Workforce Management System for Contact Center Agent Scheduling

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current contact center scheduling methods, particularly in skill-based routing environments, face inefficiencies due to limitations in tracking agent capacity, agent context switching costs, and limitations in contact routing technology, which can lead to suboptimal scheduling and increased costs.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of a workforce management system that collects and displays agent activities from different virtual data sources, allowing for the creation of variable-length activity templates and optimal scheduling of agents across multiple queues, thereby optimizing agent utilization and reducing scheduling complexities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If agents are assigned to service specific queues only, then tracking exact capacity for specific queues is improved, but agent utilization flexibility deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvequeue capacity trackingVSAvoidagent assignment flexibility

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables agents to be assigned to multiple queues simultaneously, allowing a single agent to serve multiple functions. The workforce management system tracks each agent's capacity across different queues and schedules them accordingly, making agents universal resources that can adapt to different queue needs while maintaining precise capacity tracking for each queue.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Productivity

If agents switch between queues, then agent utilization is improved, but context switching costs increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveagent utilizationVSAvoidcontext switching costs

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary scheduling by analyzing forecasted queue volumes and pre-assigning agents to specific queues before peak demand periods. This allows agents to maintain context for high-volume queues without frequent switching, while the system still enables flexible reassignment when needed based on real-time conditions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Productivity

If multi-skilled agents service all queues, then agent utilization is improved, but scheduling complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveagent utilizationVSAvoidscheduling complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the scheduling parameters by introducing forecasted queue volume data and capacity tracking metrics. Instead of treating all agents uniformly, the system adjusts scheduling decisions based on individual agent skills, queue volumes, and capacity constraints, enabling optimized assignment of multi-skilled agents to appropriate queues while managing complexity through data-driven parameters.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS8719067B2Monitoring and displaying the scheduled and actuated activities of a workforce

Publication Date: 2014.05.06 VERINT AMERICAS INC

AI summary

Systems and methods are disclosed for scheduling a workforce. In one embodiment, the method comprises the steps of: collecting an agent activity of a first class and an agent activity of a second class; and displaying the agent activity of the first class and the agent activity of the second class along the same timeline axis. The agent activities are collected from a contact center data source. The second class is different from the first class. Both activities are associated with the same agent. Each activity is derived from a different virtual data source.