, and must be accepted by the administrator/user of the alarm system, before final use and configuration. Furthermore the remote terminals include loudspeaker and microphone, allowing 2-way communication to and from the monitored site.

Configuration of the equipment can be done locally through the graphical touch display, or remotely from a centralized web site, or using a smartphone application, which also allows remote operation. Access to the system is secured by login, which could implement user-id/password, face recognition or fingerprint

recognition. Functionality can be further expanded to include motion detection from the video stream and glass/wood break detection using the microphone. The alarm system customer buys the alarm system or applications together with subscriptions either direct via a web shop, which also allows online configuration and setup of the alarm system, or via dealers/retail. The customer is provided with an online system configurator, which guides the customer through the process of determining the ideal or required system, prior to purchasing.

In the event of a burglary, the alarm system detects the intrusion and notifies the AMCC by sending an alarm event notification, containing information such system ID, type of emergency, location, etc. Based on the user configuration stored in the AMCC, the server notifies on shift each person on a contacts list until a response is received from one of the persons on the contact list. Normally the first contact person on the list will be the subscriber of the alarm system. The contact person(s) receives the notification from the AMCC via a smartphone application, a telephone call or SMS/MMS, depending on user preference and configuration. The contact person is then given access to live video feed from the monitored site via the smartphone application or a dedicated web site, which further allows remote control of the monitored site, and by manual confirmation the contact person can request a transfer of the alarm notification to the PSAP, granting them access to live and stored event video streams through a dedicated PSAP operator application. The manual confirmation is made by the contact person by activation of an dedicated push-button the graphical user interface, provided on a dedicated remote application on a smartphone or web, which causes an alarm notification to be issued towards the nearest PSAP, with a link to the ongoing alarm event session. This allows the PSAP operator to follow the event as it occurs, and further enables the PSAP operator to remotely operate the alarm system, including selection of sources, light controls and initiate talks with wanted or unwanted people onsite via 2-way audio link.

In case the contact person cancels an alarm notification due to a false alarm, the alarm event session is closed, but the session data is kept on the central server for a limited time. The user can then grant PSAP access to the data at a later stage if required by an unforeseen situation. The alarm system can further be used in a kind of reverse mode, for monitoring of people living alone, especially elderly persons. In this configuration the system registers lack of movement within the residence for a given time period, after which the indirect notification process is started. This allows notification of e.g. next of kind or neighbours, in case no movement has been detected at the residence of a person living alone.

Fires are handled in same manor as burglaries, with the difference that the alarm is initiated by a fire or smoke detector, and the event notification type will be fire instead of break-in. The user will be notified in a process like the one used for burglaries, where a contact person confirms a fire by accessing the real-time video stream from the monitored site, via the dedicated remote application. In case of fire, the alarm can be confirmed directly as a fire emergency, which is forwarded to the PSAP with type set to fire. The PSAP can likewise access the live video streams and dispatch the fire department to the monitored site. Fire emergency buttons can be installed on site, which allows direct user notification of the PSAP in case of fire, which allows the PSAP to monitor the fire in real-time. This feature also helps preventing false fire alarms. For robberies, assaults, attacks, medical emergencies and home intrusions, the notification and confirmation process is more straight forward and direct, as one or more users activate one or more local panic buttons, thereby initiating the alarm event, providing confirmation of the alarm event at the same time, allowing the central AMCC to perform an immediate forward of the alarm notification directly to the PSAP. The direct notification and confirmation process can be used at both fixed e.g. buildings and sites and mobile installations e.g. taxi's, busses, trains and other vehicles and crafts.

The alarm system also implements a method for registering access to a site or facility by use of video streams. This could be a manual process in prevention of trick theft: When the doorbell (a reconfigured panic button) is activated, an external door video camera is started and the video stream is forwarded to the graphical touch display and in parallel to the central AMCC. If the guest is disguised or otherwise hides his identity for the user, the door is not to be opened. In any case, the video data is kept on the AMCC for a limited time period, allowing the user to grant the police access to the data, in case a later trick theft investigation is required. The alarm system can be configured to operate in a more automated manner, using a combined motion detector and video camera e.g. at an entrance. This could be used at public offices or businesses to register all access to a site or facility. Video data for each event is stored on the AMCC for a limited time period. Common to these solutions is that the user has no access to the video data, but has the possibility to grant the PSAP or police access to the data. The data are automatically deleted after a predefined time period, unless the alarm system subscriber has marked them for use for investigation purposes.

For personal security the system will offer a smartphone application, from which a person quickly can alert the PSAP in case of an emergency, and the build-in GPS informs the PSAP on the users position, while live audio/video allows real-time monitoring of the situation from the PSAP. The PSAP receives additional user information with the alarm event notification, such as name, age, address, personal id number, telephone number, picture, etc and subscriber configured contact information to family or friends. The PSAP can furthermore establish a real time audio communication with the smartphone user.

Activation of an alarm on a smartphone based personal security application, is further supported by a hand-held wireless panic button unit, connected via

Bluetooth or similar to the smartphone. This allows for quick notification, in situations where it might be difficult or impossible to activate the smartphone application. An added bonus is that the device functions as an anti-theft system, as the handheld unit and smartphone will sound an alarm, if the connection is broken. Thus if the smartphone is stolen, the handheld device will notify the smartphone user that it is gone, and at the same time the smartphone sounds an alarm, informing the smartphone user where it is.

Personal security also involves missing persons, especially children and demented elderly people. These people can be equipped with a smartphone and tracking subscription, provided by a third party subscriber, which must have legal rights to obtain such a subscription, such as parenthood or an administrator in a nursing home. Data information, such as name, address, age and picture on the person being tracked, must be added to the subscription configuration. The person for whom tracing is wanted is then equipped with the smartphone and the application will automatically obtain GPS positions at a regular basis, and report this to the AMCC, which keeps the information for a limited period. In case the person is missing, the subscriber can notify the PSAP, which will be given access to the tracking data. In this way, no entity has direct access to trace another persons whereabouts, and only in the case of an expected emergency, can the PSAP or police be given access to the tracking data.

Another feature is the introduction of SPHERE (SmartPHone Emergency REsponse) Agents, which is a way to increase the public awareness to crime or incidents in their immediate geographical surroundings. SPHERE agents are notified of geographically localized events, through a smartphone application, which can be downloaded from a public application service such as AppStore or Android Market. The SPHERE agent creates a profile on the AMCC with personal information such as name, profession and contact details. If a SPHERE agent upon reception of an SPHERE notification decides to take action, he notifies the system and PSAP via the dedicated smartphone SPHERE application. He can then use the camera and GPS to document events on the scene. The police are able to follow online which SPHERE agents are present in the vicinity and which of them has responded to take action.

Notification of SPHERE agents can be automatic using a subscription profile or manually by the PSAP. A homeowner can create a SPHERE agent list on his subscription profile, limiting automatic notification to nearest neighbours and friends. The PSAP operator can manually notify and communicate with selected SPHERE agents based on location information received from the SPHERE agent's smartphone. From the SPHERE agent responses, the PSAP can expand the SPHERE agent notification area and thereby follow the escape route of e.g. robbers.

Police patrols can as well be SPHERE agents if they are equipped with a

smartphone.

All information gathered by SPHERE agents, such as ID, video and reports are stored with the main alarm event session on the AMCC, which allows the PSAP to later retrieve the information for the purpose of investigation and documentation of the event.

The SPHERE agent can also notify PSAP of other non-personal emergency events. In these cases it functions like telephone call to 112 (911), but is supported by user profile data and online video and audio. This could include burglary, robbery, violence, driving under influence, traffic accidents, etc. The call is bidirectional, which allows professional guidance to the citizen on site. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. l : Conceptual diagram showing the overall elements and data paths of the invention. FIG. 2: Conceptual diagram of a burglary or fire emergency event. FIG. 3 : Conceptual diagram of a robbery or assault emergency event.

FIG. 4: Conceptual diagram of a trick theft event.

FIG. 5: Invention elements and interconnection schematic.

FIG. 6: Configuration of a server site in an AMCC. FIG. 7 : Flow chart diagram of emergency event handling on a server in the central AMCC.

FIG. 8 : Overall block schematic of the client alarm system.

FIG. 9 : Block schematic of the central unit of the client alarm system. FIG. 10 : Block schematic of the operator panel/display of the alarm system. FIG. 11 : Block schematic of the camera and sensor module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. l the conceptual design of the invention is centered round a central alarm monitoring and control center (AMCC) 110 operating in an

automated manner, and which handles all incoming emergency event notifications including, but not limited to alarm systems for fixed installations at facilities and sites 130 or mobile alarm system installations in vehicles and crafts 170, fire alarms and medical emergencies 140, robbery and assault alarm systems 150, personal security systems and applications 160, where the AMCC 110

operationally is unmanned and the user 135 of the alarm system is responsible for confirming an emergency event, by an either direct or indirect confirmation process. By indirect confirmation means that the subscriber of the alarm system or an appointed contact person, not present at an unattended and monitored site, is notified by the AMCC 110 prior to notification of the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) 120, and is given remote control access to the alarm system at the monitored site via a smartphone or web application, providing to access the live or stored video streams of the alarm event session, allowing the user to confirm the emergency, by manually forwarding the alarm notification to the PSAP 120.

Examples of indirect confirmation are burglary and fire. By direct confirmation is meant that a person who is present at the site of the alarm event activates a local sensor, e.g . push button, manually, causing the alarm notification message to be forwarded directly to the PSAP 120 via the AMCC 110. Examples alarm events having direct confirmations are robberies, assaults, attacks, medical emergencies and home intrusions. The confirmation process as outlined above, ensures that the PSAP 120 only receives alarm notifications, which are confirmed manually by a person related to the monitored site. All alarm notifications, which are electronic messages sent from a monitored site to an AMCC 110, are initiated and

maintained with a real-time live video/audio stream from the monitored alarm system or smartphone software application, which through the confirmation process, handled by the AMCC 110,is forwarded to a dedicated alarm management console to the assigned PSAP 120 allowing the dispatch operator to monitor prioritized alarm sessions with live video from the location of the emergencies, with the possibility to remotely operate key features of an alarm system and at the same time interact with people at the emergency site via a 2-way audio link. Based on the live information gathered from the emergency site, the PSAP operator can dispatch emergency response units 190 with information on the situation at the emergency site, providing emergency response operators with means for better response planning and management. The process of allowing the PSAP access to the video streams from a monitored site allows improved emergency response management and further limits the number of false alarms. A database at the AMCC holds information on all available PSAP sites and related alarm management consoles. Each PSAP site 120 can have multiple alarm management console installed and in operation, and it is possible to transfer alarm events between alarm management consoles, and PSAP operator can even forward alarm events to other cooperative PSAP sites 120. Optionally an alarm management console can be designated as master an overview of all ongoing emergency activities, and provides means of limiting alarm session to an overall emergency event, for better overview in disaster situation.

SmartPHone Emergency REsponse agents (SPHERE) 180 are citizens, equipped with a smartphone with a dedicated smartphone application (app), providing an online data link between the AMCC and the citizen located in the vicinity of the emergency, allowing fast local emergency response, based on direct notification from the AMCC 110 or by manual notification by the PSAP operator. The SPHERE agent 180 will be notified depending on the user profile configuration stored on the AMCC 110. For direct SPHERE notification the alarm system subscriber configures a SPHERE agent list in the subscriber profile, obtained from a global list of all SPHERE agents 180 in the system, which will be provided as a user service, including an advanced SPHERE agent search facility. Selected SPHERE agents 180 can be, but is not limited to, family members, colleagues, friends, security companies, watchmen & guards, or professional SPHERE agents 180, such as policemen, paramedics, doctors, nurses and firemen, allowing SPHERE agents 180 with a professional emergency education to react on local events, at all times.

Moving to FIG. 2 a conceptual chart of an unattended alarm system configuration for handling of burglary, fire, gas or flooding alarm events is shown, where the monitored site 200 being a home, shop, office, open site etc, is equipped with an alarm system connected to an AMCC 220 via a secured internet line 210, where the connection is established from the alarm system, and a line monitor function is implemented allowing the AMCC 220 to continuously monitor the connection and status of all subscribed alarm systems. The alarm system (FIG. 7) is equipped with a number of detectors and associated high or low definition video cameras and when armed, the alarm system continuously records the last preconfigured number of seconds of video/audio from all cameras, where the buffering time is

configurable by the user. Break-ins, emerging fires, etc., are detected by

movement or smoke detectors respectively, which causes the alarm system to enter an alarm event state with automatic acquisition of high resolution still- pictures from cameras activated by a detector, where the first step is creating an event Audio/Video stream based on the buffered data streams, appending live Audio/Video streams to form a complete data set, covering the preconfigured time before the detected event, until the alarm management process stops the recording. A detection event automatically assigns a mark to the video stream at the time of detection, providing a fast search option for users and PSAP operators, when looking for intruder or start of emergency event. The data streams are buffered locally in the central unit of the alarm system, ensuring correct and full transfer of a complete data set to the AMCC 220. The alarm system notifies the AMCC 220 of the alarm event via the secured data line 210, with a message including information such as equipment serial number and type of alarm. Upon reception of the alarm event notification at the AMCC 220, an alarm handling service creates an alarm session with a session ID, storage allocation, report and log files, and immediately assigns access rights to the session data in combination with an encryption scheme for all data files and records. Then the AMCC 220 establishes a remote data connection to the alarm system, implementing a remote control protocol for remote operation of the alarm system and further a buffered and a real-time data streaming connection, for full transfer of the continuously growing buffered data set, and a live video stream of the camera initially selected by the alarm system based on detection status and later remotely selected by the alarm system user or PSAP operator 290, where video frame rate and resolution is adapted, depending on available bandwidth, ensuring a live and real-time video feed at almost all conditions. The buffered data and real-time data streams are continuously combined and updated to a single session data set. Once the alarm event session has been created, the session service obtains the list of contact persons to be notified and initiates communication 230 to the first person 245 in the contacts list, according to the configuration where communication can be a smartphone application via public network or by telephone, moving to the next contact person on the list, if the communication attempt fails for the current contact 245. The contact person 245 responds by establishing the session link either directly using the smartphone application or by entering a dedicated website using a login procedure. Contact persons can have a SPHERE profile on the system, where notification will be carried out through the SPHERE application, whereas other subscribed or configured system users on the contacts list, can access the system using their own profile, which will provide access to the current alarm event session, with access rights as a contact person. Available on both the smartphone and web application 255 is a remote operations interface, allowing real-time and playback access to the current alarm event video stream and means of selecting camera source for real-time viewing. This allows the responding contact person 245 to determine the cause of the alarm and in case of a false alarm, to cancel the event session, which in all cases will be stored in the computer server 225 at the AMCC 220 for a limited period, including video data and log files. In case of an unauthorized intrusion, fire or other emergency event, the user 245 can take action depending on the cause of the emergency, where incidents such as ongoing burglary or fires, which requires immediate action by law enforcement agents, are initiated by activating a control on the user interface of the user software

application 255, which causes an immediate notification 250 270 of the nearest PSAP 260, with reference and access to the current alarm event session. The PSAP operator 290 receives the alarm notification at an alarm management console

280, which is in constant data connection with the server 225 of AMCC 220. The incoming alarm event notification is added to a prioritized list on the graphical user interface, and the operator 290 is warned by an audio signal that a new alarm event has arrived. The priority of the incoming event depends the type of alarm, where events with danger to persons have higher priority than e.g. burglaries. The PSAP operator 290 selects an alarm event, by choosing it from the list control on the user interface, whereby another software window provides operational access to the alarm event session. The PSAP operator 290 can select camera source and playback record video data of the event, enabling identification and behavioral patterns of objects of the alarm event. Dispatch of emergency response units, will be supported with real-time visual information from the monitored site 200, allowing full transparent emergency information for improved emergency response management. On the alarm management console 280 a dedicated graphical window will display a GIS (Geographical Information System) map (street, satellite image, or topographic) of the local area of the alarm event, highlighting the location of the alarm site(s), and location of all available SPHERE agents 280 in the vicinity of the alarm event location, with additional information on status and profession of the available SPHERE agents 280. From the graphical display, a SPHERE notification process follows selection of one or more SPHERE agents 280, where the SPHERE agents 280 are notified 240 about the location and nature of the emergency, allowing them to react locally in a short time to the emergency event. SPHERE agents 280 confirm alarm event response through the smartphone application, and the PSAP operators' display 280 will show the response status of each SPHERE agent 280. By selecting an active SPHERE agent 280 the PSAP operator 290 can interact with the person by voice and receive real-time video stream recorded using the SPHERE agents 280 smartphone. Police officers and paramedics can be SPHERE agents 280, and be notified directly from the PSAP with forwarding of video streams from the monitored site 200. A further SPHERE agent 280 notification process is more direct and is configured by the owner of the alarm system on the subscription profile, such that the AMCC 220 automatically notifies all SPHERE agents 280 on a list configured by the subscriber of the alarm system, once the alarm event is confirmed. This allows direct notification of selected SPHERE agents 280 in parallel with the notification 270 of the PSAP 260, where pre-notified SPHERE agents 280 will appear on the PSAP alarm

management console 280, with indication that notification has taken place. Both the contact person 245 and PSAP operator 290 can follow the emergency response activity at the monitored site in real-time, where the PSAP operator 290 has access privileges and means to stop the user monitoring session if desired. Once the emergency has been handled and response activities have ended, the PSAP operator 290 stops the emergency management session, which resets the alarm system equipment at the monitored site to normal and closes all live sessions. Stored data sets on the AMCC 220, are closed, tagged and archived, with access rights limited to PSAP operators 290 or a pre-designated public authority like police or fire departments for post emergency investigation. Finally a report summarizing the emergency response is sent to the subscriber of the alarm system. A further concept in the form of a direct alarm notification process is depicted in FIG. 3 and addresses robbery, assault or medical emergencies. In these types of emergencies one or more persons are always present at the monitored site at the time of the emergency and are thus able to directly confirm the alarm event by activation of a panic button or similar. The facilities and sites 300 to be protected are equipped with an alarm system as described in above, but the system is further equipped with one or more panic buttons, attached using wired or wireless connections to the base unit. In the alarm system configuration each panic button unit is paired and a primary functionality of the button is specified i.e. robbery, assault or medical. A direct alarm notification system has many uses such as robbery alarms in banks, shops, offices, homes and vehicles e.g. taxis, busses and trains 300 where robbers seek valuable goods or cash by means of violent assault. Another field of usage is violent assaults or attacks in private homes and public offices where assailants for personal reasons seek violent confrontation with a user. A subscribed alarm system configured with panic buttons will always be armed for accepting alarm events from panic buttons, where a burglar alarm mode can be armed independent when the facility or site 300 is unattended . Like for burglary mode, all cameras will continuously record video/sound and always keep the last N seconds of data in a local buffer. When a user 310 activates a panic button, it is registered by the alarm system, which enters an alarm state, which is handled in the same way as described for burglary mode above, with the main difference being that the confirmation process is skipped, and the PSAP 340 is notified 320 350 immediately via the AMCC 330. Thus the alarm event is received at the data server 335 of the AMCC 330, and then the alarm management console 380 at the nearest PSAP 340 is notified with session status set to robbery/assault/medical, which causes the event priority to be increased to urgent and appear at the top of the list at the alarm management console 380. This provides the PSAP operator 390 with a prioritized list of emergency events on the alarm management console 380, where alarm events indicating danger to persons are prioritized at the top of the alarm event list. The live and recorded event session video streams, allows the PSAP operator 390 to monitor the event at the monitored site 300 as it unfolds, providing real-time information such as description of implicated persons, together with means of assault or seriousness of medical emergency. This provides means of prioritization of emergencies and improved emergency response management, as the response pattern can be adjusted real-time depending on the nature of the ongoing event. SPHERE agent 370 notification 360 works the same way as described for burglary mode in FIG. 2 above, as does management of the ongoing alarm session, including session closing and storage of session data with data access protection. A further application (not shown on FIG. 3) of assault alarm notification is personal security, for people located away from home in a public location, facing risk of street robbery, violent attacks or rape. Personal security is supported through the use of a smartphone and a dedicated smartphone application and subscription, by which the PSAP can be notified directly in case of an assault, according the same scheme as above. The alarm notification process it further supported by handheld panic button, linked to the smartphone using Bluetooth or other wireless protocol, which when activated notifies the smartphones personal security application, which forwards the notification to the AMCC, with information on location using GPS (Global Positioning System) or other GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and personal data such as name, address, height and a picture, allowing

responding services to identify the user. The handheld panic button has a further advantage, that it prevents theft of the smartphone, as both the panic button and the smartphone is programmed to sound an alarm if the connection is broken, which for Bluetooth means a distance of more than approx. 10 meters.

Another feature related to personal security is the possibility of tracking people using the functionality of the smartphone's navigation receiver, where people to be tracked normally would be children or elderly persons with Alzheimer's etc. The tracking feature is an add-on to the smartphone personal security application. When the user enables the tracking feature, it sends a message to the AMCC, which starts a tracking session. The smartphone application then periodically reports the geo-position back to the AMCC, where it is stored in the current tracking session. The tracking data on the central server are not available for any normal subscribed user, but in case a person is missing, the user can report this to the PSAP through a subscriber profile administration facility, whereby the PSAP operator will get access to the tracking data, which can be displayed on a geographical map on the alarm management console at the PSAP facility. This allows the police or rescue services to locate missing persons, but only after permission from a subscriber, such as next of kind . The user owning the tracking subscription for another person will not have access to the stored tracking data, but can only grant the PSAP access rights.

In FIG 4 is depicted a scenario for protection against and monitoring of trick theft, where thieves gain access to private homes 400, using what in the situation seems as innocent reasons, but really is an attempt to gain access the premises 400 for the purpose of stealing . Normally it is elderly persons who are targeted for this type of crime, as they are easily confused and distracted . The theft is only discovered later, when a purse, wallet or other valuables are found missing . The concept depicted in FIG 4 shows the principle of how trick theft is prevented or in case it has taken place, provides means of improved criminal investigation. The premises 400 to be protected is equipped with an alarm system as described in previous paragraphs, but for this purpose it is further equipped with doorbell in form of an externally mounted panic button device, configured to the alarm system as a doorbell button, and further is equipped with an externally mounted video camera device. When a visitor 415 activates the doorbell button, it gives a programmable sound inside the premises, which can be emitted from all units and sensors of the alarm system equipped with a loudspeaker, based on configuration, warning the resident that there is someone at the door. At the same time the external camera starts recording, and the video picture is shown on the operator display of the alarm system and in parallel forwarded 410 to the AMCC 420 where a recording session is created on the data server 425 and the video data stream is stored, with access rights limited to the PSAP, upon approval of the alarm system subscriber. When the resident responds to the doorbell the resident consults the operator display for identification of the visitor 415 outside the front door and if the person 415 is wearing a mask or by other means tries to disguise the identity, the resident is advised not to open the door. This is the preventive measure of the method . If the visitor 415 gains access to the premises, and it following that turns out that valuables are missing, the entrance procedure ensures a good visual description of the visitor 415 based on the stored video material at the AMCC. In case of a trick theft, the user activates a trick theft alarm on the operator panel of the alarm system, which automatically changes access rights on the stored recording sessions for investigation purposes by the police, and notifies the PSAP 450 of the event, which will have the lowest priority on the system. The police can review the recorded video material and thereby obtain a good description of the assumed thief 415. Using the alarm management console 460 the PSAP operator can extract the data sets for off line investigation.

FIG. 5 gives a system overview on how sites and equipments interrelate. The central part of the system is the AMCC 510, which is an unmanned operations center, based on a number of computer server sites 520, forming a computer server constellation, setup in a fail-safe cluster configuration, which is spread geographically at different sites. The computer server sites are interconnected using a secured and private data network, allowing internal data exchange and synchronization among the data servers, ensuring safety, reliability and integrity of the system. All users, alarm systems and event data are continuously synchronized between the servers, providing a mutual backup system among the server sites. The cluster solution and private network connections are implemented using state- of-the-art cluster and network technologies. Each server site is equipped with network connections to a public Wide Area Network (WAN) such as the Internet, where a WAN connection supports a web site for customer access and another WAN connection is used for alarm systems 530 and PSAP 560 access. The alarm systems 530 are connected via the WAN, either by wired or wireless connection or a combination of both. The alarm systems 530 are configured to connect to the nearest regional server site, but in case a server site fails, the alarm system 530 automatically establishes connection to the configured backup server site, where the network connection again is established using a secured network protocol such as VPN or similar. New customers can access the public web shop via standard Internet browser 550 and a web application service on the AMCC 510 allows purchase of equipment and subscriptions and further allows online configuration of connected alarm systems and user profiles, via a secure network connection. Existing clients and users can log into the web configuration page using account number and password, after which a secure network connection is established, for access to the user profile. The subscriber will have administrator access rights to the system, and be allowed to create additional users for the subscribed alarm system, e.g. employees or family members. For smartphone user applications 540, personal security applications 540 and SPHERE applications 540, connections to the AMCC are established through a wireless Internet connection, using a secure network protocol. The alarm management consoles 560 located at the PSAP, connects to the AMCC using a private network protocol such as VPN or similar, through which there is access to the required alarm management services. Not shown in FIG. 5 is a service connection for third party alarm companies, which allows using the AMCC and PSAP handling services, ensuring a single point of entry for the PSAP operator. Each server site in the server cluster, forming the AMCC, consists of a number of services and databases as depicted in FIG. 6, implemented on one or more computer servers, here shown with a configuration of three servers for data management 610, alarm service 650 and user services 660 respectively. Central to the system is a data management service 610, implementing databases for subscribed equipments and users 615, PSAP information 620, Alarm event database 625, and finally a database for registered SPHERE agents 630. An optional feature not shown is a database of third party alarm service companies, subscribed for using the PSAP notification functionality and services. A dedicated cluster service is implemented, which allows synchronization of databases between server sites in the cluster configuration, via a protected public network or leased line 640. A front-end server and service is provided implementing a web server 660 for customer and subscriber services, made publicly available through a firewall to the WAN 670 and with internal access to the database management services 610 in charge of administrating the equipment and user database 615. The web shop with system configurator, sales, stock and payment services is not described in detail here, but will be implemented on the client services web server 660. The web server 660 provides a secured network connection for registered users, ensuring data security over the public WAN 670. The alarm services 650 are implemented with a dedicated access to the WAN 670 through a firewall in charge of providing secured network data lines to subscribed alarm systems and users (subscribers). The alarm services 650 provide continued monitoring of subscribed alarm systems through the WAN connection 670, using information obtained from the equipment subscription database 615 to establish and periodic system identification and status monitoring of all subscribed alarm systems. Further it provides handling of alarm events, where alarm notifications arrive from the alarm systems or smartphone applications through the public WAN 670 and a firewall. Incoming alarm event notifications are validated against the subscriber and alarm system database 615 through the data management services 610. If the alarm type requires user confirmation of the alarm event, the contact list for the given subscription is extracted from the subscriber profile, and the contact persons are notified through either the public WAN 670 or public telephone network 680. Contact persons access the system through a smartphone or web application through the user services web site 660.

The PSAP alarm management consoles connect to the AMCC 650 via a secure private network connection e.g. VPN, where each PSAP site and alarm

management console is registered in the PSAP database 620, to ensure that only validated PSAP operators can connect to, and operate the system. The PSAP database 620 holds information on each PSAP site, including operator name, dispatch operator accounts and login, cooperative PSAP sites, etc. The current operational status of each PSAP site and alarm management console is updated in the PSAP database 620, providing an overview of operational status and

workloads, allowing the system to automatically distribute alarm events and thereby even the workload on PSAP sites and operators.

The design, communications and protocols will follow industry standards and recommendations wherever possible, e.g. http://www.onvif.org. This will allow increased possibility of interfacing to third party equipment and providers.

All computers and equipment installed at the AMCC are powered from a stable power source, with line protection and battery backup.

The flow chart depicted in FIG. 7 shows the steps of the alarm handling service implemented on the alarm server of an AMCC server site. Initially the alarm event notification message is received 700 from the remote alarm system or smartphone application, via the secured network interface, where the related subscription of the alarm system or smartphone application is validated against the equipment database, based on an ID extracted from the alarm notification message. Next an alarm event session is created 705, with information on subscription and equipment ID's, together with location of the alarm event extracted from the incoming event message, and finally preparation of session log files, report templates and storage. Based on the previously obtained subscription data, the subscriber profile is loaded and the subscriber account, together with the default PSAP operator account, are granted access to the data storage of the alarm session 710. The service then establishes a remote session 715 to the alarm system or smartphone application, implementing a remote operations interface including 2- way audio, a real-time video-streaming interface, and a buffered video-streaming interface. At this point all data interfaces and structures have been created and initialized and the next step is determination of the alarm type. At the alarm system or smartphone application each possible alarm event is configured with a predefined alarm type, which specifies the nature of the alarm (burglary, assault, robbery, fire, medical, etc). Based on the alarm event type, the system will determine if a confirmation process is required 720, which will be agreed with the PSAP operator. Unattended monitoring of sites and facilities will normally require confirmation by a user, to avoid public emergency response to false alarm events, with the exception of high-risk sites 725 such as banks, jewelers, etc., where the PSAP will be notified directly, and thus are able to determine via the live video streaming, if an intrusion has occurred. In case of a high-risk alarm event, the session is assigned a high priority flag 750, and further processing applies as described later in this chapter. If the alarm type requires confirmation, the systems alarm service extracts the list of persons to be contacted 730 from the subscription profile of the alarm system, and notifies the listed contact persons in the order given in the list, moving to the next contact person on the list, if the current contact person does not respond . The contact person can respond either through a smartphone user application, a SPHERE user application or trough the website, but normally the first contact person will be the administrative user or subscriber of the alarm system. Once the contact person has responded, a link to the remote session is established 735, allowing the contact person remote control access to the monitored site, to view real-time and buffered session video-streams. Using the remote control features the contact person can select real-time or buffered camera source and view the selected video stream on the graphical user interface of the user application on a smartphone or via a web browser. If no emergency is detected 740, the contact person can cancel the alarm event, causing the session to end by a report message 785 to the administrative user of the equipment and closing the session, further removing users data access rights 790 while

maintaining a complete session data set 795 for a limited and configurable time period, in case further investigation would be required later on. In case of an emergency, the user can activate a confirmation button on the graphical user interface of the user application, which will send a confirmation event message to the alarm service 745, which will disable the users remote operation interface and assign it to the PSAP, to avoid conflict in remote operation, but still allowing the user to follow the emergency response effort via the video streams from the monitored site, until the PSAP operator stops the session or terminates the users viewing access. If the alarm type is a fire event 743 it will be assigned a high priority, otherwise it will be assigned a medium event priority 765, and further processed as described later in this chapter.

If the alarm event originates from an attended site 745 with direct user

notification, activated through a panic button, such as robbery, assault, medical, fire/gas/environmental, the session is assigned a high priority, and the event is further processed as described later in this chapter.

Other types of direct notification, which does not require immediate response e.g. trick theft 745, are assigned a low priority 760 and the event is further processed as described hereafter.

Once the alarm if confirmed and a priority have been assigned, the alarm session sends a notification message to the administrative user of the alarm system 755, with information on the type of emergency and how and by whom the alarm event was confirmed . The method of notification is configurable in the administrative user profile, and can be via the users smartphone application, by SMS or voicemail via telephone. Then the alarm session extracts the location of the alarm event 770, using the registered address for fixed installation or the geo-position extracted from the alarm notification message for mobile applications and equipments. Based on the location of the alarm event, the alarm service uses the PSAP database to determine which PSAP facility to notify. From the PSAP database will also be extracted information on the number of hosted alarm management consoles at the PSAP site together with network address, and based on current operational status (logged on, number of ongoing alarm events, etc.) of the alarm management consoles, the alarm session determines which alarm management console to notify. Based on configuration, all notifications can be sent to a master console, from where the operator can distribute alarm events manually. It is possible to assign various types of alarm events, such that dedicated PSAPs are notified. In addition to emergency services, this could include home care centers. The notification message is then sent to the selected alarm management console at the PSAP 775, with a link to the alarm event session, giving access to the remote operation data link and real-time and stored video data.

The alarm session procedure is paused while the session is handled at the PSAP facility, where the alarm management console has access to the alarm event session data and interfaces. At the PSAP facility the alarm management console creates a local event session using the notification message, and establishes a link to the alarm session on the AMCC, providing access to the remote operations interface and the live and stored video streams of the alarm session. The alarm event is then displayed in a list control on the graphical user interface of the alarm management console and an alarm is sounded to alert the operator, with the highest priority events at the top, where the only other sorting criteria is reception time. The operator can now select the event by clicking on it with a pointing device e.g . mouse.

When the alarm management session has ended, the operator closes the session, causing an end of session message to be sent back to the alarm service session 780. Upon reception of the end of session message, the alarm service creates and formats a session report and sends it to the administrative user of the alarm system 785. Then the users access rights to the stored data is removed 790, and finally the session is closed while the logs and storage are maintained on the system 795 for a limited configurable period of time post alarm event

investigation, after which the data will be automatically deleted. The customer alarm system depicted in FIG. 8 is developed, in order to support the features of the alarm concept. The system functionality is centred round a central unit or base station 810, designed using the state-of-art mobile technologies, e.g. smartphone technologies, for high performance, compact design, power efficient, interoperability and user friendliness. The central unit 810 is a small footprint rugged metal box with a number of external interface connections for power and internal/external communication. All units of the system will be available in a dust and waterproof version according to industry standard IP66 or similar. The central unit 810 can be supplied with power from a 115/230VAC for use in fixed

installations in buildings and/or from 12/24VDC for use in mobile installations in vehicles or boats and other crafts. The central unit 810 supports external communication through a wired (e.g. Ethernet) or mobile (e.g. 3G/4G) network interface or a combination of both interfaces in a communication line backup configuration. Internal interfaces are also divided into wired and wireless connections for attaching sensors 830, operator panels 820 and other control 840850860 and monitoring devices. The wired interface 870 is based on a network standard with support for powering connected devices e.g. IEEE 802.3at - Power over Ethernet (PoE), further supporting a plug and play standard such, e.g. UPNP (Universal Plug and Play), allowing easy attachment of new devices. In parallel the central unit 810 implements support for a high speed wireless network also based on industry standards e.g. IEEE 802.11 abgn, including related standards for communication and access security, QoS, etc. The wired and wireless networks are configured and setup automatically, and new devices on the network are automatically detected and upon manual acceptance by an administrative user, they are automatically configured by the system. Wireless devices require an initial wired connection during automatic configuration. Further configuration of attached devices might be required by manual configuration. A further low power and low bandwidth wireless interface is supported e.g. Bluetooth for attachment of simple handheld devices such as panic buttons 840. Wired devices are powered through the wired connection, whereas wireless devices are powered locally or by battery. The central unit 810 does not provide a fixed zone division, but devices can be added in a wired chained link or wireless link, and by configuration be grouped into logical zones. The functionality of the central unit is implemented through several embedded software services. An external communication service implements the secured interface to the AMCC, with line monitoring and further supports establishing alarm session connections, and data exchange protocols for the connections, including remote operation and

configuration. Management of attached sensors and devices is handled by a device service, which keeps track of attached devices with constant monitoring of connection and status, and further allows configuration of the attached devices and allows operation of the devices when the system is armed. A further service implements an operator display service.

The operator display 820 is likewise based on smartphone technologies, and implements a touch display for operations, combined with fingerprint logon, microphone and loudspeaker. Adding a camera and implementing a face

recognition algorithm can further support system logon. The operator display 820 implements both wired and wireless communication. In order to support further device connectivity the wired network interface implements a network hub/switch functionality, allowing the wired network connection to be routed to other devices in a chain like architecture. Likewise for the wireless network interface, which can implement a repeater/bridge functionality that can be enabled in order to broaden the wireless network coverage. More displays 820 can be attached to a central unit 810, as the display works like a multi-user terminal. The display unit 820 must be paired with the central unit 810, initially through a wired connection, which automatically configures the wireless link, which can then be configured for wireless communication either as primary or backup connection in combination with wired connection. Furthermore the operator display implements one or more USB interface connectors, which allow transferring data to or from the alarm system, and further supports charging of handheld panic button devices. The operator panel 820 implements a graphical user interface with touch friendly controls supporting icons, page tabs, list controls, buttons (push, check and radio), etc. It is functionally divided into a configuration part and an operational part. The configuration part, allows configuration of the equipment and subscription profile stored on the AMCC, and further allows adding new sensors, devices and users and configuration of these. Attached devices can be grouped into zones and it is possible to draw a simple floor plan or upload one through a USB interface, which allows positioning the attached devices on a floor map. The floor map will be stored on the user profile at the AMCC, and can be shown and used for remote operation session, by users or PSAP. For the camera devices the configuration menu can display the live picture in order to align the camera. The operational part, allows arming and disarming the alarm system, and to view the status of all attached devices. Arming can be done in zones or as a shell protection, with only window and door contacts are armed. If a doorbell device is attached, the display will show the video of the door camera, when the doorbell is activated. The operator panel can be omitted in the installation, in which case the alarm system can be

configured and operated through a user smartphone application only. In any the alarm system can be remotely operated, if the user profile allows.

An important device of the system concept is the combined camera and sensor device 830, which implements a video and still picture camera, in combination with a motion detector such as PIR, ultrasound or LIDAR. Further it implements electrical ports 890 for attachment of door/window contacts, window foil, smoke detectors, gas detectors, water level detector, etc. The window foil port measures the impedance of the attached line of foils and in case of changes outside a given threshold, raises an alarm. All other devices can be attached through an interfaces, which detects open or closed line states and for each port it will be possible to manually configure the functionality and associated alarm type through the operator display. The camera device 830 is equipped with a microphone and loudspeaker, which allows a remote operator to communicate with persons in the vicinity of the device. The camera device 830 implements both wired and wireless communication. In order to support further device connectivity the wired network interface implements a network hub/switch functionality, allowing the wired network connection to be routed to other devices in a chain like architecture.

Likewise for the wireless network interface, which can implement a repeater/bridge functionality that can be enabled in order to broaden the wireless network coverage. The camera device 830 is powered through the wired network interface, but in case it is operated in a wireless mode, the power is supplied through a local DC supply e.g. an AC/DC converter or solar panel 880 mounted in a window. Furthermore the camera device implements a battery backup for limited time operation is case of power failure. The camera device 830 is designed for both indoor and outdoor usage, according to industry standards e.g. IP66. The camera device can be operated remotely and transfer live video or still picture streams using standardized industry protocols. Third party camera or sensor devices supporting UPNP and implementing related network protocols can be used with the system. A mains switch control unit 895 can be attached to the system, for automatic control of light sources and other equipment supplied from the mains. The switch control unit 895 can be programmed to automatically turn lights on and off, when armed in burglary mode, simulating presence in the building. It can also automatically switch lights on in burglar alarm conditions for improved picture and video quality. The user can operate the switch control unit 895 remotely or configure an internal timer for each switch control device.

Panic buttons 840 come in two versions, with or without wired network interface. The wired network interface device is used for fixed installations while wireless devices are used for handheld applications, where the wireless devices further are equipped with a USB interface and battery, which can be charged using the operator panel 820. The panic button unit 840 implements a microphone and loudspeaker, allowing 2-way communication with the PSAP in case of emergency. Each panic button device can be configured on the system for various types of emergencies, e.g. assault, robbery, fire or personal assistance. The wireless panic button unit can further be used with a smartphone, in order to aid a personal security application, for faster alarming. The wired device 840 can be used in a doorbell configuration, and further be equipped with a fingerprint sensor, allowing it to be used for access control (electronic door lock).

All units of the alarm system implements anti-tampering functionality.

The diagram shown in FIG. 9 shows the main functional blocks of the central unit of the alarm system depicted in FIG. 8. Central to the design is a multimedia enabled microprocessor 900, supporting video streaming and networking at low power consumption The microprocessor core is supported with Random Access Memory (RAM) 905, flash memory 910 and external flash memory interface e.g. Micro-SD 915. Internal RAM and flash memories are used for program execution and storage, while the external flash interface can to used to expand the internal storage capacity. The design implements a power supply 930 and an integrated power management function in the microprocessor 900, for charge management 935 of battery 940 and monitoring of internal and external supply lines. The external network communication (WAN) is implemented using an Ethernet circuit 980 and a mobile network module 960. The WAN interfaces 960 980 can be used separate or in combination, implementing a mutual backup function. The internal fixed LAN network is implemented using an Ethernet device 920, which is further connected to a PoE port switch 925 allowing connection of internal devices and powering these at the same time. The internal wireless LAN network 950 is implemented as a Wi-Fi access point (AP), for wireless attachment of Wi-Fi devices. The Wi-Fi circuit 950 has a build-in antenna, which can be further supported with an external antenna for improved coverage. A low bandwidth wireless connection is implemented using a Bluetooth (BT) interface circuit 945. The BT 945 has a build- in antenna, which can be further supported with an external antenna for improved coverage. The central unit is equipped with a GNSS 955 interface, e.g . GPS for determination of geographical location mainly for mobile installations, but also to be utilized in fixed installations. The central unit is further equipped with sensors such as electronic gyroscope, accelerometer and compass 970, which mainly is for use in mobile installation, and will be used to determine whether a vehicle or craft is moving, and the direction it is moving in. A future implementation will allow detection of accidents by vehicles and crafts, by detecting the orientation and deceleration, and then automatically alarm the PSAP if e.g. a car or boat has stopped with a crash or is turned upside down. Then the PSAP is notified where the accident is (location) and they will be able to access the video streams of the alarm system at the site.

A block diagram of the operator panel of the alarm system is depicted in FIG.10. Central to the design is a multimedia enabled microprocessor 1000, supporting video streaming and networking at low power consumption The microprocessor core is supported with Random Access Memory (RAM) 1005, flash memory 1010 and external USB interface 1070. Internal RAM and flash memories are used for program execution and storage. The design implements a power supply 1030 and an integrated power management function in the microprocessor 1000, for charge management 1035 of the battery 1040 and monitoring of internal and external supply lines. The fixed network is implemented using an Ethernet device 1020, which is further connected to a PoE port switch 1025 providing interfacing with the central unit and further allows a chaining of the network line to other devices. The internal wireless LAN network is implemented as a Wi-Fi adaptor 1050, for wireless attachment to the Wi-Fi AP. The Wi-Fi circuit has a build-in antenna, which can be further supported with an external antenna for improved coverage. The operator panel is equipped with a flat screen display and a touch sensitive device 1060, providing touch operations functionality for the graphical user interface of the operator panel software. The operator panel also implements a microphone and loudspeaker for communication with an operator of a remote session. In order to support easy logon to the alarm system, the operator panel can optionally be equipped with a camera for face recognition and/or a fingerprint reader. The operator panel is housed in a rugged and secure metal or plastic box.

The operator panel software will be implemented as a graphical user interface based client terminal, where the central unit will implement the server functionality for configuration and operational services to be supported .

A block diagram of the camera and sensor device of the alarm system is depicted in FIG.11. Central to the design is a multimedia enabled microprocessor 1100, supporting video acquisition and streaming together with networking at low power consumption The microprocessor core is supported with Random Access Memory (RAM) 1105, flash memory 1110. Internal RAM and flash memories are used for program execution and storage. The design implements a power supply 1130 and an integrated power management function in the microprocessor 1100, for charge management 1135 of battery 1140 and monitoring of internal and external supply lines. The fixed network is implemented using an Ethernet device 1120, which is further connected to a PoE port switch 1125 providing interfacing with the central unit and further allows a chaining of the network line to other devices. The internal wireless LAN network is implemented as a Wi-Fi adaptor 1150, for wireless attachment to the Wi-Fi AP. The Wi-Fi circuit has a build-in antenna, which can be further supported with an external antenna for improved coverage. A GNSS module 1155 e.g. GPS is implemented to provide location information on each sensor, which together with gyroscope and E-compass 1175 provides information on the pointing of the sensor. Furthermore the unit can be equipped with a temperature sensor 1175, providing additional means of detecting fire, as the temperature in room will increase rapidly if a fire is ongoing.

The alarm detection circuits 1145 include a motion detector, e.g. PIR (Passive Infrared), LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), ultrasonic or microwave, which will detect moving objects the FOV (field of view) of the detector. Furthermore the unit implements an alarm connection interface in form of a window foil circuit, together with an open and a closed circuit detection interface. The window foil circuit implements an impedance detector, which detects changes in the resistance of a windows foil installation of one or more windows. The open/close detection allows connecting other equipment such as door/window contacts, third party motion sensors, smoke detector, etc. The interface further provides a 12VDC supply output for external devices.

The device is further equipped with a high definition color video camera, with high- resolution still picture capabilities 1170. The camera 1170 can be of a standard type, supported with a visible light source to improve picture quality in dark or low light level conditions, or it can be a combination of infrared sensitive or thermal imaging with a HD camera 1170. Optionally the video camera data stream can be applied a motion detection algorithm, using the cameras video stream, in order to detect moving objects using the video streams.

The embedded control and acquisition software of the camera and sensor device implements a number of services in order to support configuration and operation of the device. A service is implemented for communication with the central unit via the fixed 1120 or wireless network 1150, and provides a configuration interface, a remote control interface and finally a video-streaming interface, including

housekeeping data. Another service is responsible for control and data acquisition of various sensors e.g . GPS 1155, gyroscope, compass and speaker/microphone 1175. An alarm service is responsible for control and monitoring of alarm detection circuits, e.g. motion detector, foil sensor and contact circuits. A camera service allow control of camera and light modules 1170 and further implements acquisition and formatting (e.g . H .264) of video stream for transfer to the central unit, with further support for still picture acquisition and formatting e.g. into JPEG format. The main program implements functionality for configuration of the device, transfer of data between services and maintaining operational states e.g . idle, armed and alarm state.

The use of industry standards for physical communication lines and communication protocols allows connection of third party sensors and equipment.

The smartphone applications (not depicted) implemented for support of the alarm concept includes a subscriber/user application and a SPHERE application, which can be stand-alone applications or merged into a single application, but functionally separated using GUI tabs or page controls. The applications will be ported to the most common smartphone or tablet platforms on market, e.g. Android and iPhone.

The user application includes functionality for the user to maintain and remotely operate the subscribed alarm system and related user profiles via the AMCC, and requires secure login. The user application connects via the public WAN to the AMCC, and provides an interface for editing and maintaining the user profile. There will be an administrative user account for the system owner/subscriber or other person appointed to be administrator, which further can create users with only operational access to the system. The configuration part of the user application allows remote configuration of the alarm system equipment for a user with administrative rights, where the connection to the alarm system equipment is established via the AMCC, limiting intrusion risks on the alarm system. The remote operations part of the user application allows arming and disarming the alarm system remotely, and to switch single lights sources on and off. The administrator of the alarm system can assign rights to each user for access to remote operation functions. All operational events are logged on the alarm system, and a message is sent to the administrative user, with information on the type of event and ID of the user responsible for it. The administrative user will have access to view the system log of the alarm system. In order to support alarm notification confirmations, the user application provides a user interface, which initially will sound an alarm on the smartphone device and further provide access to the remote alarm session established on the AMCC that allows control of video sources, including playback of already stored video data, and viewing of selected video stream on the smartphone device, including viewing of automatically recorded still pictures. The user interface provides GUI buttons for confirmation or cancellation of the received alarm notification. The user can follow the alarm response effort using the alarm session video link, but remote operation access will be transferred to the PSAP once the alarm is confirmed, and the PSAP can further stop the user viewing session, if required. The user application further provides functionality to support a personal security subscription, which allow the user of the smartphone device to quickly notify emergency services. The personal security part of the user application provides means of activating a GUI control, causing the personal security application to issue a immediate alarm notification to the PSAP via the AMCC, where the notification includes GNSS location (e.g. GPS), and user details obtained form the server such as name, address, height, picture etc, which allows the responding emergency unit or SPHERE agents to recognize the user. The AMCC establishes a live session link the personal security application, which provides live video and location data from the user smartphone device to the PSAP, and in parallel a 2-way audio link is established between the PSAP and the user. The personal security application is further supported by alarm activation using a separate handheld panic button device, communicating via Bluetooth or other wireless link.

The SPHERE agent application allows a user to create and maintain an account and profile on the AMCC. When creating the account the SPHERE application

automatically extracts (with the SPHERE user permission) data from the

smartphone, which identifies the user, e.g. telephone number and name, or in case the SPHERE user already has a registered subscription user on the system, this reference will be used. The SPHERE application allows the user to edit the profile, with additional information for identification and further providing details on professional skills, which could be important in the SPHERE notification process, e.g. a profession as doctor, policeman, fireman, paramedic, security guard, electrician, etc. The user can enable and disable the SPHERE application as desired, and when enabled it continuously reports the location together with user ID to the AMCC, which keeps only the latest location information for each SPHERE agent in its database. Functionality to reduce power consumption on the smartphone device will be implemented, e.g. only to acquire GPS position when the user moves, using the accelerator sensor of the smartphone, at a given timer interval or by other means. The SPHERE application allows reception of alarm notifications from the AMCC, issued from the PSAP or based on the alarm system profile allowing direct notification. The notification causes the application to sound an alarm to notify the SPHERE user on the event. The SPHERE user is presented on the application GUI with a status of the alarm event, including type of alarm and location. If the SPHERE user decides to respond to the emergency, the SPHERE user activates a GUI control to accept the notification, which informs the PSAP that the SPHERE agent is on the way to the scene of the emergency. Once the SPHERE user has confirmed involvement, the SPHERE user gets access to the video stream from the site, which will be blocked by the PSAP operator once the emergency services are on site. The SPHERE application will further record video and audio on the smartphone, which is transferred to the AMCC, for access by the PSAP for live monitoring of the response effort. A 2-way audio communication is established, but a duplex scheme is implemented, such that the PSAP operator controls the session, where the SPHERE user can notify the PSAP operator, that he has something to say, after which the PSAP operator can respond by enabling the audio link. This scheme is implemented to limit the amount of concurrent information streaming to the PSAP operator at a given time.

At the PSAP facility, one or more PSAP management consoles are installed, which allows the PSAP operator to receive and manage incoming alarm events. The alarm management consoles are built using standard workstation computers, equipped with keyboard/mouse, one or more displays, fail-safe disk configurations and power backup, and can be used stand-alone or build into an embedded workstation console. The ideal configuration involves 3 displays, which operationally splits the functions into a street map of a designated area, showing emergency events and response units, a listed emergency event display with prioritized events, event status and notifications, and finally a detailed event alarm event display, with detailed information and video panels of the selected alarm event to be managed. Each display holds an application window, but it could be implemented on a single screen and window, using GUI tab controls. The displays can be equipped with touch sensor for easier usage. The street map view window, displays a street map of a designated geographical area, including geo-coordinates, which allows plotting events and resource according to geographical location. The street map can be zoomed in and out, and moved to cover another geographical area. If the PSAP covers a large geographical area, which is supported by several alarm management consoles, each console can be programmed to cover a certain area, in which case the AMCC will forward alarm notifications to the console covering the area of the alarm event. The AMCC will automatically distribute alarm notifications among designated consoles. The operator can manually transfer alarm events to other alarm management consoles in the PSAP facility or to other cooperating PSAP facilities, and if required the operator can block for new events.

The alarm event list window shows a list of all alarm events, under management by the alarm management console, where the list window is divided into 3 areas, containing high, medium and low priority events respectively with the area containing high priority events at the top, and within each list area the events are sorted according to the start time of the events. The operator can change priority of an event if required. New events in the list will be appear highlighted, e.g.

flashing, until they have been has acknowledged by the operator. Each event line will display information e.g. event ID, alarm type, start time of event, elapsed time of event, street address, response status. For each event there will also be a warning LED (GUI), which will be flashing if the event requires attention, such as a SPHERE agent requesting audio access. The operator can choose an alarm event in the event list, which causes a detailed event management panel to be displayed on the 3^rd window. The detailed alarm event window will display detailed status on the alarm event including : contact details of administrative user, contact details of the user who confirmed an event (if indirectly confirmed), address or registration number and location of an alarm event, start time of the event, elapsed time of the event, type of emergency, log window, list of responding emergency units, list of responding SPHERE agents. Furthermore the detailed alarm event window provides a real-time video display, showing live video from the emergency site, together with remote controls to select which video source to display the live video from. Another video display allows playback of already recorded video streams from the alarm session storage on the AMCC, where it is possible to select the source of the video stream. If available on the users profile, another window in the detailed event management panel will display the floor plan of a building with indication of the location of cameras and sensors, and further allows selection of live video source by selecting the camera directly on the floor map. The floor map will also indicate which sensor has detected the alarm events. In case unpleasant or sensitive video images are streamed from the emergency site, the operator can stop transmission of video streams to users and SPHERE agents. Finally the operator can close the session, which will remove the alarm event from the list, and send a close session message to the AMCC. The operator can mark the session for further investigation in which case it will not be automatically deleted after a period on the central storage server. The operator can at a later stage re-open the closed event with read-only access, and retrieve video, images and logs for investigation purposes. The alarm management consoles further supports a master management configuration with one alarm management console being designated as master, which allows centralized alarm notification management with dispatch functionality to other alarm management consoles. Also alarm events can be grouped in case of disaster at one of the consoles for better overview of a single event. Selected displays of a single display can be routed to a projector or large screen.

Claims

1. A method of providing a real-time video and/or audio (A/V) based emergency event session, by the means of a public data network connection, preferably being a secure public data network connection, where said session is started by an A/V based alarm system or mobile application by means of electronic sensor or human activation, which is further confirmed directly by onsite personnel or indirectly by contact persons situated remotely from the emergency site using a mobile application, where said session is maintained from an Alarm Monitoring and Control Center (AMCC), which upon event confirmation transfers session control to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), where the PSAP controls and manages said session using a dedicated Alarm Management Console, which includes distribution of A/V streams, emergency dispatch, activation and guidance of citizens local to the emergency event site, until a PSAP operator closes said session, thereby providing PSAP's, emergency dispatchers, police or rescue services the means of real-time video monitoring and control of the ongoing alarm or emergency event; at the same time preventing misuse and unauthorized surveillance from users and public officials, where an emergency event session comprises a time interval from an alarm is initiated at an emergency site, while centralized services are provided allowing distribution of A/V data streams from the emergency site to users, PSAP's, emergency services and citizens or emergency personnel, until the session is closed by an operator at a PSAP or emergency service site, said method utilizes:

• a) a database with data records holding information on subscribed alarm systems, applications and users,

• b) a database of registered PSAP operators and emergency dispatch sites, with information on geographical coverage, and · c) a data access service, ensuring that users are only granted access to

ongoing alarm event data, and that PSAP operators are granted event data access only by permission from the registered user.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method further utilizes • a) an alarm reception service, for acceptance of incoming alarm event notifications and creation of remote operations data link together with realtime and buffered video data streams in a alarm event session, which based on confirmation schemes, either forwards the session links to the one or more contact persons for confirmation of the event and/or directly forwards these to the local PSAP, together with user and location information.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further utilizes · a) a service for fail-safe replication of data, system state and data

connections, among a set of regional or national AMCC sites, implemented in a cluster architecture or similar fail-safe configuration, and

• b) a data storage facility for video, audio and other data streams related to alarm or surveillance data information, where said data are encrypted for unwanted access;

4. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further utilizes

• an automated central alarm monitoring service, which by the use of a data network connection such as Internet, continuously monitors subscribed alarm systems and applications, based on the subscriber database;

5. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further utilizes

• a database with information of subscribed smartphone emergency response agents (SPHERE), where information includes name, telephone number and emergency related profession.

6. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further utilizes • a user service, which allows configuration, monitoring and operation of a subscription or subscribed equipment, by means of a smartphone or Web page, remote to the alarm system;

7. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method further utilizes

• a PSAP service, which allows a PSAP operator, remote to the AMCC to

receive and manage emergency events, including limited remote operation of alarm systems, 2-way audio communication to the event site, access to information on users and location and management of SPHERE Users including access to location and database, together with means of notification and live interaction;

8. A computer software application adapted to execute the method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a computer software application for a PSAP facility, by which the PSAP operator receives prioritized alarm events, which in combination with location maps and user information and live video/audio streams from the emergency site, further providing means to identify and manage SPHERE users in a specific geographical area of an alarm event, where the dispatch can chose to notify a subset of SPHERE users with specific professional

qualifications, such as policemen, security guards, physicians, firemen, etc, depending on type of emergency and further allows full management of the emergency event, with full logging of all event related data and communications;

9. An alarm system comprising software application(s) enabling the system to execute the method according to any of the preceding claims 1-7 and, optionally, comprising the software application according to claim 8, the alarm system being adapted to prove a combined burglar, fire, gas, flooding and assault alarm system for private, business, public or mobile software application, the alarm system further comprising : a) a central unit, responsible for management of external communication with a central alarm monitoring and control center, via secured public fixed and/or wireless networks and further provides functionality to manage internal network and attached detector unit, control units and operator units; the central unit being adapted to include one or more of the following features: b) implementing a unique identification via serial number; c) a service for remote configuration, operation and management, via a central alarm monitoring and control center; d) a smart phone like operator display(s), with a graphical user interface e) a distributed architecture allowing expansion of the system only limited by supply power and transmission line bandwidth, further providing means of grouping sensors and other units into logical zones; f) a detection of unwanted intrusion, which by the use of motion detectors in combination with video surveillance cameras, detects intruders and provides video stream buffering, together with automatic high-resolution snap-shots of sensors field of view and local alarm management; g) utilization of custom or third party detectors for hazardous event detection such as fire, gas and flooding, in combination with video surveillance cameras, provides video buffering and local alarm management; h) acknowledgement of a robbery or assault alarm event, activated by a user pushing a local panic button, causing immediate alarm notification with video streams and automatic high resolution snap-shots to the AMCC, via a central unit; i) handling of an alarm session, with notification of the central alarm monitoring and control center and establishing a remote operations interface, a buffered video data interface and a real-time video data interface;

10. A computer software application adapted to execute the method according to any of the preceding claims, and providing a mobile smartphone based personal security application, in place of the fixed alarm system, for protection against assaults and attacks, which provides fast emergency notification by the use of a wireless handheld panic button unit, which connects to and operates the

smartphone application, where said application forwards geographical position, video/audio and information the user, such as name, address, height, weight, picture image and emergency contact information. The handheld panic button further acts as an anti-theft protection, as the smartphone and handheld panic button will sound an alarm if the connection is lost.

11. A computer software application adapted to execute the method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a smartphone application, by which registered SPHERE users within a local geographical perimeter of an emergency event, can be notified about the ongoing emergency event and is able to confirm involvement, and provide real-time information, feedback and digital media streams for the emergency dispatch operator, in combination with a 2-way audio link to the PSAP operator, were said method further support functionality for confirmation response management, for users registered as confirmation contact persons.

12. A computer software application adapted to execute the method according to any of the preceding claims, further utilizing a smartphone or Web application, by which registered users remotely can operate and configure their alarm system and customer profile, and further provide respond management features for an alarm confirmation process.

13. A method according to any of the preceding claims, where a PSAP can transfer session control to an emergency dispatch service, control center or other PSAP's.

14. A system being adapted to perform the method according to any of the preceding claims.