US Copyright and Patent Office recognizes PDSI as leading inventor of advanced technology in the workforce scheduling software industry
Irvine, CA — PDSI (Principal Decision Systems International), developers of TeleStaff™, Public Safety’s leading scheduling and notification solution, today announced that it has been granted a patent from the United States Copyright and Patent Office for its technology called “Methods and Apparatuses for determining Dynamic Dates.” The technology behind this patent, U.S. Patent No. 7,426,714, enables the TeleStaff product to blend complex scheduling rules and future dates to automatically make staffing decisions. This capability within TeleStaff provides users with an advanced level of scheduling automation saving them significant time and effort with respect to workforce staffing.
Public Safety organizations employ very complex rules that are often date driven regarding who is available and qualified to be scheduled to work based on collective bargaining agreements, HR policies, labor laws and other regulations. The mission of TeleStaff has always been to automate as much of the scheduling decision-making process as possible, and to allow administrators to intervene by choice and not by force. In order to accomplish this mission, TeleStaff developers were forced to invent the sophisticated date-based technology called Dynamic Dates.
An extreme example of the power of this technology is its ability to encapsulate the definition of Easter in a single expression that will evaluate to the correct date for Easter Sunday every year. The definition of Easter is very complex and ultimately is based on a full moon cycle. In the context of TeleStaff, a staffing rule triggered by the Easter event need only be written once and it will behave accurately forever.
“We are very pleased that the Patent Office has acknowledged our unique and powerful technology with the award of this patent,” said Greg Ekstrom, PDSI’s president. “The patent simply underscores what makes TeleStaff the leading Public Safety scheduling solution and what separates it from competitive products which is the ability to automatically make staffing decisions so that managers can focus on other high priority work.”
The Dynamic Dates technology has been included in and used throughout TeleStaff since version 2.0, and has enabled TeleStaff to consistently automate the most complicated industry scheduling rules. “While TeleStaff is the obvious beneficiary of this technology today,” says Ekstrom, “it is by its very nature fundamental and generic date technology that could be an inherent part of many software solutions from database engines to various calendaring applications.”
About PDSI
Principal Decision Systems International – PDSI, is a software and services company headquartered in Irvine, California that is focused on developing workforce scheduling software for a diverse array of industries including public safety, government, healthcare and hospitality. PDSI designs, develops, markets, implements and supports scheduling software products that automate daily processes such as scheduling employees to shifts, events or appointments resulting in value-added solutions and offering increased productivity among human resources. TeleStaff™ provides Public Safety organizations a scheduling and notification solution capable of managing complex rules, work codes and shifts. Collection Management System™ (CMS) is a group of applications specifically designed for blood collection organizations. STAFFeasy™ is a web-based event staffing and notification solution designed to fill positions based on rules and notify personnel of work assignments. For more information about PDSI and TeleStaff, please visit the company’s website.