Techniques for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11425248-B2
Application number	US-202016921649-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2020
Priority date	Jan 28, 2008
Publication date	Aug 23, 2022
Grant date	Aug 23, 2022

Abstract

Techniques for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising: determining a first ordering of a plurality of agents according to a behavioral pairing strategy with a balanced agent utilization; determining a second ordering of the plurality of agents according to a performance-based routing strategy with an unbalanced agent utilization; determining a third ordering of the plurality of agents according to a combination of the first ordering and the second ordering having a skewed agent utilization between the balanced agent utilization and the unbalanced agent utilization; and outputting a hybrid behavioral pairing model based on the third ordering for connecting a contact to an agent of the plurality of agents in the contact center system.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising:
ordering, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to perform behavioral pairing operations in the contact center system, a plurality of contacts available for connection to an agent according to a respective score or range of scores representing how each contact of the plurality of contacts contributes to a higher performance of the contact center system;
ordering, by the at least one computer processor, a plurality of agents available for connection to a contact according to at least one performance metric to be optimized in the contact center system;
applying, by the at least one computer processor, a hybridization function to the ordering of the plurality of agents to bias a contact-agent pairing strategy toward a skewed agent utilization;
selecting, by the at least one computer processor, a contact-agent pairing from the plurality of contacts and the plurality of agents based at least in part on the biased contact-agent pairing strategy; and
establishing, by the at least one computer processor, in a switch of the contact center system, a connection between the contact and the agent in the contact-agent pairing based upon the selecting.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ordering of the plurality of contacts comprises determining, by the at least one computer processor, a bandwidth for a contact type of the plurality of contacts proportionate to a frequency at which contacts of the contact type become available for assignment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the hybridization function comprises controllably targeting, by the at least one computer processor, an unbalanced agent utilization.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein applying the hybridization function comprises determining, by the at least one computer processor, disproportionate bandwidth for each of the one or more agents.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected contact-agent pairing results in a worse expected instant outcome than other non-selected contact-agent pairings.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each successively higher-ordered agent of the plurality of agents is more likely to be selected than respectively lower-ordered agents.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each successively higher-ordered agent of the plurality of agents is targeted to have a lower average waiting time than respectively lower-ordered agents.

8. A system for behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising:
at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to perform behavioral pairing operations in the contact center system, wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to:
order a plurality of contacts available for connection to an agent according to a respective score or range of scores representing how each contact of the plurality of contacts contributes to a higher performance of the contact center system;
order a plurality of agents available for connection to a contact according to at least one performance metric to be optimized in the contact center system;
apply a hybridization function to the ordering of the plurality of agents to bias a contact-agent pairing strategy toward a skewed agent utilization;
select a contact-agent pairing from the plurality of contacts and the plurality of agents based at least in part on the biased contact-agent pairing strategy; and
establish, in a switch of the contact center system, a connection between the contact and the agent in the contact-agent pairing based upon the selecting.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the ordering of the plurality of contacts comprises determining a bandwidth for a contact type of the plurality of contacts proportionate to a frequency at which contacts of the contact type become available for assignment.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein applying the hybridization function comprises controllably targeting an unbalanced agent utilization.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein applying the hybridization function comprises determining disproportionate bandwidth for each of the one or more agents.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the selected contact-agent pairing results in a worse expected instant outcome than other non-selected contact-agent pairings.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein each successively higher-ordered agent of the plurality of agents is more likely to be selected than respectively lower-ordered agents.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein each successively higher-ordered agent of the plurality of agents is targeted to have a lower average waiting time than respectively lower-ordered agents.

15. An article of manufacture for behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising:
a non-transitory processor readable medium; and
instructions stored on the medium;
wherein the instructions are configured to be readable from the medium by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to perform behavioral pairing operations in the contact center system and thereby cause the at least one computer processor to operate so as to:
order a plurality of contacts available for connection to an agent according to a respective score or range of scores representing how each contact of the plurality of contacts contributes to a higher performance of the contact center system;
order a plurality of agents available for connection to a contact according to at least one performance metric to be optimized in the contact center system;
apply a hybridization function to the ordering of the plurality of agents to bias a contact-agent pairing strategy toward a skewed agent utilization;
select a contact-agent pairing from the plurality of contacts and the plurality of agents based at least in part on the biased contact-agent pairing strategy; and
establish, in a switch of the contact center system, a connection between the contact and the agent in the contact-agent pairing based upon the selecting.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the ordering of the plurality of contacts comprises determining a bandwidth for a contact type of the plurality of contacts proportionate to a frequency at which contacts of the contact type become available for assignment.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein applying the hybridization function comprises controllably targeting an unbalanced agent utilization.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the selected contact-agent pairing results in a worse expected instant outcome than other non-selected contact-agent pairings.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein each successively higher-ordered agent of the plurality of agents is more likely to be selected than respectively lower-ordered agents.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein each successively higher-ordered agent of the plurality of agents is targeted to have a lower average waiting time than respectively lower-ordered agents.

Assignees

• Afiniti Ltd

Inventors

• Chishti Zia
• Khatri Vikash

Classifications

• H04M2203/402

  Agent or workforce management · CPC title

• H04M2201/18

  Comparators · CPC title

• H04M2203/555

  Statistics, e.g. about subscribers but not being call statistics · CPC title

• H04M3/5232 Primary

  Call distribution algorithms · CPC title

• H04M2201/36

  Memories · CPC title