Dynamic work assignment strategies based on multiple aspects of agent proficiency

• US 8,234,141 B1
• Filed: 02/22/2005
• Issued: 07/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Flockhart, Andrew D., Steiner, Robert C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sterrett, Jonathan G
• Assistant Examiner(s): KARDOS, NEIL R
• Application Number:
  US11/064,367
• Time in Patent Office: 2,716 Days
• Field of Search: 705/9, 705/7.13
• US Class Current: 705/7.13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/18 Comparators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5233 Operator skill based call distribution

Abstract

A contact center 100 having a plurality of performance goals is provided. The contact center includes a routing agent 232 operable, when a work item is to be routed to a servicing destination 134, 138 or 208, determine, for each performance goal, a status of goal realization 304 or 504 and a corresponding set of selection criteria 308 or 508 for the determined statuses of goal realization and a destination selector 216 or 220 operable to select the servicing destination based, at least in part, on the set of selection criteria.

Claims

1. A method for servicing work items in a contact center, the contact center having a plurality of performance goals, comprising:

selecting, by a contact center server computer, a first work item for routing to a servicing destination, the first work item being selected from a queue of work items having the same skill requirements;

determining, by the contact center server computer, for each of at least two performance goals having different desired service level values, a status of goal realization, the status of goal realization including whether or not a corresponding goal is being met or unmet, wherein the performance goals comprise a plurality of a maximum wait time in a work item queue, a minimum agent staffing level in an agent queue, a minimum revenue realized per serviced work item, a minimum customer satisfaction level, a maximum time for an agent to service a work item, and a minimum number of contacts to be serviced by a set of agents during a selected time period;

mapping, by the contact center server computer, the statuses of goal realization for each of the at least two performance goals against possible agent proficiency aspects in a goal satisfaction table to determine an agent proficiency aspect to use in selecting the servicing destination, the goal satisfaction table comprising an ordered set of N agent proficiency aspects, wherein a first agent proficiency aspect from the N agent proficiency aspects is first in the ordered set and corresponds to a mapping where all of the at least two performance goals are met, and wherein an Nth agent proficiency aspect from the N agent proficiency aspects is last in the ordered set and corresponds to a mapping where none of the at least two performance goals are met, and wherein each agent proficiency aspect between the first agent proficiency aspect and the Nth agent proficiency aspect corresponds to each possible combination of goal realization statuses for the at least two performance goals;

selecting, by the contact center server computer, the servicing destination based, at least in part, on the agent proficiency aspect determined in the mapping step, wherein the first agent proficiency aspect is one of agent effectiveness, agent revenue generating proficiency, agent customer satisfaction level, ability to cross-sell, and personal agent satisfaction, and wherein the Nth agent proficiency aspect is one of agent speed and agent efficiency;

selecting, by contact center server computer, a second work item from the queue of work items, the second work item having the same skill requirements as the first work item; and

repeating the determining, mapping, and selecting the servicing destination for the second work item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the status of realization of a goal is whether or not the respective goal is met during a selected time period and/or over a selected number of transactions, and wherein the status of goal realization includes whether or not a corresponding goal is being met or unmet and a level to which the corresponding goal is being met or unmet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the status of realization of a goal is a measured service level for the respective goal during a selected time period and/or over a selected number of transactions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the servicing destination is an agent.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the selecting step comprises:

selecting, from among a plurality of agents, an agent having a proficiency aspect matching the determined agent proficiency aspect to service the first work item.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the selected agent is the most proficient in the determined agent proficiency aspect.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the Nth agent proficiency aspect is the determined agent proficiency aspect only when none of the performance goals are met.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the ordered set of N agent proficiency aspects are analyzed starting at the first agent proficiency aspect and ending at the Nth agent proficiency aspect.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, at a first time, a first set of goals has a corresponding first set of statuses, wherein, at a second later time, a second set of goals has a corresponding second set of statuses, wherein the first set of statuses corresponds to the first agent proficiency aspect, wherein the second set of statuses corresponds to a second agent proficiency aspect that is different from the first agent proficiency aspect.

10. A contact center having a plurality of performance goals, comprising:

a processor;

a routing agent operating in a contact center server computer, the routing agent operable to, when a plurality of work items having the same skill requirements are to be routed to a servicing destination;

determine, for each of at least two performance goals having different desired service level values, a status of goal realization, the status of goal realization including whether or not a corresponding goal is being met or unmet, wherein the performance goals comprise a plurality of a maximum wait time in a work item queue, a minimum agent staffing level in an agent queue, a minimum revenue realized per serviced work item, a minimum customer satisfaction level, a maximum time for an agent to service a work item, and a minimum number of contacts to be serviced by a set of agents during a selected time period; and

map the statuses of goal realization for each of the at least two performance goals against possible agent proficiency aspects in a goal satisfaction table to determine an agent proficiency aspect to use in selecting the servicing destination, the goal satisfaction table comprising an ordered set of N agent proficiency aspects, wherein a first agent proficiency aspect from the N agent proficiency aspects is first in the ordered set and corresponds to a mapping where all of the at least two performance goals are met, and wherein an Nth agent proficiency aspect from the N agent proficiency aspects is last in the ordered set and corresponds to a mapping where none of the at least two performance goals are met, and wherein each agent proficiency aspect between the first agent proficiency aspect and the Nth agent proficiency aspect corresponds to each possible combination of goal realization statuses for the at least two performance goals;

a destination selector operating in conjunction with the routing agent, the destination selector operable to select the servicing destination based, at least in part, on the agent proficiency aspect determined by the mapping the statuses of goal realization for each of the at least two performance goals against possible agent proficiency aspects in the goal satisfaction table, wherein the first agent proficiency aspect is one of agent effectiveness, agent revenue generating proficiency, agent customer satisfaction level, ability to cross-sell, and personal agent satisfaction, and wherein the Nth agent proficiency aspect is one of agent speed and agent efficiency.

11. The contact center of claim 10, wherein the status of realization of a goal is whether or not the respective goal is met during a selected time period and/or over a selected number of transactions, and wherein the status of goal realization includes whether or not a corresponding goal is being met or unmet and a level to which the corresponding goal is being met or unmet.

12. The contact center of claim 10, wherein the status of realization of a goal is a measured service level for the goal during a selected time period and/or over a selected number of transactions.

13. The contact center of claim 10, wherein the servicing destination is an agent and the destination selector is an agent and work item selector.

14. The contact center of claim 10, wherein the servicing destination is a work item queue and the selector is a work item vector.

15. The contact center of claim 10, wherein, at first time, a first set of goals has a corresponding first set of statuses, wherein, at a second later time, a second set of goals has a corresponding second set of statuses, wherein the first set of statuses corresponds to the first agent proficiency aspect, wherein the second set of statuses corresponds to a second agent proficiency aspect that is different from the first agent proficiency aspect.

16. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions stored into a non-transitory compute readable medium which, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the processor to execute a method for servicing work items in a contact center, the contact center having a plurality of performance goals, the method comprising:

selecting a first work item for routing to a servicing destination, the first work item being selected from a queue of work items having the same skill requirements;

determining, for each of at least two performance goals having different desired service level values, a status of goal realization, the status of goal realization including whether or not a corresponding goal is being met or unmet, wherein the performance goals comprise a plurality of a maximum wait time in a work item queue, a minimum agent staffing level in an agent queue, a minimum revenue realized per serviced work item, a minimum customer satisfaction level, a maximum time for an agent to service a work item, and a minimum number of contacts to be serviced by a set of agents during a selected time period;

mapping the statuses of goal realization for each of the at least two performance goals against possible sets of agent proficiency aspects in a goal satisfaction table to determine an agent proficiency aspect to use in selecting the servicing destination, the goal satisfaction table comprising an ordered set of N agent proficiency aspects, wherein a first agent proficiency aspect from the N agent proficiency aspects is first in the ordered set and corresponds to a mapping where all of the at least two performance goals are met, and wherein an Nth agent proficiency aspect from the N agent proficiency aspects is last in the ordered set and corresponds to a mapping where none of the at least two performance goals are met, and wherein each agent proficiency aspect between the first agent proficiency aspect and the Nth agent proficiency aspect corresponds to each possible combination of goal realization statuses for the at least two performance goals;

selecting the servicing destination based, at least in part, on the agent proficiency aspect determined in the mapping step, wherein the first agent proficiency aspect is one of agent effectiveness, agent revenue generating proficiency, agent customer satisfaction level, ability to cross-sell, and personal agent satisfaction, and wherein the Nth agent proficiency aspect is one of agent speed and agent efficiency;

selecting a second work item from the queue of work items, the second work item having the same skill requirements as the first work item; and

repeating the determining, mapping, and selecting the servicing destination for the second work item.