Scheduling agents at contact centers is a complex process that typically involves a large number of variables to consider in generating schedules such as, for example, volume of communications to be handled (e.g., number of inbound communications typically received over a time period and/or number of outbound communications to be made over the time period), available staff, skills of various staff members (e.g., agents), reasons for communications (e.g., customer service, order taking, and/or sales), and number of communication sources (e.g., inbound queues and outbound queues). Further, in generating such schedules, forecasting techniques are typically employed to better predict scheduling variables based on historical data for such variables.
With that said, in today's world contact centers are beginning to use a wide range of channels of communication besides telephone calls to interact with individuals such as SMS text messages, Web chats, email, direct mail, IM messaging, etc. A channel of communication is understood to be a particular medium used for communicating. For instance, a contact center may use telephone calls as a first channel of communication, SMS text messages as a second channel of communication, and Web chats as a third channel of communication for communicating with remote parties. Furthermore, contact centers are beginning to utilize different channels of communication to conduct campaigns that do not fall into the types of campaigns that have been traditionally conducted by contact centers.
For example, traditionally, a contact center would place an outbound communication using a channel of communication with the intent of reaching the intended party with the outbound communication and conversing with the party over the outbound communication. For instance, a contact center would traditionally place an outbound telephone call to an intended party with the intent of having the intended party answer the outbound call and then conversing with the intended party over the outbound call.
However, because of the new channels of communication that are now available to a contact center, a contact center can place an outbound communication to an intended party with the intent of receiving an inbound communication from the intended party during a time that may be more convenient for the intended party. For example, a contact center can send an SMS text message to an intended party about a new product offering and the message may inform the party to place a call to the contact center at a time that is convenient if the party has any questions about the new product offering and/or to purchase the new product offering.
As a result, the scheduling process has become more and more complex with contact centers conducting campaigns that involve the use of different channels of communication to produce non-traditional outcomes. Although a good amount of effort has been put into creating products and processes for generating schedules for contact centers for traditional campaigns, deficiencies still exist with respect to products and processes for generating schedules for contact centers conducting non-traditional campaigns. Thus, a need in the art exists for improved processes for generating forecasts and schedules to conduct such campaigns and more specifically, a need in the art exists for improved processes for generating forecasts and schedules to conduct campaigns involving sending outbound communications to generate inbound communications. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure herein is presented.
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USPTO Backgrounds