Techniques for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11269682-B2
Application number	US-201916717724-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2019
Priority date	Dec 11, 2017
Publication date	Mar 8, 2022
Grant date	Mar 8, 2022

Abstract

Techniques for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system comprising: determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the task assignment system, a priority for each of a plurality of tasks; determining, by the at least one computer processor, an agent available for assignment to any of the plurality of tasks; and assigning, by the at least one computer processor, a first task of the plurality of tasks to the agent using a task assignment strategy, wherein the first task has a lower-priority than a second task of the plurality of tasks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for pairing in a contact center system comprising:
determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, a first threshold time based on a first number of contacts in a set of contacts,
pairing, by the at least one computer processor, a first contact of the set of contacts based on a first pairing strategy;
after the pairing of the first contact and before another contact is received by the contact center system, determining, by the at least one computer processor, a second threshold time different from the first threshold time and based on a second number of contacts in a remainder of the set of contacts;
determining, by the at least one computer processor, whether a second contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time; and
pairing, by the at least one computer processor, the second contact based on determining that the second contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time and based on a second pairing strategy;
wherein the first contact and the second contact are waiting on hold connected to the contact center system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time limit according to a service level agreement.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises an expected amount of wait time before pairing the first contact based on the first pairing strategy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time having a greatest value in a plurality of wait times.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising pairing, by the at least one computer processor, a third contact of the remainder of the set of contacts based on determining that the second contact of the set of contacts does not exceed the second threshold time.

6. A method for pairing in a contact center system comprising:
determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, a first threshold time based on a first number of contacts in a set of contacts waiting on to be paired based on a first pairing strategy in the contact center system;
receiving, by the at least one computer processor, a new contact by the contact center system;
after the receiving and before any contacts of the set of contacts are paired based on the first pairing strategy in the contact center system, determining, by the at least one computer processor, a second threshold time different from the first threshold time and based on a second number of contacts including the set of contacts and the new contact;
determining, by the at least one computer processor, whether a first contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time; and
pairing, by the at least one computer processor, the first contact of the set of contacts based on determining that the first contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time and based on a second pairing strategy.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time limit according to a service level agreement.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises an expected amount of wait time before pairing the first contact based on the second pairing strategy.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time having a greatest value in a plurality of wait times.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising pairing, by the at least one computer processor, a second contact of the set of contacts based on determining that the first contact of the set of contacts does not exceed the second threshold time.

11. A system for pairing in a contact center system comprising:
at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
determine a first threshold time based on a first number of contacts in a set of contacts,
pair a first contact of the set of contacts based on a first pairing strategy;
after the pairing of the first contact and before another contact is received by the contact center system, determine a second threshold time different from the first threshold time and based on a second number of contacts in a remainder of the set of contacts;
determine whether a second contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time; and
pair the second contact based on determining that the second contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time and based on a second pairing strategy;
wherein the first contact and the second contact are waiting on hold connected to the contact center system.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time limit according to a service level agreement.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises an expected amount of wait time before pairing the first contact based on the first pairing strategy.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time having a greatest value in a plurality of wait times.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to pair a third contact of the remainder of the set of contacts based on determining that the second contact of the set of contacts does not exceed the second threshold time.

16. A system for pairing in a contact center system comprising:
at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
determine a first threshold time based on a first number of contacts in a set of contacts waiting on to be paired based on a first pairing strategy in the contact center system;
receive a new contact by the contact center system;
after the receiving and before any contacts of the set of contacts are paired based on the first pairing strategy in the contact center system, determine a second threshold time different from the first threshold time and based on a second number of contacts including the set of contacts and the new contact;
determine whether a first contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time; and
pair the first contact of the set of contacts based on determining that the first contact of the set of contacts exceeds the second threshold time and based on a second pairing strategy.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time limit according to a service level agreement.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises an expected amount of wait time before pairing the first contact based on the second pairing strategy.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first threshold time and the second threshold time comprises a wait time having a greatest value in a p

Assignees

• Afiniti Ltd

Inventors

• Kan Ittai
• Chishti Zia
• Khatri Vikash
• Elmore James Edward

Classifications

• H04M3/523

  with call distribution or queueing · CPC title

• H04M3/5238

  with waiting time or load prediction arrangements · CPC title

• H04M3/51

  Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention {, e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing} · CPC title

• G06F9/485

  Task life-cycle, e.g. stopping, restarting, resuming execution (G06F9/4881 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F9/4806 Primary

  Task transfer initiation or dispatching · CPC title