METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ASSESSING RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH LOCATE REQUEST TICKETS BASED ON HISTORICAL INFORMATION
First Claim
1. An apparatus for assessing risk associated with a locate and/or marking operation specified by a locate request ticket generated by a one-call center, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities at the work site, the apparatus comprising:
- at least one communication interface;
at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions; and
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor;
A) controls the at least one communication interface so as to receive the locate request ticket generated by the one-call center;
B) parses the locate request ticket received in A) so as to extract ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket;
C) performs a statistical analysis of historical information, the historical information being selected based at least in part on the ticket information extracted in B) and including at least one of;
historical damage reports for underground facility infrastructure; and
historical records of previously completed locate request tickets;
D) automatically assigns at least one risk designation to the locate request ticket based at least in part on the statistical analysis of the historical information performed in C); and
E) controls the at least one communication interface to transmit, and/or controls the at least one memory to store, the at least one risk designation so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on the at least one risk designation automatically assigned in D).
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Locate and/or marking operations involve detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. One or more attributes of a locate and/or marking operation requested in a locate request ticket are assessed to provide one or more ticket assessment outcomes. Ticket information is obtained from the locate request ticket, and historical information (e.g., historical damage reports, historical records of previously completed locate request tickets) is selected and analyzed based on the ticket information so as to assign at least one risk designation to the ticket. The risk designation(s) is/are transmitted and/or stored so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching a locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An apparatus for assessing risk associated with a locate and/or marking operation specified by a locate request ticket generated by a one-call center, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities at the work site, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one communication interface; at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor; A) controls the at least one communication interface so as to receive the locate request ticket generated by the one-call center; B) parses the locate request ticket received in A) so as to extract ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket; C) performs a statistical analysis of historical information, the historical information being selected based at least in part on the ticket information extracted in B) and including at least one of; historical damage reports for underground facility infrastructure; and historical records of previously completed locate request tickets; D) automatically assigns at least one risk designation to the locate request ticket based at least in part on the statistical analysis of the historical information performed in C); and E) controls the at least one communication interface to transmit, and/or controls the at least one memory to store, the at least one risk designation so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on the at least one risk designation automatically assigned in D). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for assessing risk associated with a locate and/or marking operation specified by a locate request ticket generated by a one-call center, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities at the work site, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one communication interface; at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the at least one processor, the at least one processor; A) controls the at least one communication interface so as to receive the locate request ticket generated by the one-call center; B) parses the locate request ticket received in A) so as to extract ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket, the extracted ticket information including; a first identifier for an excavator performing the excavation activities at the work site; and a second identifier for the work site and/or the dig area; C) assigns at least one risk designation to the locate request ticket based at least in part on historical information, the historical information including; an excavator damage history for the excavator identified by the first identifier; historical damage reports for at least one damage location in proximity to the work site and/or the dig area identified by the second identifier; and historical records of previously completed locate request tickets for a geographic area encompassing and/or proximate to the work site and/or the dig area identified by the second identifier, and/or including excavator information relating to the excavator identified by the first identifier; and D) controls the at least one communication interface to transmit, and/or controls the at least one memory to store, the at least one risk designation so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on the at least one risk designation assigned in C).
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19. In a system comprising at least one processor, at least one memory, and at least one communication interface, a method for assessing risk associated with a locate and/or marking operation specified by a locate request ticket generated by a one-call center, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities at the work site, the method comprising:
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A) receiving, via the at least one communication interface, the locate request ticket generated by the one-call center; B) parsing, via the at least one processor, the locate request ticket received in A) so as to extract ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket; C) performing, via the at least one processor, a statistical analysis of historical information, the historical information being selected based at least in part on the ticket information extracted in B) and including at least one of; historical damage reports for underground facility infrastructure; and historical records of previously completed locate request tickets; D) automatically assigning, via the at least one processor, at least one risk designation to the locate request ticket based at least in part on the statistical analysis of the historical information performed in C); and E) transmitting via the at least one communication interface, and/or storing in the at least one memory, the at least one risk designation so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on the at least one risk designation automatically assigned in D).
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20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with at least one program including processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, performs a method for assessing risk associated with a locate and/or marking operation specified by a locate request ticket generated by a one-call center, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities at the work site, the method comprising:
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A) receiving the locate request ticket generated by the one-call center; B) parsing the locate request ticket received in A) so as to extract ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket; C) performing a statistical analysis of historical information, the historical information being selected based at least in part on the ticket information extracted in B) and including at least one of; historical damage reports for underground facility infrastructure; and historical records of previously completed locate request tickets; D) automatically assigning at least one risk designation to the locate request ticket based at least in part on the statistical analysis of the historical information performed in C); and E) transmitting via the at least one communication interface, and/or storing in the at least one memory, the at least one risk designation so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation, based at least in part on the at least one risk designation automatically assigned in D). - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification