Method and apparatus for multi-contact scheduling

• US 7,788,286 B2
• Filed: 01/18/2005
• Issued: 08/31/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Verint Americas Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Verint Americas Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hamilton, Edward, Fama, Jason, Matan, Ofer, Fukunaga, Alex, Veach, Scott, Nourbakhsh, Illah
• Primary Examiner(s): Stevens; Robert
• Application Number:
  US11/037,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20050125439A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,051 Days
• Field of Search: 379/266.02, 379/265.13, 705/9, 707/102, 707/103.R, 707/802, 707/803
• US Class Current: 707/802
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

A method and apparatus for generating an agent schedule for a multi-contact center that has immediate queues and deferred queues. In one embodiment, a method includes scheduling software receiving a plurality of scheduling data from a user interface, and the scheduling software generating a plurality of scheduling constraints. The method further includes a search engine using the plurality of scheduling constraints to generate a plurality of potential schedules including first potential schedules for immediate queues, and second potential schedules for deferred queues. The method further includes performing a first analysis on the first potential schedules to generate first estimated service levels, and performing a second analysis on the second potential schedules to generate second estimated service levels, wherein the first estimated service levels and the second estimated service levels are expressed in interchangeable units.

Claims

1. A method for generating a schedule for a multi-contact center, wherein the multi-contact center processes a plurality of contact queues, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of scheduling data from a user interface, wherein the plurality of scheduling data includes a plurality of contacts;

categorizing the plurality of contacts as immediate contacts or deferred contacts, the immediate contacts being configured to be responded to within a first time period after receipt, the deferred contacts being configured to be responded to within a second time period after receipt, the second time period being longer than the first time period;

assigning the plurality of contacts to a plurality of contact queues, the plurality of contact queues including an immediate contact queue and a deferred contact queue, the immediate contact queue comprising the immediate contacts, the deferred contact queue comprising the deferred contacts;

generating a plurality of scheduling constraints;

generating a plurality of potential schedules based on the plurality of scheduling constraints, the scheduling constraints including expected performance of the immediate contact queue and the deferred contact queue, at least one potential schedule being generated for at least one of the immediate contact queue and the deferred contact queue;

performing an analysis on each of the plurality of potential schedules to generate estimated service levels for each of the plurality of contact queues, wherein an estimated service level comprises a percentage of incoming contacts responded to during a predetermined time;

generating scores for each of the plurality of potential schedules based on the estimated service levels for each of the plurality of contact queues, wherein the scores indicate an effectiveness of the potential schedules; and

selecting an optimal schedule from the plurality of potential schedules based on the scores for each of the plurality of potential schedules.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of scheduling data further comprises at least one of:

at least one contact type, comprising at least one of telephone calls, email, fax, web chat, voice over internet protocol, and call backs;

at least one forecast contact volume;

at least one forecast contact handling time;

at least one service goal;

at least one agent designation; and

at least one work rule.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of scheduling constraints comprises at least one of:

a service goal time for each interval in a multi-interval schedule period;

a workload for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period; and

a service goal percentage for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the immediate contacts include telephone calls and the deferred contacts include email and fax.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the immediate contacts are configured to be abandoned from the plurality of contact queues and the deferred contacts are configured to not be abandoned from the plurality of contact queues.

6. A system for generating a schedule for a multi-contact center, wherein the multi-contact center processes a plurality of contact queues, the system comprising:

at least one server comprising at least one storage device; and

at least one client processor being coupled to the at least one server through a network, the at least one client processor being coupled to a plurality of storage devices, including a storage device that stores instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one client processor to;

receive a plurality of scheduling data from a user interface, the plurality of scheduling data including a plurality of contacts,

categorize the plurality of contacts as immediate contacts or deferred contacts, the immediate contacts being configured to be responded to within a first time period after receipt, the deferred contacts being configured to be responded to within a second time period after receipt, the second time period being longer than the first time period,

assign the plurality of contacts to the plurality of contact queues, including an immediate contact queue and a deferred contact queue, the immediate contact queue comprising the immediate contacts, the deferred contact queue comprising the deferred contacts,

generate a plurality of scheduling constraints,

generate a plurality of potential schedules based on the plurality of scheduling constraints, the scheduling constraints including expected performance of the immediate contact queue and the deferred contact queue, at least one potential schedule being generated for at least one of the immediate contact queue and the deferred contact queue,

perform an analysis on each of the plurality of potential schedules to generate estimated service levels for each of the plurality of contact queues, wherein an estimated service level comprises a percentage of incoming contacts responded to during a predetermined time,

generate scores for each of the plurality of potential schedules based on the estimated service levels for each of the plurality of contact queues, wherein the scores indicate an effectiveness of the potential schedules, and

select an optimal schedule from the plurality of potential schedules based on the scores for each of the plurality of potential schedules.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the storage device that stores the instructions is accessed by the at least one processor on the network.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the storage device that stores the instructions is the at least one storage device of the server.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of scheduling data comprises at least one of:

at least one contact type, comprising at least one of telephone calls, email, fax, web chat, voice over internet protocol, and call backs;

at least one forecast contact volume;

at least one forecast contact handling time;

at least one service goal;

at least one agent designation; and

at least one work rule.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of scheduling constraints comprises at least one of:

a service goal time for each interval in a multi-interval schedule period;

a workload for each interval in a multi-interval schedule period; and

a service goal percentage for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the immediate contacts include telephone calls and the deferred contacts include email and fax.

12. A method for generating a schedule for a multi-contact center comprising:

receiving a plurality of scheduling data from a user interface, wherein the plurality of scheduling data includes a plurality of contacts;

categorizing the plurality of contacts as immediate contacts or deferred contacts, the immediate contacts being configured to be responded to within a first time period after receipt, the deferred contacts being configured to be responded to within a second time period after receipt;

assigning the plurality of contacts to a plurality of contact queues, the plurality of contact queues including an immediate contact queue and a deferred contact queue, the immediate contact queue comprising the immediate contacts, the deferred contact queue comprising the deferred contacts;

generating a plurality of scheduling constraints;

generating a plurality of potential schedules based on the plurality of scheduling constraints, the scheduling constraints including expected performance of the immediate contact queue and the deferred contact queue, at least one potential schedule being generated for each of the plurality of contact queues;

performing an analysis on each of the plurality of potential schedules to generate estimated service levels for each of the plurality of contact queues, wherein an estimated service level comprises a percentage of incoming contacts responded to during a predetermined time;

generating scores for each of the plurality of potential schedules based on the estimated service levels for each of the plurality of contact queues, wherein the scores indicate an effectiveness of the potential schedules; and

selecting an optimal schedule from the plurality of potential schedules based on the scores for each of the plurality of potential schedules.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of scheduling data further comprises at least one of:

at least one contact type, comprising at least one of telephone calls, email, fax, web chat, voice over internet protocol, and call backs;

at least one forecast contact volume;

at least one forecast contact handling time;

at least one service goal;

at least one agent designation; and

at least one work rule.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of scheduling constraints comprises at least one of:

a service goal time for each interval in a multi-interval schedule period;

a workload for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period; and

a service goal percentage for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the analysis comprises generating the estimated service levels using a workload for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period, and a capacity for each interval in the multi-interval schedule period.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the workload is generated by multiplying a forecast contact volume with a forecast average contact handling time.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the capacity for an interval is generated by multiplying a number of available agents with a number of seconds that the number of available agents works on a contact queue.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the analysis further comprises iterating over successive intervals in the multi-interval schedule period in chronological order until a total capacity for the multi-interval schedule period is used or a total workload for the multi-interval schedule period is completed, wherein iterating comprises:

applying a capacity for a first interval to a workload of the first interval; and

if the workload of the first interval is not completed by the capacity for the first interval, applying a capacity for a subsequent interval to the workload of the first interval.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the immediate contacts include telephone calls and the deferred contacts include email and fax.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the immediate contacts are configured to be abandoned from the plurality of contact queues and the deferred contacts are configured to not be abandoned from the plurality of contact queues.