IP Library Granted Patent US 11,165,908
Granted Patent B2
US 11,165,908 · App. 16/915,139 · Granted Nov 2, 2021

Techniques for benchmarking pairing strategies in a contact center system

Inventor: Zia Chishti (Washington, DC)
Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
H04M3/5232H04M3/5141H04M3/5233H04M3/5235H04M2201/18H04M2201/36
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,165,908
App. No.
16/915,139
Granted
Nov 2, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

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.

Claims (60)

1. A method comprising:

collecting, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, first performance information for a first pairing strategy operating in a queue of a contact center system;

collecting, by the at least one computer processor, second performance information for a second paring strategy operating in the queue of the contact center system, wherein the first and second performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;

based on a contact identifier, selecting, by the at least one computer processor, 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 pairing strategy based on the contact identifier, 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 contact identifier is a phone number.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact identifier is a part of a phone number.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

based on a second contact identifier, selecting another pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;

after selecting the other pairing strategy based on the second contact identifier, pairing a second contact to an agent in the contact center system using the other pairing strategy selected based on the second contact identifier; and

instructing the switch in the contact center system to connect the second contact with the agent.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is determined based only on the contact identifier.

8. A system comprising:

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:

store first performance information for a first pairing strategy operating in a queue of a contact center system and second performance information for a second paring strategy operating in the queue of the contact center system, wherein the first and second performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;

based on a contact identifier, 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 pairing strategy based on the contact identifier, 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.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the contact identifier is a phone number.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the contact identifier is a part of a phone number.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

based on a second contact identifier, select another pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;

after selecting the other pairing strategy based on the second contact identifier, pair a second contact to an agent in the contact center system using the other pairing strategy selected based on the second contact identifier; and

instruct the switch in the contact center system to connect the second contact with the agent.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is independent of an agent utilization measurement of the contact center system.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the pairing strategies included in the set of pairing strategies is a behavioral pairing strategy.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is determined based only on the contact identifier.

15. 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 contact identifier, 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 operating in a queue of a contact center system has performed better than the second pairing strategy operating in the queue of the contact center system;

after selecting the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy based on the contact identifier, 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.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the contact identifier is a phone number.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the contact identifier is a part of a phone number.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further caused to operate so as to:

based on a second contact identifier, select another pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies comprising the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy;

after selecting the other pairing strategy based on the second contact identifier, pair a second contact to an agent in the contact center system using the other pairing strategy selected based on the second contact identifier; and

instruct the switch in the contact center system to connect the second contact with the agent.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein selecting the pairing strategy from the set of pairing strategies is independent of an agent utilization measurement of the contact center system.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the pairing strategies included in the set of pairing strategies is a behavioral pairing strategy.

21. The method of claim 6 , wherein:

the behavioral pairing strategy uses an artificial intelligence (AI) model in a process for pairing contacts with agents, and

the method further comprises, after instructing the switch in the contact center system to connect the contact with the agent, obtaining additional performance information for the selected pairing strategy and updating the AI model using the additional performance information.

22. A method comprising:

collecting, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, first performance information for a first pairing strategy operating in a queue of a contact center system;

collecting, by the at least one computer processor, second performance information for a second paring strategy operating in the queue of the contact center system, wherein the first and second performance information indicates that the first pairing strategy has performed better than the second pairing strategy;

based on a first contact identifier, selecting, by the at least one computer processor, 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 pairing strategy based on the contact identifier, 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 contact identifier, pairing a second contact with a second agent using a pairing strategy different than the pairing strategy selected based on the first contact identifier; 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.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.

25. The system of claim 8 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 15 , wherein the set of pairing strategies consists of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy.

Assignments (7)
RELEASE AND TERMINATION OF PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 16, 2025
From: VCP CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC
To: AFINITI, LTD.
Reel/Frame 070866/0614 →
PATENT ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 3, 2025
From: AFINITI, LTD.
To: AFINITI AI HOLDINGS LLC
Reel/Frame 069816/0656 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 3, 2025
From: AFINITI AI LIMITED
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 069816/0858 →
PATENT ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 3, 2025
From: AFINITI AI HOLDINGS LLC
To: AFINITI AI LIMITED
Reel/Frame 069817/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 26, 2024
From: AFINITI, LTD.
To: VCP CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC
Reel/Frame 068793/0261 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS ON PAGE ONE OF THE ASSIGNMENT PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 054204 FRAME: 0387. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 24, 2020
From: AFINITI EUROPE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
To: AFINITI, LTD.
Reel/Frame 054700/0324 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 8, 2020
From: AFINITI EUROPE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
To: AFINITI, LTD.
Reel/Frame 054204/0387 →
Continuity (9)
Continuation 16413146 · May 15, 2019
Continuation 15691163 · Aug 30, 2017
Continuation 15221698 · Jul 28, 2016
Continuation In Part 15131915 · Apr 18, 2016
Continuation In Part 14727271 · Jun 1, 2015
Continuation 14472998 · Aug 29, 2014
Continuation 12266446 · Nov 6, 2008
Continuation In Part 12021251 · Jan 28, 2008
Related Publication 20200329151A1 · Oct 15, 2020