Title: System and method for computer-aided technician dispatch and communication
- Patent No.: 6,990,458
- Assignee: CSG Systems, Inc.
- Prior art cutoff: Prior art predating Aug 28, 1996
Summary: Patent number 6,990,458 claims software for assigning technicians to jobs based on factors including technician skill and the skill required by each job. The claimed method displays the status of assigned jobs, along with an indication of whether any jobs remain unassigned. Dependent claims add elements such as displaying job locations and technician locations on a map, and using a numerical factor to quantify the skill required by a job.
Claim 7: A method for handling a plurality of unassigned service requests, comprising:
receiving the plurality of service requests which are upon receipt are unassigned;
using programming for the purpose of assigning to each of the plurality of unassigned service requests one or more of a plurality of technicians as a function of
at least a skill level of each of the plurality of technicians,
considering a skill level required by each of the plurality of unassigned service requests,
considering prior service requests assigned to each of the plurality of technicians via the programming,
and an amount of time to complete each of the plurality of unassigned service requests;
displaying an indication if one or more of the plurality of unassigned service requests remain unassigned as a result of processing performed via the programming;
and displaying an indication of a status of one or more service requests that have been assigned to at least one technician via the programming.
Bonus--Dependent Claims 8-10: Claims 8-10 add the elements of
Displaying the location of assigned jobs on a map;
Representing the job difficulty using a "points" score;
Displaying the location of the technicians on a map.
Request: Do you know of any prior art systems or references from before 8/28/96 that satisfy the skill and display elements? How about the "bonus" claims involving using a map as part of the display, or numerically scoring the difficulty of a job?