System and method for managing contact center system

1. A method for managing a contact center, wherein the contact center comprises agents for handling interactions related to social expressions associated with postings made by customers on social media platforms, the method comprising:

based on whether each of the agents has a first type of employment or second type of employment with the contact center, identifying, by a processor, each of the agents as belonging to a first group of agents or second group of agents, respectively;

receiving, by the processor, a first interaction related to a social expression posted by a first customer on a first social media platform;

determining, by the processor, the first interaction should not be routed to any of the agents of the first group of agents;

routing, by the processor, the first interaction to a first agent selected from the second group of agents;

monitoring, by the processor, an outcome of the first interaction between the first agent and the first customer;

determining, by the processor, a quality level for the first agent in handling the first interaction;

assessing, by the processor, a compensation value for handling the first interaction to provide to the first agent based on the quality level;

receiving, by the processor, a second interaction related to a social expression associated with a posting made by a second customer on a second social media platform; and

routing, by the processor, the second interaction to the first agent based at least in part on the quality level for the first agent in handling the first interaction;

wherein a social expression is defined as a posting made by a customer within a thread maintained on a social media platform for a permanent or indefinite period, and wherein the interactions relating to the social expressions received by the contact center are reordered in accordance with an interest of the contact center so that a social expression of a higher priority is handled before a social expression of a lower priority.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the processor, the first interaction should not be routed to any of the agents of the first group of agents in response to a trigger event for routing to the second group of agents.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the trigger event comprises a number of the interactions over a predetermined period of time exceeding a predetermined number.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the trigger event comprises an agent availability characteristic for the first group of agents decreasing beyond a predetermined level.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining, by the processor, the quality level based on whether or not an expected outcome was achieved.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining, by the processor, the quality level based on a sentiment of the first customer made by the first customer after the first interaction; and

wherein the second group of agents comprises a group of part-time or independent contractor agents identified to handle overflow interactions that occur when a number of incoming ones of the interactions are determined to be too numerous for handling by the agents of the first group of agents.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

ranking, by the processor, the second group of agents based at least in part on the quality level for the first agent in handling the first interaction in order to determine a relative ranking between the agents in the second group of agents; and

routing, by the processor, subsequent ones of the interactions related to social expressions to the second group of agents based on the relative ranking between the agents of the second group of agents.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first type of employment comprises an agent of the first group of agents being an employee of the contact center; and

wherein the second type of employment comprises an agent of the second group of agents not being an employee of the contact center and instead providing work to the contact center as an independent contractor.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first type of employment comprises a full-time employment; and

wherein the second type of employment comprises a type of employment that is less than full-time employment, including part-time employment, freelance employment, or independent contract employment.

10. A system for managing a contact center, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

based on whether each of the agents has a first type of employment or second type of employment with the contact center, identifying, by a processor, each of the agents as belonging to a first group of agents or second group of agents, respectively;

receiving, by the processor, a first interaction related to a social expression posted by a first customer on a first social media platform;

determining, by the processor, the first interaction should not be routed to any of the agents of the first group of agents;

routing, by the processor, the first interaction to a first agent selected from the second group of agents;

monitoring, by the processor, an outcome of the first interaction between the first agent and the first customer;

determining, by the processor, a quality level for the first agent in handling the first interaction;

assessing, by the processor, a compensation value for handling the first interaction to provide to the first agent based on the quality level;

receiving, by the processor, a second interaction related to a social expression associated with a posting made by a second customer on a second social media platform; and

routing, by the processor, the second interaction to the first agent based at least in part on the quality level for the first agent in handling the first interaction;

wherein a social expression is defined as a posting made by a customer within a thread maintained on a social media platform for a permanent or indefinite period, and wherein the interactions relating to the social expressions received by the contact center are reordered in accordance with an interest of the contact center so that a social expression of a higher priority is handled before a social expression of a lower priority.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising determining, by the processor, the first interaction should not be routed to any of the agents of the first group of agents in response to a trigger event for routing to the second group of agents.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the trigger event comprises a number of the interactions over a predetermined period of time exceeding a predetermined number.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the trigger event comprises an agent availability characteristic for the first group of agents decreasing beyond a predetermined level.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising determining, by the processor, the quality level based on whether or not an expected outcome was achieved.

15. The system of claim 13 , further comprising determining, by the processor, the quality level based on a sentiment of the first customer made by the first customer after the first interaction; and

wherein the second group of agents comprises a group of part-time or independent contractor agents identified to handle overflow interactions that occur when a number of incoming ones of the interactions are determined to be too numerous for handling by the agents of the first group of agents.

16. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:

ranking, by the processor, the second group of agents based at least in part on the quality level for the first agent in handling the first interaction in order to determine a relative ranking between the agents in the second group of agents; and

routing, by the processor, subsequent ones of the interactions related to social expressions to the second group of agents based on the relative ranking between the agents of the second group of agents.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first type of employment comprises an agent of the first group of agents being an employee of the contact center; and

wherein the second type of employment comprises an agent of the second group of agents not being an employee of the contact center and instead providing work to the contact center as an independent contractor.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first type of employment comprises a full-time employment; and

wherein the second type of employment comprises a type of employment that is less than full-time employment, including part-time employment, freelance employment, or independent contract employment.