Collaborative alarm monitoring system and method

1. A collaborative alarm monitoring system, comprising:

a security system host server in signal communication with at least one security panel to receive an alert signal in response to a detected alarm event;

a chat session server in signal communication with the security system host server, the chat session server configured to store a chat session protocol and software that when executed by a hardware processor executes a chat session; and

at least one monitoring device in signal communication with the security system host server, the at least one monitoring device configured to alert an operator of the alarm event in response to receiving the alert signal, the at least one monitoring device including a chat session client in signal communication with the chat session server to generate a chat session interface that displays at least one alarm event thread indicative of the alarm event, wherein the chat session server generates a communication stream for each alarm event, and the communication stream is individually displayed on the chat session interface of the at least one monitoring device,

wherein the chat session server determines a first tag corresponding to a first alarm event and a second tag corresponding to a second alarm event different from the first alarm event, and determines the first and second alarm events are related when the first tag matches the second tag.

2. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the chat session interface displays at least one of an alarm event thread that displays information regarding the alert event.

3. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 2 , wherein the chat session interface displays a plurality of alarm event threads and a plurality of conversation entry threads, the conversation entry threads input by the operator via the at least one monitoring device.

4. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 3 , wherein the chat session server assigns time stamps to the alarm event threads and the conversation entry threads, and commands the client session interface to list the alarm event threads and conversation entry threads in chronological order with respect to one another.

5. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one alarm event thread includes a plurality of visual indicator corresponding to each alarm event.

6. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 5 , wherein visual indicators includes a first indicator identifying a type of security breach and a second indicator identifying whether a respective alarm event thread has been acknowledged by at least one of the operators.

7. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the communication stream includes at least one of a conversation, an image, and operator identification information identifying the operator involved in responding to the at least one alarm event.

8. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the chat interface is operable in a plurality of different viewing modes.

9. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of different viewing modes includes a single-thread viewing mode interface that displays the related alarm events having matching tags.

10. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 9 , wherein the chat session server determines at least one related conversation entry thread is related to the alarm event thread when a tag of the conversation entry thread matches the tag of the alarm entry thread.

11. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 10 , wherein the single-thread viewing mode interface includes a related thread region, and wherein the chat session data server displays only alert event threads and the conversation entry thread having matching tags in the related thread region.

12. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 11 , wherein the single-thread viewing mode interface includes a tag entry field that assigns at least one tag to at least one of an alert event thread and a conversation entry thread, and wherein the chat session data server automatically updates the related thread region with at least one of a new alert event thread and a new conversation entry thread in response to receiving a new tag that matches a tag assigned to an alert entry event or conversation entry thread previously displayed in the related thread region.

13. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 1 , wherein the chat session interface includes a participant display region that displays graphical operator icons associated with a corresponding monitoring device that is connected to the chat session server.

14. The collaborative alarm monitoring system of claim 13 , wherein each of the graphical operator icons include an event participant counter, and wherein the chat session server determines a number of alarm events in which a respective operator participates, and controls the event participant counter to display the number of participating alarm events corresponding to each operator.

15. A method of monitoring an alarm system, the method comprising:

establishing a chat session between a plurality of security monitoring devices;

receiving an alert signal in response to a detected alarm event;

generating a chat session interface that displays at least one alarm event thread indicative of the alarm event;

assigning a first tag to a first alarm event via the chat session interface and assigning a second tag to a second alarm event different from the first alarm event via the chat session interface;

determining that the first alarm event is related to the second alarm event when the first and second tags match;

generating a communication stream for the first and second alarm events; and

displaying the communication stream individually on the chat session interface of the at least one monitoring device,

wherein the displaying further comprises displaying only the first and second alarm events in a related thread region of the chat session interface.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising displaying, via the chat session interface, at least one of an alarm event thread that displays information regarding the alert event.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising receiving a plurality of conversation entry threads input by operators via the plurality of security monitoring devices, and displaying, via the chat session interface, a plurality of alarm event threads and the plurality of conversation entry threads.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising assigning time stamps to the alarm event threads and the conversation entry threads, and displaying, via the chat session interface, the alarm event threads and conversation entry threads in chronological order with respect to one another.