Techniques for benchmarking pairing strategies in a contact center system
Techniques for benchmarking pairing strategies in a contact center system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for benchmarking pairing strategies in a contact center system comprising: determining for each contact of a plurality of contacts, an associated plurality of historical contact assignments; determining, for each contact, an associated outcome value; partitioning, for each contact, the associated plurality of historical assignments into a first associated subset assigned using a first pairing strategy and a second associated subset assigned using a second pairing strategy; determining, for each contact, a first portion of the associated outcome value attributable to the first associated subset and a second portion of the associated outcome value attributable to the second associated subset; outputting a difference in performance between the first and second pairing strategies according to the first and second associated portions of the associated outcome value for each contact.
1. A method comprising:
collecting first performance information for a first pairing strategy;
collecting second performance information for a second paring strategy, wherein the performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;
based on a random number, selecting, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a pairing strategy from a set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;
after selecting the first pairing strategy or the second paring strategy based on the random number, pairing, by the at least one computer processor, a contact to an agent in the contact center system using the selected pairing strategy; and
instructing a switch in the contact center system to connect the contact with the agent.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random number is generated by a pseudorandom number generator.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on an identifier or part of the identifier of the contact.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on a phone number or part of the phone number of the contact.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on an arrival time of the contact.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on a second random number, selecting a pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;
after selecting the pairing strategy based on the second random number, pairing a second contact to an agent in the contact center system using the pairing strategy selected based on the second random number; and
instructing the switch in the contact center system to connect the second contact with the agent.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is independent of an agent utilization measurement of the contact center system.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the pairing strategies included in the set of pairing strategies is a behavioral pairing strategy.
9. A system comprising:
a data store for storing first performance information for a first pairing strategy and second performance information for a second paring strategy, wherein the performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;
at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
based on a random number, select a pairing strategy from a set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;
after selecting the first pairing strategy or the second paring strategy based on the random number, pair a contact to an agent in the contact center system using the selected pairing strategy; and
instruct a switch in the contact center system to connect the contact with the agent.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the random number is generated by a pseudorandom number generator.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on an identifier or part of the identifier of the contact.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on a phone number or part of the phone number of the contact.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on an arrival time of the contact.
14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:
based on a second random number, select a pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;
after selecting the pairing strategy based on the second random number, pair a second contact to an agent in the contact center system using the pairing strategy selected based on the second random number; and
instruct the switch in the contact center system to connect the second contact with the agent.
15. The system of claim 9 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is independent of an agent utilization measurement of the contact center system.
16. The system of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the pairing strategies included in the set of pairing strategies is a behavioral pairing strategy.
17. An article of manufacture 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 communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system and thereby cause the at least one computer processor to operate so as to:
based on a random number, select a pairing strategy from a set of pairing strategies comprising a first pairing strategy and a second pairing strategy, wherein performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;
after selecting the first pairing strategy or the second paring strategy based on the random number, pair a contact to an agent in the contact center system using the selected pairing strategy; and
instruct a switch in the contact center system to connect the contact with the agent.
18. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the random number is generated by a pseudorandom number generator.
19. The article of manufacture of claim 18 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on an identifier or part of the identifier of the contact.
20. The article of manufacture of claim 18 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on a phone number or part of the phone number of the contact.
21. The article of manufacture of claim 18 , wherein a seed for the pseudorandom number generator is based on an arrival time of the contact.
22. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further caused to operate so as to:
select a second pairing strategy of the plurality of pairing strategies based on a second random number; and
pair a second contact to the agent in the contact center system using the second pairing strategy.
23. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is independent of an agent utilization measurement of the contact center system.
24. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein at least one of the pairing strategies included in the set of pairing strategies is a behavioral pairing strategy.
25. The system of claim 16 , wherein
the behavioral pairing strategy uses an artificial intelligence (AI) model in a process for pairing contacts with agents, and
the system is configured to update the AI model using additional performance information for the selected pairing strategy that was obtained after the switch in the contact center system was instructed to connect the contact with the agent.
26. A method comprising:
collecting first performance information for a first pairing strategy;
collecting second performance information for a second paring strategy, wherein the performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;
based on a first random number, selecting, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a pairing strategy from a set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;
after selecting the first pairing strategy or the second paring strategy based on the random number, pairing a first contact with a first agent using the selected pairing strategy;
after pairing the first contact with the first agent using the selected pairing strategy, instructing a switch in the contact center system to connect the first contact with the first agent;
after pairing the first contact with the first agent using the selected pairing strategy, based on a second random number, pairing a second contact with a second agent using a pairing strategy different than the pairing strategy selected based on the first random number; and
after pairing the second contact with the second agent, instructing the switch in the contact center system to connect the second contact with the second agent.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.
28. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.
29. The system of claim 9 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.
30. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.