Patent ID: 7512523

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) notification software associated with the central processor, the notification software configured to generate a predetermined automatic notification, wherein the notification software is configured to allow a user to select the predetermined automatic notification based on the refrigerant leak rate or the refrigerant usages of any one of the plurality of pieces of equipment; (e) identification software associated with the central processor, the identification software configured to automatically identify an appropriate service provider and an appropriate service technician for a particular piece of equipment based on the particular piece of equipment and the service provider information; and (f) a first predetermined limited user access level programmed into the central processor, wherein the first predetermined limited user access level is configured to restrict access of at least one first user to solely a first predetermined subset of the asset and service provider information based on a configurable user profile of the first user; and (g) a second predetermined limited user access level programmed into the central processor, wherein the second predetermined limited user access level is configured to restrict access of at least one second user to solely a second predetermined subset of the asset and service provider information based on a configurable user profile of the second user, wherein the second predetermined subset of the asset and service provider information is a smaller subset of information than the first predetermined subset of asset and service provider information.