Methods and Systems for Routing Travel Between Origin and Destination Service Locations Using Global Satellite Positioning

• US 20080162040A1
• Filed: 11/13/2007
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morton, Roland T., Smith, Steven G., Hamrick, Marvin R., Willis, Robert H., Sylvester, Jeffery A., Davis, Mitchell E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,599,793 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/209
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/047 Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for obtaining information related to a customer service location and directions for routing a service technician from one customer service location to another. One embodiment includes requesting at least one set of coordinates associated with the customer service location; accessing a technician server to direct a global satellite positioning system to obtain the set of coordinates for the customer service location; obtaining the coordinates and updating one or more databases with said coordinates. The coordinates may include at least one of a latitude and a longitude associated with the customer service location. Another embodiment includes obtaining through a technician server at least one set of “from” coordinates associated with the first customer service location and at least one set of “to” coordinates associated with the second customer location; transmitting the “from” and “to” coordinates to a mapping system; and, generating directions in the mapping system based on the “to” and “from” coordinates. At least one of the sets of coordinates includes latitude and longitude data. System and computer-readable media embodiments of these methods are also provided.

Claims

1-27. -27. (canceled)

28. A method for generating a work order for a first customer service location, the method comprising:

receiving, at a technician server, at least one set of “

from”

coordinates associated with a second customer service location;

receiving data associated with a service technician at the second customer service location;

determining, by the technician server, at least one set of “

to”

coordinates for the first customer service location;

determining at least one service issue associated with the first customer service location;

transmitting the “

from” and

“

to”

coordinates to the service technician at the second customer service location; and

transmitting the at least one service issue associated with the first customer service location to the service technician at the second customer service location.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the data associated with the service technician at the second customer service location comprises at least one of:

a user ID, a password, a radio serial number, and an input device serial number.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein determining the at least one service issue associated with the first customer service location comprises receiving a record from a customer record system.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the record received from the customer record system comprises at least one of:

a customer name, a customer address, a customer telephone number, a latitude, and a longitude.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the customer record system comprises a database.

33. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

prior to determining the at least one set of “

to”

coordinates for the first customer service location and the at least one service issue associated with the first customer service location, verifying the data associated with the customer service technician at the second customer service location.

34. The method of claim 28, wherein determining the at least one service issue associated with the first customer service location comprises receiving details associated with the service issue from a dispatch system.

35. The method of claim 28, wherein receiving the “

from”

coordinates associated with the second customer service location comprises checking for the presence of the “

from”

coordinates in a database;

if the “

from”

coordinates are not present in the database, then accessing a global positioning satellite system to obtain the “

from”

coordinates; and

updating a customer records system with the “

from”

coordinates.

36. The method of claim 28 where the “

from” and

“

to”

coordinates comprise at least one of a latitude and a longitude.

37. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

receiving, by a mapping system at the second customer service location, the transmitted “

to” and

“

from”

coordinates; and

generating directions in said mapping system based on the transmitted “

to” and

“

from”

coordinates.

38. A system for generating a work order for a customer service technician, comprising a technician server configured to:

receive at least one set of “

from”

coordinates associated with a first customer service location;

receive data associated with the service technician at the first customer service location;

determine at least one set of “

to”

coordinates for a second customer service location;

determine at least one service issue associated with the second customer service location;

transmit the “

from” and

“

to”

coordinates to the service technician at the first customer service location; and

transmit the at least one service issue associated with the second customer service location to the service technician at the first customer service location.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the data associated with the service technician at the second customer service location comprises at least one of:

a user ID, a password, a radio serial number, and an input device serial number.

40. The system of claim 38, further comprising a customer record system having a database for storing records comprising at least one of:

a customer name, a customer address, a customer telephone number, a latitude, and a longitude.

41. The system of claim 38, further comprising an address guide system having a database for storing at least one of the “

from” and

“

to”

coordinates.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein the technician server is further configured to verify the data associated with the customer service technician at the first customer service location.

43. The system of claim 38, further comprising a dispatch system configured to provide details associated with the service issue to the technician server.

44. The system of claim 38, wherein the technician server being operative to receive the “

from”

coordinates associated with the first customer service location comprises being operative to check for the presence of the “

from”

coordinates in a database;

if the “

from”

coordinates are not present in the database, then the technician server is further operative access a global positioning satellite system to obtain the “

from”

coordinates and update a customer records system with the “

from”

coordinates.

45. The system of claim 38, further comprising:

an input device configured for use by the service technician at the first customer service location, the input device further configured to;

transmit data to the technician server.

46. The system of claim 38, further comprising a mapping system configured to:

receive the transmitted “

to” and

“

from”

coordinates; and

generate directions based on the transmitted “

to” and

“

from”

coordinates.

47. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for generating a work order for a customer service technician, the method comprising:

receiving, at a technician server, at least one set of “

from”

coordinates associated with a first customer service location;

receiving data associated with a service technician at the first customer service location, the data comprising at least one of;

a user ID, a password, a radio serial number, and an input device serial number;

verifying, by the technician server, the data received from the service technician;

determining, by the technician server, at least one set of “

to”

coordinates for the second customer service location, wherein determining the at least one set of “

to”

coordinates for the customer service location comprises receiving a record from a customer record system;

determining at least one service issue associated with the second customer service location, wherein determining the at least one service issue associated with the second customer service location comprises receiving details associated with the work order from a dispatch server;

transmitting the “

from” and

“

to”

coordinates to the service technician at the first customer service location, wherein the “

from” and

“

to”

coordinates comprise at least one of a latitude and a longitude;

transmitting the at least one service issue associated with the second customer service location to the service technician at the first customer service location; and

receiving, by a mapping system, the transmitted “

to” and

“

from”

coordinates; and

generating, by the mapping system, directions based on the transmitted “

to” and

“

from”

coordinates.