SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AGENT QUEUE ACTIVATION IN A CONTACT CENTER

• US 20070002744A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Interactive Intelligence Incorporated (Genesys Cloud Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Taylor, Matthew, Brown, Donald, Langsford, Jay, Mewhinney, Brian
• Granted Patent: US 8,503,663 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements

Abstract

Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for automating the activation of agents in particular workgroups. A call queue server receives incoming communications. A scheduling server is coupled to the call center server over a network and analyzes historical communication data to calculate a forecasted load for a particular time period. The system uses the forecasted load to create agent schedules for the workgroups for the particular time period. The system programmatically activates and deactivates the agents into and out of the workgroups at scheduled points in time based on the calculated schedules. The call center server routes each of the queued communications to a particular agent that is activated on a particular one of the workgroup.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

analyzing a plurality of historical communication data to calculate a forecasted load for a particular schedule period;

using the forecasted load to create a plurality of agent schedules for a plurality of workgroups for the particular schedule period, and programmatically activating and deactivating the plurality of agents into and out of the plurality of workgroups at scheduled points in time based on the calculated schedules.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an incoming communication; and

routing the incoming communication to a particular agent of the plurality of agents that is activated on a particular workgroup of the plurality of workgroups.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the incoming communication is a voice call.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the incoming communication is a web chat.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the incoming communication is an e-mail.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the incoming communication is a fax.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the incoming communication is a work object.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

programmatically adjusting the plurality of agent schedules in real-time based on an actual communication volume.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of agents is scheduled to a first workgroup and a second workgroup during a same time period.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first workgroup contains only communications having a first media type and the second workgroup contains only communications having a media type different from said first media type.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first workgroup is a telephone workgroup and the second workgroup is an e-mail workgroup.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deactivating a particular one of the agents from a particular workgroup, leaving the particular one of the agents as a member of the particular workgroup with a deactivated status.

13. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform the steps recited in claim 1.

14. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform steps comprising:

accessing a plurality of programmatically created agent schedules to retrieve a list of one or more agents;

programmatically activating and deactivating the agents in the particular workgroups indicated by the schedules;

receiving at least one incoming communication during a particular time period;

placing the incoming communication into a queue of a particular workgroup scheduled to handle the communication; and

distributing the communication to an agent on the list based on one or more routing rules.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the incoming communication is a voice call.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the incoming communication is a web chat.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the incoming communication is an email.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the incoming communication is a fax.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the incoming communication is a work object.

20. A system comprising:

at least one call center server, the call center server including means for queuing communications;

a scheduling server coupled to the call center server over a network, the scheduling server including means for analyzing a plurality of historical communication data to calculate a forecasted load for a particular time period, means for using the forecasted load to create a plurality of agent schedules for a plurality of workgroups for the particular time period, and means for programmatically activating and deactivating the plurality of agents into and out of the plurality of workgroups at scheduled points in time based on the calculated schedules; and

wherein the call center server includes means for routing each of the queued communications to a particular agent of the plurality of agents that is activated on a particular workgroup of the plurality of workgroups.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the call center server is adapted to received calls in the voice over internet protocol format.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the scheduling server includes means for programmatically adjusting the plurality of agent schedules in real-time based on an actual communication volume.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein at least one of the plurality of agents is scheduled to a first workgroup and a second workgroup during a same time period.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the call center server is operable to route an incoming communication to a particular agent in the plurality of agents.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the particular agent is determined programmatically using the plurality of workgroups.