System for scheduling routing rules in a contact center based on forecasted and actual interaction load and staffing requirements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10313527-B2
Application number	US-201815893436-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 9, 2018
Priority date	Dec 29, 2008
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

A system for scheduling resources and rules for routing includes a server connected to a network, a scheduling application executable from the server, and at least one programmable software agent for scheduling routing rules. The scheduling application receives statistics about forecast arrival rates for incoming interactions and current resource availability data and schedules resources and routing rules according to the forecast requirements the software agent propagating the portion of scheduling relative to the routing rules.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for scheduling resources and rules for routing comprising:
a processor, and
a memory device, wherein the memory device stores computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
retrieve statistics regarding an expected incoming interaction load during a first work period;
retrieve first resource availability data, the first resource availability data including first work schedules of first agents expected to work during the first work period;
schedule first resources for the first work period based on the statistics regarding the expected incoming interaction load and the first resource availability data;
schedule a first routing strategy to be executed at an onset of the first work period;
in response to detecting the onset of the first work period, execute the first scheduled routing strategy for routing a first interaction to one of the first resources during the first work period according to the first routing strategy;
retrieve updated statistics regarding an expected incoming interaction load during a second work period different from the first work period;
retrieve second resource availability data, the second resource availability data including second work schedules of second agents expected to work during the second work period;
schedule second resources for the second work period based on the updated statistics regarding the expected incoming interaction load and the second resource availability data;
schedule a second routing strategy to be automatically executed by a routing server at an onset of the second work period, the second routing strategy being different from the first routing strategy; and
in response to detecting the onset of the second work period, invoke the routing server to automatically execute the second scheduled routing strategy for routing a second interaction to one of the second resources during the second work period according to the second routing strategy.

2. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling of the first resources for the first work period includes creating work assignments for the first agents during the first work period, and the scheduling of the second resources for the second work period includes creating work assignments for the second agents during the second work period.

3. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable instructions that cause the processor to schedule the second routing strategy include computer executable instructions that cause the processor to: decompose the first routing strategy into a plurality of rules, reorder the plurality of rules, and generate the second routing strategy based on the reordered plurality of rules.

4. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the first routing strategy comprises a plurality of rules, and the computer executable instructions that cause the processor to schedule the second routing strategy include computer executable instructions that cause the processor to: modify the plurality of rules by inserting or changing a time variable of at least one of the plurality of rules, and generate the second routing strategy based on the modified plurality of rules.

5. The routing system of claim 4 , wherein the time variable comprises a callback time period.

6. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the incoming interaction load comprises at least one of voice interactions, text interactions, Web requests, or emails.

7. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the first agents and the second agents comprise at least one of live agents or automated attendants.

8. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the statistics regarding the expected incoming interaction load is based on historical averages.

9. The routing system of claim 1 , wherein the updated statistics regarding the expected incoming interaction load comprises real-time interaction load data, and wherein the first work schedules and the second work schedules comprise real-time work schedules of respectively the first agents and the second agents.

10. A method for scheduling resources and rules for routing comprising:
retrieving, by a processor, statistics regarding an expected incoming interaction load during a first work period;
retrieving, by the processor, first resource availability data, the first resource availability data including first work schedules of first agents expected to work during the first work period;
scheduling, by the processor, first resources for the first work period based on the statistics regarding the expected incoming interaction load and the first resource availability data;
scheduling, by the processor, a first routing strategy to be executed at an onset of the first work period;
in response to detecting the onset of the first work period, executing, by the processor, the first scheduled routing strategy for routing a first interaction to one of the first resources during the first work period according to the first routing strategy;
retrieving, by the processor, updated statistics regarding an expected incoming interaction load during a second work period different from the first work period;
retrieving, by the processor, second resource availability data, the second resource availability data including second work schedules of second agents expected to work during the second work period;
scheduling, by the processor, second resources for the second work period based on the updated statistics regarding the expected incoming interaction load and the second resource availability data;
scheduling, by the processor, a second routing strategy to be automatically executed by a routing server at an onset of the second work period, the second routing strategy being different from the first routing strategy; and
in response to detecting the onset of the second work period, invoking the routing server, by the processor, the second scheduled routing strategy for routing a second interaction to one of the second resources during the second work period according to the second routing strategy.

11. The routing method of claim 10 , wherein the scheduling the first resources for the first work period includes creating, by the processor, work assignments for the first agents during the first work period.

12. The routing method of claim 10 , wherein the scheduling the second resources for the second work period includes creating, by the processor, work assignments for the second agents during the second work period.

13. The routing method of claim 10 , wherein scheduling of the second routing strategy include decomposing, by the processor, the first routing strategy into a plurality of rules, and generating, by the processor, the second routing strategy based on the reordered plurality of rules.

14. The routing method of claim 10 , wherein the first routing strategy comprises a plurality of rules, and the scheduling of the second routing strategy include modifying the plurality of rules by inserting or changing, by the processor, a time variable of at least one of the rules, and generating, by the processor, the second routing strategy based on the modified plurality of rules.

15. The routing method of claim 14 , wherein the time variable comprises a callback time period.

16. The routing method of claim 10 , wherein the incoming interaction load comprises at least one of voice interactions, text interactions, Web requests, or emails.

17. The routing method of claim 10 , wherein the first agents and the second agents comprise at least one of live agents or automated attendants.

Assignees

• Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc

Inventors

• Mccord Alan Wayne

Classifications

• H04M3/5238 Primary

  with waiting time or load prediction arrangements · CPC title

• H04L12/66 Primary

  Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways · CPC title

• H04M3/5183

  Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements · CPC title

• G06Q10/1093

  Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups · CPC title

• H04M7/006

  Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer (H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42) · CPC title