Contact Center Interaction Request Scheduling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Contact centers face challenges in managing customer interaction requests efficiently, as existing 'call me back' features do not guarantee timely responses and are not customizable to customer schedules, leading to uncertainty and long wait times for customers.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allow customers to schedule interaction requests according to their preferences, integrating with contact center routing systems to process requests at designated times and dates, using a processor and memory to detect scheduled requests, add schedule data, and route interactions accordingly, supporting various communication channels like voice, email, and multimedia.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a generic call back feature is used, then the contact center can manage peak traffic, but the customer cannot be sure when the response will occur and the feature does not guarantee timely responses
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by allowing customers to pre-configure their preferred interaction schedules and time windows before submitting requests. The scheduling application stores these preferences and automatically processes requests according to the predetermined schedule, ensuring responses occur within customer-defined time frames rather than using generic callback windows.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamics by making the callback window flexible and adaptable to individual customer preferences rather than using fixed generic windows. The routing system dynamically adjusts when to process and respond to requests based on the stored scheduling data, allowing each customer to have customized response time windows that adapt to their availability and preferences.
2Productivity
If the contact center processes all requests immediately, then customer service responsiveness is improved, but customers with scheduled duties and responsibilities experience long wait times in queue
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by having customers pre-configure their preferred interaction schedules before submitting requests. This allows the contact center to plan and prepare for requests in advance according to predicted customer availability, rather than forcing customers to wait in queue or providing uncertain generic callbacks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic action by processing requests according to predetermined time schedules and intervals defined by customer preferences. Rather than immediate processing or generic periodic callbacks, the system processes requests at specific times within customer-defined windows, creating a structured periodic processing rhythm that respects customer availability.
3Device complexity
If generic callback windows are used, then the contact center can manage resources, but the windows are dictated by the center and do not reflect customer availability preferences
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by customizing the callback experience for each individual customer based on their specific preferences and availability. Rather than applying a uniform generic callback window to all customers, the system stores and processes individual scheduling data, allowing each customer to have tailored response windows that match their local needs and circumstances.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by collecting and storing customer scheduling preferences in advance before requests are submitted. The scheduling application captures customer availability information and preferred time windows beforehand, so that when requests are received, the contact center can immediately process them according to the pre-established customer-specific schedule rather than applying generic windows.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus is provided and includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that when executed from a non-transitory physical medium by the processor cause the processor to detect when a request for interaction that is configured for a scheduled processing is received or otherwise registered at a service access point associated with a contact center, identify schedule data from the request and add the schedule data along with a request identification and a location identifier to a scheduling and reporting application, consult a contact center interaction routing system in response to determining that the scheduled interaction request is to be processed, and route or cause processing of the interaction request based on the schedule data. According to one embodiment, the schedule data includes a scheduled time and date for processing the request.