System and Method for Multi-Week Scheduling

1 . A computer-implemented method of generating a schedule for a worker in a customer center for a scheduling period, the method comprising:

ordering a set of slots in the scheduling period to be bound to worker shifts;

binding a first portion of the worker shifts within a domain to the ordered set of slots to produce a first schedule having a first evaluation factor; and

comparing the first evaluation factor to a second evaluation factor; and

outputting a selected schedule based on the comparison.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second evaluation factor is a pre-determined threshold.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second evaluation factors are numeric values, the method further comprising:

binding a second portion of worker shifts within the domain to the ordered set of slots to produce another schedule having the second evaluation factor; and

selecting the current or the another schedule based on which of the first and second evaluation factors has the greater value.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first evaluation factor describes a degree to which the current schedule conforms to a criteria, the criteria associated with the worker shifts.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing the first evaluation factor with a best score; and

updating the best score based on the comparison.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

repeating the binding and comparing steps at least twice to select a schedule having the best evaluation factor.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ordering comprises:

ordering each slot in the set of slots according to how well each slot improves the score of the current schedule.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ordering comprises:

ordering each slot in the set of slots according to a number of allowable start times associated with each worker shift.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the ordering comprises:

selecting one of the slots at random to be the first in the ordered set.

selecting another one of the slots which occurs before the first to be the second in the ordered set; and

selecting another one of the slots which occurs after the first to be the third in the ordered set.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting the current schedule by unbinding a portion of the bound shifts.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting the current schedule by unbinding a portion of the bound shifts;

determining whether the adjusted scheduled violates a work rule; and

adding another one of the work shifts to the portion of the worker shifts, if the work rule is violated.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

unbinding a portion of the bound shifts after producing the score of the current schedule.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting at random a portion of the bound shifts, after producing the score of the current schedule; and

unbinding the selected portion of the bound shifts.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a bound shift such that removal of the at least one bound shift reduces the score of the current schedule less than removal of another bound shift; and

unbinding the identified bound shift.

15 . A computer-implemented method of scheduling a worker in a customer center for a scheduling period, the method comprising:

binding one worker shift within a portion of worker shifts to one of a set of slots;

updating a plurality of counters in accordance with the binding, each counter having a corresponding work rule, each work rule having a target;

computing a score for the current schedule based on a difference between each counter and the target for the corresponding work rule;

comparing the score with a best score;

updating the best score based on the comparison; and

repeating the steps for a number of iterations until each of the set of slots is bound, to produce a current schedule.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein each work rule specifies a target and a rule period, the method further comprising:

determining an amount of intersection between the scheduling period and the rule period of a work rule applicable to the scheduling period; and

adjusting the target of the applicable work rule by prorating the specified target in accordance with the amount of intersection.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the determining is performed if the applicable work rule period ends after the scheduling period.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

adding another one of the worker shifts to the portion of the worker shifts, after producing the score of the current schedule.

19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

randomly selecting one of the work shifts; and

adding the randomly selected one of the worker shifts to the portion of the worker shifts, after producing the score of the current schedule.

20 . A system of scheduling a worker in a customer center for a scheduling period, the system comprising:

logic configured to order a set of slots in the scheduling period to be bound to worker shifts; and

logic configured to bind a selected portion of worker shifts within a domain to the ordered set of slots to produce a current schedule having a score, wherein the logic configured to bind comprises:

logic configured to bind one worker shift in the selected portion of worker shifts to one slot in the ordered set of slots;

logic configured to update a plurality of counters in accordance with the bound worker shift, each counter having a corresponding work rule, each work rule having a target; and

logic configured to compute the score of the current schedule based on a difference between each counter and the target for the corresponding work rule.

21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein each work rule specifies a target and a rule period, the system further comprising:

logic configured to determine an amount of intersection between the scheduling period and the rule period of a work rule applicable to the scheduling period;

logic configured to prorate the specified target in accordance with the amount of intersection;

logic configured to determine a time left to satisfy the applicable work rule;

logic configured to compare the prorated target to a random fractional number if the prorated target is fractional;

logic configured to round the prorated target to a whole number based on a comparison of the random fractional number and the time left to satisfy; and

logic configured to assign the whole number to the target associated with the current or the following scheduling period, respectively, based on the comparison.

22 . The system of claim 21 , the system further comprising:

logic configured to assign the whole number to the target associated with the current scheduling period, if the random fractional number is less than or equal to the time left to satisfy; and

logic configured to assign the whole number to the target associated with the following scheduling period, if the random fractional number is less than or equal to the time left to satisfy.

23 . The system of claim 20 , further comprising:

logic configured to select the portion of the worker shifts at random from a domain of worker shifts.

24 . The system of claim 20 , further comprising:

logic configured to select all slots in the scheduling period to be the portion of the worker shifts when at least one work rule associated with the worker extends past the scheduling period.

25 . The system of claim 20 , further comprising:

logic configured to select slots in a period shorter than the scheduling period to be the portion of the worker shifts when no work rule associated with the worker extends past the scheduling period.