Method of and apparatus for communicating and scheduling change requests

• US 6,611,275 B1
• Filed: 08/31/1999
• Issued: 08/26/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: WorldCom, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Zey, David A., Stokes, Michael L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BAUTISTA, XIOMARA L
• Application Number:
  US09/386,944
• Time in Patent Office: 1,456 Days
• Field of Search: 345/700, 345/733, 345/739, 345/740, 345/744, 345/747, 345/751, 345/752, 345/753, 345/764, 345/780, 345/963, 705/8, 705/7, 705/9, 713/1, 713/100, 700/95, 700/99, 700/100, 700/101, 700/102
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/963 Calendar or scheduling

Abstract

A method for communicating and scheduling maintenance requests, utilizing a program storage device readable by a server machine, which includes the steps of providing a maintenance request form having fields where information about a maintenance request can be set forth, e.g., fields identifying the maintenance requester and a proposed date when the maintenance will take place; providing maintenance request information to the server; storing the maintenance request information in a database; providing to a user a calendar having boxes corresponding to days of a month showing the maintenance request in a box corresponding to the maintenance requester'"'"'s proposed date when the maintenance will take place, and showing status information associated with the maintenance request indicating whether the maintenance request has been approved, denied, or is pending approval; and providing an administrator interface with which an administrator can make changes to the status information associated with the maintenance request.

Claims

1. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance, the method comprising:

providing to a change requester a change request form having fields with which the change requester can provide information indicating contact information for the change requester, a proposed date when the computer system maintenance will take place, and who will be impacted by the computer system maintenance;

receiving change request information from the change requester in response to the change requester providing information for at least some of the fields of the change request form;

storing the change request information in a database, transmitting the change request information to a change administrator, and transmitting the change request information to whoever was indicated as being impacted by the maintenance; and

providing to a user a calendar displaying indicia associated with the change request information, as well as status information associated with the change request information.

2. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 wherein the fields of the change request form comprise a field with which the change requester can indicate the nature of the impact.

3. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 wherein the fields of the change request form comprise a field with which the change requester can indicate whether or not the request is for maintenance to hardware.

4. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 wherein the fields of the change request form comprise a field with which the change requester can indicate whether or not the request is for emergency maintenance.

5. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 wherein, with the field for indicating who will be impacted by the maintenance, the change requester can select from predefined groups of people, and wherein the transmitting the change request information to whoever was indicated as being impacted by the maintenance comprises transmitting the change request information to respective members of the selected predefined group.

6. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 wherein providing the change request form comprises providing an Internet web form to the change requester via TCP/IP communications.

7. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising assigning a schedule number to the change request information and associating the change request information with the schedule number.

8. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 7 wherein, with the administrator interface, the change administrator can change the status information to indicate whether the maintenance is approved or denied, the method further comprising receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information.

9. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising providing to the change administrator an administrator interface with which the change administrator can make changes to the status information.

10. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests, the method comprising steps of:

providing to a maintenance requester a maintenance request form having fields with which the maintenance requester can provide information about a maintenance request, including fields identifying the maintenance requester, and a proposed date when maintenance will take place;

receiving maintenance request information that the maintenance requester provided using the maintenance request form;

storing the maintenance request information in a database;

providing to a user a calendar having boxes corresponding to days of a month, showing the maintenance request in a box corresponding to the maintenance requester'"'"'s proposed date when the maintenance will take place, and showing status information associated with the maintenance request indicating whether the maintenance request has been approved, denied, or is pending an approval decision; and

providing to the maintenance administrator an administrator interface with which the administrator can make changes to the status information associated with the maintenance request.

11. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 10 and further comprising, after providing to the maintenance administrator the administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar, with the calendar showing the changed status information.

12. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 10 and further comprising, after providing to the maintenance administrator the administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated with a change of color.

13. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 10 and further comprising assigning a schedule number to the maintenance requester information and associating the maintenance requester information with the schedule number.

14. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 13 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the method further comprises, after providing to the maintenance administrator the administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated with a change of color of the schedule number.

15. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 13 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the method further comprises, after providing to the maintenance administrator the administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated with a change of color of the schedule number and, if the changed status information includes a change in the proposed date when the maintenance will take place, with the schedule number moved to a different box.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a server having a memory, and a database defined in the memory; and

a plurality of user'"'"'s client machines configured to selectively communicate with the server, one of the user'"'"'s client machines defining a change administrator'"'"'s client machine, one of the user'"'"'s client machines defining a change requester'"'"'s client machine, the server being configured to provide to the change requester'"'"'s client machine a change request form having fields with which a change requester can provide information indicating an e-mail address for the change requester, a maintenance request type, a proposed date and time when maintenance will take place, an estimated duration for the maintenance, who will be impacted by the maintenance, the nature of the impact, and the impact if the maintenance is not performed;

the server being configured to receive from the change requester'"'"'s client machine change request information from the change requester in response to the change requester providing information for at least some of the fields of the change request form;

the server being configured to store the change request information in the database, to provide the change request information to the change administrator'"'"'s client machine, and to transmit the change request information to user'"'"'s client machines associated with whoever was indicated as being impacted by the maintenance; and

the server being configured to provide to a user'"'"'s client machine a calendar displaying indicia associated with the change request information, as well as status information associated with the change request information.

17. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein the fields of the change request form further comprise a field with which the change requester can indicate a name of a requesting group.

18. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein, with the change request form, the change requester can indicate whether or not the request is for maintenance to hardware.

19. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein, with the field for indicating who will be impacted by the maintenance, the change requester can select from predefined groups of people, and wherein, to transmit the change request information to whoever was indicated as being impacted by the maintenance, the server transmits the change request information to respective members of the selected group.

20. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein the change request form comprises an Internet web form, and wherein the server is configured to provide the change request form via TCP/IP communications.

21. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein the server is further configured to assign a schedule number to the change request information and associate, in the database, the change request information with the schedule number.

22. An apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein the server is further configured to provide to the change administrator'"'"'s client machine an administrator interface with which the administrator can make changes to the status information.

23. An apparatus in accordance with claim 22 wherein, with the administrator interface, the administrator can change the status information to indicate whether the maintenance is approved or denied, the server being further configured to receive changed status information, and provide to a user'"'"'s client machine the calendar with the changed status information.

24. A program storage device readable by a server machine, the program storage device tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the server machine to cause the server machine to:

provide to a maintenance requester'"'"'s client machine a maintenance request form having fields with which a maintenance requester can provide information about a maintenance request, including fields identifying the maintenance requester, and a proposed date when maintenance will take place;

receive maintenance request information that the maintenance requester provided using the request form;

store the maintenance request information in a database, and transmit the maintenance request information to a maintenance administrator'"'"'s client machine;

provide to a user'"'"'s client machine a calendar having boxes for days of a month, showing the maintenance request in a box corresponding to the maintenance requester'"'"'s proposed date when the maintenance will take place, and showing status information associated with the maintenance request indicating whether the maintenance request has been approved, denied, or is pending an approval decision; and

provide to an administrator'"'"'s client machine an administrator interface with which the administrator can make changes to the status information for the maintenance request.

25. A program storage device in accordance with claim 24 and further comprising, after providing to an administrator an administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information.

26. A program storage device in accordance with claim 24 and further comprising, after providing to an administrator an administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated with a change of color.

27. A program storage device in accordance with claim 24 and further comprising assigning a schedule number to the maintenance request information and associating the maintenance request information with the schedule number.

28. A program storage device in accordance with claim 27 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the program of instructions is further executable to, after providing to an administrator an administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated with a change of color of the schedule number.

29. A program storage device in accordance with claim 27 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the program of instructions is further executable to, after providing to an administrator an administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated by a change of color of the schedule number and, if the changed status information includes a change in proposed date when the maintenance will take place, with the changed status information indicated by a change in the box within which the schedule number appears.

30. A method of communicating and scheduling requests for computer system maintenance, the method comprising:

providing to a change requester a change request form having fields with which the change requester can provide information indicating contact information for the change requester, the maintenance request type, a proposed date when the computer system maintenance will take place, and who will be impacted by the computer system maintenance;

receiving change request information from the change requester in response to the change requester providing information for at least some of the fields of the change request form;

storing the change request information in a database, transmitting the change request information to a change administrator, and transmitting the change request information to whoever was indicated as being impacted by the maintenance;

providing to a user a calendar displaying indicia associated with the change request information, as well as status information associated with the change request information;

providing to the change administrator an administrator interface with which the administrator can make changes to the status information associated with change request information; and

after providing to the change administrator the administrator interface, receiving changed status information, and providing to a user the calendar with the calendar showing the changed status information.

31. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests, the method comprising steps of:

providing to a maintenance requester a maintenance request form having fields with which the maintenance requester can provide information about a maintenance request, including fields identifying the maintenance requester, the maintenance request type, and a proposed date when maintenance will take place;

receiving maintenance request information that the maintenance requester provided using the maintenance request form;

storing the maintenance request information in a database;

providing to a user a calendar having boxes corresponding to days of a month, showing the maintenance request in a box corresponding to the maintenance requester'"'"'s proposed date when the maintenance will take place, and showing status information associated with the maintenance request indicating whether the maintenance request has been approved, denied, or is pending an approval decision;

providing to the maintenance administrator an administrator interface with which the administrator can make changes to the status information associated with the maintenance request;

receiving changed status information from the maintenance administrator in response to the maintenance administrator providing changed status information on the administrator interface; and

after providing to the maintenance administrator the administrator interface and receiving changed status information, providing to a user the calendar with the calendar showing the changed status information.

32. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 31 wherein the changed status information is indicated with a change of color.

33. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 31 and further comprising assigning a schedule number to the maintenance requester information and associating the maintenance requester information with the schedule number.

34. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 33 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the changed status information is indicated with a change of color of the schedule number.

35. A method of communicating and scheduling maintenance requests in accordance with claim 33 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the changed status information is indicated with a change of color of the schedule number and, if the changed status information includes a change in the proposed date when the maintenance will take place, the schedule number is moved to a different box.

36. An apparatus comprising:

a server having a memory, and a database defined in the memory; and

a plurality of user'"'"'s client machines configured to selectively communicate with the server, one of the user'"'"'s client machines defining a change administrator'"'"'s client machine, one of the users client machines defining a change requester'"'"'s client machine,

the server being configured to provide to the change requester'"'"'s client machine a change request form having fields with which a change requester can provide information indicating an e-mail address for the change requester, a maintenance request type, a proposed date and time when maintenance will take place, an estimated duration for the maintenance, who will be impacted by the maintenance, the nature of the impact, and the impact if the maintenance is not performed;

the server being configured to receive from the change requester'"'"'s client machine change request information from the change requester in response to the change requester providing information for at least some of the fields of the change request form;

the server being configured to store the change request information in the database, to provide the change request information to the change administrator'"'"'s client machine, and to transmit the change request information to user'"'"'s client machines associated with whoever was indicated as being impacted by the maintenance;

the server being configured to provide to a user'"'"'s client machine a calendar displaying indicia associated with the change request information, as well as status information associated with the change request information;

wherein the server is further configured to provide to the change administrator'"'"'s client machine an administrator interface with which the administrator can make changes to the status information, and wherein, with the administrator interface, the change administrator can change the status information to indicate whether the maintenance is approved or denied, and the server being further configured to receive changed status information and provide to a user'"'"'s client machine the calendar with the changed status information.

37. A program storage device readable by a server-machine, the program storage device tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the server machine to cause the server machine to:

provide to a maintenance requester'"'"'s client machine a maintenance request form having fields with which a maintenance requester can provide information about a maintenance request, including fields identifying the maintenance requester, a maintenance request type, and a proposed date when maintenance will take place;

receive maintenance request information that the maintenance requester provided using the request form;

store the maintenance request information in a database, and transmit the maintenance request information to a maintenance administrator'"'"'s client machine;

provide to a user'"'"'s client machine a calendar having boxes for days of a month, showing the maintenance request in a box corresponding to the maintenance requester'"'"'s proposed date when the maintenance will take place, and showing status information associated with the maintenance request indicating whether the maintenance request has been approved, denied, or is pending an approval decision;

provide to an administrator'"'"'s client machine an administrator interface with.which the administrator can make changes to the status information for the maintenance request; and

after providing to an administrator an administrator interface, receive changed status information and provide to a user the calendar with the changed status information.

38. A program storage device in accordance with claim 37 wherein the changed status information is indicated with a change of color.

39. A program storage device in accordance with claim 37 and further comprising assigning a schedule number to the maintenance request information and associating the maintenance request information with the schedule number.

40. A program storage device in accordance with claim 39 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the program of instructions is further executable to provide to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated with a change of color of the schedule number.

41. A program storage device in accordance with claim 39 wherein showing the maintenance request in a box comprises showing the schedule number in the box, and wherein the program of instructions is further executable to provide to a user the calendar with the changed status information indicated by a change of color of the schedule number and, if the changed status information includes a change in proposed date when the maintenance will take place, with the changed status information indicated by a change in the box within which the schedule number appears.