The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 24, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 27, 1999
Kevin McPartlan, San Jose, CA (US);
Edward Komissarchik, San Jose, CA (US);
Lauren O'Brien, Redwood City, CA (US);
Robert Hayes, Nashville, TN (US);
Katherine McElroy, Nashville, TN (US);
John Rafter, Nashville, TN (US);
Gary Sorensen, San Jose, CA (US);
David Glassman, San Jose, CA (US);
Aspect Communications Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for performing staffing-based percentage-allocation routing using real-time data. According to one aspect of the present invention, transaction allocation is determined using both scheduled and actual handling resources. Actual handling resources associated with each of several transaction processing systems, such as automatic call distributors (ACDs), are measured at times t and t+n. Scheduled handling resources associated with each of the transaction processing systems for times t and t+n are also identified. Then, estimated handling resources are calculated for each of the transaction processing systems for time t+n based upon the actual handling resources and the scheduled handling resources. Finally, based upon the estimated handling resources, transaction allocations for each of the transaction processing systems are determined. According to another aspect of the present invention, a virtual call center is provided. The virtual call center includes a wide area network (WAN), multiple call centers coupled to the WAN, and an allocation controller coupled to the WAN. Each of the call centers includes a transaction processing system. The allocation controller is configured to calculate allocation sets for one or more forecast periods based upon scheduled staffing levels and actual staffing level information received from the transaction processing systems. The allocation sets include percent allocations for each of the transaction processing systems. The allocation controller is additionally configured to balance call distribution among the transaction processing systems by uploading the allocation sets to an inter-exchange carrier interface.