Method and apparatus for assessing the status of work waiting for service
First Claim
1. A method for assessing the status of work waiting for service, comprising:
- providing a work queue having a plurality of work items;
generating, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue; and
analyzing said ordered set to predict a future state of said work queue.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system and method for assessing the status of work waiting for service in a work queue or a work pool. Work items are placed in the work queue or work pool and have a service time goal. The work items in the work queue or work pool are scanned and a required queue position for each work item is calculated according to the amount of time remaining prior to the expiration of the service time goal and weighted advance time for servicing of work items in the work queue or pool. An array of counters has elements which correspond to required queue positions. Upon the calculation of the required queue position for a work item, the counter corresponding to the required queue position is incremented. When all of the work items are scanned, the array of counters is analyzed to predict a future state of the work queue or work pool.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method for assessing the status of work waiting for service, comprising:
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providing a work queue having a plurality of work items;
generating, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue; and
analyzing said ordered set to predict a future state of said work queue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computational component for performing a method, the method comprising:
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determining a required queue position (RQP) for each of a plurality of work items, said RQP based on a remaining time for the work item and a weighted advance time for servicing of said work items;
incrementing a counter in an element of an array of counters, said element corresponding to a predefined range of required queue positions; and
analyzing said array of counters to predict a future state of said work items. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A table maintained in an electronic memory of a contact center, comprising:
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an identity of at least two work items; and
an ordered list having entries associated with a predefined range of required queue positions for said at least two work items. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A contact center for servicing a plurality of contacts received from a plurality of customers, comprising:
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a plurality of workstations corresponding to a plurality of resources;
a central server in communication with the plurality of workstations, comprising;
at least one queue of contacts, each of said contacts having an associated service time goal; and
a workload monitoring agent operable to (a) monitor said at least one queue of contacts;
(b) assess a state of said at least one queue of contacts with respect to the service time goals for said plurality of contacts; and
(c) determine a number of contacts which are likely to not meet their service time goals and a time at which the service time goal for said number of contacts will expire. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification