SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCHEDULING DEFERRED QUEUES
A system for scheduling deferred communications is provided. A workload requirement for a deferred queue for each interval of a set of intervals is determined. Each workload may indicate the amount of work predicted for the associated interval. A staffing requirement for an immediate queue is received and may indicate the number of agents needed to handle the immediate communications for the same intervals. The system, for each interval, may consider the number of agents needed for the interval in the immediate queue. Because the deferred communications do not have to be handled at any particular interval, the system may, based on the workloads, schedule agents for the deferred queue where the immediate queue is less busy (a smaller number of agents are scheduled). The goal of the system being to smooth the intervals such that the total number of agents scheduled for each interval across the immediate queue and the deferred queue remains fairly constant.
1 . A method comprising:
receiving a first set of staffing requirements for a first queue by a computing device, wherein the first set of staffing requirements includes a staffing requirement for each interval of a plurality of intervals, and the intervals of the plurality of intervals are ordered;
receiving a workload for each interval of the plurality of intervals for a second queue by the computing device;
generating a first combined set of staffing requirements by, for each interval of the plurality of intervals, generating a combined staffing requirement using the staffing requirement for the interval and the workload for the interval; and
for each interval of the plurality of intervals, when the combined staffing requirement is above an optimal level, distributing at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second queue is a deferred queue associated with deferred communications and the first queue is an immediate queue associated with immediate communications.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
subtracting the first set of staffing requirements from the first combined set of staffing requirements to generate a second set of staffing requirements; and
scheduling one or more agents to the second queue based on the second set of staffing requirements.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the workloads are associated with a goal time and each interval of the plurality of intervals is associated with a duration of time, and distributing at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements comprises:
distributing at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements that is within the goal time measured from the interval to the subsequent interval based on the duration of time associated with each interval.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the goal time is based on a type of a deferred communication associated with the second queue.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the type comprises one or more of e-mail, SMS, or twitter.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second queues are associated with a contact center.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a second set of staffing requirements for a third queue by the computing device; and
generating a second combined set of staffing requirements using the first set of combined staffing requirements and the second set of staffing requirements.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the third queue is a deferred queue.
10 . A system comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
receive a first set of staffing requirements for a first queue, wherein the first set of staffing requirements includes a staffing requirement for each interval of a plurality of intervals, and the intervals of the plurality of intervals are ordered;
receive a workload for each interval of the plurality of intervals for a second queue;
generate a first combined set of staffing requirements by, for each interval of the plurality of intervals, generating a combined staffing requirement using the staffing requirement for the interval and the workload for the interval; and
for each interval of the plurality of intervals, when the combined staffing requirement is above an optimal level, distribute at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the second queue is a deferred queue associated with deferred communications and the first queue is an immediate queue associated with immediate communications.
12 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
subtract the first set of staffing requirements from the first combined set of staffing requirements to generate a second set of staffing requirements; and
schedule one or more agents to the second queue based on the second set of staffing requirements.
13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the workloads are associated with a goal time and each interval of the plurality of intervals is associated with a duration of time, and distributing at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements comprises:
distributing at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements that is within the goal time measured from the interval to the subsequent interval based on the duration of time associated with each interval.
14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the goal time is based on a type of a deferred communication associated with the second queue.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the type comprises one or more of e-mail, SMS, or twitter.
16 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first and second queues are associated with a contact center.
17 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
receive a second set of staffing requirements for a third queue; and
generate a second combined set of staffing requirements using the first set of combined staffing requirements and the second set of staffing requirements.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the third queue is a deferred queue.
19 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
receive a first set of staffing requirements for a first queue, wherein the first set of staffing requirements includes a staffing requirement for each interval of a plurality of intervals, and the intervals of the plurality of intervals are ordered;
receive a workload for each interval of the plurality of intervals for a second queue;
generate a first combined set of staffing requirements by, for each interval of the plurality of intervals, generating a combined staffing requirement using the staffing requirement for the interval and the workload for the interval; and
for each interval of the plurality of intervals, when the combined staffing requirement is above an optimal level, distribute at least a portion of the combined staffing requirement attributable to a workload to the combined staffing requirement of a subsequent interval of the first combined set of staffing requirements.
20 . The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the second queue is a deferred queue associated with deferred communications and the first queue is an immediate queue associated with immediate communications.