Method and apparatus for predicting queuing delays
First Claim
1. A method of predicting a waiting time for a customer in a queue, comprising the steps of:
- for each of a number of customers in service and ahead of the customer;
classifying the customer in service according to an attribute known for the customer in service, and generating, based on the attribute of the customer in service, an estimate for the customer representing a time that the customer will terminate service;
for each of a number of customers ahead of the customer in queue;
classifying the customer ahead in queue according to an attribute known for the customer ahead in queue, andgenerating, based on the attribute of the customer ahead in queue, an estimate for the customer ahead in queue representing a time that the customer ahead in queue will terminate service; and
predicting, based on the estimates generated for the customer in service and ahead in queue, an estimated waiting time for the customer in queue representing a time that the customer in queue will wait before service.
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Abstract
Apparatus and method for predicting wait times for queuing customers. Upon arrival of a new customer to the queue, or at any other desired time, a system classifies each customer in service according to one or more attributes. The system generates a probability distribution of the remaining service time for each customer based on the attributes. Preferably, the system classifies each customer in queue according to one or more attributes and generates a probability distribution of service time based on the attributes. From the probability distributions of the customers in service and the customers in queue, the system estimates a wait time for the new customer. The estimated wait time may be communicated to the customers or to a system administrator and may include information on the full waiting time distribution or a summary of the distribution.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method of predicting a waiting time for a customer in a queue, comprising the steps of:
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for each of a number of customers in service and ahead of the customer; classifying the customer in service according to an attribute known for the customer in service, and generating, based on the attribute of the customer in service, an estimate for the customer representing a time that the customer will terminate service; for each of a number of customers ahead of the customer in queue; classifying the customer ahead in queue according to an attribute known for the customer ahead in queue, and generating, based on the attribute of the customer ahead in queue, an estimate for the customer ahead in queue representing a time that the customer ahead in queue will terminate service; and predicting, based on the estimates generated for the customer in service and ahead in queue, an estimated waiting time for the customer in queue representing a time that the customer in queue will wait before service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of predicting a wait time for a customer in queue to receive service from a system, comprising the steps of:
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classifying each of a plurality of customers in service according to an attribute known for the customer in service, generating for each customer in service, based on the attribute known for the customer in service, a probability distribution function for the customer representing a probability over time that the customer will terminate service; predicting, based on the probability distribution functions of the customers in service, a rate of service for the system, and predicting a wait time for the customer in queue based on the rate of service. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of predicting a wait time for a customer new to a queue, comprising the steps of:
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classifying each of a plurality of customers in queue according to an attribute known for the customer in queue, generating, based on the attribute of the customer in queue, a mean approximating a probability distribution over time that the customer will terminate service, and predicting, based on the means for each customer in queue, an estimated waiting time for the new customer. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. In a system comprising a plurality of agents and a queue, an apparatus for predicting a wait time for a customer in the queue, comprising:
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a processor in communication with each of the agents for monitoring activity of customers in communication with the agents, said processor also in communication with the queue, wherein for each of the agents, the processor generates a probability function representing a probability over time when the customer in communication with the agent will conclude service, wherein the processor further estimates a wait time based on the probability functions, and communication means for communicating the estimated wait time to the new customers. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. In a system comprising a plurality of agents and a queue, an apparatus for predicting a wait time for a certain customer in queue, comprising:
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a processor in communication with each of the agents for monitoring activity of customers in communication with the agents, said processor also in communication with the queue, wherein, for each of the agents, the processor generates a first probability function representing a probability over time when the agent will conclude service, wherein, for each of a plurality of customers in queue, the processor generates a second probability function representing a probability over time when the queuing customer will conclude service; wherein the processor estimates a wait time based on the probability functions, and a communicator that communicates the estimated wait time to the certain customer in queue. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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40. A method of predicting a wait time for a certain customer in a queue, comprising steps of:
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for each of a plurality of customers in service and in queue; classifying the customer based on at least one attribute of the customer, and based upon the at least one attribute, generating a probability distribution function representing a probability over time when the customer will conclude service; and estimating a wait time for the certain customer based on the probability distribution functions for the customers in service and in queue.
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41. A method of predicting a wait time for a first customer in queue, comprising steps of:
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for each of a plurality of customers in service; classifying the customer based on at least one attribute, and based on the attributes, generating an estimated service time when the customer in service will conclude service; and estimating a wait time for the first customer based on the estimated service time.
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42. A method of predicting a wait time for a customer in a queue when a number of customers in queue greatly exceeds a number of customers in service, the method comprising steps of:
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classifying each customer in queue ahead of the customer in queue based on at least one attribute, for each customer ahead in queue, generating an estimated time before the respective customer will complete service, based on the attribute of classification, and, complete service, based on the attribute of classification, and, predicting a wait time for the customer in queue based on the estimates generated for the customers ahead in queue.
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43. A method of allocating a number of agents in a service system, the system including a plurality of agents and a queue comprising the method steps of:
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monitoring the agents, each agent serving a customer, to estimate a time when the agent will conclude service of its customer, for each of a plurality of customers in the queue, classify the customer in queue based on at least one attribute, generating an estimated service time for the customer in queue based on the classification, predicting an estimated wait time before the last customer in queue will wait before receiving service based on the estimated service times, determining when the estimated wait time exceeds a predetermined wait time, and when the estimated wait time exceeds the predetermined wait time, increasing the number of agents.
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Specification