WO2005084123A2

WO2005084123A2 - Apparatus and method for restriction order compliance monitoring and reporting

Info

Publication number: WO2005084123A2
Application number: PCT/IL2005/000240
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dan Zeeli
Original assignee: Dmatek Ltd
Current assignee: Dmatek Ltd
Priority date: 2004-03-04
Filing date: 2005-02-28
Publication date: 2005-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 2006-09-04
Also published as: GB0612426D0; WO2005084123A3; GB2426606A

Abstract

An apparatus (10) and method for remote identity verification and remote location determination of a person, utilized for restriction order monitoring and reporting. The apparatus automatically verifies the identity of a monitored person by utilizing voice or biometrics technology and generates a phone call to a phone number associated with the monitored person.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RESTRICTION ORDER COMPLIANCE

MONITORING AND REPORTING

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of personal surveillance in

general and in particular to an apparatus and method for verifying the identity and

the physical location of a person under surveillance.

DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART

Disorderly behavior at public events is rapidly becoming a severe

problem for the authorities responsible for the safety of the public attending the

event and for the proper management of the event. For example the live performance

of a popular sport event, such as a football match, is typically attended by massive

crowds of spectators. The course of the football match could be seriously disrupted

and the personal safety of the law-abiding spectators and the inhabitants of the

surrounding neighborhoods could be endangered by small groups of disorderly .

persons, colloquially referred to as football thugs or football hooligans that almost

routinely engage in disorderly behavior before, during and after a sport event.

Typically, these groups include fanatical supporters of specific. sport teams, such as

football clubs, that routinely attend sport events characterized by the participation of

a team supported by the groups. The potential of disorderly offensive behavior during a public sport event is therefore associated with a) the participation of a

specific sport team in the public sport event, and b) the attendance of one or more

supporters of the participating sport team having a past record of disorderly behavior

under similar circumstances. The phenomena became so widespread and so serious that in certain

countries, such as the United Kingdom, specific legislation was enacted (Football

(Offences and Disorder) Bill) in order to provide law-enforcement agencies with

more robust and more efficient procedures designed to fight against disorderly

behavior. The legislation provides the courts and the police with extended powers

regarding disorderly behavior. One of the provisions of the law enables the issuance

of a court order to limit selectively the movements of an individual with a proven

record of disorderly behavior during, before and after a sport event. Such an

individual is typically forbidden to attend specific public sport events, such as, for

example, events in which a specific sport team supported by the same individual

participates. Typically, exclusion orders and restriction orders are issued against a

person in order to prevent offences of violence or disorder that could occur at or in

the neighborhood of a sports ground associated with the sport event. The orders

typically regard a period from a pre-defined number of hours before a sport event

starts until a pre-defined number of hours after the termination of the event in order

to prevent offenses during a journey to or from the sport event. In order to enable for

the law-enforcement agencies to monitor compliance with the orders the individual

is typically restricted in his movements such as to make him to stay away from the _ sports ground, from bars, and from the streets. To enable efficient monitoring

concerning compliance with the order the individual is typically obliged by law to

stay for a pre-defined period at a pre-defined location such as his home.

Alternatively, the individual could be obliged to report at a pre-defined law-

enforcement base, such as a local police station, at some point in time within the pre¬

defined period, although this alternate method has several disadvantages, such as

reduced cost-efficiency, ambiguity, and questionable reliability. Alternatively the

individual can be incarcerated, a method which is very costly to the authorities and

might serve as a penalty not suitable to such behavior of such person. . . Currently, in order to monitor compliance with restriction order, low-

enforcement officers routinely check the monitored individual's location by placing

a phone call to a telephone number associated with the home of the individual

during the restriction period. During the subsequent telephone conversation the

officers attempt to make sure that the individual complies with the order by being at

the pre-defined location. There are several drawbacks to the current monitoring

procedure. These drawbacks regard the relative ease with which the objective of the

monitoring process could be frustrated. First, the proper identification of the

monitored individual via a regular telephone conversation is practically impossible

as certain family members and/or close friends could easily impersonate the

individual by pretending to be the monitored individual. In addition, today the

monitored individual can utilize advanced telephone service options routinely

provided by practically all telephone service providers. For example, the standard "follow-me" option enables the routing of a call to a conventional telephone unit to a

different remote telephone unit, such as a cellular phone. Thus, by carrying a cellular

phone on the person to which the incoming calls are automatically routed from the

home phone number the monitored individual could receive and answer the

monitoring call at diverse non-identifiable forbidden locations, such as for example

from the sports ground.

It would be easily understood by one with ordinary skills in the art that

there is a need to provide an apparatus and method that will provide for the

automatic verification of the identity and the automatic indication of the physical

location of a monitored individual.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION One aspect of the present invention regards an apparatus for remotely

verifying the identity of a person. The apparatus includes a remote monitoring and

reporting server implemented on a computing and communicating device. The

remote monitoring and reporting server comprises the following elements: a persons

database for storing an at least one personal record associated with an at least one

person to be monitored, an event database for holding at least one event record

associated with a specific location and specific time period and associated with the

at least one person to be monitored, and a remote monitoring and reporting

application for verifying the identity of a monitored person and for identifying the location of a monitored person during an event by comparing personal records with

event records for determining which person is restricted from attending an event.

A second aspect of the present invention regards a method for remotely

verifying the identity of a person. The method comprises the following steps:

locating person information indicating the necessity for monitoring, establishing a

communication session between the monitoring server and a pre-defined location of

the person to be monitored, remotely verifying the identity of the person

participating in the communication session, remotely examining the actual

location of the person participating in the communication session, and determining

whether the person is located in an non restricted area compared with an event

restriction record.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION. OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from

the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram describing the monitoring and reporting

apparatus, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present, invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure and elements of the

event database, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure and components of the

restricted-movement persons database, in accordance with a preferred embodiment

of the present invention; and Figs. 4 through 6 are flow charts describing the monitoring and reporting

method,- in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An apparatus and method for the remote identify verification and the

remote monitoring of the location of a person is disclosed. In the preferred

embodiment of the invention the apparatus and method is used for restriction order

compliance monitoring and reporting. The person monitored in the context of the

present invention is a football hooligan or like disorderly persons against who a

court order was issued to the effect that such person avoids a public event such as a

football game. The apparatus automatically verifies the identity of a monitored

person by utilizing voice identification technology. Optionally the . identity of the

monitored person could be verified through diverse biometrics technologies, such as

for example fingerprint identification. The biometric technology could involve the

use of a device capable of reading^' and uploading a fingerprint, capable of comparing

the fingerprint with pre-sampled fingerprint data, and capable of uploading the

results of the comparison in Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) format to the

apparatus. In the preferred embodiment of the proposed invention the apparatus

automatically generates a phone call to the pre-defined telephone number of the

monitored person where the call could be generated either in a random manner along

the time axis or initiated at pre-defined selective point in time. In other preferred

embodiments the apparatus is provided with the capability of receiving a call from

the monitored person and subsequently call back automatically. In yet another

preferred embodiment, when the particular monitored person alcohol level could be

determined through the use of trans-dermal sensor which can provide information at all times . as to whether the subject monitored blood alcohol level exceeds a

predetermined level, such as the legal requirement for alcohol in the blood.. During

the call the identity of the monitored person is identified by voice identification

technologies or other biometric technologies. Optionally, the location of the

monitored person is determined; a) by using basic phone number identification; b)

by utilizing GPS or other positioning system technology where global or other

positioning system technology embedded phones are used, arid c) by using cellular

communication network-specific _: location technologies. Further location of the

monitored individual could be accomplished by the use an electronic personal

tagging system. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the proposed

apparatus and method will notify the appropriate authorities, such as police forces,

the identity and location of the monitored person in order enable the authorities to

take appropriate action. The apparatus and system will report to the authorities

whether a) the identity of the monitored person can not be ascertained, b) the

monitored individual is not at a pre-defined location, c) the monitored individual is

at or near to a restricted location, and d) the location of the monitored person is

unknown. During a phone call involving the monitored person the physical location

of the phone handset used by the monitored person could be determined through the

utilization of one or more of the following technologies: When the phone number is

in a standard PSTN number format the number of the calling/answering handset is

compared to the geographical area location definition in a suitable telephone number

database. When the phone number is a cellular number the number is analyzed and geographical location of. the cellular cell containing the handset is determined.

Location determination could be made also through GPS phones where applicable.

The monitoring data collected by the proposed apparatus and method could be

downloaded in a pre-defined manner. Thus, the data could be transmitted either

immediately during or consequent to of monitoring process, periodically,!' or in

response to a specific request to the suitable authorities for examination, analysis,

and subsequent action. The voice data and/or the biometric data captured during the

phone call and other remote interactions is examined automatically by the proposed

apparatus and method in order to verify the identity of the monitored person and

optionally determine the location of the monitored person. Thus, the voice data

captured from the phone conversation is compared to the personal voice

characteristics of the monitored person that are stored within the proposed apparatus.

The voice of the person could be further compared to a stored voice print. The data

captured from the control data associated with the phone connection, such as phone

number, cellular cell, GPS co-ordinates is compared to an events database that

include event characteristics. The apparatus and method could optionally generate

reports based on the results of the monitoring. The reports typically include

information concerning the results of the identity verification, and the location of the

monitored person at the time of the identification process. The apparatus and method

of the present invention would collect event information either automatically or

manually from third party databases and would perform tracking operations to.

ensure that a person who is restricted from a particular event does not participate in such event. The apparatus and method, of the present invention also collects or

receives information directly from law enforcement agencies arid court of law with

respect of such persons denied or barred from public events such as football matches

and the like. The use of the monitoring apparatuses and methods shown above in

association with the public event and the law enforcement and court information

allows and effective enforcement of court and police orders against individuals who

were barred or restricted from attending public events.

Referring now to Fig. 1 illustrating the remote monitoring and reporting

apparatus with the associated input sources and the resulting output, in accordance

with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus comprises a

remote monitoring and reporting server 10 that is typically installed and operates on

a computing and communicating platform. The server 10 accesses through specific

communication networks paths external data sources in order to obtain the

information there from and utilize the information to maintain several internal data

structures. The external data sources include event parameter sources 12, and

restricted movement persons list sources 14. The event parameter sources 12 provide

event information. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the events are

public sport events, such as soccer matches, and other spectator sport events. The

event parameters could include information concerning various aspects of the event,

such as the location of the event (stadium name, address, and the like), a planned

time and date of the event, the sport teams participating in the event, the expected

number of spectators at the event, and the like. The information provided by the event parameter sources 12 is utilized for the maintenance of an internal event

parameters database 16. The event parameters data sources 12 could include

specialized or general information provider sites, Internet portals, third-party

dedicated software systems, and the like. The restricted movement persons list

sources 14 provide information about persons whose movements are restricted at

specific times to a specific geographical area. In the preferred embodiment of the

invention, the restricted movement person is a person with a history of disorderly

behavior (colloquially referred to as a football hooligan) against whom a personal

movement restriction order was issued by a court of law or other legally competent

authorities. The order typically restricts the movement of the person to a specific

location and expressly forbids the person to attend a certain sport event. The

restricted-movement persons data sources 14 are external specialized information

provider sources, such as, for exairiple, law enforcement agency systems, social

service systems, legal institutions, and the like. The sources 14 provide information

that is utilized for the maintenance of an internal movement-restricted persons

database 18. The monitored data sources 13 are external sources associated with the

monitoring processes. Sources 13 provide monitoring data that is captured during

the monitoring of a restricted movement person. The sources 13 could include

various monitoring devices, such as the monitored person's home phone, a personal

cell phone, a wearable automatic surveillance device, and the like. The sources 13

could provide ^'monitoring information in diverse data formats, such as voice data,

automatic monitoring data, biometric data and control data. The monitoring data is received from the monitoring phone calls or other specific interactions between a

monitored. person and the monitoring application. The server 10 includes an event

parameters database 16, a phone numbers, area codes, cell phone numbers, cellular

cell numbers and GPS co-ordinates database 17, Digital/Analog TV antenna

numbers database (not shown), a movement-restricted persons database 18, a

processed monitored data database 15, and a remote monitoring and reporting

application 20. The application 20 comprises an automatic dialer and answering

module 22, an identity verification module 26, a location determination module 24,

an automatic surveillance module 28, a report generator module 30, a monitored

data downloader 27, a voice verification module 37, a biometrics data handler

module 31, a query handler 35, an event parameter downloader 21, a restricted

movement persons list downloader 19, an event parameter handler 23, a speech

recognition module (not shown), and a restricted movement persons list handler 25.

Still referring to Fig. 1 the server 10 obtains periodically event

parameters and restricted movement persons lists. The obtained parameters and lists

are processed periodically. In accordance with the results of the processing the

server 10 could activate the remote monitoring of one or more persons. The server

10 remotely verifies the identity of the monitored persons and optionally determines

the location of the monitored persons. The obtained monitoring data is processed

and structured into processed monitoring data 15 that is used for the generation of

monitoring reports 32, and for the formation of specific answers in response to

monitoring queries 33 submitted by authorized individuals, such as police officers, and the like. The reports 32 and the processed monitoring data 29 could- be

downloaded either automatically or in response to appropriate requests submitted by

the authorized individuals. The event parameters database 16 is used to store event

parameters records obtained from the event parameters sources 12. The function of

the persons database 18 is to store personal records associated with the monitored

persons where the records are obtained from the restricted movement persons list

sources 14. The phone numbers, area codes, cell numbers, cellular cell numbers and

GPS co-ordinates database 17. stores control data used by the appropriate locator

modules in order to determine the location of a monitored person. The remote

monitoring and reporting application 20 includes a set of computer programs where

each program is responsible for the performance of a specific operative function of

the application 20. The automatic dialer and answering module 22 is responsible for

the local initiation of a wired or wireless communication session between the

monitoring server 10 and the monitored person. The module 22 is further

responsible for responding to a remotely initiated wired or wireless communication

session between the ftionitoring server 10 and a monitored person. The location

determination module 26 is used for determining remotely the location of a

monitored person during a communication session. The function of the identity

verification module 24 is to verify remotely the identity of a monitored person

during the communication session. The voice verification module 37 is responsible

for comparing the voice of a monitored person to a pre-recorded voice print of the

monitored person during a communication session between the monitored person arid the application 20. The biometrics data handler module 31 is responsible for

comparing biometric data captured from the monitored person with pre-recorded

biometric data associated with the monitored person. The automatic surveillance

module 28 receives and processes external surveillance data from surveillance

devices associated with the monitored person. The report generator 30 is responsible

for the generation of reports either automatically or consequent to requests submitted

by authorized persons. The query handler 35 responds to queries submitted by

authorized persons by forming suitable answers to the queries. The monitored data

downloader 27 transmits processed monitoring data either automatically or in

response to authorized requests to pre-determined locations, such as law

enforcement agency systems, and the like; The event parameter downloader 21 is

responsible for obtaining event information from external sources by establishing

communication with then external sources via a communication network and by

obtaining the required information. The event parameters handler 23 receives the

event information from the event downloader 27, structures the information and

inserts the structured information into the event parameters database 16 The

restricted movement persons list downloader 19 is responsible for obtaining person

information from external sources by establishing communication with the external

sources via a communication network and by obtaining the required information.

The restricted movement persons list handler 25 receives the persons information

from the persons downloader 21, structures the information and inserts the

structured information into the persons database 18. Referring now to Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the structure and

elements of the event database. The event database 40 is a dynamic data structure

that is periodically and continuously updated by the event parameter sources 12 of

Fig. 1. The event database 40 includes one or more data records where each record

represents an event, such as a public sport event and stores the relevant

characteristics of the event. The characteristics of the event are represented by

diverse data fields, rules, schedules and tasks within the record. The drawing under

discussion shows exemplary data fields. Note should be taken that the structure of

the event database and the constituent data fields of the event record are exemplary

only. The event record comprises an event ID 42, and event type 44, an event

location 46, the start data and the start time of the event 48, event name and event

description 50, first event participant 52, second event participant 54, Nth event

participant 56, event comments 58, control flags 60, pointer to first monitored

person record 61, pointer to second monitored person record 62, pointer to Nth

monitored person record 63, and termination data and termination time of the event

58.

Fig. 3. is a block diagram showing the structure and components of the

restricted-movement persons database. The restricted-movement persons database

70 is a dynamic data structure that is periodically and continuously updated with

data supplied from restricted-movement persons sources 14 of Fig. 1. The restricted-

movement persons database 70 includes one or more data records where each record represents an restricted-movement person, such as a individual against whom a.

restriction order to issued in order to keep him away from a public sport ground for a

pre-defined period. The individual is monitored by the authorities, such as law-

enforcement agencies, in order to make sure that the restriction order introduced

against the individual is complied with. The person., record stores the relevant

characteristics of the person. The characteristics of the person are represented by

diverse data fields within the record. The drawing under discussion shows

exemplary data fields. Note should be taken that the structure of the restricted- ,

movement persons database and the constituent data fields of the restricted-

movement person record are exemplary only. The person record comprises a person

ID 72, a person name 74, an address indicating a pre-defined location for monitoring

76, a telephone number 78 associated with the pre-defined location 76, a restriction

type code 80, a first banned event 82, a second banned event 84, a Nth banned event

86, comments 88, control, flags 90, voice characteristics data 92, voice sample data

94, surveillance tag ID 96, event flags 95, historical information 93, and various

biometrics data 81. The drawing under discussion shows exemplary data fields. Note

should be taken that the structure of the movement-restricted persons database and

the constituent data fields of the person record are exemplary only.

Reference is made now to Fig. 4 illustrating a high level flowchart that

describes in a schematic manner the operation of the remote monitoring and

reporting method. At step 302 the method associated with the monitoring and

reporting apparatus provides for accessing relevant external information sources in order to obtain up-to-date event information and up-to-date restricted movement

person information. The event information could regard new events, cancelled

events, modified events, while the persons information could regard new persons,

deleted persons, person detail modifications, and the like. The information received

is stored in the appropriate data structures for subsequent processing. At step 304 the

event information and the restricted movement person information is accessed and

jointly processed in order to determine monitoring requirements for a specific

person. At step 306 monitoring is performed in accordance with the results of

processing the event information and person information. At step 308 the method

receives processes and stores monitoring data generated during the monitoring of a

person. At step 310 monitoring reports are generated and transmitted to the proper

authorities either automatically or consequent to submitted requests. At step 312 in

response to queries submitted by authorized persons answers are formed to the

respective queries. Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6 illustrating the monitoring stage of the

proposed method. Note should be taken that in other preferred embodiment

alternative methods, alternative program flows, alternative program steps, and

different program logic could be used. In the preferred embodiment of the invention

at program step 206 of Fig. 5 the application 20 of Fig. 1 periodically scans the

event parameters database 16 of Fig. 1 in order to identify events characterized by a

start date and a start time which is approximately time-synchronous with the current

date and time. An event that is approximately time-synchronous with the current date and time will be referred to herein after as a "current event". At decision box

208 of Fig. 5 it is determined whether the event processed in the event parameters

database is a current event. If the result produced by the decision box 208 is negative

then program control returns to program step 206. Then, the program loops across

program steps 206 and 208 is executed until a current event is found. Note should be

taken that a current event record could be inserted manually. When a current event is

identified then at program step 210 the event record is processed in order to

successively extract pointers indicating personal records of specific persons that

were banned from the current event. When at decision box 211 it is determined that

no pointers are found then program control returns to step 206. If a pointer for the a

movement-restricted person associated with the current event is found then utilizing

the pointer value the suitable person record in the movement-restricted persons

database 18 of Fig. 1 is accessed at step 212. The person record is extracted from the

movement-restricted persons database 18 of Fig. 1 and the person-event-specific

restriction fields and person-event relations are checked for verification. If the

person-event restrictions could not be verified then program control returns to

program step 210.. Note should be taken that a person record could be inserted

manually. If the restrictions defined in the event database are verified via the data

the movement-restricted persons database then all the event flags 95 in the

movement-restricted person record of the movement-restricted persons database 70

of Fig. 3 are reset to null. Optionally, at step 217 the location of the monitored

person is verified via an electronic tag surveillance system. At decision block 222 of Fig. 6 it is determined by the monitoring of the location of the electronic

surveillance tag device whether the location of the monitored person is at the pre¬

defined location. If the result is negative then at step 224 the "person-is-not-at-

predeflned-location" data flag is set. At step 226 a telephone call is initiated and the

person's telephone number is called. At step 228 voice verification is performed by

the voice verification module 24 of Fig. 1. At the decision box 232 it is determined

whether the voice identified by the voice verification module is the voice of the

monitored person. If the result is negative then at step 230 the "speaker-unknown"

event flag is set. At step 234 location checking is performed by the location

determination module 26. At decision box 236 it is determined whether the location

of the monitored person is about identical to the location of the banned event. If the

result produced by the decision box 236 is positive then at step 238 the "person-at-

restricted-event" event flag is set and the movement restricted person record in the

movement-restricted persons database is updated with the current event flags 95.

Consequently, program control returns to step 206 of Fig. 4 through exit step 242. If

the result of decision box 236 is negative then at step 240 the current event flags 95

are updated in the movement-restricted person record in the movement-restricted

person database 18 of Fig. 1. Consequently program control proceeds to step 206 of

Fig. 5 in order to scan periodically the event database 16 for the presence of a

current event.

Note should be taken that the results of the monitoring constitute a set of

event flags in the movement-restricted persons database. Periodically, the downloader 27 of Fig. 1 could scan the movement-restricted person database 18 of

Fig. 1 and look for event flags indicating irregular monitoring results or event flags

that were set by the application 20. The monitoring results could be aggregated into

the processed monitored data 15 of Fig. 1 and downloaded to the proper authorities.

The downloading process could be either automatic or could performed by request.

Downloading could be performed either as data via conventional data

communication networks, as voice messages via telephone lines or via any other

communication paths.

The proposed apparatus and method provides the option of producing

reports that could enable users of the system, such as law-enforcement agencies

and/or civil authorities to compare present compliance records to historical

compliance records, to identify historical behavior patterns of certain individuals,

allow for cross-referencing, produce documents potentially usable as evidence in

courts, and the like. Reports could be generated either automatically or by a certain

demand in order to fit a specific request. The reports are generated by the report

generator 30 that in a similar manner to the monitored data downloader 27 could

scan the movement-restricted person database 18 and look for historical results,

event flags indicating irregular monitoring results or event flags that were set by the

application 20. Reports could be sent as print_rformatted data via conventional data

communication networks, or via any other communication paths. The reports that

reflect the results of the monitoring could be transmitted to authorized individuals automatically and immediately in accordance with pre-defined characteristics of the

application.

In an alternative method of operation automatic dialer-.answering module

22 of Fig. 1 could receive a pre-determined call from a monitored person in a pre-

determined period. The calling phone number is analyzed and various person-

specific and associated event-specific parameters are determined. For example, the

location of the caller could be determined. Subsequently, the module 22 terminates

the call and calls back the phone number in order to determine the identity of the

caller. Identity verification could be performed in a manner similar to the above

described method.

The person skilled in the art will appreciate that what has been shown is

not limited to the description above and that examples shown here above are in no

way limiting and are shown to better and adequately describe the present invention.

It will be apparent that the present invention is not limited to the specific

embodiments disclosed and those modifications and other embodiments are intended

to be included within the scope of the invention. Although specific terms are

employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for

purposes of limitation. The present invention is not limited to what has been

particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present

invention is defined only by the claims, which follow.

Claims

CLAIMS . I/We claim:

. 1. An apparatus for remote monitoring and reporting, the apparatus comprising the elements of:

s a remote monitoring and reporting server implemented ^"on a computing and communicating device, the server comprising the elements of: a persons database for storing an at least one personal record associated with an at least one person, to be monitored; 0 an event database for holding at least one event record associated with a specific location and specific time period and associated with the at least one person to be monitored; a remote monitoring and reporting device for verifying the identity of a monitored person and for identifying the location of a monitored s person during an event by comparing personal records with event records for determining which person is restricted from attending an event.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the remote monitoring and reporting application further comprises an automatic dialer and answering module to initiate locally a communication session or to respond to a remotely 0 initiated communication session between the monitoring server and the at least one person to be monitored.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the remote monitoring and reporting application further comprises a location determination module for determining remotely the location of the at least one monitored person during the wired or wireless communication session.

4. ' The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the remote monitoring and reporting application further comprises an identity verification module . for verifying remotely the identity of the at least one monitored person during the communication session.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a processed monitored data database for storing at least one processed monitored data record

. received via the monitoring of the at least one monitored person.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the identify verification module comprises a voice verification module for comparing the voice of the at least one. monitored person to a pre-recorded voice print of the person during the communication session.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the identify verification module comprises a speech recognition module for identifying the at least one monitored person during the performance of a telephone conversation.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the identify . verification module comprises a biometrics data handler for comparing biometric data associated with the at least one monitored person with pre-recorded biometric data associated with the one monitored person during the communication session.

9: The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the elements of: a phone number and positioning system co-ordinates database for providing the location determination module with geographic information to assist in remotely determining the location of the at least one monitored person during the communication session.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of an automatic surveillance module for receiving and processing external surveillance data received from the surveillance devices associated with at least one monitored person.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises a report generator module for generating reports.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of a query handler for generating responses to at least one query associated with the at least one result generated by the remote monitoring and reporting application.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of a monitored ,data downloader for transmitting the processed monitored data to a pre- determined remote location.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of event parameter downloader for obtaining event informatiori from remote event information sources.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of restricted movement persons list downloader for obtaining person information from remote person information sources.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of an event parameter handler for receiving, structuring, and storing the obtained event information.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the element of a restricted movement persons list handler for receiving, structuring, and storing the obtained person information.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one event record held within the event database comprises the elements of an event identification field for providing unique identification of the event; an event type definition for determining the type of the event; an event location indicator for providing location information; a start date value and a start period value associated with the event; a termination date value and a termination period value associated with the event; an event name and description; at least one event participant identification associated with an at least one person to be monitored; an at least one control flag for providing record status indications; and at least one pointer value for indicating the location of an at least one monitored person associated with the at least one event participant.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one personal record stored in the persons database comprises the elements of: a person identification value for identifying uniquely an at least one person to be monitored; a person name field associated with the at least one person to be monitored; an address field for indicating a pre-defined location at which the at least one monitored person is obliged to be present during the monitoring process; a telephone number associated with the at least one monitored person or the pre-defined location; a restriction type value for indicating the type of restriction applied to the at least one monitored person; an at least, one banned event identification associated with an at least one event record in the event database which the at least one monitored person is obliged not to attend; at least one control flag for indicating the status of the personal record; at least one encoded voice characteristics value associated with the at least one monitored person; a voice sample file of the at least one monitored person; a surveillance tag identification for indicating uniquely the surveillance equipment associated with the at least one monitored person; and a biometrics control data value associated with the biometrics characteristics of the at least one monitored person.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the remote verification of the identity of a person and the remote monitoring of the location is performed to obtain movement restriction order compliance.

21. A method for remote monitoring and reporting, the method comprising the steps of: locating person information indicating the necessity for monitoring; establishing a communication session between the monitoring , server and a pre-defined location of the person to be monitored; remotely verifying the identity of the person participating in the communication session; remotely examining the actual location of the person participating in the communication session determining whether the person is located in a non restricted area compared with an event restriction record.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising the step of recording the result of the identity verification process- and the location finding process.

23. The method of claim 21 further comprises the step of transmitting the results of the identity verification process and the location finding process to an at least one pre-determined location.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of locating person information comprises the steps of: searching the event database for an at least one event record that is substantially time synchronized with the period and date of the search; obtaining an at least one. person pointer value from the event record; extracting an at least one personal record from the persons database using the person-specific pointer value; and verifying the requirement monitoring process by cross-checking the fields of the event record and the fields of the personal record.

25. The method claim 21 wherein the step of establishing a coriimunication session comprises initiating a communication session by calling a predetermined telephone number of the monitored person or by responding to a telephone call initiated by the monitored person from a predetermined telephone number.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the step, of establishing a communication session comprises initiating a link with an automatic surveillance device associated with the monitored person or responding to the initiation of the link by the automatic surveillance device associated with the monitored person.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the link is a wireless data communication link.

28. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of remotely verifying, the identity of the person participating in the communication session comprises the steps of capturing an audio record of the voice of the person participating in the communication session; obtaining the pre-

. stored audio record comprising the voice characteristics values or the pre-recorded voice, recording of the person participating in the communication session; comparing the captured voice of the person against the pre-stored voice characteristics . or the pre-recorded voice recording of the person; and evaluating the measure of similarity between the captured voice characteristics and the pre-defined and prerecorded voice characteristics.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprises the steps of capturing biometric data of the person participating in the communication session; obtaining pre-stored biometric control data associated with the person participating in the communication session; comparing the captured biometric data with the pre-stored biometric data associated with the person participating in the communication session; and determining the measure of similarity between the captured biometric data and the pre-stored biometric data.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of monitoring the location of the person participating in the communication session comprises the steps of identifying the telephone number or the cellular number of the phone handset utilized by the person participating in the communication session; determining the geographical location of the phone handset via which the person participating manages the communication session; and

. comparing the determined geographical location with the pre-defined address location of the monitored person.

31. The method of claim 30 further comprises the steps of capturing the geographical positioning system parameters from the .phone handset used in the communication session; obtaining the pre-stored geographical positioning system co-ordinates in accordance with the captured parameters; determining the geographical location of the phone handset used in the communication session; and comparing the determined geographical location with the pre-defined address location of the monitored person.

32. The method of claim 21 further comprises the steps of: capturing the processed monitored data associated with a monitored person; transmitting processed monitored data to a remote network site in response to demand or in accordance with pre-defined scheduling and rules; and transmitting monitoring reports in response to demand or in accordance with pre-defined schedules and rules.