Techniques for sharing control of assigning tasks between an external pairing system and a task assignment system with an internal pairing system

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to perform electronic pairing operations in a contact center system, a first plurality of contacts associated with a first pairing strategy;

receiving, by the at least one computer processor, a second plurality of contacts associated with a second pairing strategy;

receiving, by the at least one computer processor, a third plurality of contacts associated with the first pairing strategy;

receiving, by the at least one computer processor, a plurality of available agents;

electronically pairing, by the at least one computer processor, each of the plurality of available agents to contacts of the first or third pluralities of contacts using the first pairing strategy for connection via a switch of the contact center system;

wherein each of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy is configured to cause a connection to be established between a contact and an agent in the switch of the contact center system,

wherein a number of the plurality of available agents is greater than a number of the first plurality of contacts,

wherein the second plurality of contacts is received directly after receiving the first plurality of contacts and before any other contacts are received,

wherein the third plurality of contacts is received after receiving the second plurality of contacts,

wherein any prioritization applied to the third plurality of contacts does not imply an assignment of the third plurality of contacts prior to the second plurality of contacts,

wherein, if an agent of the plurality of agents becomes available after electronically pairing each of the plurality of available agents, electronically pairing said agent to contacts of the first, second, or third pluralities of contacts based on a tie-breaking strategy.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prioritization arises from a number of contacts pending assignment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prioritization arises from an expected wait time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tie-breaking strategy comprises one of a queue length strategy or a queue wait strategy.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tie-breaking strategy comprises:

generating a random number; and

selecting a contact for electronically pairing based on the generated random number.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the random number is weighted according to a proportion of contacts associated with either the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy.

7. A system comprising:

at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to perform electronic pairing operations in a contact center system, wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to:

receive a first plurality of contacts associated with a first pairing strategy;

receive a second plurality of contacts associated with a second pairing strategy;

receive a third plurality of contacts associated with the first pairing strategy;

receive a plurality of available agents;

electronically pair each of the plurality of available agents to contacts of the first or third pluralities of contacts using the first pairing strategy for connection via a switch of the contact center system;

wherein each of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy is configured to cause a connection to be established between a contact and an agent in the switch of the contact center system,

wherein a number of the plurality of available agents is greater than a number of the first plurality of contacts,

wherein the second plurality of contacts is received directly after receiving the first plurality of contacts and before any other contacts are received,

wherein the third plurality of contacts is received after receiving the second plurality of contacts,

wherein any prioritization applied to the third plurality of contacts does not imply an assignment of the third plurality of contacts prior to the second plurality of contacts,

wherein, if an agent of the plurality of agents becomes available after electronically pairing each of the plurality of available agents, electronically pairing said agent to contacts of the first, second, or third pluralities of contacts based on a tie-breaking strategy.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the prioritization arises from a number of contacts pending assignment.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the prioritization arises from an expected wait time.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the tie-breaking strategy comprises one of a queue length strategy or a queue wait strategy.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the tie-breaking strategy comprises:

generating a random number; and

selecting a contact for electronically pairing based on the generated random number.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the random number is weighted according to a proportion of contacts associated with either the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy.

13. An article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory 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 perform electronic pairing operations in a contact center system and thereby cause the at least one computer processor to operate so as to:

receive a first plurality of contacts associated with a first pairing strategy;

receive a second plurality of contacts associated with a second pairing strategy;

receive a third plurality of contacts associated with the first pairing strategy;

receive a plurality of available agents;

electronically pair each of the plurality of available agents to contacts of the first or third pluralities of contacts using the first pairing strategy for connection via a switch of the contact center system;

wherein each of the first pairing strategy and the second pairing strategy is configured to cause a connection to be established between a contact and an agent in the switch of the contact center system,

wherein a number of the plurality of available agents is greater than a number of the first plurality of contacts,

wherein the second plurality of contacts is received directly after receiving the first plurality of contacts and before any other contacts are received,

wherein the third plurality of contacts is received after receiving the second plurality of contacts,

wherein any prioritization applied to the third plurality of contacts does not imply an assignment of the third plurality of contacts prior to the second plurality of contacts,

wherein, if an agent of the plurality of agents becomes available after electronically pairing each of the plurality of available agents, electronically pairing said agent to contacts of the first, second, or third pluralities of contacts based on a tie-breaking strategy.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the prioritization arises from a number of contacts pending assignment.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the prioritization arises from an expected wait time.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the tie-breaking strategy comprises one of a queue length strategy or a queue wait strategy.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the tie-breaking strategy comprises:

generating a random number; and

selecting a contact for electronically pairing based on the generated random number.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the random number is weighted according to a proportion of contacts associated with either the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy.