User-to-Agent Contact Center Routing by Priority Score
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact center systems often fail to efficiently connect user devices with suitable agent devices, leading to long wait times for premium users and mismatched agent assignments, especially when demand exceeds supply.
Innovation Solution
Implement a contact center server that determines user device priority scores based on elapsed time and account priority levels, selects user devices for connection based on availability of matching agent features, and offers callback options to reduce contention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a first-in-first-out queue is used to connect user devices to agent devices, then the system is simple to operate, but premium users experience long wait times and valuable customers are not prioritized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of connection priority from time-based (FIFO) to priority-score-based, where the priority score incorporates user account priority levels and elapsed time. This allows premium users to be connected faster while still maintaining a systematic approach to queue management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic priority scoring that adjusts based on multiple factors including user account priority, elapsed wait time, and agent availability. This dynamic system automatically adapts to different user needs and system conditions, resolving the contradiction between simple operation and differentiated service.
2Speed
If agent devices are assigned based on simple availability, then the connection process is fast, but users may be connected to inappropriate agents lacking required skills or features
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by calculating priority scores and identifying matching agent features before the actual connection is made. The system determines which user devices should be connected based on priority scores that reflect both user importance and elapsed time, ensuring appropriate matching before connection occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses feedback mechanisms where the system continuously monitors agent availability, user priority levels, and connection outcomes. This feedback loop allows the system to adjust priority scoring and agent matching in real-time, improving both connection speed and matching accuracy through iterative optimization.
3Productivity
If multiple user devices compete for limited agent devices simultaneously, then resource allocation becomes complex, but ignoring priority levels leads to inefficient use of available agents
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the user base into different priority groups based on account priority levels, allowing the system to manage competition for agent devices in structured segments rather than as a single undifferentiated queue. This segmentation simplifies resource allocation by processing users in priority-order segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a priority score calculation system as an intermediary that mediates between user demand and agent availability. This intermediary translates multiple competing factors (user priority, elapsed time, agent features) into a single priority score that guides connection decisions, managing complexity through a centralized scoring mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A contact center server receives indicia of user devices accessing the server. The contact center server determines that a contact center agent device is available for communicating with a user device of the user devices. The contact center server calculates, for at least a subset of the user devices, a priority score based on an elapsed time since the user device initiated a contact center engagement and a priority level of an account associated with the user device. The contact center server selects, based on the calculated priority scores, a first user device for communicating with the available agent device. The contact center server connects the first user device to the available agent device via the contact center server.