Patent ID: 8005648

Claim:
A network-based equipment management system for managing a plurality of pieces of equipment located at a plurality of locations of an enterprise, the system comprising: (a) a central processor accessible at the plurality of locations on a computer network; (b) a database in communication with the central processor, the database configured to store: (i) asset information relating to each of the plurality of pieces of equipment, wherein the information comprises at least a refrigerant level; and (ii) service provider information; (c) tracking software associated with the central processor, the tracking software configured to track at least one of a refrigerant leak rate, refrigerant usage, and refrigerant service events of each of the plurality of pieces of equipment; (d) repair/retirement/retrofit coordination software associated with the central processor, the repair/retirement/retrofit coordination software configured to generate prompts for a user and further to generate a customized repair/retirement/retrofit plan based on input provided by the user, wherein the repair/retirement/retrofit coordination software is configured to generate a repair plan comprising: (i) distributing a first notification regarding a first deadline for a first service attempt of a piece of equipment requiring service; and (ii) if the first service attempt is unsuccessful, distributing a second notification regarding a second deadline for a second service attempt of the piece of equipment requiring service; and (e) at least one predetermined limited user access level programmed into the central processor, wherein the at least one predetermined limited user access level is configured to restrict access of at least one user to solely a predetermined subset of the asset and service provider information based on a configurable user profile of the user, wherein the predetermined subset of the asset and service provider information is less than all of the asset and service provider information.