Importance

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Abstract

A vehicle fueling facility is unmanned but remotely monitored. The fueling system, made up of fuel dispensers (with credit/debit card and cash acceptors) and product storage tank(s) is located at a satellite site. The satellite site includes security video cameras which monitor overall activity at the site. An additional video camera is installed in each fuel dispenser head to monitor activities of a customer at that fuel dispenser. The outputs of all security and dispenser video cameras are transmitted to a remote (attended) monitoring site for viewing by an attendant. Still another video camera is trained on the attendant at the remote site so that the attendant's face can be transmitted back to a video monitor located in the fuel dispenser for viewing by the customer. The video surveillance system enables an attendant, who is physically situated at the remote location (i.e., a remote monitoring site which may be several miles from the satellite fueling facility), to visually monitor activity at the fueling facility (i.e., to view images captured by security and dispenser cameras at the satellite site), to transmit video of the attendant to a video monitor located on a fuel dispenser at the satellite site for viewing by a customer, to thereby maintain interactive audio/visual communication with a customer at the fueling facility, and to maintain a temporary audio/video record of activities at the site. Thus, the video/audio intercommunication system enables customers and attendants to maintain interactive visual and voice communication with each other during a refueling operation.

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First Claim