Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for interactively identifying a replacement part from a list of parts by prompting a user to define product attributes. The method includes displaying a first data set on a mobile computing device; prompting a user of the mobile computing device to select a first attribute value from a first list of attribute values; applying the selected first attribute value to the first data set; generating a second data set comprising a subset of the first data set; displaying the second data set on the mobile computing device; prompting the user to select a second attribute value from a second list of attribute values; applying the selected second attribute value to the second data set; generating a final data set comprising a subset of the second data set; displaying the final data set on the mobile computing device; and prompting the user to select a unique entry from the final data set.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for allocating tasks within a hybrid workforce which includes staff technicians and outsourced technicians in a facilities management computing environment. The method includes: identifying a geographic market where a new staff technician is needed; adding the new staff technician to a pool of staff technicians; assigning pending preventive maintenance (PM) tasks and pending service request (SR) tasks to the pool of staff technicians; calculating routes for the pool of staff technicians and dynamically establishing schedules for the pool based on the calculated routes; assigning an additional SR to the pool of staff technicians if the staff technician schedules are full; and assigning the additional SR to the outsourced technician if all of the staff technician schedules are not full.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for reducing customer noise a facilities management computing environment. The method includes creating an electronic service request record (SRR) in response to a job request; placing the SRR in a first electronic queue if an estimated time of arrival (ETA) is not communicated to the customer within a first time period t1; entering a time of arrival into the SSR after the ETA is communicated to the customer; placing the SRR in a second electronic queue if the job is not completed within an SLA time period t2; entering a time of completion into the SRR after the job is completed; placing the SRR in a third electronic queue if a customer survey is not completed within a survey time period t3; and closing the SRR after completion of the customer survey.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for controlling labor and component costs for a service request (SR). The method includes: defining a specific at-work labor rate; verifying the location of the recording of an arrival time and completion time by a technician using (GPS) information; defining a total labor cost as the at-work labor rate multiplied by the difference between the completion time and the arrival time; defining a total component part cost by displaying a list of parts on a mobile computing device, repeatedly applying an attribute value to successive subsets of the list of parts, and prompting a technician to select a unique entry from a final data set displayed on the mobile computing device; generating an electronic work ticket for the SR which includes only the total labor cost and the total component part cost; and capturing an electronic customer signature for the electronic work ticket.

Abstract: The present invention provides an automated invoice vetting, negotiation and payment system that automatically collects goods and labors hour data, sets a reasonable pricing structure for each such good and service, dynamically analyzes the price data to adjust for market changes and provides a automatic negotiation and settlement feature for bill payment. The present invention readily accommodates the above features over electronic networks such as the Internet. The present invention therefore provides a method of payment of invoices of vendors by purchasers, comprising providing a settlement authority with invoice information from a vendor, comparing the invoice charges to a predetermined range of values for the charges, accepting the charges that are within a predetermined sub-range for the charges, adjusting the charges that are greater or less than that the predetermined sub-range for the charges and paying the accepted charges and the adjusted charges.