Method and system for locating resources and communicating within an enterprise

• US 10,121,113 B1
• Filed: 10/20/2017
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Steelcase Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Steelcase Incorporated
• Inventors: Swieter, Timothy D, Scheper, Robert, Sculley, Darrin
• Primary Examiner(s): Soofi, Yazan A
• Application Number:
  US15/789,601
• Time in Patent Office: 382 Days
• Field of Search: 701454
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/826 where the data is sent periodically
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

An algorithm formulating system for use with a sensing ecosystem for identifying enterprise space states, the sensing ecosystem including a plurality of sensor devices mounted within an enterprise space wherein each sensor device is capable of sensing a plurality of parameters within the enterprise space, the system comprising a processor programmed to perform the steps of accessing a rule set that specifies a first parameter value set that corresponding to a perceived state within a first enterprise space, receiving sensor data from sensor devices within the first enterprise space, comparing the sensor data to the rule set to identify instances of the perceived state, examining sensor data to identify a second parameter value set that occurs at least a threshold percentage of time for the identified instances of the perceived state and using the second parameter value set as the basis for a new rule set to be associated with the perceived state.

Claims

1. A method of tracking and reporting locations of enterprise resources, the method for use with at least a first interface device including a user input device and a display screen, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a processor programmed to perform the steps of;

storing schedules of enterprise resources where the schedules indicate scheduled locations of enterprise resources during time slots;

identifying a location of the first interface device;

identifying a location of at least one of the enterprise resource at the current time and determining a relative distance from the at least one enterprise resource to the user interface device;

displaying a vertical distance scale on the display screen;

corresponding the at least one enterprise resources to a location on the distance scale to generate a location representation; and

presenting the location representation via the first interface device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the enterprise resource is an entity employee.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the enterprise resource is a conference room.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the processor is further programmed to identify locations for each of a plurality of enterprise resources, to identify location representations indicating a distance of each of at least a subset of the enterprise resources relative to the interface device, and to display the location representations on the vertical distance scale.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the display screen further comprises an information field including at least one of an image of the employee using the user device, and a name of the user using the user device at a first end of the vertical distance scale.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information field in the display screen further comprises a text description of the user'"'"'s current location.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the distance scale extends downward on the display screen and includes distance labels along the scale to indicate a distance from the interface device.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the distance scale extends downward on the display screen from the information field.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the distances are at least one of a direct distance and a direct path distance through a facility space.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the display screen further comprises a compass icon indicating a bearing of the user device relative to a position of an entity resource.

11. A method of tracking and reporting locations of enterprise resources, the method for use with an interface device including a user input device and a display screen, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a processor programmed to perform the steps of;

storing schedules of entity resources where the schedules indicate schedules of entity resources;

Identifying a location of the interface device;

identifying a location of the at least one enterprise resource and determining a relative distance from the at least one enterprise resource to the user interface device;

displaying a distance scale on the display screen of the interface device, the distance scale extending downward from a top end to a bottom end of the display screen;

displaying a resource list comprising the at least one enterprise resource in a resource column adjacent the scale, the at least one enterprise resource aligned with the scale at a location consistent with the actual distance from the interface device to the at least one enterprise resource.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the processor is further programmed to display an identifier identifying the resource at a corresponding location on the scale, and wherein the identifier is at least one of an image and a name of an enterprise resource on the display screen.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the enterprise resource is a conference room, and the processor is further programmed to display a status indicator adjacent an identifier for the conference room to indicate a current status of the conference room.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the processor is further programmed to display an occupancy bar adjacent the identifier for each conference room, the occupancy bar extending adjacent indicators corresponding to enterprise resources scheduled to be in the corresponding conference room and indicating which employees are currently located within each conference room.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the occupancy bar extends between the distance scale and a resource column displaying indicators corresponding to employees scheduled to be in the conference room.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the occupancy bar comprises a visual indicator to indicate different statuses of the conference rooms.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the occupancy bar is visually distinguished by at least one of color coding, hatching, and shading.

18. The method of claim 16, where the occupancy bar is visually distinguished to indicate a plurality of room statuses including at least one of a conference room is scheduled to be occupied within a predetermined time frame and an indication that a conference room is scheduled to be open within a predetermined time period.

19. A method of tracking and reporting availability of conference rooms, the method for use with an interface device including a user input device and a display screen, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a processor programmed to perform the steps of;

storing schedules of conference rooms;

Identifying a location of the interface device;

displaying a distance scale on the display screen of the interface device, the distance scale extending downward from a top end to a bottom end of the display screen;

displaying a resource list comprising a plurality of conference rooms in a resource column adjacent the distance scale, each of the plurality of conference rooms aligned with the scale at a location consistent with the actual distance from the interface device to the conference room.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the processor is further programmed to display an occupancy bar adjacent each conference room on the list, the occupancy bar corresponding to employees scheduled to be in the corresponding conference room and indicating which employees are currently located within each conference room.