Techniques for workforce management in a task assignment system

1. A method for workforce management in a task assignment system comprising:

determining, by at least one computer processor configured to perform workforce management operations in the task assignment system, a first number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

calculating, by the at least one computer processor, a first efficiency level of a first task assignment strategy for the first number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

determining, by the at least one computer processor, a second number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

calculating, by the at least one computer processor, a second efficiency level of a second task assignment strategy for the second number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

comparing, by the at least one computer processor, the first and second efficiency levels;

selecting, by the at least one computer processor, one of the first and second numbers of agents having the higher of the first and second efficiency levels, wherein the selection of one of the first and second numbers of agents causes an expected frequency of the task assignment system entering an L0 state to decrease thereby increasing a choice of agents to be connected in the task assignment system; and

establishing a connection between an agent and a task in a switch of the task assignment system based upon the selected one of the first and second numbers of agents and a corresponding task assignment strategy.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the task assignment system is a contact center system, and wherein the first and second task assignment strategies assign contacts to contact center system agents.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first task assignment strategy is a first-in first-out (FIFO) strategy, and wherein the second task assignment strategy is a behavioral pairing (BP) strategy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second efficiency level is based on an expected gain of using the second task assignment strategy with the second number of agents over using the first task assignment strategy with the first number of agents.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second efficiency level is based on a cost of using the second task assignment strategy instead of the first task assignment strategy.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second number of agents is less than the first number of agents, and wherein calculating the second efficiency level is based on a savings of using the second number of agents instead of the first number of agents.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second efficiency level further comprises calculating, by the at least one computer processor, a cost of losing a portion of a plurality of tasks by estimating an expected loss of each task out of the portion of the plurality of tasks.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the second efficiency level further comprises applying, by the at least one computer processor, a statistical analysis on historical data recorded by the task assignment system.

9. A system for workforce management in a task assignment system comprising:

at least one computer processor configured to perform workforce management operations in the task assignment system, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

determine a first number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

calculate a first efficiency level of a first task assignment strategy for the first number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

determine a second number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

calculate a second efficiency level of a second task assignment strategy for the second number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

compare the first and second efficiency levels;

select one of the first and second numbers of agents having the higher of the first and second efficiency levels, wherein the selection of one of the first and second numbers of agents causes an expected frequency of the task assignment system entering an L0 state to decrease thereby increasing a choice of agents to be connected in the task assignment system; and

establish a connection between an agent and a task in a switch of the task assignment system based upon the selected one of the first and second numbers of agents and a corresponding task assignment strategy.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the task assignment system is a contact center system, and wherein the task assignment strategies assign contacts to contact center system agents.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first task assignment strategy is a first-in first-out (FIFO) strategy, and wherein the second task assignment strategy is a behavioral pairing (BP) strategy.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second efficiency level is calculated based on an expected gain of using the second task assignment strategy with the second number of agents over using the first task assignment strategy with the first number of agents.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second efficiency level is calculated based on a cost of using the second task assignment strategy instead of the first task assignment strategy.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second number of agents is less than the first number of agents, and wherein the second efficiency level is calculated based on a savings of using the second number of agents instead of the first number of agents.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to calculate the second efficiency level further by calculating a cost of losing a portion of a plurality of tasks by estimating an expected loss of each task out of the portion of the plurality of tasks.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to calculate the second efficiency level by applying a statistical analysis on historical data recorded by the task assignment system.

17. An article of manufacture for workforce management in a task assignment system comprising:

a non-transitory computer 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 configured to perform workforce management operations in the task assignment system and thereby cause the at least one computer processor to operate so as to:

determine a first number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

calculate a first efficiency level of a first task assignment strategy for the first number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

determine a second number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

calculate a second efficiency level of a second task assignment strategy for the second number of agents to be employed in the task assignment system;

compare the first and second efficiency levels;

select one of the first and second numbers of agents having the higher of the first and second efficiency levels, wherein the selection of one of the first and second numbers of agents causes an expected frequency of the task assignment system entering an L0 state to decrease thereby increasing a choice of agents to be connected in the task assignment system; and

establish a connection between an agent and a task in a switch of the task assignment system based upon the selected one of the first and second numbers of agents and a corresponding task assignment strategy.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the task assignment system is a contact center system, and wherein the task assignment strategies assign contacts to contact center system agents.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the first task assignment strategy is a first-in first-out (FIFO) strategy, and wherein the second task assignment strategy is a behavioral pairing (BP) strategy.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the second efficiency level is calculated based on an expected gain of using the second task assignment strategy with the second number of agents over using the first task assignment strategy with the first number of agents.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the second efficiency level is calculated based on a cost of using the second task assignment strategy instead of the first task assignment strategy.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the second number of agents is less than the first number of agents, and wherein the second efficiency level is calculated based on a savings of using the second number of agents instead of the first number of agents.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the at least one computer processor further operates so as to calculate the second efficiency level further by calculating a cost of losing a portion of a plurality of tasks by estimating an expected loss of each task out of the portion of the plurality of tasks.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the at least one computer processor further operates so as to calculate the second efficiency level by applying a statistical analysis on historical data recorded by the task assignment system.