Technician control system

• US 8,321,253 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2009
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Mitchell, Clarence, Mathur, Ankur
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunham, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALTSCHUL, AMBER L
• Application Number:
  US12/490,730
• Publication Number:
  US 20100312605A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• Field of Search: 705 711- 742
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group

Abstract

Technician control, in which a control system is configured to control scheduling and dispatch operations for work orders being handled by technicians. Multiple technician devices are each associated with one or more technicians, are configured to communicate, over a network, with the control system, and also are configured to provide output in response to communications that are received from the control system and that are related to the scheduling and dispatch operations performed by the control system. A set of scheduling configuration options may be pre-defined and user input weighting at least one of the scheduling configuration options relative to other of the scheduling configuration options may be received. A scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations may be configured based on configuration data that reflects the weighting and scheduling operations may be performed using the configured scheduling application.

Claims

1. A technician control system comprising:

a control system configured to control processing of work orders being handled by technicians in each of multiple, different industries;

at least one electronic data store configured to store work order data and work flow data for each of the multiple, different industries; and

multiple technician devices that are each associated with one or more technicians, configured to communicate, over a network, with the control system, and configured to provide output in response to communications that are received from the control system and that are related to the processing of work orders;

wherein the control system includes at least one processor configured to perform operations comprising;

defining, in the at least one electronic data store, work order data for work orders corresponding to each of the multiple, different industries based on user input received from an entity operating the technician control system;

defining, in the at least one electronic data store, work flow data for the work orders corresponding to each of the multiple, different industries based on user input received from the entity operating the technician control system;

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a first company that manages a first group of technicians that handle work orders in a first industry, the first company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system;

determining the first industry in which the first group of technicians managed by the first company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the first industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the first group of technicians, a first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the first industry;

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, processing work orders for the first group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data;

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a second company that manages a second group of technicians that handle work orders in a second industry, the second company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system and the first company, the second industry being different than the first industry;

determining the second industry in which the second group of technicians managed by the second company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the second industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the second group of technicians, a second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the second industry, the second subset being different than the first subset; and

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, processing work orders for the second group of technicians based on the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data.

2. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising:

receiving a request associated with a work order from a technician device;

accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data related to handling the work order based on an industry associated with the technician device;

controlling user interface display on the technician device and data collection on the technician device related to the work order based on the accessed work order data; and

controlling processing flow related to handling the work order on the technician device based on the accessed work flow data.

3. The technician control system of claim 2 wherein accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data related to handling the work order based on the industry associated with the technician device comprises:

determining, from among the multiple, different industries, the industry associated with the technician device; and

accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data for the determined industry.

4. The technician control system of claim 2 wherein accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data related to handling the work order based on the industry associated with the technician device comprises:

identifying, from among multiple clients, a client associated with the technician device; and

accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data for which the technician control system has been configured to leverage for the identified client.

5. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein processing work orders for the first group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data comprises:

controlling user interface display and data collection for technician devices using the first subset of the defined work order data; and

controlling work flow processing for the technician devices using the first subset of the defined work flow data.

6. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein processing work orders for the first group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data comprises sending the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data to technician devices to enable the technician devices to process work orders.

7. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising:

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a third company that manages a third group of technicians that handle work orders in the first industry and the second industry, the third company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system, the first company, and the second company;

determining the first industry and the second industry in which the third group of technicians managed by the third company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the first industry and the second industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the third group of technicians, the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the first industry and the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the second industry; and

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data and the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, processing work orders for the third group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data and the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data.

8. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising:

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a third company that manages a third group of technicians that handle work orders in the first industry, the third company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system, the first company, and the second company;

determining the first industry in which the third group of technicians managed by the third company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the first industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the third group of technicians, the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the first industry; and

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, processing work orders for the third group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data.

9. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising:

defining, in the at least one electronic data store, a first segregated data area for the first company; and

defining, in the at least one electronic data store, a second segregated data area for the second company, the first segregated data area being separate from the second segregated data area.

10. The technician control system of claim 9 wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising:

setting admission rights and privileges for the first company to enable users associated with the first company to access the first segregated data area and restrict users associated with the second company from accessing the first segregated data area; and

setting admission rights and privileges for the second company to enable users associated with the second company to access the second segregated data area and restrict users associated with the first company from accessing the second segregated data area.

11. The technician control system of claim 1, wherein the first industry is a cable industry and the second industry is a utility industry.

12. The technician control system of claim 1, wherein the first industry is a cable industry and the second industry is a gas industry.

13. The technician control system of claim 1, wherein the first industry is a gas industry and the second industry is a utility industry.

14. The technician control system of claim 1, wherein the control system is configured to control processing of work orders being handled by technicians in each of cable, utility, and gas industries.

15. A computer-implemented method comprising:

defining, in at least one electronic data store of a technician control system, work order data for work orders corresponding to each of multiple, different industries based on user input received from an entity operating the technician control system;

defining, in the at least one electronic data store of the technician control system, work flow data for the work orders corresponding to each of the multiple, different industries based on user input received from the entity operating the technician control system;

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a first company that manages a first group of technicians that handle work orders in a first industry, the first company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system;

determining the first industry in which the first group of technicians managed by the first company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the first industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the first group of technicians, a first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the first industry;

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, using at least one processor to process work orders for the first group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data;

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a second company that manages a second group of technicians that handle work orders in a second industry, the second company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system and the first company, the second industry being different than the first industry;

determining the second industry in which the second group of technicians managed by the second company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the second industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the second group of technicians, a second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the second industry, the second subset being different than the first subset; and

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, using at least one processor to process work orders for the second group of technicians based on the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving a request associated with a work order from a technician device;

accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data related to handling the work order based on an industry associated with the technician device;

controlling user interface display on the technician device and data collection on the technician device related to the work order based on the accessed work order data; and

controlling processing flow related to handling the work order on the technician device based on the accessed work flow data.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data related to handling the work order based on the industry associated with the technician device comprises:

determining, from among the multiple, different industries, the industry associated with the technician device; and

accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data for the determined industry.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data related to handling the work order based on the industry associated with the technician device comprises:

identifying, from among multiple clients, a client associated with the technician device; and

accessing, from the at least one electronic data store, pre-defined work order data and work flow data for which the technician control system has been configured to leverage for the identified client.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein using at least one processor to process work orders for the first group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data comprises:

controlling user interface display and data collection for technician devices using the first subset of the defined work order data; and

controlling work flow processing for the technician devices using the first subset of the defined work flow data.

20. At least one computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

defining, in at least one electronic data store of a technician control system, work order data for work orders corresponding to each of multiple, different industries based on user input received from an entity operating the technician control system;

defining, in the at least one electronic data store of the technician control system, work flow data for the work orders corresponding to each of the multiple, different industries based on user input received from the entity operating the technician control system;

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a first company that manages a first group of technicians that handle work orders in a first industry, the first company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system;

determining the first industry in which the first group of technicians managed by the first company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the first industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the first group of technicians, a first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the first industry;

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, processing work orders for the first group of technicians based on the first subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data;

after defining the work order data and the work flow data, establishing a second company that manages a second group of technicians that handle work orders in a second industry, the second company being separate from the entity operating the technician control system and the first company, the second industry being different than the first industry;

determining the second industry in which the second group of technicians managed by the second company handle work orders;

based on the determination of the second industry, configuring the technician control system to leverage, in performing work order processing for the second group of technicians, a second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data that applies to the second industry, the second subset being different than the first subset; and

after configuring the technician control system to leverage the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data, processing work orders for the second group of technicians based on the second subset of the defined work order data and the defined work flow data.