Authors:
Eugene Bur
Abstract:
This disclosure proposes an office door sign that indicates the occupant's status by detecting the nearby location occupant's RFID enabled ID badge and also correlating that information with online calendar data.
Background:
Office workers can be difficult to track down face-to-face, and it can be especially difficult to determine if they are in their office when their doors are closed. There are simple analog solutions to help visitors ascertain whether the office occupant is in or not, such as small white boards or simple slide signs that indicate their status, but those methods require work, time, effort, and the presence of mind of the occupant to always update those signs as they enter or leave their office.
Description:
The automatic door sign will be an electronic device that will read the RFID chip embedded in an office worker's ID badge. The device will be the size of a typical door name badge (roughly 6"x2") and will be mountable on the door or wall. It will have replaceable batteries. It will have a display that will be able to change color and show a text message. It will have an RFID scanner and a Wi-Fi antennae to connect to a local Wi-Fi network. It will have a motion sensor and also a few buttons to input some choices.
When the office occupant turns on the device, they will scan their badge to identify themselves and then set whether they are going 'in' to the office or 'out' of it. As they leave the zone of detection, the sign will then set their status based on this first choice. When the occupant leaves and enters the detection zone again, the sign will be able to track them and set their status as either in or out. When the sign thinks the occupant is in, then it will display an appropriate message, like "Welcome, please knock." and set the display to an appropriate color, like green. If the sign thinks the occupant is out, then it will show the message, "Out of Office" and display a color like blue.
The sign will have the ability to connect to a local wifi network to be able to host a web server to act as a way of setting configuration options. Using a static IP address and a default password, a user will be able to use a computer on the same network to log into the web server within the device. The same thing can be accomplished using a dedicated phone app that will be created to control the device. The configuration will allow the user to change the security of the device, set the messages for each status and their associated colors, and also enter their online calendar credentials.
Using the calendar information, the sign can then determine if the occupant is in a meeting and then automatically display a message like, "In a meeting" and show a new color, like red. Once the scheduled meeting is over, the sign will return to the normal messages, based on the occupant's status. The online calendar information will help the sign understand what hours the occupant is normally in the office and will allow it to save energy by powering down the display when the occupant leaves for the day. It can also save power by using the motion sensor to determine if anyone is in front of the sign and power itself down when no one is near it.
TGCS Reference 2682
