Agent Reservation Graph for Zero-Wait Customer Interactions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in efficiently reserving agents with diverse skills for zero-wait interactions, leading to frustrating wait times for customers and potential abandonment of interactions, especially when dealing with a large number of agents and skills, as the computational complexity of reservation algorithms becomes impractical.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and apparatus that dynamically track agent availability using a data structure representation to facilitate the reservation of agents with relevant skills, allowing for zero-wait interactions by generating a network of nodes and edges to map reservations and skills, reducing complexity from n! to a more manageable order, enabling efficient swapping of reservations to ensure immediate agent availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional reservation algorithms are used to manage agent availability, then agent reservation can be performed, but computational complexity becomes impractical when dealing with large numbers of agents and skills
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex reservation problem into two distinct phases: an offline preprocessing phase that generates a compact availability graph representing all possible agent reservations, and an online query phase that efficiently determines reservation feasibility by checking customer skill requirements against the pre-computed graph. This segmentation reduces online computational complexity from factorial O(n!) to polynomial time operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary computation offline to generate an availability graph that encodes all valid agent reservations before customer interactions occur. This preliminary action pre-calculates which agents can be reserved for which skills, allowing online queries to simply check pre-computed data rather than performing complex real-time calculations, thereby achieving zero-wait reservations.
2Loss of time
If agents are reserved in advance for customer interactions, then zero-wait interactions can be achieved, but agent availability tracking becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the availability tracking problem from a temporal dimension (tracking agent status over time) to a graph-theoretic dimension (representing agent-skill relationships as nodes and edges in a static availability graph). This dimensional transformation allows the system to determine reservation feasibility through graph traversal algorithms rather than complex temporal simulations, achieving zero-wait service while managing complexity through mathematical abstraction.
3Ease of operation
If the system proactively offers agent assistance to customers, then customer experience improves, but determining agent capability requires complex real-time analysis
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary computation offline to generate an availability graph that encodes all valid agent reservations before customer interactions occur. This preliminary action pre-calculates which agents can be reserved for which skills, allowing online queries to simply check pre-computed data rather than performing complex real-time calculations, thereby achieving zero-wait reservations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the availability graph to provide immediate feedback to customers about agent availability and skill matching. When a customer requires assistance, the system queries the pre-computed graph to determine if an agent with the required skills can be reserved, and proactively offers assistance with known availability, creating a responsive customer experience without real-time computational overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method and an apparatus reserve agents for enabling zero-waiting time agent interactions for customers requiring agent assistance. The method includes determining if a customer requires agent assistance. If it is determined that the customer requires agent assistance, then it is determined whether an agent associated with relevant skill is capable of being reserved for providing assistance to the customer. The determination of reservation of the agent is performed, at least in part, by generating a data structure representation. The agent is reserved for assisting the customer if it is determined that the agent is capable of being reserved for providing assistance to the customer. An offer for assistance is provisioned to the customer on at least one enterprise related interaction channel subsequent to the reservation of the agent. The reservation of the agent provides wait-less customer interaction with the agent upon customer acceptance of the offer.