Balancing multiple computer models in a call center routing system

• US 8,472,611 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2008
• Issued: 06/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2008
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Afiniti Ltd
• Original Assignee: The Resource Group International Ltd
• Inventors: Chishti, Zia
• Primary Examiner(s): AL AUBAIDI, RASHA S
• Application Number:
  US12/266,461
• Publication Number:
  US 20100111285A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,692 Days
• Field of Search: 37926501-26502, 379/265.06, 379/265.11
• US Class Current: 379/265.11
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for routing callers to agents in a contact center utilizing a multi-layer processing approach to matching a caller to an agent. A first layer of processing may include two or more different computer models or methods for scoring or determining caller-agent pairs in a routing center. The output of the first layer may be received by a second layer of processing for balancing or weighting the outputs and selecting a final caller-agent match. The two or more methods may include conventional queue based routing, performance based routing, pattern matching algorithms, affinity matching, and the like. The output or scores of the two or more methods may be processed be the second layer of processing to select a caller-agent pair and cause the caller to be routed to a particular agent.

Claims

1. A method for routing callers to agents in a call-center routing environment, the method comprising the acts of:

receiving, by one or more computers, input data associated with callers in a set of callers and agents in a set of agents at a first layer of processing;

processing, by the one or more computers, the input data associated with the callers in the set of callers and the agents in the set of agents using a first measurement algorithm in a pair-wise fashion in the first layer of processing, to output respective measurement data for each of a first set of caller-agent pairs;

processing, by the one or more computers, the input data associated with the callers in the set of callers and the agents in the set of agents using a second measurement algorithm in a pair-wise fashion in the first layer of processing, to output respective measurement data for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs;

receiving, by the one or more computers, the output measurement data from each of the first measurement algorithm and the second measurement algorithm at a second layer of processing;

processing, by the one or more computers, the caller-agent pair output measurement data from each of the first measurement algorithm and the second measurement algorithm by an algorithm to weight the caller-agent pair output measurement data of one of the measurement algorithms relative to the other of the measurement algorithms in the second layer of processing;

selecting, by the one or more computers, a caller-agent pair based at least in part on weighted caller-agent pair output data; and

mapping, by the one or more computers, the caller in the caller-agent pair selected to the agent in the caller-agent pair selected.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the processing the input data steps comprises scoring each of the caller-agent pairs using the respective algorithm for the respective processing step,

wherein the output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm comprises a respective score for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs and is based on at least a first data associated with one or both of the set of the callers and the set of the agents;

and

wherein the output measurement data from the second measurement algorithm comprises a respective score,

wherein the scores from the first and second measurement algorithms for each of the caller-agent pairs are output to the second layer of processing.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs according to the second measurement algorithm is based on at least a second data associated with one or both of the set of callers and the set of agents.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs comprises ranking agents based on performance.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs comprises determining a suitability score for a desired output performance.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a multi-data element pattern matching algorithm utilizing caller data associated with multiple callers in the set of callers and agent data associated with multiple agents in the set of agents.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a performance based matching algorithm based on performance data of at least two of the agents.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a multi-data element pattern matching algorithm utilizing caller data associated with multiple callers from the set of callers and agent data associated with multiple agents from the set of agents.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the measurement algorithms utilizes affinity data associated with one or both of the agents and callers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least two measurement algorithms comprises a neural network algorithm.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second layer of processing comprises a neural network algorithm.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing an electronic interface, by the one or more computers, to change the weighting of the output measurement data from one of the measurement algorithms relative to the other of the measurement algorithms in the second layer of processing; and

generating, by the one or more computers, display data for a display interface, with the display data comprising an estimated effect of the change of the weighting on one or more selected from the group of cost, revenue generation, and customer satisfaction.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the caller-agent pair output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm and from the second measurement algorithm are weighted equally.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the caller-agent pair output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm and from the second measurement algorithm are weighted unequally.

15. A system for routing callers to agents in a call-center routing environment, comprising:

one or more computers configured with computer-readable program code to perform, when executed, the steps;

receiving, by the one or more computers, input data associated with callers in a set of callers and agents in a set of agents at a first layer of processing;

processing, by the one or more computers, the input data associated with the callers in the set of callers and the agents in the set of agents using a first measurement algorithm in a pair-wise fashion in the first layer of processing, to output respective measurement data for each of a first set of caller-agent pairs;

processing, by the one or more computers, the input data associated with the callers in the set of callers and the agents in the set of agents using a second measurement algorithm in a pair-wise fashion in the first layer of processing, to output respective measurement data for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs;

receiving, by the one or more computers, the output measurement data from each of the first measurement algorithm and the second measurement algorithm at a second layer of processing;

processing, by the one or more computers, the caller-agent pair output measurement data from each of the first measurement algorithm and the second measurement algorithm by an algorithm to weight the caller-agent pair output measurement data of one of the measurement algorithms relative to the other of the measurement algorithms in the second layer of processing;

selecting, by the one or more computers, a caller-agent pair based at least in part on weighted caller-agent pair output data; and

mapping, by the one or more computers, the caller in the caller-agent pair selected to the agent in the caller-agent pair selected.

16. The system of claim 15,

wherein the program code for processing the input data steps comprises program code for scoring each of the caller-agent pairs using the respective algorithm for the respective processing step,

wherein the output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm comprises a respective score for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs and is based on at least a first data associated with one or both of the set of the callers and the set of the agents;

and

wherein the output measurement data from the second measurement algorithm comprises a respective score for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs,

wherein the scores from the first and second measurement algorithms are output to the second layer of processing.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs according to the second measurement algorithm is based on at least a second data associated with one or both of the set of callers and the set of agents.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs comprises ranking agents based on performance.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs comprises determining a suitability score for a desired output performance.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a multi-data element pattern matching algorithm utilizing caller data associated with multiple callers in the set of callers and agent data associated with multiple agents in the set of agents.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a performance based matching algorithm based on performance data of at least two of the agents.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a pattern matching algorithm utilizing caller data associated with multiple callers from the set of callers and agent data associated with multiple agents from the set of agents.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the measurement algorithms utilizes affinity data associated with one or both of the agents and callers.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the at least two measurement algorithms comprises a neural network algorithm.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein the second layer of processing comprises a neural network algorithm.

26. The system of claim 15, further comprising the one or more computers configured with program code to perform the steps:

providing an electronic interface, by the one or more computers, to change the weighting of the output measurement data from one of the measurement algorithms relative to the other of the measurement algorithms in the second layer of processing; and

generating, by the one or more computers, display data for a display interface, with the display data comprising an estimated effect of the change of the weighting on one or more selected from the group of cost, revenue generation, and customer satisfaction.

27. The system of claim 15, wherein the caller-agent pair output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm and from the second measurement algorithm are weighted equally.

28. The system of claim 15, wherein the caller-agent pair output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm and from the second measurement algorithm are weighted unequally.

29. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable program code for carrying out, when executed by one or more computers, the steps:

receiving, by the one or more computers, input data associated with callers in a set of callers and agents in a set of agents at a first layer of processing;

processing, by the one or more computers, the input data associated with the callers in the set of callers and the agents in the set of agents using a first measurement algorithm in a pair-wise fashion in the first layer of processing, to output respective measurement data for each of a first set of caller-agent pairs;

processing, by the one or more computers, the input data associated with the callers in the set of callers and the agents in the set of agents using a second measurement algorithm in a pair-wise fashion in the first layer of processing, to output respective measurement data for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs;

receiving, by the one or more computers, the output measurement data from each of the first measurement algorithm and the second measurement algorithm at a second layer of processing;

processing, by the one or more computers, the caller-agent pair output measurement data from each of the first measurement algorithm and the second measurement algorithm by an algorithm to weight the caller-agent pair output measurement data of one of the measurement algorithms relative to the other of the measurement algorithms in the second layer of processing;

selecting, by the one or more computers, a caller-agent pair based at least in part on weighted caller-agent pair output data; and

mapping, by the one or more computers, the caller in the caller-agent pair selected to the agent in the caller-agent pair selected.

30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29,

wherein the program code for processing the input data steps comprises program code for scoring each of the caller-agent pairs using the respective algorithm for the respective processing step,

wherein the output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm comprises a respective score for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs and is based on at least a first data associated with one or both of the set of the callers and the set of the agents;

and

wherein the output measurement data from the second measurement algorithm comprises a respective score for each of the first set of caller-agent pairs,

wherein the scores from the first and second measurement algorithms are output to the second layer of processing.

31. The computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs according to the second measurement algorithm is based on at least a second data associated with one or both of the set of callers and the set of agents.

32. The computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs comprises ranking agents based on performance.

33. The computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein scoring the caller-agent pairs comprises determining a suitability score for a desired output performance.

34. The computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a multi-data element pattern matching algorithm utilizing caller data associated with multiple callers in the set of callers and agent data associated with multiple agents in the set of agents.

35. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a performance based matching algorithm based on performance data of at least two of the agents.

36. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein one of the measurement algorithms comprises a pattern matching algorithm utilizing caller data associated with multiple callers from the set of callers and agent data associated with multiple agents from the set of agents.

37. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein one of the measurement algorithms utilizes affinity data associated with one or both of the agents and callers.

38. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein at least one of the at least two measurement algorithms comprises a neural network algorithm.

39. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the second layer of processing comprises a neural network algorithm.

40. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, further comprising program code to perform the steps:

providing an electronic interface, by the one or more computers, to change the weighting of the output measurement data from one of the measurement algorithms relative to the other of the measurement algorithms in the second layer of processing; and

generating, by the one or more computers, display data for a display interface, with the display data comprising an estimated effect of the change of the weighting on one or more selected from the group of cost, revenue generation, and customer satisfaction.

41. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the caller-agent pair output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm and from the second measurement algorithm are weighted equally.

42. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29, wherein the caller-agent pair output measurement data from the first measurement algorithm and from the second measurement algorithm are weighted unequally.