Method and apparatus for anticipating and planning communication-center resources based on evaluation of events waiting in a communication center master queue

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-RE46852-E
Application number	US-201514931820-A
Country	US
Kind code	E1
Filing date	Nov 3, 2015
Priority date	Aug 27, 2002
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

A software application for recommending workforce resource allocation in a communication center based on requirements of events represented in a communication-center queue has a first interface for accessing information from the queue; a second interface for accessing information from a data source about workforce availability and state information; a processing component for processing queue information and workforce information; and a message generation and delivery component for generating a workforce allocation recommendation based on processing results and sending the recommendation to a target entity. In a preferred embodiment, the application periodically accesses the queue and the data source to obtain the most recent information for processing and generates periodic recommendations based on real-time requirements of events and availability states of resources, the recommendations sent ahead of time before the resources are required.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computerized server providing a functional system for allocating workforce resources, the computerized server comprising:
processor; and
memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory has stored therein software instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:
receive a first event and a second event, wherein the first event utilizes a first media type and the second event utilizes a second media type different from the first media type;
astore information on the first event and the second event in a single virtual multimedia queue, the single virtual multimedia queue managing multimedia communication events for assignment to workforce resources;
access the single virtual multimedia queue for retrieving information on the first and second events;

software intelligence executing from memory of the computerized server for allocatingallocate workforce resources for dealing with the queuedfirst and second events;, wherein the workforce resources include at least live agents and automated systems for responding to the first and second events; and the intelligence accessesaccess information from the queue including at least media type of the first and second events, the workforce resources and requirements necessary to service each of the first and second events and; access information from a data source concerning workforce availability and state information, and wherein the workforce availability and state information includes presence of the workforce resources for a plurality of different media types, wherein a first resource of the workforce resources is detected as available for the first media type and unavailable for the second media type, and a second resource of the workforce resources is detected as unavailable for the first media type and available for the second media type; periodically generatesgenerate a recommendation for workforce allocation required to service the first and second events in the queue based on all of the information accessed; and periodically repeat the generating of the recommendation for managing the workforce resources relative to the first and second events in real-time; and
a router coupled to the server for transmitting a first notification over a data network to route the first event to the first resource and a second notification over the data network to route the second event to the second resource, wherein in response to the first and second notifications, a connection is established with equipment associated with respectively the first and second resources.

2. The system server of claim 1 wherein the multimedia communication events include at least connection-oriented-switched-telephony (COST) calls, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, e-mails, voice-mails, video calls, session initiation events, and Instant Message Presence Protocol (IMPP)-based communication events.

3. The system server of claim 1 wherein the event information from the queue further includes, at least event origination identification, requested routing destination identification, and event purpose information.

4. The system server of claim 1 further comprising a, wherein the server hosting hosts the intelligence and instructions, the server further comprising a second server hosting the queue, wherein the servers are linked in a the data network.

5. The system server of claim 1 further comprising a, wherein the server hosting hosts the intelligence and instructions, the server further comprising a second server hosting the data source, the servers linked in a the data network.

6. The system server of claim 1 wherein the data source serves information according to a presence protocol.

7. The system server of claim 1 wherein the intelligence performs memory further includes instructions that cause the processor to perform a comparative analysis between the queue information and the workforce availability and state information and uses the use results of the comparative analysis to generate the recommendation.

8. The system server of claim 1 wherein the recommendation is an IMPP-based message.

9. The system server of claim 1 wherein the recommendation is sent to a supervising person responsible for workforce allocation.

10. The system server of claim 1 wherein the recommendation is sent to an automated system and the recommendation is a direct order to that system.

11. The system server of claim 1 further comprising accessing information from a historical database for the purpose of generating probability statistics concerning incoming events yet to be registered into the queue.

12. The system server of claim 11 wherein the generated probability statistics are used to help generate recommendations.

13. The system server of claim 1 wherein the information from the data source comprises availability information, individual agent schedule information, and resolute activity state information.

14. A method for allocating workforce resources executed by a computerized server having a memory and a processor, the processor executing an instance of software from the memory providing a method for allocating workforce resources, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving, by a processor, a first event and a second event, wherein the first event utilizes a first media type and the second event utilizes a second media type different from the first media type;
(a) accessingstoring, by the processor, information from aon the first event and the second event in a single virtual multimedia queue, the single virtual multimedia queue managing multimedia communication events for assignment to workforce resources, the information including at least media type of queuedthe first and second events, workforce resources, including at least live agents and automated systems for servicing the events and requirements necessary to service each of the first and second events, wherein the workforce resources include at least live agents and automated systems for servicing the events;
accessing, by the processor, the single virtual multimedia queue for retrieving information on the first and second events;
(b) accessing information from a data source concerning workforce availability and state information, wherein the workforce availability and state information includes presence of the workforce resources for a plurality of different media types, wherein a first resource of the workforce resources is detected as available for the first media type and unavailable for the second media type, and a second resource of the workforce resources is detected as unavailable for the first media type and available for the second media type;
(c) generating a recommendation for workforce allocation required to service the first and second events in the queue based on all of the information accessed;
periodically repeating the generating of the recommendation for managing the workforce resources relative to the first and second events in real-time; and
transmitting, by a router, a first notification over a data network to route the first event to the first resource and a second notification over the data network to route the second event to the second resource; and
in response to the first and second notifications, establishing a connection with equipment associated with respectively the first and second resources.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein in step (c) the recommendation is a message.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein in step (a) the information further comprises, at least requested event destination identification, event origination ident

Assignees

• Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories Inc
• Alcatel Lucent

Inventors

• Petrovykh Yevgeniy

Classifications

• H04Q2213/1305

  Software aspects · CPC title

• H04M3/5238

  with waiting time or load prediction arrangements · CPC title

• H04L51/00

  User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail · CPC title

• H04Q2213/13335

  Simulation, emulation · CPC title

• H04Q2213/13103

  Memory · CPC title