View and metrics for a queueless contact center

• US 8,619,968 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2010
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Flockhart, Andrew D., Steiner, Robert C.
• Primary Examiner(s): DEANE JR, WILLIAM J
• Application Number:
  US12/882,986
• Publication Number:
  US 20110255685A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,203 Days
• Field of Search: 37926501-26514, 37926601-2661, 379/309
• US Class Current: 379/266.07
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms

Abstract

A queueless contact center is described along with various methods and mechanisms for administering the same. The contact center proposed herein provides the ability to, among other things, achieve true one-to-one matching. Solutions are also provided for managing data structures utilized by the queueless contact center. Furthermore, mechanisms for generating traditional queue-based performance views and metrics for the queueless contact center are proposed to help facilitate a smooth transition from traditional queue-based contact centers to the next generation contact centers described herein.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

analyzing performance metrics of a queueless contact center;

converting the performance metrics into a second set of performance metrics using a tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium, the second set of performance metrics describing the performance of the queueless contact center as if it were a queue-based contact center; and

presenting the second set of performance metrics to at least one interested party.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performance metrics of the queueless contact center which are analyzed include attributes of all work items in the contact center.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the performance metrics of the queueless contact center which are analyzed include attributes of all resources in the contact center.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of performance metrics represent a subset of all work items and a subset of all resources in the contact center.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the second set of performance metrics include one or more of Estimated Wait Time for work items having a particular attribute combination, average processing time for work items having a particular attribute combination, agent utilization for resources having a particular attribute combination, match rate, and number of handles for resources having a particular attribute combination.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the second set of performance metrics includes generating at least one view of the second set of performance metrics and displaying the at least one view to the at least one interested party.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one view comprises a graphical representation of the second set of performance metrics.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one view comprises a view of multiple work items and resources which are grouped according to attribute combinations.

9. A tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that cause a computing system to execute a method, the instructions comprising:

instructions configured to analyze performance metrics of a queueless contact center;

instructions configured to convert the performance metrics into a second set of performance metrics, the second set of performance metrics describing the performance of the queueless contact center as if it were a queue-based contact center; and

instructions configured to present the second set of performance metrics to at least one interested party in the queueless contact center.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the at least one interested party comprises a contact center administrator or manager.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the performance metrics of the queueless contact center which are analyzed include attributes of all work items in the contact center.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the presentation of the second set of performance metrics comprises at least one view of the performance metrics incorporated into a report, wherein the at least one view comprises at least one of a current state of the performance metrics and a predicted state of the performance metrics determined by utilizing the performance metrics as an input to an algorithm.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the second set of performance metrics represent a subset of all work items and a subset of all resources in the contact center.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the second set of performance metrics include one or more of Estimated Wait Time for work items having a particular attribute combination, average processing time for work items having a particular attribute combination, agent utilization for resources having a particular attribute combination, match rate, and number of handles for resources having a particular attribute combination.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein presenting the second set of performance metrics includes generating at least one view of the second set of performance metrics and displaying the at least one view to the at least one interested party.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the performance metrics of the queueless contact center are analyzed by generating a bitmap for a specific attribute combination, determining from the bitmap a set of elements of the queueless contact center which are qualified to be analyzed, and then analyzing attributes of the elements in the set of elements.

17. A queueless contact center, comprising:

a performance analysis module configured to analyze performance metrics of the queueless contact center using a tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium, convert the performance metrics into a second set of performance metrics, the second set of performance metrics describing the performance of the queueless contact center as if it were a queue-based contact center, and present the second set of performance metrics to at least one interested party in the queueless contact center.

18. The queueless contact center of claim 17, wherein the performance metrics of the queueless contact center which are analyzed include attributes of all work items in the contact center and wherein the performance metrics of the queueless contact center which are analyzed include attributes of all resources in the contact center.

19. The queueless contact center of claim 18, wherein the second set of performance metrics represent a subset of all work items and a subset of all resources in the contact center.

20. The queueless contact center of claim 18, wherein the second set of performance metrics include one or more of Estimated Wait Time for work items having a particular attribute combination, average processing time for work items having a particular attribute combination, agent utilization for resources having a particular attribute combination,

match rate, and number of handles for resources having a particular attribute combination.