Technician control system

• US 8,364,513 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2009
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• 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, Easton, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): LOFTIS, JOHNNA RONEE
• Application Number:
  US12/481,046
• Publication Number:
  US 20100312604A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,330 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.13
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• 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 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups

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 scheduling and dispatch operations for work orders being handled by technicians associated with a client;

at least one electronic data store configured to store data associated with the client; 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 scheduling and dispatch operations performed by the control system;

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

aggregating a set of pre-defined scheduling configuration options, at least one scheduling configuration option representing a scheduling goal that encompasses multiple tunable parameters of a scheduling application, rather than corresponding to a single tunable parameter of the scheduling application;

receiving, from the client, user input selecting a subset of the scheduling configuration options;

storing, in the at least one electronic data store and in association with the client, configuration data that reflects the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options;

based on the configuration data that reflects the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, configuring, for the client, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client, the configuration including;

automatically, without user intervention, identifying tunable parameters of the scheduling application that are grouped within the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, the number of parameters included in the identified tunable parameters being greater than the number of options included in the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, and

automatically, without user intervention, adjusting the identified tunable parameters of the scheduling application based on the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, thereby enabling changes to performance of the scheduling application without requiring direct tuning of the identified tunable parameters of the scheduling application; and

performing scheduling operations for the client using the configured scheduling application.

2. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein:

configuring, for the client, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client comprises;

identifying scheduling rules that relate to the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options;

tailoring the identified scheduling rules based on the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options; and

configuring, for the client, the scheduling application to use the tailored scheduling rules.

3. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein:

receiving, from the client, user input comprises receiving user input setting weighting parameters for one or more of the scheduling configuration options; and

configuring, for the client, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client comprises;

mapping the weighting parameters for the one or more of the scheduling configuration options to a set of rules and configuration variables

adapting, in accordance with the weighting parameters, the scheduling application based on the set of rules and configuration variables.

4. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising receiving, from a client system associated with the client, data defining unscheduled work orders associated with the client,

wherein performing scheduling operations for the client using the configured scheduling application comprises assigning, using the configured scheduling application, the unscheduled work orders to one or more of the technicians associated with the client.

5. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein the control system is configured to control supervisor mapping operations for work orders being handled by technicians associated with the client and the at least one processor is configured to perform operations further comprising:

identifying technicians supervised by a particular supervisor that uses a particular device;

determining progress of scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians;

enabling the supervisor to view data reflecting the determined progress of scheduled work orders;

monitoring progress of the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians;

based on the monitoring, detecting whether a schedule or quality issue occurs in the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians; and

in response to detecting that a schedule or quality issue has occurred in at least one of the scheduled work orders being handled by at least one of the identified technicians;

sending, to the particular device used by the particular supervisor, a message to alert the supervisor of the detected issue; and

assisting the supervisor in taking action to correct the detected issue.

6. The technician control system of claim 5 wherein:

detecting whether a schedule or quality issue occurs in the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians comprises;

comparing progress of a particular work order being handled by a particular technician to an expected progress for the particular work order;

based on the comparison, determining whether the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician is behind the expected progress by more than a threshold amount;

detecting an issue in response to a determination that the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician is behind the expected progress by more than the threshold amount; and

detecting that an issue does not exist in response to a determination that the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician is not behind the expected progress by more than the threshold amount;

sending, to the particular device used by the particular supervisor, the message to alert the supervisor of the detected issue comprises sending a message that indicates that the particular technician is behind schedule in performing the particular work order, that provides an indication of the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician, and that provides an indication of the expected progress; and

assisting the supervisor in taking action to correct the detected issue comprises;

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by communicating with the particular technician;

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by receiving directions to attend the particular work order; and

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by sending another technician to assist the particular technician with the particular work order.

7. The technician control system of claim 5 wherein:

detecting whether a schedule or quality issue occurs in the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians comprises;

determining an expected amount of time remaining for a particular technician to complete a particular work order being handled by the particular technician;

determining a travel time between a location of the particular work order and a location of a next work order scheduled for completion by the particular technician;

identifying a scheduled start time of the next work order scheduled for completion by the particular technician;

analyzing the expected amount of time remaining for the particular technician to complete the particular work order and the determined travel time with respect to the scheduled start time of the next work order;

based on the analysis, determining whether the particular technician is likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order;

detecting an issue in response to a determination that the particular technician is likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order; and

detecting that an issue does not exist in response to a determination that the particular technician is not likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order;

sending, to the particular device used by the particular supervisor, the message to alert the supervisor of the detected issue comprises sending a message that indicates that the particular technician is likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order, that provides an indication of the expected amount of time remaining for the particular technician to complete the particular work order, that provides an indication of the determined travel time, and that provides an indication of the scheduled start time of the next work order; and

assisting the supervisor in taking action to correct the detected issue comprises;

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by rescheduling the next work order for the particular technician; and

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by communicating with a customer corresponding to the next work order.

8. The technician control system of claim 1 wherein:

the control system is configured to control scheduling and dispatch operations for multiple, different clients;

the at least one electronic data store is configured to maintain segregated data areas for each of the multiple, different clients, control access to the segregated areas using admission rights, and store configuration data for each of the multiple, different clients; and

the control system is further configured to control scheduling and dispatch operations for each of the multiple, different clients in a configured manner that leverages the stored configuration data for each of the multiple, different clients.

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

establishing a particular client;

defining, in the at least one electronic data store, a segregated data area for the particular client, the segregated data area being separate from other data areas associated with other clients of the control system;

setting admission rights and privileges for the particular client to enable users associated with the particular client to access the segregated data area;

enabling the particular client to configure standard, pre-defined assets and applications of the control system; and

storing configuration data for the particular client that reflects configurations to the standard, pre-defined assets and applications made by the particular client.

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

receiving a request from a technician device;

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

comparing admission rights of the technician device to admission rights of the identified client;

based on the comparison, determining whether the technician device is authorized to perform the request;

in response to a determination that the technician device is not authorized to perform the request, denying the request; and

in response to a determination that the technician device is authorized to perform the request;

handling the request using standard, pre-defined assets and applications based on configurations defined by the identified client; and

storing data related to the request in a segregated data area associated with the identified client.

11. A computer-implemented method comprising:

aggregating, at a control system, a pre-defined set of scheduling configuration options, at least one scheduling configuration option representing a scheduling goal that encompasses multiple tunable parameters of a scheduling application, rather than corresponding to a single tunable parameter of the scheduling application;

receiving, from a client, user input selecting a subset of the scheduling configuration options;

storing, in at least one electronic data store of the control system and in association with the client, configuration data that reflects the the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options;

based on the configuration data that reflects the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, configuring, for the client using at least one processor of the control system, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client, the configuration including;

identifying tunable parameters of the scheduling application that are grouped within the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, the number of parameters included in the identified tunable parameters being greater than the number of options included in the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, and

adjusting the identified tunable parameters of the scheduling application based on the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, thereby enabling changes to performance of the scheduling application without requiring direct tuning of the identified tunable parameters of the scheduling application; and

performing, using at least one processor of the control system, scheduling operations for the client using the configured scheduling application.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein:

configuring, for the client using at least one processor of the control system, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client comprises;

identifying scheduling rules that relate to the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options;

tailoring the identified scheduling rules based on the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options; and

configuring, for the client, the scheduling application to use the tailored scheduling rules.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein:

receiving, from the client, user input comprises receiving user input setting weightings parameters for one or more of the scheduling configuration options; and

configuring, for the client using at least one processor of the control system, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client comprises;

mapping the weighting parameters for the one or more of the scheduling configuration options to a set of rules and configuration variables

adapting, in accordance with the weighting parameters, the scheduling application based on the set of rules and configuration variables.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving, from a client system associated with the client, data defining unscheduled work orders associated with the client,

wherein performing, using at least one processor of the control system, scheduling operations for the client using the configured scheduling application comprises assigning, using the configured scheduling application, the unscheduled work orders to one or more of technicians associated with the client.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

identifying technicians supervised by a particular supervisor that uses a particular device;

determining progress of scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians;

enabling the supervisor to view data reflecting the determined progress of scheduled work orders;

monitoring progress of the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians;

based on the monitoring, detecting whether a schedule or quality issue occurs in the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians; and

in response to detecting that a schedule or quality issue has occurred in at least one of the scheduled work orders being handled by at least one of the identified technicians;

sending, to the particular device used by the particular supervisor, a message to alert the supervisor of the detected issue; and

assisting the supervisor in taking action to correct the detected issue.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:

detecting whether a schedule or quality issue occurs in the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians comprises;

comparing progress of a particular work order being handled by a particular technician to an expected progress for the particular work order;

based on the comparison, determining whether the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician is behind the expected progress by more than a threshold amount;

detecting an issue in response to a determination that the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician is behind the expected progress by more than the threshold amount; and

detecting that an issue does not exist in response to a determination that the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician is not behind the expected progress by more than the threshold amount;

sending, to the particular device used by the particular supervisor, the message to alert the supervisor of the detected issue comprises sending a message that indicates that the particular technician is behind schedule in performing the particular work order, that provides an indication of the progress of the particular work order being handled by the particular technician, and that provides an indication of the expected progress; and

assisting the supervisor in taking action to correct the detected issue comprises;

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by communicating with the particular technician;

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by receiving directions to attend the particular work order; and

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by sending another technician to assist the particular technician with the particular work order.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein:

detecting whether a schedule or quality issue occurs in the scheduled work orders for each of the identified technicians comprises;

determining an expected amount of time remaining for a particular technician to complete a particular work order being handled by the particular technician;

determining a travel time between a location of the particular work order and a location of a next work order scheduled for completion by the particular technician;

identifying a scheduled start time of the next work order scheduled for completion by the particular technician;

analyzing the expected amount of time remaining for the particular technician to complete the particular work order and the determined travel time with respect to the scheduled start time of the next work order;

based on the analysis, determining whether the particular technician is likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order;

detecting an issue in response to a determination that the particular technician is likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order; and

detecting that an issue does not exist in response to a determination that the particular technician is not likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order;

sending, to the particular device used by the particular supervisor, the message to alert the supervisor of the detected issue comprises sending a message that indicates that the particular technician is likely to miss the scheduled start time of the next work order, that provides an indication of the expected amount of time remaining for the particular technician to complete the particular work order, that provides an indication of the determined travel time, and that provides an indication of the scheduled start time of the next work order; and

assisting the supervisor in taking action to correct the detected issue comprises;

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by rescheduling the next work order for the particular technician; and

enabling the supervisor to respond to the message by communicating with a customer corresponding to the next work order.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein:

establishing a particular client;

defining, in the at least one electronic data store, a segregated data area for the particular client, the segregated data area being separate from other data areas associated with other clients of the control system;

setting admission rights and privileges for the particular client to enable users associated with the particular client to access the segregated data area;

enabling the particular client to configure standard, pre-defined assets and applications of the control system; and

storing configuration data for the particular client that reflects configurations to the standard, pre-defined assets and applications made by the particular client.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein:

receiving a request from a technician device;

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

comparing admission rights of the technician device to admission rights of the identified client;

based on the comparison, determining whether the technician device is authorized to perform the request;

in response to a determination that the technician device is not authorized to perform the request, denying the request; and

in response to a determination that the technician device is authorized to perform the request;

handling the request using standard, pre-defined assets and applications based on configurations defined by the identified client; and

storing data related to the request in a segregated data area associated with the identified client.

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:

aggregating, at a control system, a pre-defined set of scheduling configuration options, at least one scheduling configuration option representing a scheduling goal that encompasses multiple tunable parameters of a scheduling application, rather than corresponding to a single tunable parameter of the scheduling application;

receiving, from a client, user input selecting a subset of the scheduling configuration options;

storing, in at least one electronic data store of the control system and in association with the client, configuration data that reflects the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options;

based on the configuration data that reflects the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, configuring, for the client using at least one processor of the control system, the scheduling application used by the control system to perform scheduling operations for the client, the configuration including;

automatically, without user intervention, identifying tunable parameters of the scheduling application that are grouped within the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, the number of parameters included in the identified tunable parameters being greater than the number of options included in the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, and

automatically, without user intervention, adjusting the identified tunable parameters of the scheduling application based on the selected subset of the scheduling configuration options, thereby enabling changes to performance of the scheduling application without requiring direct tuning of the identified tunable parameters of the scheduling application; and

performing, using at least one processor of the control system, scheduling operations for the client using the configured scheduling application.