Central Monitoring Station Call Source Identification Pre-Screening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Central monitoring stations for alarm systems face inefficiencies in answering calls due to invalid or problematic alarm calls that tie up telephone lines, leading to delayed response times and increased operational burdens.
Innovation Solution
The system utilizes call source identification information (like caller ID) to determine the status of incoming calls before answering, allowing for immediate disconnection, transfer, or connection to a receiver, thereby reducing line occupancy by invalid calls and enhancing processing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the central monitoring station answers all incoming calls, then all alarm calls can be processed, but telephone lines are tied up by invalid calls and response time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by checking caller ID information and comparing it against the database of valid alarm system numbers before the monitoring operator answers the call. This pre-screening process identifies and filters out invalid calls (such as runaway dialers, wrong numbers, and non-subscribers) before they can tie up the monitoring operator, thereby reducing response time for legitimate alarms while maintaining reliable processing of valid calls
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and removes invalid calls from the stream of incoming calls by comparing caller ID against the database. Invalid calls are identified and excluded from being answered by monitoring operators, separating them from valid alarm calls. This extraction process prevents telephone line tie-ups and ensures that only legitimate alarms consume monitoring resources
2Productivity
If multiple receivers with 36 telephone lines each are used, then more alarm calls can be handled, but invalid calls tie up these lines and reduce efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically screening incoming calls using the database of valid alarm system numbers. The computer system autonomously compares caller ID information against the database and determines which calls are valid without requiring manual intervention from monitoring operators. This self-service call screening process improves processing efficiency by handling the filtering task automatically, allowing operators to focus only on legitimate alarms
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary filtering of calls by checking caller ID against the database before calls are routed to monitoring operators. This pre-processing step identifies invalid calls and prevents them from consuming monitoring resources, thereby improving overall call processing efficiency while maintaining high call handling capacity across multiple receivers and telephone lines
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and a method for processing an incoming telephone call to an alarm system central monitoring station using call source identification data such as caller ID. The alarm system central monitoring station can use the caller ID information transmitted by the telephone company to make decisions as to how to process a call prior to the central monitoring station receiver answering the call. The central monitoring station will process the call by checking if the caller ID information matches caller ID information stored in memory and it will check status information associated with the caller ID information to determine if the call should be disconnected, transferred, or connected. In order to accomplish this the central monitoring station comprises receiving circuits for detecting an incoming telephone call on the telephone line and reading caller ID information associated with the call, switching circuits coupled to the receiving circuitry for transferring the call if necessary, memory for storing status information comprising the caller ID information, and processing circuitry for determining if caller ID information has been stored in the memory, and if it has, then accessing the status information and processing the call as a function of the status information. The central monitoring station may process the call by 1)transferring the call to an invalid alarm call station, 2)connecting the call to a central monitoring station receiver, a second central monitoring station receiver, or a second line of a central monitoring station receiver, or 3)disconnecting the call.