AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method of monitoring product identification at a transaction terminal. More particularly, but not excl usively, the invention relates to a method of monitoring product identification at a transaction terminal by sending a signal indicating product identification to be recorded in combination with video footage of the transaction terminal, in response to a sound produced by the transaction terminal indicating a scan has occurred.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In order to reduce shrinkage from retail outlets many retailers have installed surveillance cameras to monitor staff at transaction terminals. However, staff can defeat such measures by apparently scanning an item but in fact preventing the reading of a product (by placing their hand over the bar code or orienting the bar code away from the reader) so that an accomplice receives an item without paying for it. The video footage will appear to show a normal scan and so will not detect this dishonesty. It is desirable that monitoring be covert to avoid detection and distraction. In some cases, it may not be convenient to interface a legacy transaction terminal to an attached device to indicate that a scan has taken place due to the number of different possible interfaces and the labour required to install the interface.

It would be desirable to provide a method for detecting such dishonesty and apparatus for performing the method that is easy to use with a wide range of legacy systems or to at least provide the public with a useful choice. EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

According to one exemplary embodiment there is provided a method of monitoring product identification at a transaction terminal comprising:

a) identifying a product using a reader at a transaction terminal;

b) recording video footage of the reading of the product at the transaction terminal;

c) detecting a sound signal associated with a successful read of the

product at the transaction terminal;

d) sending information indicating product identification, in response to the sound signal, to a remote recording device; and

e) recording the video footage at the remote recording device in

combination with information indicating product identification.

According to a further exemplary embodiment there is provided a transaction terminal monitoring system including:

a) a video recording device for recording transaction video footage of a transaction terminal;

b) a sound detection unit configured to produce a detection signal in response to the detection of a sound signal;

c) a transmitter configured to send a product identification signal indicating product identification upon receipt of the detection signal; and

d) a receiver configured to receive product identification information signals from the transmitter.

According to a still further exemplary embodiment there is provided a product identification verification device including an input for receiving a sound signal from a reading device, processing means for identifying a sound characteristic of a successful read by a reading device, and a transmitter which transmits a signal upon identification of a sound characteristic of a successful read.

According to a further exemplary embodiment there is provided a method of monitoring product identification at a transaction terminal comprising:

a. identifying a product using a reader at a transaction terminal;

b. recording video footage of the reading of the product at the

transaction terminal;

c. detecting a successful scan signal sent from the reader to the

transaction terminal associated with a successful read of the product at the transaction terminal;

d. sending information indicating product identification, in response to the successful scan signal, to a remote recording device; and e. recording the video footage at the remote recording device in

combination with information indicating product identification.

According to a further exemplary embodiment there is provided a transaction terminal monitoring system including:

a. a video recording device for recording transaction video footage of a transaction terminal;

b. a monitoring circuit for monitoring successful scan signals and a

transmitter which transmits a signal upon the monitoring circuit detecting a successful scan signal;

c. a transmitter configured to send a product identification signal

indicating product identification upon receipt of the successful scan signal; and

d. a receiver configured to receive product identification information signals from the transmitter.

According to a further exemplary embodiment there is provided a product identification verification device including an input for receiving a scan signal from a reading device, an output for supplying the scan signal to a transaction terminal and a monitoring circuit for monitoring successful scan signals and a transmitter which transmits a signal upon the monitoring circuit detecting a successful scan signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. shows a transaction terminal monitoring system according to a first embodiment; shows a block diagram of a sound detection unit according to a first embodiment; shows a top perspective view of a microphone suitable for use in the sound detection unit; shows an underside perspective view of the microphone shown in figure 3; shows the microphone shown in figures 3 and 4 affixed to a transaction terminal; and

Figure 6 shows a block diagram of a USB monitoring circuit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION A transaction terminal monitoring system may be implemented using wired or wireless signals. Figure 1 shows an embodiment in which wireless signals are employed. In this exemplary embodiment, three transaction terminals 1 , 2 and 3 are shown at three sales counters, 4, 5 and 6. It will be appreciated that the invention can be deployed with any number of counters as required. When an item at a counter is scanned by the respective transaction terminal 1 , 2 or 3, the terminal emits a sound, typically known as a "beep", indicating that a scan has been made. In a preferred embodiment, the sound is detected by a sound detection unit. It is appreciated that the sound detection unit may be incorporated in the transaction terminal or may be a separate unit.

Now referring to figure 2, a sound detection unit 7 used in one embodiment may consist of a microphone or another device 20 that can detect the sound from the transaction terminal. The microphone 20 sends a received sound signal electrically to a sound detection unit 21 .

To ensure a good signal to noise ratio of the sound from the transaction terminal a microphone 31 of the form shown in figures 3 to 5 may be employed. The body of the microphone 31 may include pads 32 and 33 having an adhesive tape affixed thereto to facilitate attachment next to a speaker of a transaction terminal 35 as shown in figure 5. A transducer may be located at the end of a channel 34 to further isolate external sound and improve the signal to noise ratio.

The sound detection unit is configurable so as to only respond to a received sound if that received sound's characteristics are of a predetermined type. If there are a number of transaction terminals within a close proximity, then there is a chance that a sound from a distant terminal may be detected at a sound detection unit not associated with it, resulting in the sound detection that a successful scan has taken place when this is incorrect. This can be avoided by manually or automatically configuring the sound detection unit 21 to respond only to a sound signal produced by an associated transaction terminal. The configuration can include requiring the sound signal to be above a certain amplitude or power, being of a certain pitch or frequency, or some other characteristic for example phase or modulation. A signal may be required to have a prescribed characteristic or combination of characteristics (e.g. frequency and amplitude) for a prescribed time to remove spurious signals.

After identifying a successful read at an associated transaction terminal, the sound detection unit 21 signals the signal generator component 22 to generate a signal indicating a successful read has occurred. This signal is then sent to the signal transmission component 23, which is configured to transmit the signal in a known way. In a preferred embodiment, the signal is sent wirelessly using an antenna 24, though it is envisioned that other signalling techniques may be incorporated including signalling over wires.

Referring now to figure 6 an alternative embodiment is described in which a monitoring circuit 27 is interposed between a reader 25 (typically a barcode scanner) and a transaction terminal 26. It will be appreciated that this circuit may be substituted for the sound detection circuit in the system shown in figure 1 . Typically, but not necessarily, the reader 25 is connected to transaction terminal 26 via a USB bus. In this embodiment a monitoring circuit 27 is interposed between by connecting the output of reader 25 to an input of monitoring circuit 27 via USB cable 29 and the output of monitoring circuit 27 to transaction terminal 26 via USB cable 30. Monitoring circuit 27 operates in keyboard simulation mode to pass communications directly from the reader 25 to transaction terminal 26 without affecting them. The USB bus speed may be inferred by monitoring packet status in Low-Bandwidth, Full-Bandwidth and Hi-Speed modes. When a valid status packet is detected the bus speed is determined and used for monitoring. The communications from reader 25 to transaction terminal 26 are then monitored to detect valid scans. This is commonly by detection of a carriage return, which may indicate a successful scan, and a signal may be sent via wireless transmitter 28 indicating a successful scan. It will, however, be appreciated that other characteristic data patterns may be used in other applications to detect a valid scan.

Referring back to figure 1 , the wireless transmitters 7, 8 and 9 may transmit wireless signals to wireless receiver 18 in response to sound signals received from the transaction terminals 1 , 2 and 3. The wireless transmitters 7, 8 and 9 may transmit information identifying the transmitter. Each time a positive product identification signal is received each wireless transmitter 7, 8 and 9 transmits a signal indicating positive product identification. This is received by receiving unit 18, combined with video footage and supplied to video recording unit 1 6. Receiving unit 18 may store details of the transaction terminal associated with each transmitter as well as site information etc. and superimposes this information onto video footage associated with the respective transaction terminal. As shown in Figure 1 the text "bay 2" indicated by numeral 19 is superimposed onto the video footage associated with transaction terminal 2. The position, colour, size and location of text may be set as required by user. The period of persistence of the text box 24 may also be set by a user. There are thus provided systems that may be readily adapted to a wide range of transaction terminals to provide a simple and cost effective solution to the monitoring of scanning at a transaction terminal. While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of the embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described in detail, it is not the intention of the Applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departure from the spirit or scope of the Applicant's general inventive concept.