Method and system for delivery of individualized training to call center agents

• US 20040165717A1
• Filed: 02/24/2004
• Published: 08/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Knowlagent Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Knowlagent Incorporated
• Inventors: Mcllwaine, John C. C., McConnell, Matthew G.A.
• Application Number:
  US10/785,543
• Publication Number:
  US 20040165717A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.06
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Abstract

The tailored assignment and delivery of training or other information to an agent in a call center or other constituent contact environment. Agent interactions are recorded by a quality monitoring component of the call center to produce an agent performance record. The agent performance record is scored against predetermined performance criteria to produce an agent score. Training materials are assigned to agents based on the agent score in skill areas corresponding to the subject matter of the particular training materials. The agent score is coded and the training materials are categorized according to the associated subject matter. If an agent score is below a predetermined threshold, then a database record is populated with the agent score and a training material identifier. The database may then be polled to determine whether the agent needs the training materials to address the associated subject matter. The assigned training materials can then be delivered to the agent over the communications network.

Claims

1. In association with a computer system for managing a constituent contact system comprising a communications network, a method for training a contact agent to perform interaction duties, the method comprising the steps of:

accepting an agent score from a quality monitoring component, the agent score indicating contact agent performance; and

assigning training materials to the contact agent based on the agent score.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of delivering the training materials to the contact agent over the communications network.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

recording interactions between the contact agent and constituents over the communications network to produce an agent performance record; and

scoring the agent performance record against predetermined performance criteria to produce the agent score.

4. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

coding the agent score to indicate subject matter associated with the agent score; and

categorizing the training materials according to a skill associated with the training materials.

5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of storing the agent score.

6. The method according to claim 5 further comprising the step of accepting a predetermined threshold for comparing with the agent score.

7. The method according to claim 6 further comprising the step of determining whether the agent score is below the predetermined threshold.

8. The method according to claim 7 further comprising the step of copying the agent score into a database in response to the agent score being below the predetermined threshold.

9. The method according to claim 8 further comprising the step of polling the database to determine whether the agent needs training.

10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of accepting training materials for training the contact agent to perform interaction duties.

11. The method according to claim 10 further comprising the step of coding the training materials to identify subject matter associated with the training materials.

12. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of accepting a modification of the training materials assignment.

13. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of scheduling a training session for the agent so that the contact agent can accept the training materials without disrupting the interaction duties of the contact agent.

14. The method according to claim 9 further comprising the steps of:

accepting training materials for training the contact agent to perform interaction duties;

assigning the training materials to a category;

scheduling a training session for the contact agent so that the contact agent can accept the training materials without disrupting the interaction duties of the contact agent; and

delivering the training materials to the contact agent over the communications network.

15. A method for managing a call center including a communications network, the method comprising the steps of:

accepting an agent performance score from a quality monitoring component, the agent performance score indicating the performance of a contact agent; and

delivering information to the agent over the communications network in response to the agent performance score.

16. The method according to claim 15 further comprising the step of coding the information to identify subject matter associated with the information.

17. The method according to claim 16 further comprising the steps of:

assigning the information to a category;

coding the agent performance score to identify subject matter associated with the agent performance score; and

storing the agent performance score.

18. The method according to claim 17 further comprising the step of associating the agent performance score with the information.

19. The method according to claim 18 further comprising the step of assigning the information for delivery to the agent in response to the agent performance score associated with the information being below a predetermined threshold.

20. The method according to claim 15 further comprising the step of scheduling the delivery of the information to the agent.

21. The method according to claim 15 further comprising the steps of:

recording the call center agent'"'"'s interaction with a customer over the communications network to generate an agent record; and

scoring the agent record against predetermined performance criteria to produce the agent performance score.

22. In association with a system for managing communications between an organization and its constituents, the system including a communications network, a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions comprising:

a performance component adapted to;

accept an agent score from a quality monitoring component, the agent score indicating contact agent performance; and

produce a contact agent skills assessment from the agent score; and

an assignment component adapted to assign training materials to the contact agent based on the contact agent skills assessment.

23. The computer-readable medium according to claim 22 having further computer-executable instructions comprising a delivery component adapted to deliver the training materials to the contact agent over the communications network.

24. The computer-readable medium according to claim 22 having further computer-executable instructions comprising a monitoring componentadapted to:

create an interaction record; and

produce the agent performance record from the interaction record.

25. The computer-readable medium according to claim 24 wherein the monitoring component is further adapted to code the agent performance record according to the category of agent skill associated with the agent performance record.

26. The computer-readable medium according to claim 25 having further computer-executable instructions comprising a training content component adapted to accept training material for training the contact agent to perform a constituent interaction duty.

27. The computer-readable medium according to claim 26 wherein the training content module is further adapted to categorize the training material according to the type of agent skill associated with it.

28. The computer-readable medium according to claim 27 wherein the assignment component is further adapted to:

generate a measure of the correlation between the training material category and the agent performance record coding; and

assign the training material to the contact agent based on the correlation measure.

29. The computer-readable medium according to claim 28 wherein the assignment component is further adapted to:

accept an agent performance remediation threshold;

generate a comparison between the agent performance record and the agent performance remediation threshold; and

assign the training material to the contact agent based on the comparison.

30. The computer-readable medium according to claim 22 having further computer-executable instructions comprising a scheduling component adapted to schedule a training session so that the contact agent can accept the training material without disrupting the contact agent'"'"'s constituent interaction duties.