Granted Patent B1

US 8,553,873 · App. 13/688,716 · Granted Oct 8, 2013

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A method comprising the steps of:

providing campaign parameters for an outbound communication campaign, the campaign parameters comprising (1) a time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) a target value identifying a number of an outbound communication result to occur over the time period;

selecting a historical dataset comprising historical data on the outbound communication result based on past outbound communications;

generating an outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters by at least one computer processor, wherein the outbound forecast comprises a forecasted number of the outbound communication result to be achieved over the time period in an attempt to meet the target value;

generating a roster template comprising shifts needed to meet the forecasted number of the outbound communication result;

applying a staff of agents to the shifts of the roster template by the at least one computer processor to produce a schedule defining which agents of the staff of agents are to work during the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out; and

after a part of the outbound communication campaign has been carried out over a portion of the time period:

selecting a second historical dataset comprising performance data on the outbound communication result based on the part of the outbound communication campaign carried out over the portion of the time period;

generating a revised outbound forecast based on the second historical dataset and the campaign parameters by the at least one computer processor, wherein the revised outbound forecast comprises a revised forecasted number of the outbound communication result to be achieved over the time period in the attempt to meet the target value;

generating a revised roster template comprising revised shifts needed to meet the revised forecasted number of the outbound communication result; and

applying the staff of agents to the revised shifts of the revised roster template by the at least one computer processor to produce a revised schedule revising which agents of the staff of agents are to work during a remainder of the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out, wherein at least one of the roster template and the revised roster template further comprises at least two of rules defining types of shifts required during the outbound communication campaign, a corresponding number of each shift type required during the outbound communication campaign, types of agents required during each shift type, a number of each agent type required during each shift type, and skills required by each agent type.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outbound communication result for the outbound call campaign comprises one of: (1) a total number of communications that need to be made during the time period for the outbound communication campaign; (2) a number of communications that need to be answered during the time period for the outbound communication campaign; (3) a number of communications that need to be answered by a right party; and (4) a number of communications answered by the right party that result in a targeted activity being completed.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the communications comprise one or more of telephone calls, text messages, emails, video chats, and chat messages.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein after the part of the outbound communication campaign has been carried out over the portion of the time period, the method further comprises the step of providing revised campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign by revising at least one of (1) the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) the target value identifying the number of the outbound communication result to occur over the time period, and the revised outbound forecast is based on the second historical dataset and the revised campaign parameters in place of the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign.

5. A tangible computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions for causing at least one computer processor to:

receive campaign parameters for an outbound communication campaign, the campaign parameters comprising (1) a time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) a target value identifying a number of an outbound communication result to occur over the time period;

receive a historical dataset comprising historical data on the outbound communication result based on past outbound communications;

generate an outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign, wherein the outbound forecast comprises a forecasted number of the outbound communication result to be achieved over the time period in an attempt to meet the target value;

generate a roster template comprising shifts needed to meet the forecasted number of the outbound communication result;

apply a staff of agents to the shifts of the roster template to produce a schedule defining which agents of the staff of agents are to work during the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out; and

after a part of the outbound communication campaign has been carried out over a portion of the time period:

receive a second historical dataset comprising performance data on the outbound communication result based on the part of the outbound communication campaign carried out over the portion of the time period;

generate a revised outbound forecast based on the second historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign, wherein the revised outbound forecast comprises a revised forecasted number of the outbound communication result to be achieved over the time period in the attempt to meet the target value;

generate a revised roster template comprising revised shifts needed to meet the revised forecasted number of the outbound communication result; and

apply the staff of agents to the revised shifts of the revised roster template to produce a revised schedule revising which agents of the staff of agents are to work during a remainder of the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out, wherein at least one of the roster template and the revised roster template further comprises at least two of rules defining types of shifts required during the outbound communication campaign, a corresponding number of each shift type required during the outbound communication campaign, types of agents required during each shift type, a number of each agent type required during each shift type, and skills required by each agent type.

6. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the outbound communication result for the outbound call campaign comprises one of: (1) a total number of communications that need to be made during the time period for the outbound communication campaign; (2) a number of communications that need to be answered during the time period for the outbound communication campaign; (3) a number of communications that need to be answered by a right party; and (4) a number of communications answered by the right party that result in a targeted activity being completed.

7. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the communications comprise one or more of telephone calls, text messages, emails, video chats, and chat messages.

8. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein after the part of the outbound communication campaign has been carried out over the portion of the time period, the computer-executable instructions are configured for causing the at least one computer processor to receive revised campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign, the revised campaign parameters comprising a revision of at least one of the (1) the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) the target value identifying the number of the outbound communication result to occur over the time period, and the revised outbound forecast is based on the second historical dataset and the revised campaign parameters in place of the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign.

9. A system comprising at least one computer processor configured to:

receive campaign parameters for an outbound communication campaign, the campaign parameters comprising (1) a time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) a target value identifying a number of an outbound communication result to occur over the time period;

receive a historical dataset comprising historical data on the outbound communication result based on past outbound communications;

generate an outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign, wherein the outbound forecast comprises a forecasted number of the outbound communication result to be achieved over the time period in an attempt to meet the target value;

generating a roster template comprising shifts needed to meet the forecasted number of the outbound communication result;

applying a staff of agents to the shifts of the roster template to produce a schedule defining which agents of the staff of agents are to work during the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out; and

after a part of the outbound communication campaign has been carried out over a portion of the time period:

receive a second historical dataset comprising performance data on the outbound communication result based on the part of the outbound communication campaign carried out over the portion of the time period;

generate a revised outbound forecast based on the second historical dataset and the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign, wherein the revised outbound forecast comprises a revised forecasted number of the outbound communication result to be achieved over the time period in the attempt to meet the target value;

generating a revised roster template comprising revised shifts needed to meet the revised forecasted number of the outbound communication result; and

applying the staff of agents to the revised shifts of the revised roster template to produce a revised schedule revising which agents of the staff of agents are to work during a remainder of the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out, wherein at least one of the roster template and the revised roster template further comprises at least two of rules defining types of shifts required during the outbound communication campaign, a corresponding number of each shift type required during the outbound communication campaign, types of agents required during each shift type, a number of each agent type required during each shift type, and skills required by each agent type.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the outbound communication result for the outbound call campaign comprises one of: (1) a total number of communications that need to be made during the time period for the outbound communication campaign; (2) a number of communications that need to be answered during the time period for the outbound communication campaign; (3) a number of communications that need to be answered by a right party; and (4) a number of communications answered by the right party that result in a targeted activity being completed.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the communications comprise one or more of telephone calls, text messages, emails, video chats, and chat messages.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein after the part of the outbound communication campaign has been carried out over the portion of the time period, the at least one computer processor is configured to receive revised campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign, the revised campaign parameters comprising a revision of at least one of the (1) the time period over which the outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) the target value identifying the number of the outbound communication result to occur over the time period, and the revised outbound forecast is based on the second historical dataset and the revised campaign parameters in place of the campaign parameters for the outbound communication campaign.

13. A method comprising the steps of:

providing campaign parameters for a first outbound communication campaign and a second outbound communication campaign, the campaign parameters for each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign comprising (1) a corresponding time period over which the corresponding outbound communication campaign is to be carried out and (2) a corresponding target value identifying a number of a corresponding outbound communication result to occur over the corresponding time period for the corresponding outbound communication campaign;

selecting a historical dataset based on past outbound communications, the historical dataset comprising historical data on the corresponding outbound communication result for each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign;

generating an outbound forecast based on the historical dataset and the campaign parameters for each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign by at least one computer processor, wherein the outbound forecast comprises a forecasted number of the corresponding outbound communication result to be achieved over the corresponding time period for each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign in an attempt to meet the corresponding target value for the corresponding outbound communication campaign;

generating a roster template comprising shifts needed to meet the forecasted number of the corresponding outbound communication result for at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign;

applying a staff of agents to the shifts of the roster template by the at least one computer processor to produce a schedule defining which agents of the staff of agents are to work during the corresponding time period over which at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign is to be carried out; and

after a part of at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign has been carried out over a portion of the corresponding time period:

selecting a second historical dataset comprising performance data on each of the first outbound communication result and the second outbound communication result based on the part of each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign carried out over the portion of the corresponding time period;

generating a revised outbound forecast based on the second historical dataset and the campaign parameters for each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign by at least one computer processor, wherein the revised outbound forecast comprises a revised forecasted number of the corresponding outbound communication result to be achieved over the corresponding time period for each of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign in the attempt to meet the corresponding target value for the corresponding outbound communication campaign; and

generating a revised roster template comprising revised shifts needed to meet the revised forecasted number of the corresponding outbound communication result for at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign; and

applying the staff of agents to the revised shifts of the revised roster template by the at least one computer processor to produce a revised schedule revising which agents of the staff of agents are to work during a remainder of the corresponding time period over which at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign is to be carried out, wherein at least one of the roster template and the revised roster template further comprises at least two of rules defining types of shifts required during at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign, a corresponding number of each shift type required during at least one of the first outbound communication campaign and the second outbound communication campaign, types of agents required during each shift type, a number of each agent type required during each shift type, and skills required by each agent type.

Assignments (12)