Agent Proficiency Scoring for Concurrent Session Management

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current solutions for determining agent proficiency in handling concurrent customer sessions in contact centers do not consider inactive-time and focus events, leading to inefficiencies and potential agent overload.

Innovation Solution

A computerized system with a Concurrent Sessions Handling Agent Proficiency (CSHAP) module that calculates a CSHAP score based on the total number of concurrent interactions, customer sentiment, interaction time, and focused events, using metadata to assess agent ability across multiple channels.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If agents handle more concurrent customer sessions, then agent productivity and utilization increase, but agent overload and rushed responses occur

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveagent productivityVSAvoidresponse quality
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the number of concurrent sessions an agent can handle based on real-time performance metrics. The CSHAP score continuously monitors agent behavior patterns, response times, and customer satisfaction, then adapts the concurrent session limit accordingly. This allows agents to handle more sessions when performance is high while reducing capacity when signs of overload appear, resolving the contradiction between productivity and response quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements continuous feedback loops where agent performance data from concurrent sessions is monitored and used to adjust future session assignments. The CSHAP module analyzes metrics like response time, customer satisfaction scores, and interaction patterns, then feeds this information back to control the number of concurrent sessions assigned to each agent. This feedback mechanism ensures that productivity gains do not compromise response quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Device complexity

If current solutions use only overall handling time to calculate agent effectiveness, then calculation simplicity is maintained, but measurement precision is insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecalculation simplicityVSAvoidagent effectiveness measurement
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the overall handling time metric into multiple distinct components: focus event duration, defocus event duration, response time, customer satisfaction score, and interaction type. Each component is measured and weighted separately, allowing for more precise measurement of agent effectiveness. The CSHAP score combines these segmented metrics with different weights to provide a comprehensive evaluation that captures nuances lost in simple handling time calculations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system adds multiple dimensions to the effectiveness measurement beyond just handling time. By incorporating temporal dimensions (focus/defocus events), quality dimensions (customer satisfaction), and interaction type dimensions, the measurement becomes multi-dimensional and more precise. The CSHAP score transforms a single-dimensional metric into a multi-dimensional evaluation framework that captures agent performance more accurately.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Productivity

If agents address concurrent customer sessions, then contact center performance improves, but inactive-time and focus events are not considered in current solutions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontact center performanceVSAvoidinactive-time and focus event data
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary monitoring and classification of events as focus or defocus events during the interaction. The CSHAP module continuously tracks agent attention state and customer engagement level throughout the conversation, pre-characterizing these temporal patterns before final performance calculation. This preliminary action ensures that inactive-time and focus event information is captured and ready for inclusion in the CSHAP score, preventing loss of valuable performance data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the parameters used to measure agent performance by introducing focus event duration, defocus event duration, and customer satisfaction score as new measurable parameters. These parameters transform the measurement framework to account for temporal patterns and quality aspects that were previously ignored. The CSHAP score incorporates these changed parameters with appropriate weights, ensuring that inactive-time and focus event data directly influence performance evaluation while maintaining contact center productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS20240412147A1System and method for determining an agent proficiency when addressing concurrent customer sessions and utilization thereof
Publication Date: 2024.12.12 NICE LTD
  • US20240412147A1 patent drawing
  • US20240412147A1 patent drawing
  • US20240412147A1 patent drawing

AI summary

A computerized-method for determining an agent-proficiency when addressing concurrent customer sessions via one or more channel types and utilization thereof. The computerized-method includes operating a Concurrent-Sessions-Handling-Agent-Proficiency (CSHAP) module. The CSHAP-module includes: (a) operating an interactions-module to retrieve one or more interactions and metadata thereof of the agent; (b) for each interaction, determining if the interaction has been handled with concurrent interactions; (c) for each determined interaction as handled with concurrent interactions, checking in the metadata if the interaction has one or more defocused-events; (d) calculating a CSHAP-score for the agent based on one or more attributes from the metadata of the interaction to provide an indication as to an ability of the agent to address concurrent customer sessions; (e) storing the calculated CSHAP-score in a data-store; and (f) sending the CSHAP-score to one or more applications, to take one or more follow-up actions based on the CSHAP-score.