Combined scheduling and management of work orders, such as for utility meter reading and utility servicing events
First Claim
1. A method for combined scheduling and managing of work in a utility system having meters for gathering data regarding utility usage, the method comprising:
- providing a first data type configured for representing data associated with a first type of work event related to the utility system;
providing a second data type configured for representing data associated with a second type of work event related to the utility system, wherein the second type of work event is distinct from the first type of work event, and wherein the first or second work events include at least one of the following;
investigating a possible tampering with one of the meters, an installation of a new meter, determining utility usage associated with one of the meters, and servicing one or more of the meters; and
receiving, via a user interface provided to a field technician for responding to work events, a first request to perform the first type of work event; and
receiving, via the user interface, a second request to perform the second type of work event.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method manages work requests used in reading and servicing gas, electric, or water meters in a utility system. A work request may originate at a utility system and is received at a data collection system. The work request may be generated based on an underlying data structure. The underlying data structure may be used in generating requests for multiple types of work events, including meter monitoring work events and meter servicing work events. The work request is then processed to generate a work order which is transmitted to a field device component or other component of the system so that work may be performed as directed in the request.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method for combined scheduling and managing of work in a utility system having meters for gathering data regarding utility usage, the method comprising:
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providing a first data type configured for representing data associated with a first type of work event related to the utility system;
providing a second data type configured for representing data associated with a second type of work event related to the utility system, wherein the second type of work event is distinct from the first type of work event, and wherein the first or second work events include at least one of the following;
investigating a possible tampering with one of the meters, an installation of a new meter, determining utility usage associated with one of the meters, and servicing one or more of the meters; and
receiving, via a user interface provided to a field technician for responding to work events, a first request to perform the first type of work event; and
receiving, via the user interface, a second request to perform the second type of work event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system for providing and processing work requests relating to reading and servicing utility meters, the system comprising:
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a utility infrastructure system configured to provide a utility service, wherein the utility infrastructure system includes one or more utility meters that monitor consumption of the utility service;
a utility system configured for generating requests to perform work related to the utility infrastructure system, wherein each one of the requests to perform work is generated based a common underlying data structure, and wherein each one of the generated requests is either a request to perform work associated with monitoring consumption of the utility or a request to perform work associated with servicing the one or more utility meters; and
a work request and data collection system configured to process the generated requests to perform work, wherein the work request and data collection system includes;
a field device component configured to communicate with the one or more utility meters of the utility infrastructure system;
a data management component configured to parse and format the requests to perform work related to the utility infrastructure system;
an application server component configured to process the parsed and formatted requests and to transmit the processed requests to the field device component; and
a work interface component configured to facilitate communication between one or more components of the work request and data collection system. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for providing and processing work requests relating to monitoring and servicing utility meters in a utility system that generates requests to perform work, the system comprising:
means for managing the generated requests to perform work, wherein the managing means includes;
means for receiving the request to perform work;
means for parsing and formatting the requests to perform work;
means for processing the parsed and formatted requests;
means for facilitating multiple types of requests to perform work, wherein the multiple types of requests to perform work include a request to perform work associated with monitoring the consumption of the utility and a request to perform work associated with servicing the utility meters; and
means for transmitting the processed requests to a field device component, wherein the field device component is configured for presenting an indication of the work in the processed request to a field service worker. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer-readable medium having a data structure comprising:
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information based on a work data entity, wherein the work data entity is used to generate work orders for monitoring data collection points associated with a utility system and for generating work orders for servicing the data collection points associated with the utility system; and
information for defining a work order, wherein the information for defining the work order includes instructions for monitoring one or more data collection points associated with the utility system or instructions for servicing one or more data collection points associated with the utility system. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer-readable medium having a data structure comprising:
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information based on a work data entity, wherein the work data entity is used to generate a collection of work orders, including work orders for monitoring data collection points associated with a utility system and work orders for servicing the data collection points associated with the utility system; and
information for defining a collection of work orders, wherein the information for defining the collection work orders includes instructions for monitoring multiple data collection points associated with the utility system, instructions for servicing multiple data collection points in the utility, and instructions for monitoring and servicing multiple data collection points associated with the utility system. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A method for importing a work request used in reading and servicing gas, electric, or water meters in a utility system, the method comprising:
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receiving a request to perform a work event associated with the utility system, wherein the request to perform a work event is generated based on an underlying data structure, and wherein the underlying data structure is used in generating requests for multiple types of work events, including meter monitoring work events and meter servicing work events;
processing the received request to generate a work order; and
transmitting the work order to a field device component. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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39. A method for importing a work request used in reading and servicing meters in a utility system that supports multiple meter management techniques, the method comprising:
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receiving a request to perform a work event associated with the utility system, wherein the request to perform a work event is generated based on an underlying data structure, and wherein the underlying data structure is used in generating requests for multiple types of work events, including meter monitoring work events and meter servicing work events;
processing the received request to generate a work order, wherein the processing includes determining a type of data collection system associated with the request; and
based, at least in part, on the type of data collection system associated with the request, selecting one of multiple server components for performing additional processing of the received request;
communicating information from the received request to the selected one of the multiple application servers, wherein the selected one of the multiple application servers generates at least one work order based on the received request. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification