Security cellular radio activation and registration via SMS

[0001] The present invention relates generally to security systems and more particularly to activation and registration of a security system using short messaging system (SMS).

[0002] Security systems are often connected to central monitoring station using cellular radio through a cellular provider. Cellular radio provides certain benefits over a landline telephone connection between the security system and central monitoring station, for example while landlines can be interrupted or disabled, cellular radio connections are significantly more difficult to defeat.

[0003] At the time of installation, the cellular radio of the security system must be activated with the cellular provider and registered with the security provider, such as AlarmNet/Honeywell in order for the security system to be able to communicate with the central monitoring station. Typically, this requires that a security technician contact the cellular provider by telephone and provide the necessary information to the cellular provider. However, this process can be time consuming and may lead to errors due to misunderstood information such as security system identification number, etc.

[0004] The security provider, as used with respect to the present invention, is a processing station that acts as an intermediary between the cellular radio of the security system and the central monitoring station, receiving transmissions sent by the cellular radio via the cellular provider and forward the message contained within the transmission to the central monitoring station. AlarmNet is one such intermediary, however other systems that perform a similar function are envisioned as providing the role of security provider as defined in the present invention. In addition, the processing station need not be remote from the cellular provider as the cellular provider can be adapted to act as the processing station.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a streamlined activation and registration process, which reduces activation/registration time and reduces occurrences of error due to manual input of the activation and registration information by a technician at the cellular provider or security provider.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention for activating and registering a security system with a cellular provider includes a security system having a cellular radio transceiver; a second cellular radio transceiver carried by a security system installer capable of transmitting and receiving SMS messages in a predefined format containing at least one instruction and corresponding information; a cellular provider for receiving the SMS messages and processing the predefined format to retrieve and execute the at least one instruction; and a central monitoring station in communication with the security system via said cellular provider.

[0007] Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for activating a cellular radio with a cellular provider. The method includes the steps of composing an SMS message in a predefined format containing an activation instruction and corresponding information for activating the cellular radio; transmitting the SMS message to a processing station by way of a cellular provider; processing the SMS message received by the processing station to extract at least the activation instruction and the corresponding information; and performing the activation instruction using the corresponding information.

[0008] Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for activating a cellular radio with a cellular provider and registering said cellular radio with a security provider. The method includes the steps of composing an SMS message in a predefined format containing at least an activation instruction and a registration instruction and corresponding information for activating and registering the cellular radio; transmitting the SMS message to a security provider; processing the SMS message received by the cellular provider to extract the activation instruction and the registration instruction and the corresponding information; and performing at least the activation instruction and the registration instruction using the corresponding information.

[0009] The SMS messages used for activating and registering the security system with the cellular provider and security provider, respectively, are generated in a format that is predetermined by the security provider in order to provide a uniform structure for presenting the necessary information required for the specified function, i.e., activation or registration. The use of a uniform structure for the SMS allows the message to be processed entirely by a computer thus reducing cost, delay and error from having the information entered manually by a technician at either the cellular provider or security provider.

[0010] Moreover, a method is disclosed for activating a security system with a cellular provider and registering the security system with a security provider. The method includes the steps of composing a message in a predefined format containing at least one instruction and corresponding information; transmitting the message to a cellular provider using SMS protocol; and receiving a confirmation message from the cellular provider upon successful completion of the at least one instruction.

[0014] Referring to FIG. 1, a security system technician installs a security system in step 101. Upon completion of the installation, the technician retrieves an identification code identifying the installed system such, as a serial number or MAC address, in step 103.

[0015] Moving on to step 105, the technician determines whether the installed system needs activation. If the system requires activation, the technician determines if the system requires registration as well in step 107. Otherwise, if the system does not need activation, the technician must still determine if the system requires registration in step 121.

[0016] In the case where both activation and registration of the installed system are required, the technician proceeds to step 109, where an SMS message is composed. The SMS message conforms to a predetermined format so that the information and instructions can be easily parsed by an automated activation/registration system at a processing station (i.e., security provider, cellular provider, etc.). For example, an SMS message for activation and registration can be structured as follows: instruction code, city code, central station code, subscriber code, MAC, cyclic redundancy check (CRC), supervision rate, mode. Thus, a complete SMS message for activation and registration would be: ACTREG 89 05 6800 00DD02D0025A7 23F2 DAILY ECP.

[0017] In the above example the CRC is a unique code assigned by the security system manufacturer. The CRC is linked to the MAC address such that any mistake in entering either the MAC address or CRC would be detectable during the activation and registration process. Thus, the use of both the MAC address and CRC provides insurance against erroneous identification of the security system due to mistyping or illegibility of either sequence. However, any unique identifier may be used as well, such as a serial number. Alternatively, the present invention can be implemented without a redundancy check.

[0018] In the case where only activation of the security system is required, the SMS message composed in step 131 would be: ACT 00DD02D0025A7 23F2, i.e. the instruction code: ACT, the MAC address and CRC. While in the case where only registration is required, the SMS message composed in step 123 would be: REG 89 05 6800 00DD02D0025A7 23F2 DAILY ECP, i.e. the instruction code: REG, city code, central station code, subscriber code, MAC address, CRC, supervision rate and mode. The different information contained in the SMS messages depend on the particular function being performed and the information required for the proper completion of the function.

[0019] Additionally, instruction codes can be created for performing other functions such as deactivation of a security system, change of supervision rate, etc. Moreover, the various codes provided above are not intended to limit the present invention to those codes alone or to one particular format. Rather, codes may be numerical, alphanumerical, or any other representation. The format of the SMS message is also not limited to the format described above, any format that provides the necessary information in a structured form can be predefined by either the security provider.

[0020] Continuing onto step 111, the composed SMS message is transmitted to the processing station. Once the SMS message is received by the processing station and verified to be in the correct format, the processing station performs the specified functions (i.e., activation, registration, or both). Upon completion of the specified functions, the processing station transmits a confirmation SMS message, which is received by the technician in step 113, confirming successful completion of the functions. The confirmation SMS message can contain status information regarding the specified functions as well as additional information useful to the technician. With the confirmation SMS message received by the technician, the installation of the security system is completed and the process proceeds to step 115.

[0021] Turning to FIG. 2, an implementation of an embodiment of the present invention is shown. A security system installer 202 installs a security system 204 that is equipped with a cellular radio transceiver 206 for communicating with a central station 208 via a cellular provider 210. The security system is disposed at a location inside a residence or commercial building 212.

[0022] Upon completion of the installation, the security system installer 202, using a SMS messaging enabled cellular telephone 214, prepares an SMS message to the processing station 216, which the processing station 210 receives by way of the cellular provider 210. The SMS message is formatted as described above in reference to FIG. 1 and contains the relevant information for activating and/or registering the newly installed security system 204. The processing station 216 forwards the activation information to the cellular provider 210, while registration information is forwarded to a registration unit (not shown), such as a database, which may or may not be a component of the processing station 216. Once activated and registered, the installed security system 204 will be able to communicate with the central monitoring station 208.

[0023] It should be noted that while the present invention is described with respect to activating and registering a security system, the present invention is not limited to only this application. Rather, the present invention is applicable to any product or system that requires activation with a cellular provider.

[0024] The described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, and are not intended to represent every embodiment of the present invention. Various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims both literally and in equivalents recognized in law.