Method and apparatus for tracking an intent

• US 8,635,095 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2005
• Issued: 01/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Shari H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleischer, Mark A
• Application Number:
  US11/224,498
• Publication Number:
  US 20070061175A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,053 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.11
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

A method for tracking an intent comprises, for an intent parameter, searching a Structure Access Intent Tracker database for at least one record pertaining to the intent parameter, each record identifying an intent. The method also comprises, in response to the searching, a provision of a report that includes a numerical count of the plurality of records.

Claims

1. A method of managing jointly owned assets, comprising:

enabling a first owner of a jointly owned asset to communicate an intent to a second owner of the jointly owned asset, the intent indicating a desire to perform work on the jointly owned asset;

enabling the first owner to store the intent in an intent database that includes a plurality of intents, wherein the intent database includes a set of data fields for each of the plurality of intents;

responsive to a request for a first type of report, generating, at a computer, a first report identifying, from the plurality of intents, intents indicating a desire to perform work on a selected asset; and

responsive to a request for a first type of report, generating a second report identifying assets that share a common value for an intent parameter represented by one of the set of data fields.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the set of data fields includes a field selected from a joint-owner-sent-date field and a joint-owner-received-date field.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the set of data fields includes a field selected from a competitive local exchange carrier field, a joint-poles-on-job count field, a poles-on-intent count field, and a pole address field.

4. The method of managing intents of claim 3, wherein:

the set of data fields includes an accounting field selected from a changed sums status field, an intent final billed date field, and an expected response date field identifying when a response is expected.

5. The method of managing intents of claim 3, wherein:

the first asset owner is a first telecommunications company and wherein the intent database indicates work performed on poles of the first telecommunications company by a competing telecommunications company.

6. A tangible computer readable medium comprising program instructions, embedded in the computer readable medium, for tracking structure access intents, the program instructions comprising instructions for:

communicating a structure access intent from a first owner of a jointly owned asset to a second owner of the jointly owned asset, wherein the structure access intent indicates a desire to perform work on the jointly owned asset;

storing the structure access intent in an intent database, wherein the database includes a plurality of structure asset intents;

searching the intent database for structure access intents matching specified criteria for an intent parameter; and

generating a report indicating structure access intents matching the specified criteria, intent identifiers corresponding to each of the structure access intents, intent type identifiers corresponding to each of the structure access intents, and a number of poles associated with each of the structure access intents.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the structure access intents matching the specified criteria include a first structure access intent associated with a job associated with multiple structure access intents including the first structure access intent, and wherein the report indicates a job identifier and a number of poles associated with the job.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the report indicates at least one intent parameter selected from an age, a start date, and an end date for each of the structure access intents.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the report identifies a geographic area associated with each of the structure access intents.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein:

the intent type identifiers identify an intent type selected from a pole replacement intent, an information only intent, a 100% anchor intent requesting additional space on a pole by a competitive local exchange carrier, a first pole replacement intent suitable when equipment on the pole has not been damaged, and a second pole replacement intent suitable when a joint owner puts too much weight on the pole.

11. A method of managing jointly owned assets, the method comprising:

enabling each owner of a jointly owned asset to communicate an intent to all other owners of the jointly owned asset, the intent indicating work intended to be performed on a group of the jointly owned assets;

enabling each owner to access an intent database that includes a record for each of a plurality of intents, each record including a plurality of fields;

enabling each owner to access an interface for entering additional intents into the intent database;

enabling each owner to specify intent criteria; and

generating, by a computer, a report based on records satisfying the intent criteria.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a first joint owner is a telecommunications company and a second joint owner includes an entity selected from a competitive local exchange carrier and an electric power provider.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of fields includes a source field indicative of a source of the intent and wherein the intent criteria include source field criteria.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the report includes a table having a plurality of entries and the intent criteria specify a set of intents and wherein each entry in the table corresponds to one of the set of intents.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein each entry in the table corresponds to an asset associated with at least one of the set of intents.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the asset comprises a telephone pole.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each entry in the table includes an indication of a geographic location of the asset.

18. The method of claim 14, where each entry in the table is associated with a corresponding geographic region.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein each entry in the table indicates a number of inventoried assets in the corresponding geographic region.

20. An asset management method, comprising:

generating an intent, wherein the intent is associated with a plurality of jointly owned assets owned, at least in part, by a company and wherein the intent indicates work to be performed by the company on the plurality of jointly owned assets;

communicating the intent to a joint owner of the plurality of jointly owned assets;

storing the intent in an intent database having a plurality of intents;

requesting a computer to generate a requested report selected from;

a first report identifying, from the plurality of intents, a set of intents associated with a selected asset; and

a second report identifying a set of assets associated with a selected intent.