Electronic select provider network

Abstract

Described herein is technology for, among other things, an electronic services marketplace. The technology involves establishing a first tier of service providers, establishing a second tier of service providers, routing a service order to the first tier of service providers, and routing the service order to the second her of service providers if the service order is not accepted by one of the first tier service providers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of delegating a service order, comprising:
 creating a technician profile based on information for a service provider technician and associating the technician profile with a company profile comprising information for a service provider company;   periodically establishing a computer database of a plurality of tiers of service provider technicians based at least upon technician profiles for the service provider technicians;   routing, via a computer network, the service order to one or more service provider technicians from at least a first one of the plurality of tiers, based on acceptance of the service order by one or more service provider technicians from at least a second one of the plurality of tiers, wherein:
 the service provider technicians are registered on a service provider computer network; and 
 the periodic establishing of the plurality of tiers is based on at least one cost function associated with the service provider technicians; and 
   re-allocating at least one of the service provider technicians having costs lower than a first threshold, from the at least second one of the plurality of tiers to the at least first one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 routing the service order to the one or more service provider technicians from at least the second one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first one of the plurality of tiers of service provider technicians is mutually exclusive from the second one of the plurality of tiers of service provider technicians. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 routing the service order to the one or more service provider technicians from the at least first one of the plurality of tiers, if the service order is not accepted by the one or more service provider technicians from the at least second one of the plurality of tiers within a predetermined amount of time.   
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the periodic establishing of the plurality of tiers comprises:
 determining costs associated with the service provider technicians based on the at least one cost function.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , comprising:
 re-allocating at least one of the service provider technicians having costs higher than a second threshold, from the at least first one of the plurality of tiers to the at least second one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 registering on the service provider network, a first portion of the service provider technicians categorized into a first category of service provider technicians and a second portion of the service provider technicians categorized into a second category of service provider technicians, wherein:   the first category corresponds to one of a first geographic area and a first service type; and   the second category corresponds to one of a second geographic area and a second service type.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 receiving service provider criteria from a buyer; and   determining the at least first one of the plurality of tiers and the at least second one of the plurality of tiers based on the service provider criteria.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the determining of the at least first one of the plurality of tiers and the at least second one of the plurality of tiers comprises:
 creating an invitation to join the at least first one of the plurality of tiers based upon the criteria;   sending the invitation to those service provider technicians that meet a minimum degree of the criteria;   receiving one or more acceptances from one or more of the service provider technicians that meet the minimum degree of the criteria;   allocating the accepting service provider technicians to the at least first one of the plurality of tiers; and   allocating the non-accepting service provider technicians to the at least second one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         10 . A system of delegating a service order, comprising:
 in a network device comprising memory coupled to at least one processor, the at least one processor operable to:   create a technician profile based on information for a service provider technician and associate the technician profile with a company profile comprising information for a service provider company;   periodically establish a plurality of tiers of service provider technicians based at least upon technician profiles for the service provider technicians; and   route the service order to one or more service provider technicians from at least a first one of the plurality of tiers, based on acceptance of the service order by one or more service provider technicians from at least a second one of the plurality of tiers, wherein:   the service provide technicians are registered on a service provider network;   the periodic establishing of the plurality of tiers is based on at least one cost function associated with the service provider technicians; and   the at least one processor is operable to re-allocate at least one of the service provider technicians having costs lower than a first threshold, from the at least second one of the plurality of tiers to the at least first one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to:
 route the service order to the one or more service provider technicians from at least the second one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein the first one of the plurality of tiers of service provider technicians is mutually exclusive from the second one of the plurality of tiers of service provider technicians. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to:
 route the service order to the one or more service provider technicians from the at least first one of the plurality of tiers, if the service order is not accepted by the one or more service provider technicians from the at least second one of the plurality of tiers within a predetermined amount of time.   
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein during the periodic establishing of the plurality of tiers, the at least one processor is operable to:
 determine costs associated with the service provider technicians based on the at least one cost function.   
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to:
 re-allocate at least one of the service provider technicians having costs higher than a second threshold, from the at least first one of the plurality of tiers to the at least second one of the plurality of tiers.   
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to:
 register on the service provider network, a first portion of the service provider technicians categorized into a first category of service provider technicians and a second portion of the service provider technicians categorized into a second category of service provider technicians, wherein:   the first category corresponds to one of a first geographic area and a first service type; and   the second category corresponds to one of a second geographic area and a second service type.   
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to:
 receive service provider criteria from a buyer; and   determine the at least first one of the plurality of tiers and the at least second one of the plurality of tiers based on the service provider criteria.   
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 17 , wherein during the determining of the at least first one of the plurality of tiers and the at least second one of the plurality of tiers, the at least one processor is operable to:
 create an invitation to join the at least first one of the plurality of tiers based upon the criteria;   send the invitation to those service provider technicians that meet a minimum degree of the criteria;   receive one or more acceptances from one or more of the service provider technicians that meet the minimum degree of the criteria;   allocate the accepting service provider technicians to the at least first one of the plurality of tiers; and   allocate the non-accepting service provider technicians to the at least second one of the plurality of tiers.