Resource management utilizing quantified resource attributes

• US 6,978,006 B1
• Filed: 10/12/2000
• Issued: 12/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intervoice Limited Partnership
• Original Assignee: Intervoice Limited Partnership
• Inventors: Polcyn, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): ELAHEE, MD S
• Application Number:
  US09/689,481
• Time in Patent Office: 1,895 Days
• Field of Search: 37926501-26502, 37926505-26507, 379/265.09, 379/265.12, 379/266.01, 704/260, 705/8, 707/1
• US Class Current: 379/265.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed which quantify one or more attributes of a finite number of resources for effective management of such resources. Quantifiable attributes possessed by a resource may include skills or functional capabilities possessed by the resources, as examples. A request for service by one or more of the resources is received, and at least one attribute desired by the request is quantified. Based at least in part on the quantified attributes of the resources and the quantified attributes desired by the request, at least one suitable resource for servicing the received request is determined. Most preferably, attributes of resources may be quantified along a scale, such as a scale of 0 to 100. For example, within a telephony call center, attributes possessed by agents, such as language skills or product knowledge may be quantified along such a scale. A request for service may be received, and the attributes of a resource desired by the request are quantified along such a scale. Suitable resources for servicing a request may be determined by evaluating the quantified attributes possessed by the resources and the quantified attributes desired by the request. Thus, “N” number of resource attributes may be quantified and plotted within an N-dimensional space. Additionally, attributes desired by a received request may be quantified and plotted within such N-dimensional space. The distance between the plotted resource attributes and the plotted requests may be calculated to determine at least one suitable resource for servicing the request.

Claims

1. A method of managing resources, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a finite number of resources for servicing requests;

quantifying, beyond mere binary quantification, “

N”

number of attributes of said resources, wherein N is at least one, thereby providing N number of quantified attributes;

receiving at least one request for at least one of said resources;

quantifying, beyond mere binary quantification, at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, thereby providing a quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request;

based at least in part on said quantifying steps, determining at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request; and

plotting said “

N”

number of quantified attributes within an N-dimensional space.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said resources include agents within a telephony call center.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one request includes a request from a caller to a telephony center.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said resources include resources within a computer system.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said resources include resources selected from the group consisting of:

data input resources, data output resources, data storage resources, and data processing resources.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of quantifying “

N”

number of attributes of said resources further includes;

quantifying two or more attributes of said resources.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the step of:

plotting said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request within said N-dimensional space.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said determining step includes:

calculating the distance between said “

N”

number of quantified attributes of said resources and said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request to determine at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said determining step includes:

determining said at least one suitable resource from resources then available to immediately service said at least one request.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said determining step includes:

determining said at least one suitable resource from all of said resources.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one attribute includes at least one skill possessed by said resources.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one attribute includes at least one functional capability possessed by said resources.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said quantifying beyond mere binary quantification, “

N”

number of attributes of said resources further includes;

grading said “

N”

number of attributes of each of said resources along a scale.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request further includes:

grading said at least one attribute of each of said resources along a scale.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request comprises utilizing at least one selected from the group consisting of:

demographics information, a profile for a requester, and interactive voice response (IVR) interaction with the requestor.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein said receiving at least one request for at least one of said resources comprises:

receiving a target value of said at least one attribute desired by said at least one request and a close_—

match modifier that indicates the closeness of said N number of quantified attributes of said resources to the target value that is suitable for servicing said at least one request.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein said quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request comprises using information in a profile for a requestor of said at least one of said resources for performing said quantifying for a request from said requestor.

20. A method of allocating resources selected from a finite number of resources for servicing requests, said resources having at least one measurable functional attribute, said method comprising the steps of:

quantifying “

N”

number of functional attributes of said resources, thereby resulting in N number of quantified functional attributes, wherein N is at least one and wherein said quantifying said N functional attributes of said resources includes grading said N functional attributes of each of said resources along a scale having more than binary grades;

plotting said N number of quantified functional attributes within an N-dimensional space;

receiving at least one request for at least one of said N functional attributes;

quantifying said at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request, thereby resulting in quantified at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request, wherein said quantifying said at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request includes grading said at least one of said N functional attributes of each of said resources along a scale having more than binary grades; and

based at least in part on said quantifying steps, determining at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said resources include agents within a telephony call center.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said at least one request includes a request from a caller to a telephony center.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein said resources include resources within a computer system.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said resources include resources selected from the group consisting of:

data input resources, data output resources, data storage resources, and data processing resources.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein said step of quantifying N number of functional attributes of said resources further includes:

quantifying two or more functional attributes of said resources.

26. The method of claim 20 further including the step of:

plotting said quantified at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request within said N-dimensional space.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein said determining step includes:

calculating the distance between said “

N”

number of quantified functional attributes of said resources and said quantified at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request to determine at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request.

28. The method of claim 20 wherein said determining step includes:

determining said at least one suitable resource from resources then available to immediately service said at least one request.

29. The method of claim 20 wherein said determining step includes:

determining said at least one suitable resource from all of said resources.

30. The method of claim 20 wherein said N number of functional attributes includes at least one skill possessed by said resources.

31. The method of claim 20 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

32. The method of claim 20 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

33. The method of claim 20 wherein said quantifying said at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request comprises using information in a profile for a requester of said at least one of said N functional attributes for performing said quantifying for a request from said requestor.

34. The method of claim 20 wherein said receiving at least one request for said at least one of said N functional attributes comprises:

receiving a target value of said at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request and a close_—

match modifier that indicates the closeness of said N number of quantified functional attributes of said resources to the target value that is suitable for servicing said at least one request.

35. The method of claim 20 further comprising wherein said receiving at least one request for said at least one of said N functional attributes comprises:

receiving a close_—

match modifier that indicates how close said N number of quantified functional attributes of said resources has to be to said quantified at least one of said N functional attributes desired by said at least one request in order to be suitable for servicing said at least one request.

36. A resource management system for managing a finite number of resources for servicing requests, said resource management system comprising:

means for gradationally quantifying “

N”

number of attributes of said resources, thereby resulting in N number of quantified attributes, wherein N is at least one and wherein said means for gradationally quantifying N number of attributes of said resources further includes means for grading said N number of attributes of each of said resources along a scale that includes more than two grades;

means for plotting said N number of quantified attributes within an N-dimensional space;

means for receiving at least one request for at least one of said resources;

means for gradationally quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, thereby resulting in a quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, wherein said means for gradationally quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request further includes means for grading said at least one attribute of each of said resources along a scale that includes more than two grades; and

means for determining at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request based at least in part on the N number of quantified attributes of said resources and said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, wherein said means for determining computes a difference between the quantified N number of attributes of said resources and the quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request to identify at least one of said resources that is suitable for servicing said at least one request.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein said means for gradationally quantifying N number of attributes of said resources includes a computer processor executing computer software code.

38. The system of claim 36 wherein said means for gradationally quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request includes a computer processor executing computer software code.

39. The system of claim 36 wherein said determining means includes a computer processor executing computer software code.

40. The system of claim 36 wherein said receiving means includes a connection to a network.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein said network is selected from the group consisting of:

public switched telephony network (PSTN), local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, an Intranet, or any combination thereof.

42. The system of claim 36 wherein said receiving means includes a switching system.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein said switching system includes an ACD/PBX.

44. The system of claim 36 wherein said resources include agents within a telephony call center.

45. The system of claim 36 wherein said at least one request includes a request from a caller to a telephony center.

46. The system of claim 36 wherein said resources include resources within a computer system.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein said resources include resources selected from the group consisting of:

data input resources, data output resources, data storage resources, and data processing resources.

48. The system of claim 36 wherein said means for gradationally quantifying at least one attribute desired by said at least one request further includes:

means for plotting said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request within said N-dimensional space.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein said determining means includes:

means for calculating the distance between said “

N”

number of quantified attributes of said resources and said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request to determine at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request.

50. The system of claim 36 wherein said determining means includes:

means for determining said at least one suitable resource from resources then available to immediately service said at least one request.

51. The system of claim 36 wherein said determining means includes:

means for determining said at least one suitable resource from all of said resources.

52. The system of claim 36 wherein said N number of attributes includes at least one skill possessed by said resources.

53. The system of claim 36 wherein said N number of attributes includes at least one functional capability possessed by said resources.

54. The system of claim 36 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

55. The system of claim 36 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

56. A resource management system for managing a finite number of resources for servicing requests, said system comprising:

connection to a network capable of receiving at least one request for at least one of said resources;

memory for storing computer executable program code, wherein said computer executable program code includes code executable to quantify at least one attribute of said resources by assigning any of more than two quantifications to said at least one attribute of said resources, code executable to quantify at least one attribute desired by said at least one request by assigning any of more than two quantifications to said at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, and code executable to determine at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request based at least in part on said at least one quantified attribute of said resources and said at least one quantified attribute desired by said at least one request;

wherein said code executable to quantify at least one attribute of said resources further includes code executable to quantify “

N”

number of attributes of said resources wherein N is at least one, thereby providing quantified “

N”

number of attributes, and code executable to plot said quantified “

N”

number of attributes within an N-dimensional space;

wherein said code executable to quantify at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, thereby providing quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request, further includes code executable to plot said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request within said N-dimensional space;

wherein said code executable to determine at least one suitable resource includes code executable to calculate the distance between said quantified “

N”

number of attributes of said resources and said quantified at least one attribute desired by said at least one request to determine at least one suitable resource for servicing said at least one request; and

processor for executing said computer executable program code.

57. The system of claim 56 wherein said network is selected from the group consisting of:

public switched telephony network (PSTN), local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, an Intranet, or any combination thereof.

58. The system of claim 56 wherein said connection to a network includes a switching system.

59. The system of claim 58 wherein said switching system includes an ACD/PBX.

60. The system of claim 56 wherein said resources include agents within a telephony call center.

61. The system of claim 56 wherein said at least one request includes a request from a caller to a telephony center.

62. The system of claim 56 wherein said resources include resources within a computer system.

63. The system of claim 62 wherein said resources include resources selected from the group consisting of:

data input resources, data output resources, data storage resources, and data processing resources.

64. The system of claim 56 wherein said code executable to determine at least one suitable resource includes:

code executable to determine said at least one suitable resource from resources then available to immediately service said at least one request.

65. The system of claim 56 wherein said code executable to determine at least one suitable resource includes:

code executable to determine said at least one suitable resource from all of said resources.

66. The system of claim 56 wherein said at least one attribute includes at least one skill possessed by said resources.

67. The system of claim 56 wherein said at least one attribute includes at least one functional capability possessed by said resources.

68. The system of claim 56 wherein said code executable to quantify at least one attribute of said resources further includes:

code executable to grade said at least one attribute of each of said resources along a scale.

69. The system of claim 68 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.

70. The system of claim 56 wherein said code executable to quantify at least one attribute desired by said at least one request further includes:

code executable to grade said at least one attribute of each of said resources along a scale.

71. The system of claim 70 wherein said scale is of 0 to 100.