OFFERING UPTIME ADJUSTMENTS TO A WORK SCHEDULE

• US 20080059278A1
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: West Corporation
• Original Assignee: West Corporation
• Inventors: Marr, Kenneth, Cox, Joseph, Medina, Steven
• Application Number:
  US11/565,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20080059278A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group

Abstract

A system, method, and computer readable medium for offering uptime adjustments to a work schedule for at least one currently unscheduled agent possessing at least one skill type, that comprises, accepting at least one forecasted manpower requirement of zero or more agents for an interval of time for a skill, requesting an uptime display for an unscheduled time period of the at least one currently unscheduled agent, assessing the type and number of skill types of the at least one currently unscheduled agent, determining a manpower availability for the an interval of time based upon all agents currently scheduled for each skill type based upon the forecasted manpower requirement, calculating a manpower delta between the forecasted manpower requirement for the an interval of time and the determined manpower availability for each skill type, and offering an uptime adjustment if the calculated manpower delta shows additional manpower is required for any skill possessed by the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

Claims

1. A method for offering uptime adjustments to a work schedule for at least one currently unscheduled agent possessing at least one skill type, comprising:

accepting at least one forecasted manpower requirement of zero or more agents for an interval of time for a skill;

requesting an uptime display for an unscheduled time period of the at least one currently unscheduled agent;

assessing the type and number of skill types of the at least one currently unscheduled agent;

determining a manpower availability for the an interval of time based upon all agents currently scheduled for each skill type based upon the forecasted manpower requirement;

calculating a manpower delta between the forecasted manpower requirement for the an interval of time and the determined manpower availability for each skill type; and

offering an uptime adjustment if the calculated manpower delta shows additional manpower is required for any skill possessed by the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising:

tabulating uptime adjustment offerings.

3. The method of claim 1 comprising:

accepting the offered uptime adjustment by the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

4. The method of claim 3 comprising:

modifying the work schedule of the at least one currently unscheduled agent based upon the accepted uptime adjustment.

5. The method of claim 4 comprising:

displaying modified work schedule.

6. The method of claim 1 comprising:

listing the offered uptime adjustments based upon the calculated manpower delta.

7. The method of claim 1 comprising:

uncoupling each skill type of the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

8. The method of claim 1 comprising:

determining whether an uptime adjustment has been requested by the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

9. The method of claim 1 comprising:

selecting an uptime adjustment by the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the interval of time is one scheduled work shift.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the assessment has a priority which is based upon the calculated manpower delta.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the forecasted manpower requirement is periodically updated.

13. A computer readable medium comprising instructions comprising:

requesting an uptime display for an unscheduled time period for at least one currently unscheduled agent;

assessing the type and number of skills of the at least one currently unscheduled agent;

determining a manpower availability based upon assessed skills for each skill type;

calculating a manpower delta between a forecasted manpower requirement and the determined manpower availability based upon assessed skills for each skill type;

offering an uptime adjustment if the calculated manpower delta shows additional manpower is required for any skill assessed to the at least one currently unscheduled agent; and

tabulating uptime adjustment offerings.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 comprising instructions for:

accepting the uptime adjustment by the at least one currently unscheduled agent.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14 comprising instructions for:

modifying a work schedule based upon the accepted uptime adjustment.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14 comprising instructions for:

adding accepted uptime adjustment to a dynamic allocation queue.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15 comprising instructions for:

displaying modified work schedule.

18. A system for offering uptime adjustments to a work schedule wherein a manpower requirement is forecasted for at least one currently unscheduled agent possessing at least one skill type, comprising:

a memory that receives at least one of;

a manpower forecast and a skill assessment for an currently unscheduled agent; and

a processor communicably coupled to the memory, wherein the processor;

requests an uptime display for an unscheduled time period for at least one currently unscheduled agent;

assesses the type and number of skills of the at least one currently unscheduled agent;

determines a manpower availability based upon assessed skills for each skill type;

calculates a manpower delta between the forecasted manpower requirement and the determined manpower availability based upon assessed skills for each skill type; and

offers an uptime adjustment if the calculated manpower delta shows additional manpower is required based upon assessed skills.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the processor:

accepts the uptime adjustment by the currently unscheduled agent.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor:

modifies the work schedule based upon the accepted uptime adjustment.