METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING A QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF A FIELD SERVICE OPERATION BASED ON MULTIPLE QUALITY ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Methods of generating and storage-mediums storing at least one data structure for facilitating a quality assessment of a locate operation performed by a field-service technician to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility. The data structure comprises a plurality of quality assessment criteria relating to the locate operation, at least two scoring categories for at least some of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, each scoring category associated with a unique quality assessment indicator, and at least one expected data value or range of expected data values for each scoring category.
1 . At least one computer-readable storage medium storing at least one data structure for facilitating a quality assessment of a locate operation performed by a field-service technician to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility, the data structure comprising:
a plurality of quality assessment criteria relating to the locate operation;
at least two scoring categories for at least some of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, each scoring category associated with a unique quality assessment indicator; and
at least one expected data value or range of expected data values for each scoring category.
2 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the unique quality assessment indicator includes a numeric value.
3 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the unique quality assessment indicator includes a grade.
4 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the unique quality assessment indicator includes a text designation.
5 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein the text designation includes one of: a first indication that the locate operation is approved, a second indication that the locate operation is satisfactory but that follow-up activity is warranted, and a third indication that the locate operation is unsatisfactory.
6 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the text designation includes the second indication, and wherein the follow-up activity comprises coaching the field service technician.
7 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is an approximate location of an underground facility.
8 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is a gain of a locate receiver used by the field-service technician during performance of a locate operation.
9 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is a signal strength measured by a locate receiver used by the field-service technician during performance of a locate operation.
10 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is a duration of a locate operation.
11 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is an ambient temperature during a locate operation.
12 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is an ambient humidity level during a locate operation.
13 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one criterion of the plurality of assessment criteria is an ambient light level during a locate operation.
14 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the data structure further comprises:
a weighting factor for each of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, the weighting factor for each quality assessment criterion indicating a relative importance of the quality assessment criterion to each of the other quality assessment criteria.
15 . A machine comprising:
the at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 ; and
at least one processor.
16 . The machine of claim 15 , wherein the at least one computer-readable storage medium further stores processor-executable instructions, and wherein the processor, upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, further populates the data structure with at least one actual data value for each of the plurality of assessment criteria.
17 . In a computer comprising at least one hardware processor, at least one tangible storage medium, and at least one input/output (I/O) interface, a method for facilitating a quality assessment of a locate operation performed by a field-service technician to identify a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility, the method comprising:
A) generating a data structure comprising:
a plurality of quality assessment criteria relating to the locate operation;
at least two scoring categories for at least some of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, each scoring category associated with a unique quality assessment indicator; and
at least one expected data value or range of expected data values for each scoring category; and
B) storing the data structure in the at least one tangible storage medium.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein A) comprises:
A1) receiving, via the at least one I/O interface, first information describing at least some aspects of the locate operation as performed by the field-service technician and/or second information relating to a description of the locate operation to be performed; and
A2) providing, based at least in part on the first information and/or the second information, at least one of:
one or more of the plurality of quality assessment criteria in the data structure; and
the at least one expected data value or range of expected data values in the data structure for each scoring category for one or more of the plurality of quality assessment criteria.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein A) comprises generating the data structure to further comprise:
a weighting factor for each of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, the weighting factor for each quality assessment criterion indicating a relative importance of the quality assessment criterion to each of the other quality assessment criteria.
20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
populating the data structure with at least one actual data value for each of the plurality of assessment criteria.
21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising:
C) determining, for each of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, into which of the at least two scoring categories the locate operation falls by comparing the actual data value to the expected data value or range of expected data values for at least one of the at least two scoring categories.
22 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
for each of the plurality of quality assessment criteria, assigning to the locate operation the unique quality assessment indicator associated with the scoring category into which the locate operation falls; and
combining the unique quality assessment indicators for all of the quality assessment criteria to generate at least one indication of the quality assessment.
23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the indication of the quality assessment comprises either pass or fail.
24 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the indication of the quality assessment comprises a numeric score.
25 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the indication of the quality assessment comprises a letter grade.