Capacity planning for user wait time

• US 8,275,650 B1
• Filed: 03/01/2011
• Issued: 09/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Corbett, Allison Mensing, Mallya, Sudhakar, Ross, Ashley Bree, Tullos, Kris Deion, Yu, Chang
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Danzig, Reva R
• Application Number:
  US13/038,321
• Publication Number:
  US 20120226524A1
• Time in Patent Office: 574 Days
• Field of Search: 235/379, 705/1, 705/7, 705/26, 705/7.36, 705/43
• US Class Current: 705/7.36
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for determining when installation of additional self-service financial transaction devices (SSFTDs) may be desired at a site to improve end-to-end user experience. The system may collect and store transaction-level data, session-level data, user wait time data, and/or other data, and use an enhanced SSFTD user wait time model to identify recommendations and other statistical outputs. The SSFTD may include hardware and software to assist in measuring and collecting various useful readings.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a self-service financial transaction device configured to at least one of;

receive a check for deposit in a user'"'"'s account, dispense currency from the user'"'"'s account, and provide total balance of the user'"'"'s account;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory having stored therein computer-executable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a method of;

collecting transaction data resulting from the user'"'"'s interaction with the self-service financial transaction device, wherein the transaction data includes transaction time, transaction date, transaction type, unique card identifier, and unique terminal identifier;

collecting user wait time data; and

combining transaction data to form session data based on consecutive transactions at the self-service financial transaction device with the same unique card identifier; and

a communications network transmitter configured to transmit the collected transaction data, the session data, and the user wait time data to a remote computer, wherein the remote computer comprises an enhanced model determined using the transaction data, session data, and user wait time data, and further wherein the remote computer is configured to generate outputs based on the enhanced model, wherein the outputs comprise at least one of;

average wait time over a predetermined time period, percentage of users with wait time below a predetermined threshold, self-service financial transaction device utilization over a predetermined time period, and number of hours where self-service financial transaction device utilization is over a predetermined threshold, and wherein the enhanced model groups the transaction data, session data, and user wait time data by self-service financial transaction device configuration, wherein the remote computer causes configuration of the self-service financial transaction device to be adjusted based on the generated outputs and predetermined user wait thresholds, and further wherein the configuration of the self-service financial transaction device is adjusted from a single walk-up to a dual walk-up when the hourly device utilization is over 60% for over 110 hours in a month in order to keep user wait time within 5 minutes for 85% of users.

2. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a means for capturing a user'"'"'s arrive time and queue time.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the means for capturing comprises at least a video camera, the at least one processor, and the at least one memory having stored therein computer-executable instructions.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the unique terminal identifier comprises information about whether the self-service financial transaction device is located inside or outside, whether it is located on the premises of a financial institution, approach type, and configuration.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the communications network transmitter includes a wireless transmitter configured to transmit the collected transaction data and the session data over a wireless network.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the self-service financial transaction device is an automated teller machine.

7. A method comprising:

receiving, from a self-service financial transaction device, collected data, the collected data comprising transaction data, session data, and user wait time data, and wherein the transaction data comprises transaction time, transaction date, transaction type, unique card identifier, and unique terminal identifier, and wherein the user wait time data comprises a user'"'"'s arrive time and queue time;

identifying, by a computer, a self-service financial transaction device configuration using the unique terminal identifier, wherein the configuration comprises at least one of;

single walk-up, dual walk-up with single user queue, dual walk-up with dual user queue, single drive-up, dual drive-up with single user queue, and dual drive-up with dual user queue;

grouping, by the computer, the collected data corresponding to an identified configuration to create an enhanced user wait time model;

generating, by the computer, outputs based on the enhanced user wait time model, where the outputs comprise at least one of;

average wait time over a predetermined time period, percentage of users with wait time below a predetermined threshold, self-service financial transaction device utilization over a predetermined time period, and number of hours where self-service financial transaction device utilization is over a predetermined threshold; and

causing configuration of the self-service financial transaction device to be adjusted based on the generated outputs and predetermined user wait thresholds wherein the configuration of the self-service financial transaction device is adjusted from a single walk-up to a dual walk-up when the hourly device utilization is over 60% for over 110 hours in a month in order to keep user wait time within 5 minutes for 85% of users.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the identifying the configuration using the unique terminal identifier comprises comparing the unique terminal identifier against a mapping file to determine its configuration.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a relationship between hourly user wait time data and hourly device utilization;

determining a relationship between monthly user wait time data and monthly device utilization; and

setting the predetermined user wait thresholds based on a desired goal for user wait time.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the self-service financial transaction device is an automated teller machine.

11. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one computer, cause the at least one computer to perform a method of:

identifying, by a computer, a configuration of one or more self-service financial transaction devices using a unique terminal identifier, wherein the configuration comprises at least one of;

single walk-up, dual walk-up with single user queue, dual walk-up with dual user queue, single drive-up, dual drive-up with single user queue, and dual drive-up with dual user queue;

grouping, by the computer, collected data corresponding to an identified configuration to create an enhanced user wait time model, the collected data comprising transaction data, session data, and user wait time data, and wherein the transaction data comprises transaction time, transaction date, transaction type, unique card identifier, and unique terminal identifier, and wherein the user wait time data comprises a user'"'"'s arrive time and queue time; and

generating, by the computer, a recommendation for adjusting the configuration of the one or more self-service financial transaction devices based on the enhanced user wait time model wherein the recommendation for adjusting the configuration of the one or more self-service financial transaction devices is to replace a single walk-up to a dual walk-up when the hourly device utilization of the single walk-up is over 60% for over 110 hours in a month.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11, the computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one computer, further cause the at least one computer to perform:

determining, by the computer, a relationship between hourly user wait time data and hourly device utilization;

determining, by the computer, a relationship between monthly user wait time data and monthly device utilization; and

setting, by the computer, the predetermined user wait thresholds based on a desired goal for user wait time.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the outputs comprise at least one of:

average wait time over a predetermined time period, percentage of users with wait time below a predetermined threshold, self-service financial transaction device utilization over a predetermined time period, and number of hours where self-service financial transaction device utilization is over a predetermined threshold.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, from a self-service financial transaction device, collected data, the collected data comprising transaction data, session data, and user wait time data, and wherein the transaction data comprises transaction time, transaction date, transaction type, unique card identifier, and unique terminal identifier, and wherein the user wait time data comprises a user'"'"'s arrive time and queue time;

identifying, by a computer, a self-service financial transaction device configuration using the unique terminal identifier, wherein the configuration comprises at least one of;

single walk-up, dual walk-up with single user queue, dual walk-up with dual user queue, single drive-up, dual drive-up with single user queue, and dual drive-up with dual user queue;

grouping, by the computer, the collected data corresponding to an identified configuration to create an enhanced user wait time model;

generating, by the computer, outputs based on the enhanced user wait time model, where the outputs comprise at least one of;

average wait time over a predetermined time period, percentage of users with wait time below a predetermined threshold, self-service financial transaction device utilization over a predetermined time period, and number of hours where self-service financial transaction device utilization is over a predetermined threshold; and

causing configuration of the self-service financial transaction device to be adjusted based on the generated outputs and predetermined user wait thresholds wherein the configuration of the self-service financial transaction device is adjusted from a single drive-up to a dual drive-up when the hourly device utilization is over 55% for over 140 hours in a month in order to keep user wait time within 5 minutes for 80% of users.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the identifying the configuration using the unique terminal identifier comprises comparing the unique terminal identifier against a mapping file to determine its configuration.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining a relationship between hourly user wait time data and hourly device utilization;

determining a relationship between monthly user wait time data and monthly device utilization; and

setting the predetermined user wait thresholds based on a desired goal for user wait time.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the self-service financial transaction device is an automated teller machine.