Patent Publication Number: US-2020279206-A1

Title: Systems and methods for provisioning and tracking telecommunications projects

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is related to and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from U.S. Patent Application No. 62/811,643, filed Feb. 28, 2019 entitled “Project Monitoring Systems and Methods,” the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to systems and methods for monitoring and predicting telecommunication projects. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Modern telecommunication projects require high levels of coordination, management, and logistical planning. Multiple project lifecycles encompass a panoply of moving parts, including contracts and sub-projects, not to mention ongoing possibilities for new telecommunication projects. Properly monitoring and predicting the course of telecommunication projects is a necessary component of modern operations. 
     It is with these observations in mind, among others, that the various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure describes systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for determining opportunities and tracking a project lifecycle. Specifically, the present disclosure concerns itself with these systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media in the context of telecommunications projects. 
     A system can include one or more processors and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to access information for a project offering, the information comprising a customer identification and network service capability; receive input to modify the information for the project offering; update the information for the project offering according to the input; generate, based on the updated information, one of a deadline or a reminder associated with the project offering; and generate, for display, a lifecycle track of the project offering, the lifecycle track comprising a visual progression of the information based in part on one of the deadline or the reminder. 
     A method can include accessing information for a project offering, the information comprising a customer identification and network service capability; receiving input to modify the information for the project offering; updating the information for the project offering according to the input; generating, based on the updated information, one of a deadline or a reminder associated with the project offering; and generating, for display, a lifecycle track of the project offering, the lifecycle track comprising a visual progression of the information based in part on one of the deadline or the reminder. 
     A non-transitory computer readable medium can include instructions stored thereon, the instructions effective to cause one or more processors to access information for a project offering, the information comprising a customer identification and network service capability; receive input to modify the information for the project offering; update the information for the project offering according to the input; generate, based on the updated information, one of a deadline or a reminder associated with the project offering; and generate, for display, a lifecycle track of the project offering, the lifecycle track comprising a visual progression of the information based in part on one of the deadline or the reminder. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description of the principles briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principles herein are described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of an example system for tracking project lifecycles and opportunities, in accordance with the subject technology; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram of an example management view interface, in accordance with the subject technology; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of an example opportunities view interface, in accordance with the subject technology; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of an example opportunities view interface for a selected account, in accordance with the subject technology; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of an example milestones tracker form interface, in accordance with the subject technology; and 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system which may be used in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, the following description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure can be references to the same embodiment or any embodiment; and, such references mean at least one of the embodiments. 
     Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. 
     The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinary meanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in the specific context where each term is used. Alternative language and synonyms may be used for any one or more of the terms discussed herein, and no special significance should be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussed herein. In some cases, synonyms for certain terms are provided. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms discussed herein is illustrative only, and is not intended to further limit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any example term. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given in this specification. 
     Without intent to limit the scope of the disclosure, examples of instruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according to the embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note that titles or subtitles may be used in the examples for convenience of a reader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, technical and scientific terms used herein have the meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, the present document, including definitions will control. 
     Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosed principles. The features and advantages of the disclosure can be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or can be learned by the practice of the principles set forth herein. 
     Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, and the like for identifying opportunities in and tracking projects through a sales cycle. For example, in the telecommunications industry, projects (e.g., for provisioning a service, etc.) are often manually tracked, or not systematically tracked at all, and so a myriad of opportunities for the sale of new or expanded services may be lost. Aspects of the present disclosure may enable automated tracking and identification of opportunities for additional services to be offered along with a project that is being provisioned (or negotiated) by providing an application-driven process flow and alerting system. Project timings (e.g., due to an elapsed period of time since an earlier proposal or based on changes in costs, etc.) for proposing projects to customers are also determined based on initial, ongoing, and derived inputs generated by, and received in part through, a web application interface. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a project opportunities and lifecycle tracking system  100 . In general, system  100  may enable opportunities for project contracts with new or existing customers, such as installing a new network connection or converting a potential customer who is off network (e.g., receives service from another a third-party provider) to an on-network connection (e.g., in order to receive service through a user of system  100 , etc.). 
     System  100  includes a user access point  102 , in some examples a computing device  104  such as a personal computer, laptop, mobile device, etc., in communication with a customer service backend  106 . User access point  102  may connect to customer service backend  106  via a public network connection (e.g., the Internet) or over a private network such as, for example and without imputing limitation, an intranet, local area network (LAN), virtual private network (VPN), and the like. Nevertheless, user access point  102  can communicate with customer service backend  106  through a receiving server  108 , which itself may either include various backend services or be in communication with services over a networked connection for generating a user interface (discussed in  FIGS. 2-5  below) according to user activity on user access point  102 . A user may be an employee of a telecommunications company, a contractor, or another party with a vested interest in the tracking and progress of one or more telecommunications projects. 
     Customer service backend  106  includes a client services management service  110 , a sales endpoint  112 , an opportunity identifier service  114 , and can include a variety of database endpoints  116  as will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art. Database endpoint  116  may include one or more datasets such as customer information, sales representative information and/or history, network information, scheduling information, etc. Server  108  can, based on its own schedule or in response to a request from user access point  102 , make queries and the like on database endpoint  116  to, for example, retrieve historical data, contact information, network information, and the like for a user. 
     Client services management  110  may provide client information to server  108  (e.g., to respond to a request from user access point  102 , etc.) and/or may initiate a service event such as an installation, service call, etc. prompted by a user interacting with server  108  via user access point  102 . Sales endpoint  112  can include direct sales integration for retrieving and/or updating records related to a particular customer (e.g., negotiation history, etc.). Opportunity identifier  114  can identify and provide to server  108  opportunities for selling a project to a customer based on, for example and without imputing limitation, local (to the customer) environment network changes, pricing adjustments, new service offerings, and the like. 
     The disclosure now turns to  FIGS. 2-5 . In general,  FIGS. 2-5  depict example user interfaces which may be rendered by, for example, computing device  104  and enable a user to efficiently review a project a lifecycle, to identify project opportunities, and/or interact with a project and/or project record for a customer. 
       FIG. 2  depicts a management dashboard interface  200 . From management dashboard interface  200 , a user can find and enter information into a customer record in order to, for example, update a customer-focused form for initiating projects and the like (discussed in  FIGS. 4-5  below). In some examples, server  108  may generate interface  200  for display on computing device  104  by automatically accessing services and databases in customer service backend  106 . In some examples, data may be uploaded to server  108  for generating interface  200  in the form of, without imputing limitation, a CSV (“comma separated values”) document such as a spreadsheet or the like. 
     In particular, management dashboard interface  200  includes a plurality of tabs  212 - 224  through which a user may navigate between differently categorized listings of customer accounts. Each tab displays what information is held under the tab (vetted accounts, accounts ready for service charges, etc.) as well as the number of entries under that tab. As depicted in  FIG. 2 , management dashboard interface  200  displays account listings on vetted tab  212 . Vetted accounts may be accounts associated with customers identified (e.g., by opportunity identifier service  114 ) as being “off-net” at “on-net” locations. “Off-net” describes locations or customers who, for example, receive network service from a provider not associated with the user. In comparison, “on-net” refers to a customer or location that has available service offerings (e.g., from, or associated with, the user). In effect, accounts displayed on vetted tab  212  may be transitioned to service offerings which the user can provide. 
     Each tab  212 - 224 , including vetted tab  212 , displays a series of account entries  202  in the form of rows. In addition, each tab  212 - 224  includes a tab type identifier (e.g., “vetted”, “ready”, “in progress”, etc.) and a count of how many account entries are grouped under that tab. Each account (e.g., row) of account entries  202  includes an edit icon  250  to enter or update respective account information. Further, each account row can include, in sequence, an ECCKT (Exchange Company Circuit) identifier  232 , building status  234 , build capability  236 , address  238 , city  240 , state  242 , ZIP code  244 , demarcation  246 , and CLLI  248 . In some examples, customer and/or business organization name, business organization identifier, and other information may be included as well. ECCKT identifier  232  may refer to an industry specific identification of the account and can be used to associate the account with a sales agent, account manager, etc. as will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art. Additionally, customer accounts in vetted tab  212  may be already assigned to an agent, manager, team, etc. In comparison, unassigned tab  222  can provide a view of vetted customer accounts that have yet to be assigned to anyone. 
     Interacting with ready tab  214  may display a series of account entries that are ready to begin service change procedures. In other words, customers associated with the accounts have entered into an agreement to upgrade, install, or otherwise modify services such as, for example, bringing a service from off-net status to on-net. In progress tab  216  provides a display of a series of account entries that are currently undergoing service upgrades, installations, or other modifications. Fallout tab  218  provides a display of a series of account entries for which service changes or negotiations have ceased before completion for some reason. Completed tab  220  provides a display of a series of account entries for which service changes have been completed. Unassigned tab  222  provides a display of a series of account entries which are vetted (e.g., identified as being off-net but capable of being brought on-net), but not yet assigned to a sales agent, customer service representative, account manager, etc. Universe tab  224  provides a display of all account entries which are displayed in each of the other tabs  212 - 222 , providing a list of projects. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a customer service management interface  300  from which a user can view filterable account listings to which they may be assigned. For example, an account manager may use customer service management interface  300  to review all customer accounts that have agreed to a service change, are in the process of modifying service, have paused negotiation and/or service modification for some reason, have completed a service change, are assigned to a project manager (PM), are not yet assigned to a PM, and/or are accounts to assigned to the account manager. 
     Customer service management interface  300  includes a plurality of tabs  302 - 314  through which a user, such as an account manager for example, can navigate between differently categorized listings of customer accounts to which they are assigned. Each includes an identifier and, as shown in  FIG. 3 , may include a ready tab  302 , an in progress tab  304 , a fallout tab  306 , a complete tab  308 , a PM assigned tab  310 , a PM unassigned tab  312 , and a universe tab  314 . 
     Each tab  302 - 314  may provide a display having a series of account entries  301  in the form of rows. Each row may be associated with a unique account as identified by an ECCKT identifier  322 . In addition, each unique account may include a business organization name  324 , business organization code  326 , a status tracker  328 , a provisioning identification  330 , and a CLLI (Common Language Location Identifier)  332 . 
     Business organization code  326  may provide a unique identification code associated with business organization name  324  for each customer. As a result, different accounts may be associated with identical or substantially similar business organization names  324  and respective business organization codes  326 . Provisioning identification  330  can describe a connection type that is available such as, for example, Ethernet, coaxial, direct satellite, and the like. 
     Status tracker  328  provides an at-a-glance overview of the status of a particular customer account (e.g., ECCKT identifier  322 ). Status tracker  328  denotes progress of a customer account, or project, across a series of steps with filled in icons  329 A denoting step completion and empty icons  329 C denoting that a respective step is yet to begin. Current steps that are in progress are denoted by distinct icons  329 B which may be distinguished by being partially filled or displayed as entirely different icons from completed icons  329 A and not yet started icons  329 C (e.g., an “x”, a checkmark, a thumbs up icon, etc.). Further, status tracker  328  may map to a milestone tracker in an expandable form or the like (discussed in  FIG. 5  below). 
     In some cases, a user may need to more deeply examine, update, or modify an account based on, for example, status tracker  328 . In such cases, the user can interact with a respective icon  350 A associated with each ECCKT identifier  322 . Interacting with icon  350 A, such as via mouse click and the like, may provide an interface display having a form associated with a respective ECCKT identifier  322 , as depicted by  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts a customer account form interface  400  that may be displayed as a result of interacting with icon  350 A as described above. Here, ECCKT identifier  322  “WT4QR52BG” is selected and icon  350 A changes to filled icon  350 B as a result. At the same time, a form  402  is displayed for updating and/or exploring detailed account information for ECCKT identifier  322  WT4QR52BG. 
     Form  402  can include a plurality of fillable fields for managing and tracking a customer account (e.g., ECCKT identifier  322 ). In addition, form  402  includes a cancel button  404  and a save button  406  for reverting recent changes made to the form or saving changes, respectively. Saved changes may be uploaded to a database, such as database endpoint  116 , and/or percolated out to services within backend system  106  such as, for example, client services management service  110 , sales endpoint  112 , opportunity identifier service  114 , and the like. 
     In particular, PM field  408  receives a project manager (PM) assignment and/or displays the name of a PM currently assigned to the respective customer account. BAN field  412  and current MRR field  410  may similarly be updated by a user and/or display previously entered information within each respective field. Customer term end date field  414  may denote, and receive as input from the user, an end date related to the respective customer account (e.g., an end date as described in a customer contract, etc.). Additionally, a note field  416  enables the user to review notes from earlier in time and/or input new notes related to the respective customer account that may provide information not otherwise captured by the fillable fields of form  402 . 
     A milestones portion  418  of form  402  includes expandable milestones  420  which map to a respective status tracker  328 . In effect, each expandable milestone maps to a respective icon  329 A-C and can be interacted with in order to update status tracker  328  or review in more detail individual milestones. Each expandable milestone  420  can include one or more fields, which may be fillable, associated with the respective milestone. 
       FIG. 5  depicts a milestones portion  500  (e.g., of form  402 ) including an expanded “order created” milestone  420 H which has an expanded milestone menu  502  that may be reviewed and/or edited by a user, such as an account manager and the like. While  FIG. 5  depicts only “order created” milestone  420 H in an expanded view, milestones portion  500  includes a plurality of milestones mapped to status tracker  328 , including, without imputing limitation, “preparing solution” milestone  420 A, “initial customer call made” milestone  420 B, “agreement to proceed” milestone  420 C, “obtained bar agreement” milestone  420 D, “new quote status” milestone  420 E, “offer presented” milestone  420 F, “customer signature” milestone  420 G, “offnet disconnect complete” milestone  420 I, and additional milestones mapped to status tracker  328 , such as milestone  420 J, which may be navigated to via scrollbar  422 . It is understood that each expandable milestone  420 A-J may be expanded to display a respective expanded milestone menu, such as expanded milestone menu  502 . 
     Expanded milestone menu  502  includes a plurality of fields which may be edited by a user as needed. Here, an “order created?” field  504  indicates whether or not an order has been created for the respective customer account, an “order #” field  506  indicates a reference number which may be used to access information for a respective order (e.g., via database endpoint  116  and the like). An “install CCD” field  508  denotes customer comment date information which refers to a date by which a respective customer should provide comment. An “activation CRD” field  510  denotes a customer request date by which time a respective customer has indicated service (e.g., related to the tracked project) is to start. In some examples, such as with expandable milestone  420 D, the milestone icon may include distinctive coloring or a different icon than other expandable milestones  420 A-J in order to denote that the respective milestone is completed and/or is a binary milestone (e.g., an item, such as a bar agreement, has been obtained and the like). 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing device or computer system  600  which may be used in implementing the embodiments of the systems disclosed above. The computer system (system  600 ) includes one or more processors  602 - 606 . Processors  602 - 606  may include one or more internal levels of cache (not shown) and a bus controller or bus interface unit to direct interaction with the processor bus  612 . Processor bus  612 , also known as the host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couple the processors  602 - 606  with the system interface  614 . System interface  614  may be connected to the processor bus  612  to interface other components of the system  600  with the processor bus  612 . For example, system interface  614  may include a memory controller  618  for interfacing a main memory  616  with the processor bus  612 . The main memory  616  typically includes one or more memory cards and a control circuit (not shown). System interface  614  may also include an input/output (I/O) interface  620  to interface one or more I/O bridges or I/O devices with the processor bus  612 . One or more I/O controllers and/or I/O devices may be connected with the I/O bus  626 , such as I/O controller  628  and I/O device  630 , as illustrated. The system interface  614  may further include a bus controller  622  to interact with processor bus  612  and/or I/O bus  626 . 
     I/O device  630  may also include an input device (not shown), such as an alphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys for communicating information and/or command selections to the processors  602 - 606 . Another type of user input device includes cursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to the processors  602 - 606  and for controlling cursor movement on the display device. 
     System  600  may include a dynamic storage device, referred to as main memory  616 , or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readable devices coupled to the processor bus  612  for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processors  602 - 606 . Main memory  616  also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by the processors  602 - 606 . System  600  may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage device coupled to the processor bus  612  for storing static information and instructions for the processors  602 - 606 . The system set forth in  FIG. 6  is but one possible example of a computer system that may employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. 
     According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed by computer system  600  in response to processor  604  executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory  616 . These instructions may be read into main memory  616  from another machine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory  616  may cause processors  602 - 606  to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure may include both hardware and software components. 
     A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Such media may take the form of, but is not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media includes optical or magnetic disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory  616 . Common forms of machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage medium; optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or other types of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which are described in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. 
     The description above includes example systems, methods, techniques, instruction sequences, and/or computer program products that embody techniques of the present disclosure. However, it is understood that the described disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In the present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented as sets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed are instances of example approaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the method can be rearranged while remaining within the disclosed subject matter. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented. 
     It is believed that the present disclosure and many of its attendant advantages should be understood by the foregoing description, and it should be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components without departing from the disclosed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form described is merely explanatory, and it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes. 
     While the present disclosure has been described with reference to various embodiments, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the disclosure is not limited to them. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. More generally, embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure have been described in the context of particular implementations. Functionality may be separated or combined in blocks differently in various embodiments of the disclosure or described with different terminology. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of the disclosure as defined in the claims that follow.