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Skills-based scheduling for telephone call centers

DC
  • US 6,044,355 A
  • Filed: 07/09/1997
  • Issued: 03/28/2000
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/09/1997
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method, using a computer, of determining an efficient schedule for a plurality of scheduled agents in a telephone call center, each of the plurality of scheduled agents having a combination of defined skills and wherein the plurality of scheduled agents may be organized into skill groups each including all scheduled agents having a particular combination of skills, comprising the steps of:

  • (a) generating net staffing data per call type defining, for each time interval to be scheduled, an estimate of a difference between a given staffing level and a staffing level needed to meet a current call handling requirement;

    (b) generating skills group availability data per call type defining, for each combination of skill group and time interval to be scheduled, an estimate of a percentage of scheduled agents from each skill group that are available to handle a call;

    (c) using the net staffing data and the skills group availability data to generate a schedule for each of the plurality of scheduled agents;

    (d) running a call handling simulation against the schedule;

    (e) adjusting the net staffing data and the skills availability data as a result of the call handling simulation, and(f) repeating steps (c)-(e) until an output schedule occurs.

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