Adaptive communication alerts

1. A method for adaptive communication alerts, the method comprising:

selecting a first user for receiving a first call request to establish a first communication session between a first endpoint operated by the first user and an agent endpoint operated by one of a plurality of agents of a contact center;

determining a first duration for alerting the first user about the first call request based on information about the first call request, wherein the information indicates at least one of a likelihood that the first user will respond to the first call request and how long it will likely take for the first user to respond to the first call request;

initiating the first call request to a first endpoint operated by the first user, wherein the first endpoint alerts the first user about the first call request; and

upon the first duration elapsing without a response to the first call request from the first endpoint, canceling the first call request.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein canceling the first call request comprises:

hanging up on the first call request.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first duration comprises:

feeding at least a portion of the information about the first call request into a duration-determination algorithm comprising a machine learning algorithm trained using information about past requests to establish communication sessions and respective outcomes of the past requests.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

training the duration-determination algorithm based on the cancelation of the first call request.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the first duration further comprises:

adjusting a value for the first duration that is output by the duration-determination algorithm based on a second portion of the information about the first call request that is associated with the first user.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

updating the second portion of the information based on cancelation of the first call request.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first duration comprises:

assigning a value to the first duration that inversely relates to a likelihood that the first user will respond to the first call request.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information about the first call request includes one or more of a group comprising:

called-party information about the first user;

calling-system information;

a first time at which the first call request is identified;

one or more past durations for alerting the first user about requests to establish communication sessions;

a device type of the first endpoint; and

status information about the first user from one or more third-party channels.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first duration comprises either an amount of time or a number of discrete alert events.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a second call request to establish a second communication session with a second endpoint;

determining a second duration for alerting a second user of the second endpoint about the second call request based on information about the second call request, wherein the second duration is different than the first duration; and

alerting the second user about the second call request in accordance with the second duration.

11. An apparatus for adaptive communication alerts, the apparatus comprising:

one or more computer readable storage media;

a processing system operatively coupled with the one or more computer readable storage media; and

program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processing system to:

select a first user for receiving a first call request to establish a first communication session between a first endpoint operated by the first user and an agent endpoint operated by one of a plurality of agents of a contact center;

determine a first duration for alerting the first user about the first call request based on information about the first call request, wherein the information indicates at least one of a likelihood that the first user will respond to the first call request and how long it will likely take for the first user to respond to the first call request;

initiate the first call request to a first endpoint operated by the first user, wherein the first endpoint alerts the first user about the first call request; and

upon the first duration elapsing without a response to the first call request from the first endpoint, cancel the first call request.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to cancel the first call request, the program instructions direct the processing system to:

hang up on the first call request.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to determine the first duration, the program instructions direct the processing system to:

feed at least a portion of the information about the first call request into a duration-determination algorithm comprising a machine learning algorithm trained using information about past requests to establish communication sessions and respective outcomes of the past requests.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to:

train the duration-determination algorithm based on the cancelation of the first call request.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein to determine the first duration further, the program instructions direct the processing system to:

adjust a value for the first duration that is output by the duration-determination algorithm based on a second portion of the information about the first call request that is associated with the first user.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to:

update the second portion of the information based on cancelation of the first call request.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to determine the first duration, the program instructions direct the processing system to:

assign a value to the first duration that inversely relates to a likelihood that the first user will respond to the first call request.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the information about the first call request includes one or more of a group comprising:

called-party information about the first user;

calling-system information;

a first time at which the first call request is identified;

one or more past durations for alerting the first user about requests to establish communication sessions;

a device type of the first endpoint; and

status information about the first user from one or more third-party channels.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first duration comprises either an amount of time or a number of discrete alert events.

20. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media having program instructions store thereon for adaptive communication alerts, the program instructions, when read and executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to:

select a first user for receiving a first call request to establish a first communication session between a first endpoint operated by the first user and an agent endpoint operated by one of a plurality of agents of a contact center;

determine a first duration for alerting the first user about the first call request based on information about the first call request, wherein the information indicates at least one of a likelihood that the first user will respond to the first call request and how long it will likely take for the first user to respond to the first call request;

initiate the first call request to a first endpoint operated by the first user, wherein the first endpoint alerts the first user about the first call request; and

upon the first duration elapsing without a response to the first call request from the first endpoint, cancel the first call request.