Method And System For Optimizing Field Service Appoint Scheduling

• US 20140278653A1
• Filed: 03/13/2014
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: FieldLocate Co.
• Original Assignee: FieldLocate Co.
• Inventors: COCANOUGHER, Charles D., Cocanougher, Robert A., Chambers, Stephen F., Dodd, Bradley A.
• Application Number:
  US14/208,940
• Publication Number:
  US 20140278653A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group

Abstract

A system and method for allowing a dispatcher and/or a service technician to achieve an optimized schedule for a few or a large number of service technicians performing repairs in the field based on an analysis of past data, methodologies and formulas, wherein a scheduling program is displayed to the dispatcher on a monitor of a computer or any other processing device, using the scheduling program the dispatcher calls up or accesses the current schedule of all the technicians, and the technicians can simultaneously view their entire current schedule and agree to a proposed appointment, even placing blocks on dates and times that they are not available for scheduling so that optimized or near optimized schedules are obtained quickly and economically.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing field service appointment scheduling, comprising:

displaying a list of technician schedules on a display of a computing device;

filtering the technicians in the displayed list of technician schedules;

creating a new schedule for a technician based on the filtered technicians by selecting an unscheduled appointment in the displayed list of technician schedules;

determining whether the selected unscheduled appointment for the new schedule is an appropriate appointment for the technician; and

performing, by a processor of the computing device, a hover to insert the selected unscheduled appointment into the new schedule for the technician if the selected unscheduled appointment is appropriate for the technician.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

resorting the list of technicians if the selected unscheduled appointment for the new schedule is an inappropriate appointment for the technician.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said hover comprises:

accessing, by the processor of the computing device, parameters for selecting the technician;

performing a calculation based on the accessed parameters to determine a relevant distance of the technician from the location of the selected unscheduled appointment;

performing, by the processor, a comparison of the parameters to determine whether a first summation parameter of the accessed parameters is less than a second summation parameter of the accessed parameters;

displaying an indicator on the display of the computing device if the first summation parameter is less than the second summation parameter; and

inserting the selected unscheduled appointment for the technician into the new schedule.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

displaying another indicator on the display of the computing device if the first summation parameter is greater than the second summation parameter; and

returning to said performing the calculation based on the accessed parameters to determine the relevant distance of the technician from the location of the selected unscheduled appointment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said filtering comprising:

ranking the technicians in the displayed list of technician schedules;

wherein said ranking is performed based on a technician and a time slot having a highest calculated value.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the value is calculated based on distance, availability, skill, preference and priority.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a technician schedule is displayed on a display of mobile device simultaneously with the list of technician schedules displayed on the display of the computing device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the technician approves the selected unscheduled appointment for the new schedule.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the technician schedules are maintained on a cloud system and viewed simultaneously by a dispatcher and at least one technician.

10. A system for optimizing field service appointment scheduling, comprising:

a networking including data servers and session servers;

a computing device having a web browser program accessed and displayed on the computing device; and

a plurality of mobile devices communicating with the computing device via the network, each mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices includes an application for optimizing the field service appointments schedules.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the mobile device is one of a smartphone, a personal digital assistant and a tablet computer.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the data servers and session servers are arranged in a cloud.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the application is configured to:

display a list of technician schedules on a display of a computing device;

filter the technicians in the displayed list of technician schedules;

create a new schedule for a technician based on the filtered technicians by selecting an unscheduled appointment in the displayed list of technician schedules;

determine whether the selected unscheduled appointment for the new schedule is an appropriate appointment for the technician; and

perform a hover to insert the selected unscheduled appointment into the new schedule for the technician if the selected unscheduled appointment is appropriate for the technician.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein said hover comprises:

accessing, by the processor of the computing device, parameters for selecting the technician;

performing a calculation based on the accessed parameters to determine a relevant distance of the technician from the selected unscheduled appointment;

performing, by the processor, a comparison of the parameters to determine whether a first summation parameter of the accessed parameters is less than a second summation parameter of the accessed parameters;

displaying an indicator on the display of the computing device if the first summation parameter is less than the second summation parameter; and

inserting the selected unscheduled appointment for the technician into the new schedule.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein another indicator is displayed on the display of the computing device if the first summation parameter is greater than the second summation parameter;

and wherein a return to performing the calculation based on the accessed parameters to determine the relevant distance occurs.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein said filtering comprises ranking the technicians in the displayed list of technician schedules, said ranking being based on a technician and a time slot having a highest calculated value.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the value is calculated based on distance, availability, skill, preference and priority.