Order scheduling system and method for scheduling appointments over multiple days
First Claim
1. A computer-readable medium containing a program for scheduling splittable work orders to provide customers with requested service, the program scheduling the work orders by performing operations comprising:
- receiving customer requests from customers desiring service;
identifying a received request for service from a customer as being a splittable work order having a job duration required to complete the splittable work order over a plurality of different days and a split time that is less than the job duration;
requesting an appointment in a specific appointment window on a first day in response to the received customer request, the appointment window being for the split time;
validating the requested appointment against a number of scheduling constraints and against projected service resources for that window on the first day, including dividing a service area into a number of work areas, assigning a field service representative to each work area where each field service representative has an associated skill level, assigning at least one skill level to each work area, and assigning at least one window hierarchy to each work area, each window hierarchy corresponding to a set of appointment windows and associated with at least one skill level assigned to the work area, the scheduling constraints having allowable appointment windows during which appointments are permitted to be scheduled;
scheduling the appointment in the specific appointment window on the first day when the validation indicates the appointment can be scheduled given the scheduling constraints and projected service resources, in response to the specific appointment window overlapping the allowable appointment window, time for the appointment scheduled in the specific appointment window proportionally to the amount of overlap between the specific appointment window and the allowable appointment window;
requesting an appointment in a specific appointment window on a subsequent day or days during which the remainder of the splittable work order may be scheduled;
validating the requested appointment against the number of scheduling constraints and against projected service resources for that window on the subsequent day or days;
scheduling the appointment in the specific appointment window on the subsequent day or days when the validation indicates the appointment can be scheduled given the scheduling constraints and projected service resources; and
advising the customer of the scheduled appointment.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method schedules splittable work orders to provide customers with requested service and efficiently utilize service resources. The method includes forming a list of appointment windows for days on which service may be performed. A request for service from a customer is identified as being a splittable work order. The splittable work order is assigned a job duration required to complete the order and a split time less than the job duration. An appointment window on a first day during which a portion of the service may be scheduled is determined. The appointment window is for the split time in duration. At least one appointment window on a subsequent day or days during which the remainder of the service may be scheduled is then determined. The splittable work order is scheduled by assigning the work order to the determined appointment windows on the determined first and subsequent days.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A computer-readable medium containing a program for scheduling splittable work orders to provide customers with requested service, the program scheduling the work orders by performing operations comprising:
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receiving customer requests from customers desiring service; identifying a received request for service from a customer as being a splittable work order having a job duration required to complete the splittable work order over a plurality of different days and a split time that is less than the job duration; requesting an appointment in a specific appointment window on a first day in response to the received customer request, the appointment window being for the split time; validating the requested appointment against a number of scheduling constraints and against projected service resources for that window on the first day, including dividing a service area into a number of work areas, assigning a field service representative to each work area where each field service representative has an associated skill level, assigning at least one skill level to each work area, and assigning at least one window hierarchy to each work area, each window hierarchy corresponding to a set of appointment windows and associated with at least one skill level assigned to the work area, the scheduling constraints having allowable appointment windows during which appointments are permitted to be scheduled; scheduling the appointment in the specific appointment window on the first day when the validation indicates the appointment can be scheduled given the scheduling constraints and projected service resources, in response to the specific appointment window overlapping the allowable appointment window, time for the appointment scheduled in the specific appointment window proportionally to the amount of overlap between the specific appointment window and the allowable appointment window; requesting an appointment in a specific appointment window on a subsequent day or days during which the remainder of the splittable work order may be scheduled; validating the requested appointment against the number of scheduling constraints and against projected service resources for that window on the subsequent day or days; scheduling the appointment in the specific appointment window on the subsequent day or days when the validation indicates the appointment can be scheduled given the scheduling constraints and projected service resources; and advising the customer of the scheduled appointment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer-readable medium containing a program for scheduling splittable work orders to provide customers with requested service, the program scheduling the work orders by performing operations comprising:
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receiving customer requests from customers desiring service, the requests being received by customer service representatives; identifying a received request for service from a customer as being a splittable work order having a job duration required to complete the splittable work order over a plurality of different days and a split time that is less than the job duration; requesting an appointment in a specific appointment window on a first day in response to the received customer request, the appointment window being for the split time; validating the requested appointment against a number of scheduling constraints and against projected service resources for that window on the first day, including dividing a service area into a number of work areas, assigning a field service representative to each work area where each field service representative has an associated skill level, assigning at least one skill level to each work area, and assigning at least one window hierarchy to each work area, each window hierarchy corresponding to a set of appointment windows and associated with at least one respective skill level assigned to the work area, the scheduling constraints having allowable appointment windows during which appointments are permitted to be scheduled; scheduling the appointment in the specific appointment window on the first day when the validation indicates the appointment can be scheduled given the scheduling constraints and projected service resources, in response to the specific appointment window overlapping the allowable appointment window, time for the appointment scheduled in the specific appointment window proportionally to the amount of overlap between the specific appointment window and the allowable appointment window; requesting an appointment in a specific appointment window on a subsequent day or days during which the remainder of the splittable work order may be scheduled; validating the requested appointment against the number of scheduling constraints and against projected service resources for that window on the subsequent day or days; scheduling the appointment in the specific appointment window on the subsequent day or days when the validation indicates the appointment can be scheduled given the scheduling constraints and projected service resources; advising the customer of the scheduled appointment by the customer service representative; and if either validation fails, providing the customer service representative with a set of alternate appointment windows over multiple days in which the splittable work order may be scheduled; and advising the customer of the alternative appointment windows. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification