Patent ID: 7224787

Claim:
A method for processing data in association with an operation performed by a technician at a customer service location in a telecommunications system, the method comprising: transmitting, from the customer service location to a technician server at a location remote from the customer service location, data related to at least one piece of existing telecommunications equipment being used in connection with a special service at the customer service location; communicating data from the technician server to a component record keeping system including at least one computer system maintaining equipment data for the telecommunications system; communicating from the technician server to the customer service location at least one alternative candidate, obtained from the communication with the component record keeping system, for the existing telecommunications equipment through at least one graphical user interface to the technician at the customer service location; generating change data including at least one new candidate selected from a group of the alternative candidates for replacement of the existing telecommunications equipment at the customer service location; and communicating the change data to the component record keeping system for updating the telecommunications equipment data maintained thereon.