Arrangement for resource and work-item selection

• US 7,035,808 B1
• Filed: 10/20/1999
• Issued: 04/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Technology Corporation Miami Lakes FLA US
• Inventors: Ford, Jon Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Heck, Michael C.
• Application Number:
  US09/420,912
• Time in Patent Office: 2,379 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7, 705 8- 9
• US Class Current: 705/7.14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

A workflow system (FIG. 1) employs a selection engine (114) that attempts to match work items (100) with resources (104) in such a way that it brings the most value to all of the stakeholders in the workflow. Under resource or work-item surplus conditions (FIG. 4 or 5), the selection engine determines either those available resources that possess skills needed by an available work item or those available work items that need skills possessed by an available resource, for each determined resource determines both a business value (RSBV) of having that resource service the work item and either a value (RTV) to that resource of servicing the work item or a value (WTV) to that work item of being serviced by the resource, and then selects the resource that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the resource or work item.

Claims

1. A method of selecting a resource for a work item, comprising:

determining by processor available resources that possess skills needed by the work item;

for each of the determined resources, determining by processor a business value RSBV of having the resource service the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{RSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{1,i}\right),$

where A_n,i represents the skill level of resource n for skill i, and BR_l,i represents a skill weight for the work item for skill i, across all defined skills;

for each of the determined resources, determining by processor a value RTV to the resource of servicing the work item, the value to the resource being a measure of how serving the work item by the resource helps or hurts goals of the individual resource, wherein ${\mathrm{RTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(T_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xTW}}_{n,i}\right),$

where T_n,i represents a value of resource n for a resource treatment i, and TW_n,i represents a weight of resource n for resource treatment i, across all resource treatments; and

selecting by processor a determined resource that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the resource, to serve the work item.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining by processor a business value comprises

determining by processor the business value weighted by a business value weight corresponding to the work item;

determining by processor a value to the resource comprises

determining by processor the value to the resource weighted by a resource value weight corresponding to the work item; and

selecting by processor comprises

selecting by processor a determined resource that has a best combined value of the weighted business value and the weighted value to the resource.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

determining by processor a business value comprises

determining by processor a weighted business value as a product of (a) the business value weight corresponding to the work item and (b) a sum of products of a level of each said needed skill of the resource and a weight of said needed skill of the work item; and

determining by processor a value to the resource comprises

determining by processor a weighted resource treatment value as a product of (c) a resource treatment weight corresponding to the work item and (d) a sum of products of each treatment of the resource and a weight of said treatment of the resource.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein:

the sums of products are scaled sums, and

the treatments are scaled treatments.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein:

selecting by processor comprises

selecting by processor the determined resource that has a highest sum of the weighted business value and the weighted resource treatment value.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein:

the resource treatments of a resource comprise a time since the resource became available and a time that the resource has not spent serving work items.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein:

the treatments of the resource further comprise a measure of an effect that serving of the work item would have on a goal of the resource.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein:

the measure of the effect comprises a difference between (a) a distance of an actual allocation of worktime of the resource among skills from a goal allocation of the worktime of the resource among the skills and (b) a distance of an estimated allocation of the worktime of the resource among the skills if the resource serves the work item from the goal allocation.

25. An apparatus comprising a processor that executes instructions to effect the method of one of claims 1–

24.

9. A method of selecting a resource for a work item, comprising:

determining by processor available resources that possess skills needed by the work item;

for each of the determined resources, determining by processor a business value RSBV comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all skills i of a product of a skill level A_n,i of the resource n in the skill and a skill weight BR_l,i of the work item for the skill, wherein ${\mathrm{RSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{1,i}\right);<br><br>$

for each of the determined resources, determining by processor a resource treatment value RTV, the resource treatment value being a measure of how the resource is meeting goals of the individual resource, the resource treatment value comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all of a plurality of resource treatments i of a product of a value T_n,i of the resource n for the resource treatment and a weight TW_n,i of the work item for how much weight said resource treatment has relative to others of the resource treatments, wherein ${\mathrm{RTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(T_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xTW}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

and

selecting by processor a determined resource that has a best combined score of its business value and its resource treatment value, to serve the work item.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein:

the resource treatments of a resource comprise a time since the resource became available, a time that the resource has spent not serving work items, and a measure of an effect that serving the work item would have on a goal of the resource.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein:

determining by processor a business value comprises

determining by processor a scaled business value comprising the business value scaled by a first scaling factor that is common to all of the determined resources;

determining by processor a resource treatment value comprises

for each resource treatment, determining by processor a scaled value of the resource comprising the value of the resource for that resource treatment scaled by a scaling factor that is common for that resource treatment to all of the determined resources, and

determining by processor a scaled resource treatment value comprising a sum, scaled by a second scaling factor that is common to all of the determined resources, across all resource treatments of a product of the scaled value of the resource for the resource treatment and a weight of the work item for the resource treatment; and

selecting by processor comprises

selecting by processor a determined resource that has a best sum of its scaled business value and its scaled resource treatment value to serve the work item.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein:

each scaling factor comprises a fraction having in its denominator a maximum value of the value to which said scaling factor applies of any of the resources.

13. A method of selecting a work item for a resource, comprising:

determining by processor available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

for each of the determined work items, determining by processor a business value WSBV of having the resource service the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing of the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right),$

where A_l,i represents the skill level of the resource for skill i, and BR_n,i represents a skill weight for the work item n for skill i, across all defined skills;

for each of the determined work items, determining by processor a value WTV to the work item of being serviced by the resource, the value to the work item being a measure of how the work item is meeting goals of the individual work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right),$

where C_n,i represents a value of a work item n for a work item treatment i, and CW_n,i represents a weight of work item n for work item treatment i, across all work item treatments; and

selecting by processor a determined work item that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the work item to be served by the resource.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein:

determining by processor a business value comprises

determining by processor the business value weighted by a business value weight corresponding to the work item;

determining by processor a value to the work item comprises

determining by processor the value to the work item weighted by a work item value weight corresponding to the work item; and

selecting by processor comprises

selecting by processor a determined work item that has a best combined value of the weighted business value and the weighted value to the work item.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein:

determining by processor a business value comprises

determining by processor a weighted business value as a product of (a) the business value weight corresponding to the work item and (b) a sum of products of a level of each said needed skill of the resource and a weight of said needed skill of the work item; and

determining by processor a value to the work item comprises

determining by processor a weighted work item treatment value as a product of (c) a work item treatment weight corresponding to the work item and (d) a sum of products of each treatment of the work item and a weight of said treatment of the work item.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the sums of products are scaled sums, and

the treatments are scaled treatments.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein:

selecting by processor comprises

selecting by processor the determined work item that has a highest sum of the weighted business value and the weighted work item treatment value.

18. A method of selecting a work item for a resource, comprising;

determining by processor available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

for each of the determined work items, determining by processor a business value WSBV comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all skills i of a product of a skill level A_l,i of the resource n in the skill and a skill weight BR_n,i of the work item for the skill, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

for each of the determined work items, determining by processor a work item treatment value WTV, the work item treatment value being a measure of how the work item is meeting goals of the individual work item, the work item treatment value comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all of a plurality of work item treatments i of a product of the value C_n,i of the work item for the work item treatment and a weight CW_n,i of the work item for how much weight said work item treatment has relative to others of the work item treatments, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

and

selecting by processor a determined work item that has a best combined score of its business value and work item treatment value, to be served by the resource.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the work item treatments of a work item comprise a time that the work item has been waiting for service and an estimated time that the work item will have to wait for service.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein:

the work item treatments of a work item further comprise a time by which the work item has exceeded its target wait time.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein:

the estimated wait time that the work item will have to wait for service comprises a product of (a) a ratio of a total number of work items waiting for service and an average number of work items waiting for service and (b) a sum of average wait times of individual said needed skills each weighted by a ratio of the weight of said individual skill and a sum of the weights of the needed skills.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the work item treatments of a work item comprise a time that the work item has spent waiting to be serviced, an estimated time that the item will spend waiting to be serviced, and a time by which the work item has exceeded its target waiting time.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein:

determining by processor a business value comprises

determining by processor a scaled business value comprising the business value scaled by a first scaling factor that is common to all of the determined work items;

determining by processor a work item treatment value comprises

for each work item treatment, determining by processor a scaled value of the work item comprising the value of the work item for that work item treatment scaled by a scaling factor that is common for that work item treatment to all of the determined work items, and

determining by processor a scaled work item treatment value comprising a sum, scaled by a second scaling factor that is common to all of the determined work items, across all work item treatments of a product of the scaled value of the work item for the work item treatment and a weight of the work item for the work item treatment; and

selecting by processor comprises

selecting by processor a determined work item that has a best sum of its scaled business value and its scaled work item treatment value, to be served by the resource.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein:

each scaling factor comprises a fraction having in its denominator a maximum value of the value to which said scaling factor applies of any of the work items.

26. An apparatus for selecting a resource for a work item, comprising:

means for determining available resources that possess skills needed by the work item;

means for determining, for each of the determined resources, a business value RSBV of having the resource service the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{RSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{1,i}\right),$

where A_n,i represents the skill level of resource n for skill i, and BR_l,i represents a skill weight for the work item for skill i, across all defined skills;

means for determining, for each of the determined resources, a value to the resource of servicing the work item, the value to the resource being a measure of how serving the work item by the resource helps or hurts goals of the individual resource, wherein ${\mathrm{RTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(T_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xTW}}_{n,i}\right),$

where T_n,i represents a value of resource n for a resource treatment i, and TW_n,i represents a weight of resource n for resource treatment i, across all resource treatments; and

means for selecting a determined resource that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the resource, to serve the work item.

27. An apparatus for selecting a resource for a work item, comprising:

means for determining available resources that possess skills needed by the work item;

means for determining, for each of the determined resources, a business value RSBV comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all skills i of a product of a skill level A_n,i of the resource n in the skill and a skill weight BR_l,i of the work item for the skill, wherein ${\mathrm{RSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{1,i}\right);<br><br>$

means for determining, for each of the determined resources, a resource treatment value RTV, the resource treatment value being a measure of how the resource is meeting goals of the individual resource, the resource treatment value comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all of a plurality of resource treatments i of a product of a value T_n,i of the resource n for the resource treatment and a weight TW_n,i of the work item for how much weight said resource treatment has relative to others of the resource treatments, wherein ${\mathrm{RTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(T_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xTW}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

and

means for selecting a determined resource that has a best combined score of its business value and its resource treatment value, to serve the work item.

28. An apparatus for selecting a work item for a resource, comprising:

means for determining available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

means for determining, for each of the determined work items, a business value WSBV of having the resource service the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing of the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right),$

where A_l,i represents the skill level of the resource for skill i, and BR_n,i represents a skill weight for the work item n for skill i, across all defined skills;

means for determining, for each of the determined work items, a value WTV to the work item of being serviced by the resource, the value to the work item being a measure of how the work item is meeting goals of the individual work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right),$

where C_n,i represents a value of a work item n for a work item treatment i, and CW_n,i represents a weight of work item n for work item treatment i, across all work item treatments; and

means for selecting a determined work item that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the work item to be served by the resource.

29. An apparatus for selecting a work item for a resource, comprising:

means for determining available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

means for determining, for each of the determined work items, a business value WSBV comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all skills i of a product of a skill level A_l,i of the resource n in the skill and a skill weight BR_n,i of the work item for the skill, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

means for determining, for each of the determined work items, a work item treatment value WTV, the work item treatment value being a measure of how the work item is meeting goals of the individual work item, the work item treatment value comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all of a plurality of work item treatments i of a product of the value C_n,i of the work item for the work item treatment and a weight CW_n,i of the work item for how much weight said work item treatment has relative to others of the work item treatments, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

and

means for selecting a determined work item that has a best combined score of its business value and work item treatment value, to be served by the resource.

30. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to perform selection of a resource for a work item, comprising:

determining available resources that possess skills needed by the work item;

for each of the determined resources, determining a business value RSBV of having the resource service the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{RSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{1,i}\right),$

where A_n,i represents the skill level of resource n for skill i and BR_l,i represents a skill weight for the work item for skill i, across all defined skills;

for each of the determined resources, determining a value RTV to the resource of servicing the work item, the value to the resource being a measure of how serving the work item by the resource helps or hurts goals of the individual resource, wherein ${\mathrm{RTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(T_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xTW}}_{n,i}\right),$

where T_n,i represents a value of resource n for a resource treatment i, and TW_n,i represents a weight of resource n for resource treatment i, across all resource treatments; and

selecting a determined resource that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the resource, to serve the work item.

31. The medium of claim 30 wherein:

determining a business value comprises

determining the business value weighted by a business value weight corresponding to the work item;

determining a value to the resource comprises

determining the value to the resource weighted by a resource value weight corresponding to the work item; and

selecting comprises

selecting a determined resource that has a best combined value of the weighted business value and the weighted value to the resource.

32. The medium of claim 31 wherein:

determining a business value comprises

determining a weighted business value as a product of (a) the business value weight corresponding to the work item and (b) a sum of products of a level of each said needed skill of the resource and a weight of said needed skill of the work item; and

determining a value to the resource comprises

determining a weighted resource treatment value as a product of (c) a resource treatment weight corresponding to the work item and (d) a sum of products of each treatment of the resource and a weight of said treatment of the resource.

33. The medium of claim 32 wherein:

the sums of products are scaled sums, and

the treatments are scaled treatments.

34. The medium of claim 33 wherein:

selecting comprises

selecting the determined resource that has a highest sum of the weighted business value and the weighted resource treatment value.

35. The medium of claim 32 wherein:

the resource treatments of a resource comprise a time since the resource became available and a time that the resource has not spent serving work items.

36. The medium of claim 35 wherein:

the treatments of the resource further comprise a measure of an effect that serving of the work item would have on a goal of the resource.

37. The medium of claim 36 wherein:

the measure of the effect comprises a difference between (a) a distance of an actual allocation of worktime of the resource among skills from a goal allocation of the worktime of the resource among the skills and (b) a distance of an estimated allocation of the worktime of the resource among the skills if the resource serves the work item from the goal allocation.

38. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to perform selection of a resource for a work item, comprising:

determining available resources that possess skills needed by the work item;

for each of the determined resources, determining a business value RSBV comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all skills i of a product of a skill level A_n,i of the resource n in the skill and a skill weight BR_l,i of the work item for the skill, wherein ${\mathrm{RSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{1,i}\right);<br><br>$

for each of the determined resources, determining a resource treatment value RTV, the resource treatment value being a measure of how the resource is meeting goals of the individual resource, the resource treatment value comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all of a plurality of resource treatments i of a product of a value T_n,i of the resource n for the resource treatment and a weight TW_n,i of the work item for how much weight said resource treatment has relative to others of the resource treatments, wherein ${\mathrm{RTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(T_{n,i}<br><br>{\mathrm{xTW}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

and

selecting a determined resource that has a best combined score of its business value and its resource treatment value, to serve the work item.

39. The medium of claim 38 wherein:

the resource treatments of a resource comprise a time since the resource became available, a time that the resource has spent not serving work items, and a measure of an effect that serving the work item would have on a goal of the resource.

40. The medium of claim 38 wherein:

determining a business value comprises

determining a scaled business value comprising the business value scaled by a first scaling factor that is common to all of the determined resources;

determining a resource treatment value comprises

for each resource treatment, determining a scaled value of the resource comprising the value of the resource for that resource treatment scaled by a scaling factor that is common for that resource treatment to all of the determined resources, and

determining a scaled resource treatment value comprising a sum, scaled by a second scaling factor that is common to all of the determined resources, across all resource treatments of a product of the scaled value of the resource for the resource treatment and a weight of the work item for the resource treatment; and

selecting comprises

selecting a determined resource that has a best sum of its scaled business value and its scaled resource treatment value to serve the work item.

41. The medium of claim 40 wherein:

each scaling factor comprises a fraction having in its denominator a maximum value of the value to which said scaling factor applies of any of the resources.

42. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to perform selection of a work item for a resource, comprising:

determining available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

for each of the determined work items, determining a business value WSBV of having the resource service the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing of the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right),$

where A_l,i represents the skill level of the resource for skill i, and BR_n,i represents a skill weight for the work item n for skill i, across all defined skills;

for each of the determined work items, determining a value WTV to the work item of being serviced by the resource, the value to the work item being a measure of how the work item is meeting goals of the individual work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right),$

where C_n,i represents a value of a work item n for a work item treatment i, and CW_n,i represents a weight of work item n for work item treatment i, across all work item treatments; and

selecting a determined work item that has a best combined value of the business value and the value to the work item to be served by the resource.

43. The medium of claim 42 wherein:

determining a business value comprises

determining the business value weighted by a business value weight corresponding to the work item;

determining a value to the work item comprises

determining the value to the work item weighted by a work item value weight corresponding to the work item; and

selecting comprises

selecting a determined work item that has a best combined value of the weighted business value and the weighted value to the work item.

44. The medium of claim 43 wherein:

determining a business value comprises

determining a weighted business value as a product of (a) the business value weight corresponding to the work item and (b) a sum of products of a level of each said needed skill of the resource and a weight of said needed skill of the work item; and

determining a value to the work item comprises

determining a weighted work item treatment value as a product of (c) a work item treatment weight corresponding to the work item and (d) a sum of products of each treatment of the work item and a weight of said treatment of the work item.

45. The medium of claim 44 wherein:

the sums of products are scaled sums, and

the treatments are scaled treatments.

46. The medium of claim 45 wherein:

selecting comprises

selecting the determined work item that has a highest sum of the weighted business value and the weighted work item treatment value.

47. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to perform a selection of a work item for a resource, comprising:

determining available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

for each of the determined work items, determining a business value WSBV comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all skills i of a product of a skill level A_l,i of the resource n in the skill and a skill weight BR_n,i of the work item for the skill, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

for each of the determined work items, determining a work item treatment value WTV, the work item treatment value being a measure of how the work item is meeting goals of the individual work item, the work item treatment value comprising a sum $\sum <br><br>$

across all of a plurality of work item treatments i of a product of the value C_n,i of the work item for the work item treatment and a weight CW_n,i of the work item for how much weight said work item treatment has relative to others of the work item treatments, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

and

selecting a determined work item that has a best combined score of its business value and work item treatment value, to be served by the resource.

48. The medium of claim 47 wherein:

the work item treatments of a work item comprise a time that the work item has been waiting for service and an estimated time that the work item will have to wait for service.

49. The medium of claim 48 wherein:

the work item treatments of a work item further comprise a time by which the work item has exceeded its target wait time.

50. The medium of claim 48 wherein:

the estimated wait time that the work item will have to wait for service comprises a product of (a) a ratio of a total number of work items waiting for service and an average number of work items waiting for service and (b) a sum of average wait times of individual said needed skills each weighted by a ratio of the weight of said individual skill and a sum of the weights of the needed skills.

51. The medium of claim 47 wherein:

the work item treatments of a work item comprise a time that the work item has spent waiting to be serviced, an estimated time that the item will spend waiting to be serviced, and a time by which the work item has exceeded its target waiting time.

52. The medium of claim 47 wherein:

determining a business value comprises

determining a scaled business value comprising the business value scaled by a first scaling factor that is common to all of the determined work items;

determining a work item treatment value comprises

for each work item treatment, determining a scaled value of the work item comprising the value of the work item for that work item treatment scaled by a scaling factor that is common for that work item treatment to all of the determined work items, and

determining a scaled work item treatment value comprising a sum, scaled by a second scaling factor that is common to all of the determined work items, across all work item treatments of a product of the scaled value of the work item for the work item treatment and a weight of the work item for the work item treatment; and

selecting comprises

selecting a determined work item that has a best sum of its scaled business value and its scaled work item treatment value, to be served by the resource.

53. The medium of claim 52 wherein:

each scaling factor comprises a fraction having in its denominator a maximum value of the value to which said scaling factor applies of any of the work items.

54. A method of selecting a work item for a resource, comprising:

determining by processor available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

for each of the determined work items, determining by processor a weighted business value WSBV of having the resource n service the work item, as a product of (a) the business value weight W_WSBV or WWSBV_n corresponding to the work item and (b) a sum $\sum <br><br>$

of products of a level A_l,i of each said needed skill i of the resource and a weight BR_n,i of said needed skill of the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing of the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\left(W_{\mathrm{WSBV}}<br><br><br><br>\mathrm{or}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{WWSBV}}_n\right)<br><br><br><br>\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

for each of the determined work items, determining by processor a weighted value WTV to the work item of being serviced by the resource, as a product of (c) a work item treatment weight W_CV or WWTV_n corresponding to the work item and (d) a sum $\sum <br><br>$

of products of a value C_n,i of each treatment i of the work item and a weight CW_n,i of said treatment of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\left(W_{\mathrm{CV}}<br><br><br><br>\mathrm{or}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{WWTV}}_n\right)<br><br><br><br>\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right),$

the value to the work item being a measure of how the work item is treated compared to other work items and treatment goals of the individual work item and comprising a time that the work item has been waiting for service, a time by which the work item has exceeded its target wait time, and an estimated time that the work item will have to wait for service comprising a product of (e) a ratio of a total number of work items waiting for service and an average number of work items waiting for service and (f) a sum of average wait times of individual said needed skills each weighted by a ratio of the weight of said individual skill and a sum of the weights of the needed skills; and

selecting by processor a determined work item that has a best combined value of the weighted business value and the weighted value to the work item to be served by the resource.

55. A computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to perform selection of a work item for a resource, comprising:

determining available work items that need skills possessed by the resource;

for each of the determined work items, determining a weighted business value WSBV of having the resource n service the work item, as a product of (a) the business value weight W_WSBV or WWSBV_n corresponding to the work item and (b) a sum $\sum <br><br>$

of products of a level A_l,i of each said needed skill i of the resource and a weight BR_n,i of said needed skill of the work item, the business value being a measure of qualification of the resource for servicing of the work item based on skills of the resource and skill requirements of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WSBV}}_n=\left(W_{\mathrm{WSBV}}<br><br><br><br>\mathrm{or}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{WWSBV}}_n\right)<br><br><br><br>\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(A_{1,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xBR}}_{n,i}\right);<br><br>$

for each of the determined work items, determining a weighted value WTV to the work item of being serviced by the resource, as a product of (c) a work item treatment weight W_CV or WWTV_n corresponding to the work item and (d) a sum $\sum <br><br>$

of products of a value C_n,i of each treatment i of the work item and a weight CW_n,i of said treatment of the work item, wherein ${\mathrm{WTV}}_n=\left(W_{\mathrm{CV}}<br><br><br><br>\mathrm{or}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{WWTV}}_n\right)<br><br><br><br>\underset{i=1}{\overset{}{\sum <br><br>}}<br><br><br><br>\left(C_{n,i}<br><br><br><br>{\mathrm{xCW}}_{n,i}\right),$

the value to the work item being a measure of how the work item is treated compared to other work items and treatment goals of the individual work item and comprising a time that the work item has been waiting for service, a time by which the work item has exceeded its target wait time, and an estimated time that the work item will have to wait for service comprising a product of (e) a ratio of a total number of work items waiting for service and an average number of work items waiting for service and (f) a sum of average wait times of individual said needed skills each weighted by a ratio of the weight of said individual skill and a sum of the weights of the needed skills; and

selecting a determined work item that has a best combined value of the weighted business value and the weighted value to the work item to be served by the resource.