Estimation of a work item's wait-time from the present stages of processing of preceding work items

• US 6,694,009 B1
• Filed: 06/15/1999
• Issued: 02/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Technology Corporation Miami Lakes FLA US
• Inventors: Anderson, Gregory L., Flockhart, Andrew D., Mathews, Eugene P., Foster, Robin H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Harry S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): AGDEPPA, HECTOR A
• Application Number:
  US09/333,215
• Time in Patent Office: 1,708 Days
• Field of Search: 379/265.01, 379/266.1
• US Class Current: 379/266.06
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5238 with waiting time or load prediction arrangements

Abstract

To improve the prediction of wait times of calls (23) waiting to be processed, or to improve the prediction of completion times of calls that are presently being processed, in low-volume call centers (10) or splits/skills (21), additional data points are created—either manually or automatically—during the processing of each call that is presently being processed, for use in effecting wait-time estimates of the waiting calls. At each of the plurality of points in the processing of each of the plurality of calls, information about the call that is relevant to how long completion of the processing of the call is likely to take is obtained (200). This information is applied to historical information about previously-processed calls to estimate (202) how long completion of the processing of each of those calls is likely to take, i.e., how long it will be before the agents (25) who are processing those calls become available to handle the waiting calls. The estimated times are then used (210) as the predicted wait times of that plurality of the waiting calls. The technique is applicable to workflow management in general.

Claims

1. A method of predicting wait times of items that are waiting to be processed, comprising:

computing from historical data about processed items of a plurality of item types, an average time for completing processing from each one of a plurality of stages in said processing of an item of each one of the plurality of the item types;

determining the item type of each one of a plurality of items that are presently being processed;

at each point of a plurality of points in the processing of said each one of the items that are presently being processed, determining a present stage of the processing of the item;

using the stage and type determinations to estimate from the computed averages a time to completion of the processing of said each one of the items that are presently being processed;

using the estimated times as respective predicted wait times for processing of respective ones of the plurality of the items that are waiting to be processed next; and

in response to completion of the processing of an item of one of the item types that is presently being processed, recomputing the average times for completing the processing of the items of the one type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining a present stage of processing comprises

determining the present stages of the processing of the items, which are presently being processed by a plurality of resources; and

using comprises

from the stage and type determinations, estimating times when resources of the plurality of resources will become available to process other items.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

determining a present stage of processing comprises

for each resource of the plurality of resources, determining whether the resource has activated an indicator of a stage of processing.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein:

determining a present stage of processing comprises

determining where each one of the plurality of resources is in executing a processing script.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein:

determining the item type comprises

determining that a resource that is processing an item has activated an indicator of the item type of the item.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein:

determining the item type comprises

determining that an agent who is handling a communication item has entered an indication of the item type of the communication item.

14. An apparatus that performs the method of one of the claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 3 and 4.

15. A computer readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of one of the claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, and 4.

7. A apparatus for predicting wait times of items that are waiting to be processed, comprising:

a computer of an average time for completing processing from each one of a plurality of stages in processing of a processed item of each one of a plurality of item types from historical data about processed items of a plurality of item types;

a determinator of the item type of each one of a plurality of items that are presently being processed;

a determinator of a present stage of processing of an item at each point of a plurality of points in the processing of said each one of the items that are presently being processed;

an estimator of a time to completion of the processing of said each one of the items that are presently being processed, using the stage and type determinations to estimate from the computed averages said time to completion; and

a user of the estimated times as respective predicted wait times for processing of respective ones of the plurality of the times that are waiting to be processed next;

the computer being responsive to completion of the processing of an item of one of the item types that is presently being processed, by recomputing the average times for completing the processing of the items of the one type.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

the determinator of the present stage of processing determines the present stages of processing of the items, which are presently being processed by a plurality of resources; and

the estimator estimates, from the stage and type determinations, times when resources of the plurality of resources will become available to process other items.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

the determinator of the item type comprises

a determinator of which one of a plurality of item-type indicators was activated by each resource of the plurality of resources.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

the determinator of a present stage of processing determines, for each resource of the plurality of resources, whether the resource has activated an indicator of a stage of processing.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein:

the determinator of a present stage of processing determines where each one of the plurality of resources is in executing a processing script.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein:

the determinator of the item type determines that a resource that is processing an item has activated an indicator of the item type of the item.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein:

the determinator of the item type determines that an agent who is handling a communication item has entered an indication of the item type of the communication item.