Computerized resource accounting methods and systems, computerized utility management methods and systems, multi-user utility management methods and systems, and energy-consumption-based tracking methods and systems
First Claim
1. A computerized resource accounting method comprising:
- defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device;
storing in said database customer information pertaining to a customer, said customer being a consumer of a resource for which it is desired to account;
receiving into said host computer resource usage information pertaining to consumption of said resource by said customer;
performing an audit of said resource usage information against pre-determined tolerance parameters and determining whether said resource usage information satisfies said tolerance parameters;
processing said resource usage information for said one customer to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with said consumer'"'"'s consumption of said resource; and
providing said customer with computer access to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customer can view said computer-viewable data at a customer location which is remote from said host computer.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Computerized resource accounting methods and systems, and in particular computerized utility resource management methods and systems, multi-user utility resource management methods and systems, and energy-consumption-based tracking methods and systems are described. In one implementation, a host computer includes a processor, an interface device and a database defined therein for maintaining information pertaining to one or more customers of one or more resources. Resource usage information is received into the host computer pertaining to consumption of one or more of the resources by one or more of the customers at one or more customer site. The resource usage information is processed to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with a respective customer'"'"'s consumption of one or more of the resources. In a preferred aspect, each customer is provided with computer access to the computer-viewable data through the interface device, wherein the customer can view the data at a location which is remote from the host computer. Preferably, the computer-viewable data comes in the form of a plurality of different graphical reports, including numerical and tabulated reports, which can be selected by a customer. For customers with multiple sites, the viewable data for the various sites can be viewed remotely and in a plurality of different report formats. In a preferred implementation, utility resource usage information, e.g. electricity, gas, water, etc. . . , is tracked, maintained, and made available to facilitate decision making.
360 Citations
106 Claims
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1. A computerized resource accounting method comprising:
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defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device; storing in said database customer information pertaining to a customer, said customer being a consumer of a resource for which it is desired to account; receiving into said host computer resource usage information pertaining to consumption of said resource by said customer; performing an audit of said resource usage information against pre-determined tolerance parameters and determining whether said resource usage information satisfies said tolerance parameters; processing said resource usage information for said one customer to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with said consumer'"'"'s consumption of said resource; and providing said customer with computer access to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customer can view said computer-viewable data at a customer location which is remote from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computerized utility resource management method comprising:
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defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device; storing in said database customer information pertaining to a customer having a plurality of different sites which are each consumers of a utility resource for which it is desired to account for each site, said storing comprising storing historical billing data for at least one of said customer'"'"'s sites in said database, and processing said historical billing data to define at least one tolerance parameter for said at least one site; receiving into said host computer utility resource usage information pertaining to consumption of said utility resource by each site of said customer; checking said resource usage information for said at least one site against said at least one tolerance parameter for said one site to determine whether said resource usage information satisfies said one tolerance parameter; and responsive to a condition in which said resource usage information does not satisfy said one tolerance parameter, implementing a review of said resource usage information to ascertain whether an error exists; processing said utility resource usage information for said sites of said customer to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with each site'"'"'s consumption of said utility resource; and providing said customer with computer access to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customer can view said computer-viewable data at a customer location which is remote from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A comprehensive, comparative, multi-user utility resource management method comprising:
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defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device, said host computer being accessible from a multi-user computer network; storing in said database customer information pertaining to a plurality of customers, individual customers having a plurality of different sites which are each consumers of at least one utility resource for which is it desired to account for each site, wherein said storing of said customer information comprises storing historical billing data for at least one of each of said customers'"'"' sites in said database, and processing said historical billing data to define a respective plurality of tolerance parameters for each of said at least one of each of said customers'"'"' sites; receiving into said host computer utility resource usage information pertaining to consumption of said at least one utility resource by each site; processing said utility resource usage information for said sites of said customers to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with each site'"'"'s consumption of said at least one utility resource; and checking said resource usage information for each of said at least one of each of said customers'"'"' sites against said respective tolerance parameters to determine whether said resource usage information satisfies said respective tolerance parameters; and responsive to a condition in which said resource usage information does not satisfy said tolerance parameters for an individual site, implementing a review of said resource usage information for that site to ascertain whether an error exists, prior to processing said resource usage information to provide said computer-viewable data for that site; providing said customers with computer access, via said multi-user computer network, to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customers can view said computer-viewable data using a computer which is remote from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A computerized utility resource management method comprising:
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defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device; storing in said database customer information pertaining to a customer having a plurality of different sites which are each consumers of a utility resource for which it is desired to account for each site, said storing comprising storing historical billing data for each of said customer'"'"'s sites in said database, and processing said historical billing data to define a plurality of tolerance parameters for each site; receiving into said host computer utility resource usage information pertaining to consumption of a plurality of different utility resources consumed by each site of said customer; checking said resource usage information for each site against said respective tolerance parameters for said sites to determine whether said resource usage information satisfies said respective tolerance parameters; and responsive to a condition in which said resource usage information does not satisfy one of said tolerance parameters for an individual site, implementing a review of said resource usage information for that site to ascertain whether an error exists; processing said utility resource usage information for said sites of said customer to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with each site'"'"'s consumption of said plurality of different utility resources; and providing said customer with computer access to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customer can view said computer-viewable data at a customer location which is remote from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
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88. A computerized utility resource management method comprising:
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defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device; storing in said database customer information pertaining to a customer having a plurality of different sites which are each consumers of a plurality of different utility resources for which it is desired to account for each site, said storing comprising storing historical billing data for each of said customer'"'"'s sites in said database, and processing said historical billing data to define a plurality of tolerance parameters for each site; receiving into said host computer utility resource usage information pertaining to consumption of said plurality of different utility resources by each site of said customer, and receiving information pertaining to a plurality of different consumption variables of said plurality of different resources for each site, wherein said consumption variables comprise a cost-related consumption variable and a quantity-related consumption variable; processing said utility resource usage information for said sites of said customer to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with each site'"'"'s consumption of said plurality of different utility resources in the form of a plurality of graphical reports which are selectable by said customer for viewing at said remote location; checking said resource usage information for each site against said respective tolerance parameters for said sites to determine whether said resource usage information satisfies said respective tolerance parameters; and responsive to a condition in which said resource usage information does not satisfy said tolerance parameters for an individual site, implementing a review of said resource usage information for that site to ascertain whether an error exists, prior to processing said resource usage information to provide said computer-viewable data for that site; and providing said customer with computer access to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customer can view said computer-viewable data at a customer location which is remote from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (89, 90, 91, 92)
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93. A comprehensive, comparative, multi-user utility resource management method comprising:
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defining a database in a host computer having a processor and an interface device, said host computer being accessible from a multi-user computer network; storing in said database customer information pertaining to a plurality of customers, individual customers having a plurality of different sites which are each consumers of a plurality of different utility resources for which is it desired to account for each site, said storing comprising storing historical billing data for at least one of each of said customers'"'"' sites in said database, and processing said historical billing data to define a respective plurality of tolerance parameters for each of said at least one of each of said customers'"'"' sites; receiving into said host computer utility resource usage information pertaining to consumption of said plurality of different utility resources by each site, said receiving comprising receiving information pertaining to a plurality of different consumption variables of said different utility resources for each site; processing said utility resource usage information for said sites of said customers to provide usage-based, computer-viewable data associated with each site'"'"'s consumption of said plurality of different utility resources; checking said resource usage information for each of said at least one of each of said customers'"'"' sites against said respective tolerance parameters to determine whether said resource usage information satisfies said respective tolerance parameters; and responsive to a condition in which said resource usage information does not satisfy said tolerance parameters for an individual site, implementing a review of said resource usage information for that site to ascertain whether an error exists, prior to processing said resource usage in-formation to provide said computer-viewable data for that site; providing said customers with computer access, via said multi-user computer network, to said computer-viewable data through said interface device, wherein said customers can view said computer-viewable data using a computer which is remote from said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106)
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Specification