Abstract:
The present invention is a system and method for searching a large database of dig location tickets for tickets of particular interest. A user can locate an area of concern on an on-screen map and can view a list of tickets received for a given date range of the map. For example, when underground plant damage occurs in a particular region, users need not text-search in the database to locate a particular ticket that may have caused the damage, but can instead locate the ticket using the enhanced on-screen map of the invention.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to the tracking of dig location tickets for the protection of underground utilities. Dig location tickets are created as a result of an excavator contacting an underground utility maintenance organization before conducting an excavation that may potentially harm the underground plant. More particularly, the present invention is a method of finding a specific dig location ticket in a large database of such tickets, using geographic data in a unique user interface. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Communications and utility companies (“carriers”) often own or maintain vast underground plants, including communications cables, power service cables, water pipes, gas pipes, sewers and other utilities. The carriers responsible for those underground plants actively encourage anyone digging in the ground to first notify the companies of the planned excavation. Organizations, often called “One-Call” centers, have been created to centrally receive such calls and to notify all potentially involved carriers of the planned dig. A carrier representative is often sent to the dig site in order to “stake out” the actual location of the underground plant, so excavators may avoid it. 
     As the notifications are received, “dig location tickets” are created for tracking the status of each notification as it is handled by a carrier company. The “ticket” is typically a record in a database containing information such as an identification of the caller, a date the notification was received, a planned excavation date and a location of the excavation. Because the initial notification may come from a variety of sources (for example, road or building construction companies, utilities, landscapers, farmers and individuals planning to dig in the yard), information about the location of the dig may be received in a variety of forms. For example, the information may be a simple description of the dig being “near” a landmark such as a building, it may be an address, or the information may be in the form of precise coordinates of the dig. When a dig location ticket is created, whatever location information is received is converted to map coordinates that best represent the described dig site, given the data received from the caller. The converted coordinates may, for example, be latitude/longitude or UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates. 
     The locations of components of the buried plant are known to the responsible utility companies. For example, a company responsible for a fiber optic cable system maintains a database of buffer zones surrounding buried cables in the system. When a location of a proposed excavation falls within a buffer zone, it is carefully reviewed and any necessary actions are taken to avoid harming the underground plant. 
     While the present invention may be used in connection with protecting any type of underground plant, it will be described herein in connection with the protection of an underground cable system such as a fiber optic system. A large corporation such as AT&amp;T will may receive 15,000 to 20,000 dig location tickets on an average day from 50 different One-Call Centers throughout the United States. Some of those tickets are closed automatically by the system if the dig location is not within a cable buffer zone. In other cases, technicians receive the appropriate dig location tickets for which they are responsible, and work on those tickets to protect the cables. For example, the technician may be present during the excavation, or may mark the area to show where the underground cable is buried. 
     Sometimes, however, a cable cut happens for various reasons. In one example, an excavator may have failed to inform the One-Call Center about the planned excavation. In that case, the cable company does not receive notification and would not have created a dig location ticket. In another example, a technician may not have been able to be present at the dig location because there was insufficient notice of the dig alert, or because the excavator dug earlier than the date contained in the dig location ticket. In yet another example, the excavator may have dug in a location other than that described in the dig location ticket. 
     In any event, if damage to an underground plant such as a cable cut occurs, operators in the utility&#39;s network maintenance center must find the dig location ticket, if any, that was issued for the particular excavation that caused the damage. The ticket is necessary to quickly identify the excavator and to determine when the ticket was received by the system, what the dig location coordinates were, etc. That is necessary in order to prevent further damage by the excavator, to quickly detect problems in the One-Call system, and, if necessary, to seek compensation from the excavator. It is presently very difficult to search the system for the appropriate ticket, inasmuch as the database contains several millions of tickets. To compound the problem, it is often the case that the network maintenance center operator knows very few details about the ticket. 
     In addition to damage to the underground plant, other circumstances may necessitate searching a dig location database by network maintenance center operators. For example, a center may have a need to locate active tickets in a certain area for purposes of allocating technician workloads. 
     There is therefore presently a need to enable network maintenance operators to quickly and efficiently identify a dig location ticket in a database of millions of such tickets, given the types of information typically available to the operators. To the inventors&#39; knowledge, there is currently no system capable of such searches. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention addresses the needs described above by providing a method for identifying a specific dig location ticket in a large database. The database includes dig location tickets containing geographic coordinates of dig locations and date information. The method comprises the steps of receiving from a user a date range selection and an identification of a geographic region, retrieving from the database a set of dig location tickets containing a date falling within the date range and geographic coordinates falling within the region, presenting to the user a map showing the identified region and indicators representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets, and receiving from the user a selection of the specific dig location ticket. 
     The method may also include the step of presenting on the map a representation of an underground plant buffer zone. The step of receiving an identification of a region may include presenting to the user a map and receiving from the user at least two points on the map representing the region. 
     The step of receiving an identification of a region may include presenting to the user an overview map, receiving from the user at least one point on the map representing an area containing the region, and zooming the map to that area. 
     The indicators representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets may be representations of pushpins. The indicators may have a characteristic representing non-coordinate data in corresponding tickets. That characteristic may be a color of the indicator. That non-coordinate data may be a level of involvement with an underground plant. 
     The method may further comprise the step of presenting to the user data contained in the specific dig location ticket. The method may also include the step of presenting to the user a tabular list of tickets having geographical coordinates within the region. 
     In another embodiment of the invention, a machine readable medium is provided containing configuration instructions for performing the above-described method for identifying a specific dig location ticket in a database of dig location tickets. 
     In yet another embodiment, a system is provided for identifying a specific dig location ticket in a database of dig location tickets containing geographic coordinates of dig locations and date information. The system includes a processor and memory containing instructions for performing the method described above. 
     Another embodiment of the invention is a method for identifying a specific record in a database of records. The records in the database contain geographic coordinates. The method comprising the steps of receiving from a user a coordinate range defining a geographic region, retrieving from the database a plurality of records, each record of the plurality of records containing geographic coordinates falling within the region, presenting to the user a map showing the defined region and showing indicators representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved records, and receiving from the user a selection of the specific record. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing one method according to the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an illustration of a computer screen for entering dates in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is an illustration of a computer screen for selecting a geographic area in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is an illustration of a computer screen showing a geographic area in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is an illustration of a computer screen for selecting a coordinate region in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is an illustration of a computer screen showing a coordinate region with ticket indicators in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is an illustration of a ticket detail computer screen in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 8 is an illustration of a ticket log computer screen in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 9 is an illustration of a ticket list computer screen in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 10 is an illustration of a computer screen showing a zoomed map in a user interface embodying the invention. 
     FIG. 11 is an illustration of a computer screen showing help instructions in a user interface embodying the invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a system and method for locating a particular dig location ticket in a large database. The ticket is located in a matter of few seconds to few minutes, using information typically available to an operator in the situations described above. The system presents to the user an easily learned user interface. The method will be described with reference to FIG. 1, which shows a block diagram depicting the method  100 , and also with reference to the other figures, which show screen shots of a user interface used by an illustrative program embodying the invention. 
     After a user starts the system, the system initially presents (step  110 ) to the user a date selection menu. The date selection menu  201 , shown in FIG. 2, includes fields for a beginning (“from”) date  210  and an ending (“to”) date  220  of the period of interest to the user. The system may present pop-down calendars  230  to assist the user in entering the dates. The system then receives (step  115 , FIG. 1) the date range input by the user. The date range may refer to dates that tickets originated, or may alternatively refer to projected dig dates. In one example, a user interested in finding a ticket related to a particular cable cut may enter a range containing projected dig dates within one day of the cable cut date. 
     The system next presents (step  120 ) to the user an overview map showing all possible dig locations for a given underground system. For example, in a nationwide underground fiber cable system, the overview map  300  (FIG. 3) shows a complete representation of the continental United States. An overview map for a worldwide system may show a world map; an overview map for a local cable company system may show a smaller area such as a state or group of counties. By identifying an area of interest on the map with a cursor  310  and clicking, a user can zoom to that area for further definition. A representation of the selected area, such as area  410  shown in FIG. 4, is then rendered on the user&#39;s screen. The zoomed representation of the area may include additional details to assist the user in using the map, such as major roads, cities, major trunk lines owned by the carrier, etc. 
     Using the area map  410 , the user may now identify (step  125 ) a region on the map by drawing a rectangle  510  (FIG. 5) on the map or by identifying corner vertices such as vertices  520 ,  521 . A tool  550  in a tool bar is provided for that purpose. The region  510  defines a subset of the dig location tickets in the database having geographic coordinates falling within the region. The system retrieves (step  130 ) those tickets belonging to the geographically defined subset and having a date within the date range defined by the user. 
     The identified region  605  (FIG. 6) is then displayed (step  135 ) to the user with correspondingly greater map detail. For example, smaller municipalities, local roads and natural features might be shown on the region map. In addition, the retrieved dig location tickets matching the geographic and date conditions defined by the user appear on the map as representative icons or indicators such as pushpins  610 . Other icons, such as flags, geometric elements or graphical representations of digging equipment may also be used to represent locations of dig tickets on the region map. One or more characteristics of the icons may be varied to represent additional data of interest to the user; i.e., data other than the dig coordinates represented by the location of the icon on the map. For example, the icons may be color-coded pushpins with red colored pushpins indicating tickets involved by the system and sent to the technicians; i.e., tickets located within an underground plant buffer zone. In that example, green colored pushpins may indicate the tickets not involved by the system; i.e., the tickets are not located within any buffer zone. A user is thereby able to view all relevant dig location tickets within the identified region, and is able to select those tickets that are most likely to be involved in, for example, a cable cut. Other non-coordinate data may also be represented by characteristics of the icons. For example, icons may be color-coded to show ticket age, size of excavation, restorability of the cable system at that point, etc. Furthermore, other icon characteristics may be used to convey information about the tickets, such as the size, type or orientation of the icon. 
     A user may identify (step  140 ) a ticket of interest on the region map by, for example, double clicking on a corresponding icon  610 . In response to that action, a tabular HTML report  710  (FIG. 7) becomes available under a “ticket details” tab  720 . The report  710  contains all ticket details available for that dig location ticket, including, for example, the ticket receipt date  731 , the proposed dig date  732 , the excavation company name  733 , address  734 , and telephone number  735 , the type of work to be done  736 , the primary contractor  737 , and the proposed dig location in words  738  and in coordinates  739 . For that ticket, a ticket log  810  (FIG. 8) is also available under a “ticket log” tab  820 . The log  810  shows a history of the ticket by listing entries entered as significant events take place. Finally, under a “ticket list” tab  920 , a list  910  of all tickets found in the identified region and falling within the entered time period is displayed. The list  910  contains a tabulation of important ticket data such as date of work  950 , excavator name  951 , ticket reference numbers  953 ,  954 , the dig location address  955  and work type  956 . 
     A map location of a dig location ticket may be further examined by double clicking on a ticket in the list  910  or by double clicking on a ticket icon in the region map  605 . A map  1010  (FIG. 10) will be shown in the display, zoomed to the appropriate area to show the selected ticket icon  1015 . At that detail level, the zoomed map highlights cable buffer zones such as zone  1020  by displaying a shaded zone on the map. In that way, a dig location can be evaluated relative to nearby cable locations. In the case where a cable cut is being investigated, dig location tickets that may be involved in the cut may be quickly identified by the user. 
     To assist the user in finding a particular dig location ticket with the system and method of the invention, usage instructions  1120  are available under a help tab  1110 . The usage instructions provide a step-by-step procedure to be followed by a user in a situation such as a cable cut event, to identify dig location tickets that may be involved. 
     The foregoing Detailed Description is to be understood as being in every respect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scope of the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from the Detailed Description, but rather from the claims as interpreted according to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws. For example, while the system and method for locating dig alerts is described with reference to an underground cable plant, that technique may be used with other underground utility types and, more generally, with other geographically-based systems, while remaining within the scope of the invention. It is to be understood that the embodiments shown and described herein are only illustrative of the principles of the present invention and that various modifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.