SCARCE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

• US 20140082179A1
• Filed: 09/19/2012
• Published: 03/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Steiner, Robert C., Flockhart, Andrew D., Kohler, Joylee
• Application Number:
  US13/622,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20140082179A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

A contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. In general, methods are disclosed that are configured to analyze work assignments to determine one or more scarce resources for further management. By analyzing the attributes, that are common to a number of work assignments made over a period of time, resources possessing those attributes may be classified as scarce. These scarce resources may be managed in accordance with their demand and business rules. To efficiently handle work items associated with valued customers, the scarce resources may be removed from traditional work assignments and held in reserve. The reserved scarce resources may be applied to the valued customers'"'"' work items.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

analyzing, by a scarce resource manager executed by a microprocessor in a server, work assignments made at a contact center, wherein the work assignments include assigning work items to resources;

determining, by the scarce resource manager based on the analysis, a pattern of work assignments, wherein the pattern is at least partially based on attribute data associated with the work assignments;

determining, by the scarce resource manager, a demand for one or more attributes in the attribute data, wherein the demand is based on a ratio of work item requests and available resources at the contact center;

identifying one or more resources that are associated with the one or more attributes as scarce based on the demand determined;

marking, by the scarce resource manager, the one or more scarce resources with a scarcity value, wherein the scarcity value indicates a relative scarcity of the one or more scarce resources, wherein marking includes modifying an identifier in a data structure associated with the one or more scarce resources; and

managing the one or more scarce resources in work assignment allocations based at least partially on the scarcity value of the one or more resources.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the one or more scarce resources includes assigning work to the one or more scarce resources having a low scarcity value before work is assigned to the one or more scarce resources having a high scarcity value, wherein the low scarcity value indicates that the one or more scarce resources have fewer of the one or more attributes in demand than the one or more scarce resources having the high scarcity value.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more scarce resources having the high scarcity value are removed from a work-seeking pool.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the managing of the one or more scarce resources includes assigning the one or more scarce resources to at least one of a break, and training work item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving contact center state information, wherein the work assignment allocations are at least partially based on contact center state.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the pattern of work assignments further comprises:

comparing the analyzed work assignments with predetermined pattern conditions.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the pattern of work assignments is at least partially based on the number of allocated work items made during a given time period.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the demand further comprises:

comparing a number of work item requests that are associated with one or more attributes made with a number of resources available to handle the work item requests.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the demand is determined to be high when the number of work item requests is greater than the number of available resources.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more scarce resources are identified as scarce when the ratio includes more of the work item requests than the available resources at the contact center.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the one or more scarce resources further comprises:

determining an opportunity cost associated with allocating the one or more scarce resources to general work items, wherein a request associated with the general work items excludes the one or more attributes identified as scarce; and

scheduling, in response to determining the opportunity cost, the one or more scarce resources to handle at least one work item requesting the one or more attributes identified as scarce.

2. (canceled)

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:

analyzing work assignments made at a contact center, wherein the work assignments include assigning work items to resources;

determining, based on the analysis, a pattern of work assignments, wherein the pattern is at least partially based on attribute data associated with the work assignments;

determining a demand for one or more attributes in the attribute data, wherein the demand is based on a ratio of work item requests and available resources at the contact center;

identifying one or more resources that are associated with the one or more attributes as scarce based on the demand determined;

marking the one or more scarce resources with a scarcity value, wherein the scarcity value indicates a relative scarcity of the one or more scarce resources, wherein marking includes modifying an identifier in a data structure associated with the one or more scarce resources; and

managing the one or more scarce resources in work assignment allocations based at least partially on the scarcity value of the one or more resources.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein managing the one or more scarce resources includes assigning work to the one or more scarce resources having a low scarcity value before work is assigned to the one or more scarce resources having a high scarcity value, wherein the low scarcity value indicates that the one or more scarce resources have fewer of the one or more attributes in demand than the one or more scarce resources having the high scarcity value.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more scarce resources having the high scarcity value are removed from a work-seeking pool.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the managing step of the method includes assigning the one or more scarce resources to at least one of a break, and training work item.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving contact center state information, wherein the work assignment allocations are at least partially based on contact center state.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the determining the demand step of the method further comprises:

comparing a number of work item requests that are associated with one or more attributes made with a number of resources available to handle the work item requests.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the demand is determined to be high when the number of work item requests is greater than the number of resources available to handle the work item requests.

12. (canceled)

19. A contact center, comprising:

a work assignment mechanism contained in memory and executed by a processor, the work assignment mechanism including;

a work assignment engine configured to compare attributes of work items in a work pool with attributes of resources in a resource pool and match the work items to resources based on the comparison of attributes; and

a scarce resource manager configured to analyze work assignments made at a contact center, wherein the work assignments include assigning work items to resources, determine, based on the analysis, a pattern of work assignments, wherein the pattern is at least partially based on attribute data associated with the work assignments, determine a demand for one or more attributes in the attribute data, wherein the demand is based on a ratio of work item requests and available resources at the contact center, and identify one or more resources that are associated with the one or more attributes as scarce based on the demand determined, mark the one or more scarce resources with a scarcity value, wherein the scarcity value indicates a relative scarcity of the one or more scarce resources, wherein marking includes modifying an identifier in a data structure associated with the one or more scarce resources, and manage the one or more scarce resources in work assignment allocations based at least partially on the scarcity value of the one or more resources.

20. The contact center of claim 19, wherein managing the one or more scarce resources includes assigning work to the one or more scarce resources having a low scarcity value before work is assigned to the one or more scarce resources having a high scarcity value, wherein the low scarcity value indicates that the one or more scarce resources have fewer of the one or more attributes in demand than the one or more scarce resources having the high scarcity value.