System and Method for Facilitating Managing a Job

• US 7,117,162 B1
• Filed: 09/11/1998
• Issued: 10/03/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Seal, William M., Small, Terry L., Brechtel, Carol A., Deaton, Gail W., Cochran, Ronnie M.
• Primary Examiner(s): MEINECKE DIAZ, SUSANNA M
• Application Number:
  US09/151,666
• Time in Patent Office: 2,944 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705 7- 9, 705/26, 705/28, 705/29, 700/99, 700/100, 700106-110
• US Class Current: 705/7.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06314 Calendaring for a resource
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment

Abstract

An outside Plant Construction Management (OSPCM) system simplifies and mechanizes many aspects of operating a facility, such as a Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC). The OSPCM system performs a configuration function and this data is input to the awarded contract which entails breaking the job into its constituent tasks, sequencing the tasks, prioritizing the tasks, and scheduling the tasks. The OSPCM system completes the scheduling task by assigning the tasks to supervisors and/or to outside contractors. The OSPCM system automatically manages the materials required for tasks by determining what and when it is needed, ordering what is available from within inventory, and ordering necessary materials from outside providers. When a task is completed, the contractor accesses the OSPCM system and marks the task as completed. The OSPCM system then forwards invoices to the voucher system for those cases where work is completed as designed.

Claims

1. A system for use in facilitating managing a job, the system comprising:

a bid and award application executed by a computer for generating bid packages for a job and for receiving completed bids, wherein the bid and award application stores at least one previous bid that was made on the job and awards the job based on the at least one previous bid;

a job entry application executed by a computer for defining at least one task within the job and determining whether the task should be accomplished by a contractor;

a scheduling application executed by a computer for assigning personnel to the at least one task;

a materials management application executed by a computer for assigning any needed materials to the at least one task; and

an interface for receiving updates on the status of the at least one task,

wherein the interface includes a billing and reporting application for receiving input from the contractor as to completed tasks and billings,

wherein if the billings vary from a billing expectation of the system, the variations are sent by the billing and reporting application to a supervisor for approval, wherein upon approval of the supervisor or no variations, the billing and reporting application prepares an invoice for payment.

2. The system as set forth in claim 1, further including a pricing application executed by a computer for assigning a cost to the at least one task.

3. The system as set forth in claim 1, further including a regional contracts application executed by a computer for providing a contract template for use by the bid and award application.

4. The system as forth in claim 3, wherein the bid and award application is for generating the bid packages by adding contract work items and contractor information to the contract template.

5. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the job entry application is for configuring the at least one task into activities and for chronologically scheduling the activities based on desired completion dates of the activities.

6. The system as set forth in claim 2, wherein the pricing application is for assigning labor and material costs to the at least one task.

7. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the scheduling application is for assigning personnel to the at least one task based on worker profiles indicating availability of the personnel.

8. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the materials management application is for tracking materials within inventory.

9. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the materials management application is for assigning materials in inventory to the at least one task.

10. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the materials management application is for determining which materials are not within inventory and generating orders for the needed materials.

11. A computer-implemented method for facilitating managing a job, the method comprising the step of:

generating bid packages for a job and for receiving completed bids;

storing at least one previous bid that was made on the job;

awarding the job based on the at least one previous bid;

defining at least one task within the job and determining whether the task should be accomplished by a contractor;

assigning personnel to the at least one task;

assigning any needed materials to the at least one task;

receiving updates on the status of the at least one task via an interface; and

receiving input from the contractor as to completed tasks and billings,

wherein if the billings vary from a billing expectation, the variations are sent by a billing and reporting application to a supervisor for approval, wherein upon approval of the supervisor or no variations, the billing and reporting application prepares an invoice for payment, wherein the above steps are executed by a computer.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising assigning a cost to the at least one task.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising assigning labor and material costs to the at least one task.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising providing a contract template.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising generating the bid packages by adding contract work items and contractor information to the contract template.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising configuring the at least one task into activities and for chronologically scheduling the activities based on desired completion dates of the activities.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising assigning personnel to the at least one task based on worker profiles indicating availability of the personnel.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising tracking materials within inventory.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising assigning materials in inventory to the at least one task.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising determining which materials are not within inventory and generating orders for the needed materials.