METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF A FIELD SERVICE OPERATION
First Claim
1. In a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium, and at least one input/output (I/O) interface, a method for evaluating a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the method comprising:
- A) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician following issuance of the instruction to the field-service technician;
B) electronically analyzing the first information;
C) automatically generating, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation; and
D) electronically storing on the at least one tangible storage medium, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatus and systems for computer-aided determination of quality assessment for locate and marking operations. In one example, a quality assessment decision is solely under the discretion of a human reviewer, albeit facilitated in some respects by computer-aided display of information, and electronic record keeping and communication functions associated with the quality assessment result(s). In another example, information related to a locate and marking operation is electronically analyzed such that a quality assessment is not based solely on human discretion, but rather based at least in part on some predetermined criteria and/or metrics that facilitate an automated determination of quality assessment.
304 Citations
33 Claims
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1. In a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium, and at least one input/output (I/O) interface, a method for evaluating a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the method comprising:
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A) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician following issuance of the instruction to the field-service technician; B) electronically analyzing the first information; C) automatically generating, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation; and D) electronically storing on the at least one tangible storage medium, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus for facilitating the evaluation of a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one input/output interface; at least one tangible storage medium to store processor-executable instructions; and a processor coupled to the at least one input/output interface and the at least one tangible storage medium, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processor, the processor; A) controls the at least one I/O interface so as to receive first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician following issuance of the instruction to the field-service technician; B) electronically analyzes the first information; C) automatically generates, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation; and D) controls the at least one tangible storage medium so as to electronically store, and/or controls the at least one I/O interface so as to electronically transmit, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. At least one computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor in a computer comprising at least one input/output (I/O) interface, perform a method for evaluating a quality of a locate operation to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a work site pursuant to an instruction to a field-service technician, the method comprising:
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A) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least one act of the field-service technician following issuance of the ticket to the field-service technician; B) electronically analyzing the first information; C) automatically generating, based on B), at least one indication of a quality assessment of the locate operation; and D) electronically storing on the at least one computer-readable storage medium, and/or electronically transmitting via the at least one I/O interface, the at least one indication of the quality assessment so as to provide an electronic record of the quality assessment.
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Specification