Fulfilling staffing requirements via an interactive voice response system

• US 8,935,172 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2012
• Issued: 01/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alvaria Cayman
• Original Assignee: Noble Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Noble, James K. Jr., Ouimette, Jason P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Singh, Gurkanwaljit
• Application Number:
  US13/665,298
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/7.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Various embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, and computer program products for fulfilling a portion of staffing requirements using an interactive voice response system (“IVR”). In particular embodiments, staffing requirements for a business activity are forecasted and a portion of the staffing requirements are identified that require fulfillment using the IVR. This portion of the staffing requirements includes one or more staff member positions required to be performed for the business activity. Eligible staff members that may fulfill the staff member positions are identified and a first member of the eligible staff members is contacted. Upon contacting the first member, the member is requested to fulfill a staff member position by the IVR and if the member accepts fulfilling the staff member position, an acceptance is sent from the IVR and the first member is scheduled based on his acceptance to fulfill the staff member position.

Claims

1. A method for fulfilling a portion of staffing requirements using an interactive voice response system (IVR), the method comprising the steps of:

forecasting the staffing requirements for a business activity by at least one computer processor;

identifying the portion of the staffing requirements by the at least one computer processor to be fulfilled using the IVR, the portion of the staffing requirements comprising one or more staff member positions required to be performed for the business activity;

identifying a plurality of eligible staff members that may fulfill the one or more staff member positions by the at least one computer processor;

contacting a first member of the plurality of eligible staff members;

upon contacting the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members, requesting the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members using the IVR to fulfill at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

receiving a response from the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members at the IVR indicating whether the first member accepts or denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

upon the response indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, sending an acceptance from the IVR to the at least one computer processor; and

upon receiving the acceptance, scheduling the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions by the at least one computer processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of contacting the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members comprises the sub-steps of:

identifying contact information for the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members, the contact information comprising a plurality of contact sources;

attempting to contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on a first contact source from the plurality of contact sources; and

upon failure to contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on the first contact source, contacting the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on a second contact source from the plurality of contact sources.

3. The method of claim 1 comprising the steps of, upon the response indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions:

contacting a second member of the plurality of eligible staff members;

upon contacting the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members, requesting the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members using the IVR to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

receiving a second response from the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members at the IVR indicating whether the second member accepts or denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

upon the second response indicating the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, sending a second acceptance from the IVR to the at least one computer processor; and

upon receiving the second acceptance, scheduling the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions by the at least one computer processor.

4. The method of claim 3 comprising the step of setting a priority order for each member of the plurality of eligible staff members to establish an order in which the eligible staff members are to be contacted to fulfill the one or more staff member positions, wherein the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members is a member positioned after the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on the priority order.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the business activity comprises a call campaign at a call center, the staffing requirements comprise agents employed by the call center needed to staff the call campaign, and the plurality of eligible staff members comprise agents employed by the call center who are eligible to staff the one or more staff member positions for the portion of the staffing requirements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the call campaign comprises an outbound call campaign, and the method comprises the steps of:

defining campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign, the campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign comprising;

(1) a time period over which the outbound call campaign is to be carried out and (2) a target value identifying a number of an outbound communication result to occur over the time period; and

selecting a historical dataset comprising historical data on the corresponding outbound communication result for the outbound call campaign based on past outbound communications handled over a historical time period, and the step for forecasting the staffing requirements is performed by generating an outbound forecast by the at least one computer processor, the outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign, and the outbound forecast comprising a number of the outbound communication result forecasted to be achieved over the time period for the outbound call campaign in an attempt to meet the target value for the outbound call campaign.

7. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions for fulfilling a portion of staffing requirements using an interactive voice response system (IVR), the computer executable instructions when executed by at least one computer processor are configured to cause the at least one computer processor to:

forecast the staffing requirements for a business activity;

identify the portion of the staffing requirements that requires fulfillment using the IVR, the portion of the staffing requirements comprising one or more staff member positions required to be performed for the business activity;

identify a plurality of eligible staff members that may fulfill the one or more staff member positions;

use the IVR to facilitate identifying a first member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill at least one of the one or more staff member positions; and

upon receiving an acceptance from the IVR indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, schedule the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, wherein the IVR is configured to;

upon contacting the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members, request the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

receive a response from the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members indicating whether the first member accepts or denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions; and

upon the response indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, send the acceptance indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions.

8. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the computer executable instructions when executed by the at least one computer processor are configured to cause the at least one computer processor to:

identify contact information for the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members, the contact information comprising a plurality of contact sources; and

provide the contact information to the IVR, wherein the IVR is configured to;

attempt to contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on a first contact source from the plurality of contact sources; and

upon failure to contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on the first contact source, contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on a second contact source from the plurality of contact sources.

9. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the computer executable instructions when executed by the at least one computer processor are configured to cause the at least one computer processor, upon the response indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, to:

use the IVR to facilitate identifying a second member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions; and

upon receiving an acceptance from the IVR indicating the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, schedule the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, wherein the IVR is configured to;

upon contacting the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members, request the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

receive a second response from the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members indicating whether the second member accepts or denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions; and

upon the response indicating the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, send the acceptance indicating the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions.

10. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the computer executable instructions when executed by the at least one computer processor are configured to cause the at least one computer processor to set a priority order for each member of the plurality of eligible staff members to establish an order in which the eligible staff members are to be contacted to fulfill the one or more staff member positions.

11. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the business activity comprises a call campaign at a call center, the staffing requirements comprise agents employed by the call center needed to staff the call campaign, and the plurality of eligible staff members comprise agents employed by the call center who are eligible to staff the one or more staff member positions for the portion of the staffing requirements.

12. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the call campaign comprises an outbound call campaign, and the computer executable instructions when executed by the at least one computer processor are configured to cause the at least one computer processor to:

receive campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign, the campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign comprising;

(1) a time period over which the outbound call campaign is to be carried out and (2) a target value identifying a number of an outbound communication result to occur over the time period; and

receive a selection of a historical dataset comprising historical data on the corresponding outbound communication result for the outbound call campaign based on past outbound communications handled over a historical time period, and the computer executable instructions when executed by the at least one computer processor are configured to cause the at least one computer processor to forecast the staffing requirements by generating an outbound forecast, the outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign, and the outbound forecast comprising a number of the outbound communication result forecasted to be achieved over the time period for the outbound call campaign in an attempt to meet the target value for the outbound call campaign.

13. A system for fulfilling a portion of staffing requirements, the system comprising:

at least one computer processor configured to;

forecast the staffing requirements for a business activity;

identify the portion of the staffing requirements that requires fulfillment using an interactive voice response system (IVR), the portion of the staffing requirements comprising one or more staff member positions required to be performed for the business activity;

identify a plurality of eligible staff members that may fulfill the one or more staff member positions; and

wherein the IVR is configured to;

upon contacting a first member of the plurality of eligible staff members, request the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

receive a response from the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members indicating whether the first member accepts or denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions; and

upon the response indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, send an acceptance to the at least one computer processor, wherein the at least one computer processor is configured, upon receiving the acceptance indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, to schedule the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the at least one computer processor is configured to;

identify contact information for the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members, the contact information comprising a plurality of contact sources; and

provide the contact information to the IVR; and

the IVR is configured to;

attempt to contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on a first contact source from the plurality of contact sources; and

upon failure to contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on the first contact source, contact the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on a second contact source from the plurality of contact sources.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein, upon the response indicating the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, the IVR is configured to:

upon contacting a second member of the plurality of eligible staff members, request the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions;

receive a second response from the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members indicating whether the second member accepts or denies fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions; and

upon the second response indicating the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions, send a second acceptance to the at least one computer processor; and

the at least one computer processor is configured to, upon receiving the second acceptance indicating the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members accepts fulfilling the at least one of the one or more staff member positions from the IVR, schedule the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members to fulfill the at least one of the one or more staff member positions.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to set a priority order for each member of the plurality of eligible staff members to establish an order in which the eligible staff members are to be contacted to fulfill the one or more staff member positions, and the second member of the plurality of eligible staff members is a member positioned after the first member of the plurality of eligible staff members based on the priority order.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the business activity comprises a call campaign at a call center, the staffing requirements comprise agents employed by the call center needed to staff the call campaign, and the plurality of eligible staff members comprise agents employed by the call center who are eligible to staff the one or more staff member positions for the portion of the staffing requirements.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the call campaign comprises an outbound call campaign, and the at least one computer processor is configured to:

receive campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign, the campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign comprising;

(1) a time period over which the outbound call campaign is to be carried out and (2) a target value identifying a number of an outbound communication result to occur over the time period; and

select a historical dataset comprising historical data on the corresponding outbound communication result for the outbound call campaign based on past outbound communications handled over a historical time period, and the at least one computer processor is configured to forecast the staffing requirements by generating an outbound forecast, the outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound call campaign, and the outbound forecast comprises a number of the outbound communication result forecasted to be achieved over the time period for the outbound call campaign in an attempt to meet the target value for the outbound call campaign.