Systems and methods for automatic scheduling of a workforce

• US 8,131,578 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Issued: 03/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verint Americas Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Verint Americas Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Fama, Jason, Peleg, Uri, Bourke, Michael R. Jr., Lawrence, Richard M., Joshi, Sameet Vasant
• Primary Examiner(s): Jasmin, Lynda
• Assistant Examiner(s): Walker, III, George H
• Application Number:
  US11/478,714
• Publication Number:
  US 20080004934A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,076 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7.13
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for scheduling a workforce. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: receiving a shift activity template; receiving an association between the shift activity template and at least one worker; and scheduling a plurality of schedulable objects. The scheduling is performed in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints. Each of the schedulable objects is based on the shift activity template. The shift activity template describes a worker activity performed during a shift. The template has range of start times and a variable length for the activity. The activity is associated with a queue.

Claims

1. A method of workforce scheduling, comprising the steps of:

in an instruction execution system, receiving a shift activity template describing a worker activity performed during a shift, the template comprising a range of start times, a start type, and a variable length for the activity, wherein the shift activity template defines the variable length using a period attribute and a count attribute, wherein the period attribute is a length of time and the count attribute is a range representing a number of periods available for scheduling, the activity being associated with a queue;

in the instruction execution system, receiving an association between the shift activity template and at least one worker;

in the instruction execution system, creating a plurality of schedulable objects from the shift activity template based on the period attribute and the count attribute, wherein each of the schedulable objects comprises a length equal to the length of time of the period attribute and the number of the schedulable objects created is equal to the highest value of the range of the count attribute;

in the instruction execution system, creating a plurality of potential bindings for each of the schedulable objects based on a plurality of available timeslots within the shift, the range of start times, and the start type;

in the instruction execution system, selecting a first one of the potential bindings for association with a first one of the schedulable objects in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints; and

in the instruction execution system, producing a schedule by applying the first one of the potential bindings to the first one of the schedulable objects.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the start type is relative, which indicates the range of start times are relative to a start time of the shift associated with the template.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the start type is absolute, which indicates the range of start times are actual start times for use when creating the plurality of potential bindings.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the start type is relative, the shift comprises a start time, and the start time of the shift is modified by one of the start times of the range of start times.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the schedule comprises the activity scheduled as non-consecutive blocks within the shift.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a second one of the potential bindings for association with a second one of the schedulable objects in accordance with the workload forecast and the schedule constraints; and

producing the schedule by applying the second one of the potential bindings to the second one of the schedulable objects, wherein the second one of the potential bindings is applied independent of the first one of the potential bindings.

7. A computer implemented system of scheduling a workforce comprising:

a user interface operative to receive a shift activity template describing a worker activity performed during a shift and to receive an association between the shift activity template and at least one worker, the template comprising a range of start times, a start type, and a variable length for the activity, wherein the shift activity template defines the variable length using a period attribute and a count attribute, wherein the period attribute is a length of time and the count attribute is a range representing a number of periods available for scheduling, the activity being associated with a queue; and

a scheduler operative to create a plurality of schedulable objects from the shift activity template based on the period attribute and the count attribute, wherein each of the schedulable objects comprises a length equal to the length of time of the period attribute and the number of the schedulable objects created is equal to the highest value of the range of the count attribute, create a plurality of potential bindings for each of the schedulable objects based on a plurality of available timeslots within the shift, the range of start times, and the start type, select a first one of the potential bindings for association with a first one of the schedulable objects in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints, and produce a schedule by applying the first one of the potential bindings to the first one of the schedulable objects.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the

start type is relative, which indicates the range of start times are relative to a start time of the shift associated with the template.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the start type is relative, the shift comprises a start time, and the start time of the shift is modified by one of the start times of the range of start times.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the schedule comprises the activity scheduled as non-consecutive blocks within the shift.

11. The system of claim 7, further comprising an activity collector, the activity collector comprising:

logic for receiving an agent event from a data sub-source, the data sub-source associated with a parent data source; and

logic for mapping the event to one of a plurality of agent activities through a mapping definition associated with the data sub-source.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

logic for receiving a plurality of agent events from a plurality of data sub-sources, each of the agent events associated with the same agent, each of the data sub-sources specific to a queue and associated with a parent data source; and

logic for mapping the event to one of a plurality of agent activities through a mapping definition associated with the data sub-source; and

an agent activity tracking view configured to display the agent activities in conjunction with a timeline, wherein each of the agent activities is associated with a different queue.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the activity collector further comprises:

logic for mapping the event to one of the agent activities through a mapping definition associated with a parent of the data sub-source if no mapping is associated with the data sub-source.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the activity collector further comprises:

logic for creating a new event if the data sub-source has no parent or if no mapping is associated with a parent of the data sub-source.

15. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a computer-executed method for scheduling a workforce in a contact center, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a shift activity template describing a worker activity performed during a shift, the template comprising a range of start times, a start type, and a variable length for the activity, wherein the shift activity template defines the variable length using a period attribute and a count attribute, wherein the period attribute is a length of time and the count attribute is a range representing a number of periods available for scheduling, the activity being associated with a queue;

receiving an association between the shift activity template and at least one worker;

creating a plurality of schedulable objects from the shift activity template based on the period attribute and the count attribute, wherein each of the schedulable objects comprises a length equal to the length of time of the period attribute and the number of the schedulable objects created is equal to the highest value of the range of the count attribute;

creating a plurality of potential bindings for each of the schedulable objects based on a plurality of available timeslots within the shift, the range of start times, and the start type;

selecting a first one of the potential bindings for association with a first one of the schedulable objects in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints; and

producing a schedule by applying the first one of the potential bindings to the first one of the schedulable objects.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the start type is relative, which indicates the range of start times are relative to a start time of the shift associated with the template.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the start type is relative, the shift comprises a start time, and the start time of the shift is modified by one of the start times of the range of start times.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the schedule comprises the activity scheduled as non-consecutive blocks within the shift.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the bindings correspond to adjacent timeslots.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the bindings correspond to non-adjacent timeslots.