Granted Patent B2

US 9,659,483 · App. 14/751,284 · Granted May 23, 2017

Abstract

Claims (80)

1. A system comprising:

a security monitoring device in a monitored physical location;

a security processing system, wherein the security monitoring device is configured to communicate with the security processing system via a network; and

one or more mobile devices configured to communicate with the security monitoring device over the network;

wherein the security monitoring device and the security processing system are configured to switch between a first operating mode and a second operating mode based on geolocation data associated with at least one of the mobile user devices, and

wherein switching between the first operating mode and the second operating mode comprises processing a request from a particular one of the mobile devices at the security processing system in conjunction with at least one user-provided instruction and geolocation data from any one or more other mobile devices in the system to set system behavior with respect to notifying particular users of safety or security-related events at the monitored physical location and saving data about the events at the monitored physical location to one or more user-accessible timelines showing information about past events at the monitored physical location.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a geolocation service in a particular one of the mobile devices to provide the geolocation data.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to issue notifications in the form of direct communications selected from the group consisting of emails, text messages, and phone calls, or through a software application, to a user device of a primary user associated with the monitored physical location, wherein each notification includes a description of the event and location where it took place,

wherein the security monitoring device or the security processing system is configured to disarm from issuing a notification to the user device of the primary user that a person is approaching or entering the monitored physical location when the primary user is determined to be at or near the monitored physical location based on the geolocation data.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the primary user is a person who resides at the monitored physical location or is otherwise associated with the monitored physical location and who interacts with the security monitoring device or the security processing system on a regular basis.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein data is collected by the security monitoring device or the security processing system even when the security monitoring device or the security processing system is disarmed from issuing one or more notifications that the person is approaching or entering the monitored physical location.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the security monitoring device or the security processing system is configured to arm to provide one or more notifications when the primary user is determined to be leaving the monitored physical location.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured such that when a user begins to approach a select radius around the monitored physical location, a signal is generated to ensure that the security monitoring device or the security processing system will not notify the user or other users immediately upon the user's entry into the monitored physical location.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein a particular one of the mobile devices is configured to recognize when the particular mobile device enters a first region centered around the monitored physical location,

wherein the particular mobile device is further configured, upon entering the first region, to search for a second region that is smaller than the first region and that is defined by a geo-fence, and

wherein when the mobile device recognizes the geo-fence, the mobile device sends the request to the computer processing system to disarm notifications.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) device, wherein the BTLE device is configured to create the geo-fence.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein a particular one of the mobile devices is configured to recognize when the particular mobile device has entered a first region and,

in response to the particular mobile device entering the first region, the particular mobile device begins to search for the security monitoring device; and

when the particular mobile device detects the security monitoring device, the particular mobile device sends the request to the security processing system to disarm notifications.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the security monitoring device is configured to emit a low energy Bluetooth signal and the particular mobile device begins to search for the security monitoring device by searching for the low energy Bluetooth signal.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the geolocation data is associated with the mobile user device of a primary user or the mobile user device of a secondary user,

wherein the primary user is a person who resides at the monitored physical location or is otherwise associated with the monitored physical location and who interacts with the security monitoring device and/or the security processing system on a regular basis.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the secondary user is another person who resides at the monitored physical location or is otherwise associated with the monitored physical location.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the secondary user is a person who has been designated as a backup contact by the primary user.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the security monitoring device comprises:

a housing;

a camera supported by the housing and configured to collect video of the monitored physical location;

a temperature sensor supported by the housing and configured to detect a temperature associated with the monitoring physical location;

an air quality sensor supported by the housing and configured to sense a quality of air in the monitored physical location;

a humidity sensor;

an accelerometer; and

a computer-based processing device;

wherein the security processing system comprises:

a processing device; and

a database,

wherein the system is operable such that the security monitoring device collects data about the monitored physical location with at least the camera, the temperature sensor and the air quality sensor, and

if, based on the collected data, the security monitoring device or the security processing system determines that an event has occurred in the monitored physical location that may be of interest to a user, the system presents a notification to the user at an associated one of the mobile devices.

16. A system comprising:

a security monitoring device in a monitored physical location; and

one or more mobile user devices configured to communicate with the security monitoring device over a network;

a geolocation service in one or more of the mobile user devices to provide geolocation data,

wherein the security monitoring device is configured to arm or disarm certain security features or sensors of the security monitoring device based on the geolocation data associated with at least one of the mobile user devices,

wherein the system is configured to issue notifications in the form of direct communications selected from the group consisting of emails, text messages, and phone calls, or through a software application, to at least a selected one of the mobile user devices of a primary user associated with the monitored physical location, wherein each notification includes a description of a corresponding event at the monitored physical location,

wherein the system is configured to disarm from issuing notifications to the selected mobile user device of the primary user that a person is approaching or entering the monitored physical location when the primary user is determined to be at or near the monitored physical location based on the geolocation data,

wherein the system disarming comprises processing a request from a particular one of the mobile devices at the security processing system in conjunction with at least one user-provided instruction and geolocation data from any one or more other mobile devices in the system to set system behavior with respect to notifying particular users of safety or security-related events at the monitored physical location and saving data about the events at the monitored physical location to one or more user-accessible timelines showing information about past events at the monitored physical location, and

wherein the primary user is a person who resides at the monitored physical location or is otherwise associated with the monitored physical location and who interacts with the system on a regular basis.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein data is collected by the security monitoring device or an associated security processing system even when the system is disarmed from issuing the notification that the person is approaching or entering the monitored physical location.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the system is configured to arm to provide the notification when the primary user is determined to be leaving the monitored physical location.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the system is configured such that when a user begins to approach a select radius around the monitored physical location, a signal is generated to ensure that the security monitoring device and/or the security processing system will not notify the user or other users immediately upon the user's entry into the monitored physical location.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein a particular one of the mobile devices is configured to recognize when the particular mobile device enters a first region centered around the monitored physical location,

wherein the particular mobile device is further configured such that, upon the particular mobile device entering the first region, the particular mobile device searches for a second region that is smaller than the first region and is defined by a geo-fence, and

wherein when the particular mobile device recognizes the geo-fence, the particular mobile device sends the request to a computer processing system associated with the security monitoring device to disarm notifications.

21. The system of claim 20 , further comprising a Bluetooth low-energy (BTLE) device configured to create the geo-fence.

22. The system of claim 16 , wherein a particular one of the mobile user devices is configured to recognize when the particular mobile user device has entered a first region and, in response to the particular mobile user device entering the first region, the particular mobile user device begins to search for the security monitoring device, and

when the particular mobile user device detects the security monitoring device, the particular mobile user device sends the request to the security processing system associated with the security monitoring device to disarm notifications.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the security monitoring device is configured to emit a low energy Bluetooth signal, and

wherein the particular mobile device begins to search for the security monitoring device by searching for the low energy Bluetooth signal.

24. The system of claim 16 , wherein the geolocation data is associated with the mobile user device of the primary user or the mobile user device of a secondary user, and wherein the secondary user is a person who has been designated as a backup contact by the primary user.

25. The system of claim 16 , wherein the security monitoring, device comprises:

a housing;

a camera supported by the housing and configured to collect video of the monitored physical location;

a temperature sensor supported by the housing and configured to detect a temperature associated with the monitoring physical location;

an air quality sensor supported by the housing and configured to sense a quality of air in the monitored physical location;

a computer-based processing device; and

a Bluetooth antenna, and

wherein the security processing system comprises:

a processing device; and

a database,

wherein the system is operable such that the security monitoring device collects data about the monitored physical location with at least the camera, the temperature sensor and the air quality sensor, and

if, based on the collected data, the security monitoring device or the security processing system determines that an event has occurred in the monitored physical location that may be of interest to a user, the system presents a notification to the user at an associated one of the mobile devices.

26. The system of claim 1 , wherein the security monitoring device receives information and instructions from the one or mobile devices.

27. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to cease issuing notifications, but continue collecting data, when the system is disarmed from issuing notifications.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein at least some of the data collected while the system is disarmed from issuing notifications is saved to the one or more user-accessible timelines, which are accessible for viewing from one or more of the mobile user devices.

29. The system of claim 1 , further configured to:

enable a primary user of the system to designate one or more other users of the system, such that geolocation data associated with the one or more other users of the system arms or disarm the system, without notifying the primary user.

30. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured to control other system preferences associated with the monitored physical location depending on who has been determined to be at the monitored physical location based on geolocation data.

31. The system of claim 1 , wherein there are multiple system users associated with the monitored physical location, each of which has a corresponding one of the one or more mobile user devices, and

wherein specific system actions and notifications align with geolocation data associated with each respective one of the one or more mobile devices.

32. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first operating mode is armed and the second operating mode is disarmed.

Assignments (14)