Mobile eas alarm response proximity enforcement using wireless technologies

Abstract

Systems and methods for responding to an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) alarm's issuance. The methods involve: receiving, by a mobile device, a short range communication signal from a fixed device located in proximity to EAS equipment issuing the EAS alarm; automatically transitioning an operational mode of the mobile device from a first operational mode in which alarm response functions are disabled to a second operational mode in which alarm response functions are enabled, in response to the short range communication signal's reception; receiving, by the mobile device, a user input for inputting a reason code specifying a reason for the EAS alarm's issuance; and communicating the reason code from the mobile device to an external device for causing a deactivation of the EAS alarm's issuance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for responding to an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) alarm's issuance, comprising:
 receiving, by a mobile device, a short range communication signal from a fixed device located in proximity to EAS equipment issuing the EAS alarm; 
 in response to the short range communication signal's reception, automatically transitioning an operational mode of the mobile device from a first operational mode in which alarm response functions are disabled to a second operational mode in which alarm response functions are enabled; 
 receiving, by the mobile device, a user input for inputting a reason code specifying a reason for the EAS alarm's issuance; and 
 communicating the reason code from the mobile device to an external device for causing a deactivation of the EAS alarm's issuance. 
 
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the EAS alarm issuance occurs as a result of a detection of an active EAS security tag's presence in a surveillance zone. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the reason code comprises a recovery code, a failed-to-deactivate code, an incoming item code, a system test code, an unattended code, an unexplained code, a tag-in area code, a runaway code, or a stock movement code. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising automatically prompting a user of the mobile device to indicate at least one detail associated with human activities associated with the EAS alarm's issuance or automatically capturing an image or video of a surrounding environment, in response to the reason code. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising automatically initiating voice or sound detection and recognition operations of the mobile device, in response to the reason code. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the voice or sound detection and recognition operations of the mobile device are performed to determine if a certain word was spoken or a certain sound was made in proximity to the mobile device that should trigger a remedial action. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the remedial action comprises notifying security personnel or notifying emergency personnel. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising communicating at least one of the following items from the mobile device to the external device along with the reason code: a unique identifier of the fixed device; a unique identifier of the mobile device; a unique identifier of a user of the mobile device; at least one scanned product barcode; a scanned receipt barcode; and a timestamp. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed device comprises a beacon. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising automatically transitioning the operational mode of the mobile device from the second operational mode to the first operational mode when the mobile device moves out of range of the fixed device. 
     
     
         11 . A mobile device, comprising:
 a processor; and   a computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for responding to an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) alarm's issuance, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
 receive a short range communication signal from a fixed device located in proximity to EAS equipment issuing the EAS alarm; 
 automatically transition an operational mode of the mobile device from a first operational mode in which alarm response functions are disabled to a second operational mode in which alarm response functions are enabled, in response to the short range communication signal's reception; 
 receive a user input for inputting a reason code specifying a reason for the EAS alarm's issuance; and 
 communicate the reason code to an external device for causing a deactivation of the EAS alarm's issuance. 
   
     
     
         12 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein the EAS alarm issuance occurs as a result of a detection of an active EAS security tag's presence in a surveillance zone. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein the reason code comprises a recovery code, a failed-to-deactivate code, an incoming item code, a system test code, an unattended code, an unexplained code, a tag-in area code, a runaway code, or a stock movement code. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to automatically prompt a user of the mobile device to indicate at least one detail associated with human activities associated with the EAS alarm's issuance or automatically capturing an image or video of a surrounding environment, in response to the reason code. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to automatically initiate voice or sound detection and recognition operations of the mobile device, in response to the reason code. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile device according to  claim 15 , wherein the voice or sound detection and recognition operations of the mobile device are performed to determine if a certain word was spoken or a certain sound was made in proximity to the mobile device that should trigger a remedial action. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile device according to  claim 16 , wherein the remedial action comprises notifying security personnel or notifying emergency personnel. 
     
     
         18 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the following items is communicated to the external device along with the reason code: a unique identifier of the fixed device; a unique identifier of the mobile device; a unique identifier of a user of the mobile device; at least one scanned product barcode; a scanned receipt barcode; and a timestamp. 
     
     
         19 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein the fixed device comprises a beacon. 
     
     
         20 . The mobile device according to  claim 11 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to automatically transition the operational mode of the mobile device from the second operational mode to the first operational mode when the mobile device moves out of range of the fixed device.