Remote contractor system with case management

• US 9,879,875 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2014
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ademco Inc. (Resideo Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Quam, David, Ragland, Amy, Peterson, Steve R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rampuria, Satish
• Application Number:
  US14/531,269
• Publication Number:
  US 20150127168A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,184 Days
• Field of Search: 700275-306
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/58 using Internet communication
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/70 Control systems characterised by their outputs; Constructional details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/89 Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/00 Control inputs relating to air properties
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24033 Failure, fault detection and isolation
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34477 Fault prediction, analyzing signal trends
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0639 Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2825 Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/285 Generic home appliances, e.g. refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 : involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/82 : Energy audits or management systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 : Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A system that allows a contractor to remotely monitor and/or interact with its customers'"'"' building control systems, such as heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and analyze information obtained from the building control systems over time. Such a system may help the contractor monitor and diagnosis customer building control systems, setup service calls, achieve better customer relations, create more effective marketing opportunities, as well as other functions. In some cases, the disclosed system may help a contractor pro-actively identify possible issues with its customer'"'"'s building control systems and may output an alert related to an operation of the customer'"'"'s building control systems. Within the system, the contractor may able to open a case associated with the customer'"'"'s building control systems and link related alerts to the case.

Claims

1. A remote contractor system in operative communication with a plurality of client heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controllers over a network, wherein each of two or more of the client HVAC controllers is part of a corresponding client HVAC system that services a corresponding client building, the remote contractor system comprising:

a communications port in operative communication with the two or more client HVAC controllers, and to receive data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems;

a memory for storing the received data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems;

a controller including a processor, the controller operatively coupled to the communications port and the memory, wherein the controller;

processes the received data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems via the processor to statistically determine a normal HVAC system operation pattern, wherein the operation pattern includes a pattern over a period of time in one or more of humidity level, temperature level, fan activation, and particle count;

identifies an abnormality with the operation of a particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems by comparing the received data related to the operation of the particular one of the client HVAC systems to the determined normal HVAC system operation pattern;

outputs via the communications port one or more alerts with respect to the identified abnormality of the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems for viewing by a contractor on a display; and

allows the contractor to open a case, wherein the case is associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems, and wherein one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems are linked to the case for easy access.

2. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the controller keeps the case open until closed by the contractor.

3. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the controller allows a contractor to assign the case to a particular technician of the contractor for resolution.

4. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the controller allows a contractor to enter notes and to associate those notes to a particular case.

5. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the controller populates a case display screen on the display via the communications port, wherein the populated case display screen comprises one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the client HVAC systems.

6. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the client HVAC systems comprise one or more unresolved alerts.

7. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the client HVAC systems comprise one or more resolved alerts.

8. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the client HVAC systems are time stamped.

9. The remote contractor system of claim 1, wherein the controller populates a case log on a display via the communications port, wherein the case log includes a listing of cases.

10. The remote contractor system of claim 9, wherein the listing of cases is sorted by open cases and closed cases.

11. The remote contractor system of claim 9, wherein the listing of cases is sorted by an associated client HVAC system.

12. The remote contractor system of claim 9, wherein the listing of cases is sorted by an assigned technician.

13. The remote contractor system of claim 9, wherein the listing of cases is sorted by geographic area.

14. The remote contractor system of claim 9, wherein the listing of cases is sorted by a customer account.

15. The remote contractor system of claim 9, wherein the controller further allows selection of a particular case via the case log, and in response, to populate the case display screen with more detailed case information regarding the selected case.

16. A remote contractor system in operative communication with a plurality of client heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controllers over a network, wherein each of two or more of the client HVAC controllers is part of a corresponding client HVAC system that services a corresponding client building, the remote contractor system comprising:

a communications port in operative communication with the two or more client HVAC controllers, and to receive data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems;

a memory for storing the received data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems;

a controller including a processor, the controller operatively coupled to the communications port and the memory, wherein the controller;

processes the received data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems via the processor to statistically determine a normal HVAC system operation pattern, wherein the operation pattern includes a pattern over a period of time in one or more of humidity level, temperature level, fan activation, particle count, and user interactions with client HVAC controllers;

identifies an abnormality with the operation of a particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems by comparing the received data related to the operation of the particular one of the client HVAC systems to the determined normal HVAC system operation pattern;

outputs via the communications port one or more alerts with respect to the identified abnormality of the particular one or more of the two or more client HVAC systems for viewing by a contractor on a display; and

allows the contractor to create a case, wherein the case is associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems, and wherein the controller allows a contractor to assign the case to a particular technician for resolution.

17. The remote contractor system of claim 16, wherein the controller populates a case display screen on the display via the communications port, wherein the populated case display screen comprises one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems.

18. The remote contractor system of claim 16, wherein the controller populates a case log on the display via the communications port, wherein the case log includes a listing of two or more cases, wherein each of the two or more case is associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems.

19. A remote contractor system in operative communication with a plurality of client heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controllers over a network, wherein each of two or more of the client HVAC controllers is part of a corresponding client HVAC system that services a corresponding client building, the remote contractor system comprising:

a communications port in operative communication with the two or more client HVAC controllers, and to receive data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems;

a memory for storing the received data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems;

a controller including a processor, the controller operatively coupled to the communications port and the memory, wherein the controller;

processes the received data related to the operation of the corresponding two or more client HVAC systems via the processor to statistically determine a normal HVAC system operation pattern, wherein the operation pattern includes a pattern over a period of time in one or more of humidity level, temperature level, fan activation, and particle count;

identifies an abnormality with the operation of a particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems by comparing the received data related to the operation of the particular one of the client HVAC systems to the determined normal HVAC system operation pattern;

outputs via the communications port one or more alerts with respect to the identified abnormality of the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems for viewing by a contractor on a display;

allows the contractor to create a case and to store the case in the memory, wherein the case is associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems;

populates a case log for display on the display via the communications port, wherein the case log includes a listing of two or more cases created by the contractor; and

allows selection of a particular case of the case log, and in response, to display more detailed case information regarding the selected case on the display.

20. The remote contractor system of claim 19, wherein the more detailed case information regarding the selected case includes one or more alerts associated with the particular one of the two or more client HVAC systems.