Method and apparatus for assessing the status of work waiting for service
First Claim
1. A method, in a contact center comprising a central server for distributing work items to workstations of a first set of resources, and a work queue having a plurality of work items, the method comprising:
- receiving the plurality of work items at at least one telecommunications component of the contact center from a plurality of customers, wherein the at least one telecommunications component comprises at least one of a PBX and a server;
generating, in a server executing a workload monitoring agent, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue;
analyzing, by said server executing the workload monitoring agent, said ordered set, wherein the analyzing step determines a required queue position for each of the plurality of work items, wherein at least one of the following is true for a selected required queue position;
(i) multiple of the work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position; and
(ii) no work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position and wherein the selected required queue position is closer to a head of the ordered set than another selected required queue position that equals a determined required queue position of at least one of the work items;
based on said analyzing step, determining in said server executing the workload monitoring agent a state of said work queue;
forwarding work items in the work queue to workstations of the first set of resources; and
when the workload monitoring agent predicts a surplus of work items, additionally forwarding work items to workstations of a second set of resources.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system and method for assessing the status of work waiting for service in a work queue or a work pool. Work items are placed in the work queue or work pool and have a service time goal. The work items in the work queue or work pool are scanned and a required queue position for each work item is calculated according to the amount of time remaining prior to the expiration of the service time goal and weighted advance time for servicing of work items in the work queue or pool. An array of counters has elements which correspond to required queue positions. Upon the calculation of the required queue position for a work item, the counter corresponding to the required queue position is incremented. When all of the work items are scanned, the array of counters is analyzed to predict a future state of the work queue or work pool.
443 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method, in a contact center comprising a central server for distributing work items to workstations of a first set of resources, and a work queue having a plurality of work items, the method comprising:
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receiving the plurality of work items at at least one telecommunications component of the contact center from a plurality of customers, wherein the at least one telecommunications component comprises at least one of a PBX and a server; generating, in a server executing a workload monitoring agent, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue; analyzing, by said server executing the workload monitoring agent, said ordered set, wherein the analyzing step determines a required queue position for each of the plurality of work items, wherein at least one of the following is true for a selected required queue position; (i) multiple of the work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position; and (ii) no work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position and wherein the selected required queue position is closer to a head of the ordered set than another selected required queue position that equals a determined required queue position of at least one of the work items; based on said analyzing step, determining in said server executing the workload monitoring agent a state of said work queue; forwarding work items in the work queue to workstations of the first set of resources; and when the workload monitoring agent predicts a surplus of work items, additionally forwarding work items to workstations of a second set of resources. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A contact center, comprising:
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at least one work queue of a plurality of work items from a plurality of customers; a plurality of workstations corresponding to a first set of resources; a workload monitoring agent operable to; generate, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue; analyze said ordered set, wherein the analyzing step determines a required queue position for each of the plurality of work items, wherein at least one of the following is true for a selected required queue positions; (i) multiple of the work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position; and (ii) no work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position and wherein the selected required queue position is closer to a head of the ordered set than another selected required queue position that equals a determined required queue position of at least one of the work items; determine a state of said work queue based on said analysis; cause the work items in the work queue to be forwarded to workstations of the first set of resources; and when the state corresponds to a predicted surplus of work items, additionally cause work items to be forwarded to workstations of a second set of resources. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method, comprising:
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receiving a plurality of work items at at least one telecommunications component of a contact center from a plurality of customers, wherein the at least one telecommunications component comprises at least one of a PBX and a server; assigning the work items to at least one work queue serviced by a first set of resources; generating, in a server executing a workload monitoring agent, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue; analyzing, by said server executing the workload monitoring agent, said ordered set, wherein the analyzing step determines a required queue position for each of the plurality of work items, wherein at least one of the following is true for a selected required queue positions; (i) multiple of the work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position; and (ii) no work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position and wherein the selected required queue position is closer to a head of the ordered set than another selected required queue position that equals a determined required queue position of at least one of the work items; and based on said analyzing step, assigning the work items in the work queue to the first set of resources. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 42, 43)
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32. A contact center, comprising:
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at least one work queue of a plurality of work items from a plurality of customers; a first set of resources; a workload monitoring agent operable to; generate, based at least in part on said work queue, an ordered set of items related to the plurality of work items in the work queue; analyze said ordered set, wherein the analyzing step determines a required queue position for each of the plurality of work items, wherein at least one of the following is true for a selected required queue positions; (i) multiple of the work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position; and (ii) no work items have a determined required queue position equal to the selected required queue position and wherein the selected required queue position is closer to a head of the work queue than another selected required queue position that equals a determined required queue position of at least one of the work items; and based on the required queue positions, assign the work items in the work queue to be forwarded to the first set of resources. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification