Granted Patent B1

US 7,826,608 · App. 11/394,795 · Granted Nov 2, 2010

Abstract

Claims (56)

1. A method for determining workforce staffing statistics in a contact center, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of activity records, each activity record associated with one of a plurality of agents;

producing a plurality of queue-specific staff counts for a specified staffing interval, based on at least a subset of the activity records, on a skill set associated with each of the agents, and on a skill set associated with each of a plurality of contact queues;

calculating, based on the received activity records associated with the agent, a total duration for an activity type;

if the total duration exceeds a threshold, selecting, from the plurality of contact queues, a subset of queues for which one of the staff counts will be incremented;

incrementing the staff count associated with each of the selected subset of queues.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting step further comprises the step of:

selecting contact queues for which at least one skill in the set associated with the worker matches at least one skill in the set associated with the respective contact queue.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incrementing step further comprises the step of:

incrementing, by one, a staff count associated with each of the selected subset of queues.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the incrementing step further comprises the step of:

calculating a full time equivalent (FTE) for each of the selected subset of queues; and

incrementing an FTE count associated with each of the selected subset of queues by the calculated FTE.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the contact queues is associated with a media type, and further comprising the step of:

determining a plurality of staff counts for a specified staffing interval and for a specified media type, based on at least a subset of the activity records, on a skill set associated with each of the workers, and on a skill set associated with each of a plurality of contact queues.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is half the specified staffing interval.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each activity record describes a work activity performed by one of the workers during a time period.

8. A system for determining workforce staffing statistics in a contact center, the program comprising the steps of:

an activity collector operative to receive events, each of the events describing an activity associated with a worker;

a staff statistics calculator operative to determine a plurality of staff counts for a specified staffing interval, wherein the calculator comprises:

logic for receiving a plurality of activity records, each activity record derived from one of the received events;

logic for identifying one or more contact queues associated with each worker described in the plurality of activity records;

logic for calculating, based on the plurality of activity record, a total duration for an activity type;

logic for if the total duration exceeds a threshold, selecting, from the contact queues, a subset of queues for which one of the staff counts will be incremented; and

logic for incrementing a staff count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of a set of skills associated with the respective worker is included in a set of skills associated with the respective contact queue.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the staff statistics calculator further comprises:

logic for calculating, based on the received activity records associated with one of the workers, a total duration for an activity type; and

logic for performing the incrementing step only if the total duration exceeds a threshold.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the staff statistics calculator further comprises:

logic for incrementing, by one, a staff count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of the skills in the worker skill set is included in the respective contact queue skill set.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the staff statistics calculator further comprises:

logic for calculating a full time equivalent (FTE) count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of the skills in the worker skill set is included in the respective contact queue skill set; and

logic for incrementing an FTE count associated with one of the contact queues by the calculated FTE.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the staff statistics calculator further comprises:

logic for identifying one or more campaigns associated with the worker; and

logic for identifying one or more contact queues associated with each of the one or more campaigns.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is half the specified staffing interval.

14. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a computer-executed method for determining workforce staffing statistics in a contact center, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an activity record describing one of a plurality of workers;

identifying one or more contact queues associated with the worker described by the activity record;

comparing a skill set associated with the worker and a skill set associated with each of the contact queues;

calculating, based on the plurality of activity record, a total duration for an activity type;

if the total duration exceeds a threshold, selecting, from the contact queues, a subset of queues for which one of the staff counts will be incremented; and

incrementing a staff count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of the skills in the worker skill set is included in the respective contact queue skill set.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the incrementing step further comprises the step of:

incrementing, by one, a staff count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of the skills in the worker skill set is included in the respective contact queue skill set.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the incrementing step further comprises the steps of:

calculating a full time equivalent (FTE) count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of the skills in the worker skill set is included in the respective contact queue skill set; and

incrementing an FTE count associated with one of the contact queues by the calculated FTE.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the identifying step further comprises the step of:

identifying one or more campaigns associated with the worker; and

identifying one or more contact queues associated with each of the one or more campaigns.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein each of the contact queues is associated with a media type, and further comprising the steps of:

identifying one or more contact queues associated with the worker described by the activity record and associated with a specified media type;

comparing a skill set associated with the worker and a skill set associated with each of the determined contact queues; and

incrementing a staff count associated with each of the contact queues, if at least one of the skills in the worker skill set is included in the respective contact queue skill set.

Assignments (8)