Management and dispatching of mobile service vehicles
First Claim
1. A system useful for dispatching service vehicles, comprising:
- a dispatch hub assembly for installation at a dispatch hub; and
a plurality of field assemblies, each of said field assemblies being suitable for installation in a service vehicle;
wherein each field assembly comprises;
a controller operable to collect field data associated with a particular service vehicle and to forward said field data to said dispatch hub, said field data comprising geographic location data of said vehicle and component identification data associated with at least one component in inventory of said vehicle; and
a field wireless device for communicating data, including said field data, with said dispatch hub; and
wherein said dispatch hub assembly comprises;
a hub communications device for communicating data with said field assemblies; and
a hub processor operable to receive said field data from at least one of said field assemblies, to receive a service request indicating a component needed at a customer site, and to process said field data to identify service vehicles having said needed component in their inventory.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dispatch hub includes a hub processor and a communications device for communicating with a plurality of field assemblies, which typically are installed in mobile service vehicles. Each field assembly includes a wireless communication device for communicating with the dispatch hub, a geographic positioning device, an RFID reader for reading RFID tags associated with components in the inventory of a service vehicle, and a controller for controlling the collection of field data at the field assembly and forwarding of field data to the dispatch hub. Field data include at least information about the geographic location of the field assembly and component identification data. At the dispatch hub, the need for a specific component at a customer site and the geographic location of the customer site are compared with the forwarded field data to select a service vehicle to travel to the customer site with a needed component.
43 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system useful for dispatching service vehicles, comprising:
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a dispatch hub assembly for installation at a dispatch hub; and
a plurality of field assemblies, each of said field assemblies being suitable for installation in a service vehicle;
wherein each field assembly comprises;
a controller operable to collect field data associated with a particular service vehicle and to forward said field data to said dispatch hub, said field data comprising geographic location data of said vehicle and component identification data associated with at least one component in inventory of said vehicle; and
a field wireless device for communicating data, including said field data, with said dispatch hub; and
wherein said dispatch hub assembly comprises;
a hub communications device for communicating data with said field assemblies; and
a hub processor operable to receive said field data from at least one of said field assemblies, to receive a service request indicating a component needed at a customer site, and to process said field data to identify service vehicles having said needed component in their inventory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method useful for dispatching service vehicles, comprising:
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generating field data associated with each of a plurality of service vehicles, wherein said field data comprises geographic location data of a service vehicle and component identification data associated with at least one component in inventory of said vehicle;
collecting said field data associated with each service vehicle;
forwarding said field data from each service vehicle to a dispatch hub processor using a field wireless device;
receiving said field data at said dispatch hub processor;
receiving a service request at said dispatch hub processor, said service request indicating a component needed at a customer site; and
processing said field data and said service request to identify service vehicles having said needed component in their inventory - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification