Systems and methods for determining allocations for distributed multi-site contact centers

Abstract

A system for allocating contact center resources among geographically distributed sub-centers of an enterprise comprises a processing system. The processing system is configured to create a distributed campaign for the enterprise, create a workload forecast of events for the distributed campaign, wherein the processing system, to create the workload forecast, is configured to treat the geographically distributed sub-centers as being co-located in a virtual contact center, execute a discrete event-based simulation utilizing the virtual contact center to allocate the events to the contact center resources, wherein the processing system, to execute the discrete event-based simulation, is configured to treat the contact center resources as being co-located in the virtual contact center, and determine recommended allocations of the contact center resources among the geographically distributed sub-centers based on a relative distribution of the events allocated to the contact center resources at the geographically distributed sub-centers.

1 . A method of allocating contact center resources among geographically distributed sub-centers of an enterprise, the method comprising:
 creating a distributed campaign for the enterprise, wherein the distributed campaign includes two or more of the geographically distributed sub-centers, and wherein each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers includes at least one of the contact center resources;   creating a workload forecast of events for the distributed campaign, wherein, in creating the workload forecast, the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers are treated as being co-located in a virtual contact center;   executing a discrete event-based simulation utilizing the virtual contact center to allocate the events to the contact center resources, wherein, in executing the discrete event-based simulation, the contact center resources are treated as being co-located in the virtual contact center; and   determining recommended allocations of the contact center resources among the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers based on a relative distribution of the events allocated to the contact center resources at each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the workload forecast is derived from statistics regarding resources utilized for each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein creating the workload forecast comprises randomly distributing the events for the distributed campaign to create the workload forecast. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising creating schedules for the contact center resources, wherein, in creating the schedules, the contact center resources are treated as being co-located in the virtual contact center, and wherein creating the schedules occurs prior to executing the discrete event-based simulation. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising creating at least one training event, wherein at least one contact center resource is scheduled for the at least one training event, and wherein creating the at least one training event occurs prior to executing the discrete event-based simulation. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the workload forecast comprises a contact volume forecast and an average interaction time forecast. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising creating at least one distributed queue for the distributed campaign, wherein each distributed queue comprises at least a portion of the events as an input stream to the enterprise. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising creating at least one sub-campaign for the distributed campaign, wherein the sub-campaign comprises one of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers and the contact center resources assigned to that sub-center. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising creating at least one sub-queue for the distributed campaign, wherein the sub-queue is derived from one of the distributed queues, the sub-queue comprising at least a portion of the events as an input stream to one of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising treating a contact center resource as skilled to handle the portion of the events of the at least one distributed queue if the contact center resource is skilled to handle any event in any sub-queue deriving from the at least one distributed queue. 
     
     
         11 . A system for allocating contact center resources among geographically distributed sub-centers of an enterprise, the system comprising:
 a processing system configured to create a distributed campaign for the enterprise, wherein the distributed campaign includes two or more of the geographically distributed sub-centers, and wherein each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers includes at least one of the contact center resources;   the processing system configured to create a workload forecast of events for the distributed campaign, wherein the processing system, to create the workload forecast, is configured to treat the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers as being co-located in a virtual contact center;   the processing system configured to execute a discrete event-based simulation utilizing the virtual contact center to allocate the events to the contact center resources, wherein the processing system, to execute the discrete event-based simulation, is configured to treat the contact center resources as being co-located in the virtual contact center; and   the processing system configured to determine recommended allocations of the contact center resources among the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers based on a relative distribution of the events allocated to the contact center resources at each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the workload forecast is derived from statistics regarding resources utilized for each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the processing system configured to create the workload forecast comprises the processing system configured to randomly distribute the events for the distributed campaign to create the workload forecast. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising the processing system configured to create schedules for the contact center resources, wherein the processing system, to create the schedules for the contact center resources, is configured to treat the contact center resources as being co-located in the virtual contact center, and wherein the processing system is configured to create the schedules prior to executing the discrete event-based simulation. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising the processing system configured to create at least one training event, wherein at least one contact center resource is scheduled for the at least one training event, and wherein the processing system is configured to create the at least one training event prior to executing the discrete event-based simulation. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the workload forecast comprises a contact volume forecast and an average interaction time forecast. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising the processing system configured to create at least one distributed queue for the distributed campaign, wherein each distributed queue comprises at least a portion of the events as an input stream to the enterprise. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17  further comprising the processing system configured to create at least one sub-campaign for the distributed campaign, wherein the sub-campaign comprises one of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers and the contact center resources assigned to that sub-center. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  further comprising the processing system configured to create at least one sub-queue for the distributed campaign, wherein the sub-queue is derived from one of the distributed queues, the sub-queue comprising at least a portion of the events as an input stream to one of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers. 
     
     
         20 . A computer readable hardware storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer system, direct the computer system to execute a computer-implemented method of allocating contact center resources among geographically distributed sub-centers of an enterprise comprising:
 creating a distributed campaign for the enterprise, wherein the distributed campaign includes two or more of the geographically distributed sub-centers, and wherein each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers includes at least one of the contact center resources;   creating a workload forecast of events for the distributed campaign, wherein, in creating the workload forecast, the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers are treated as being co-located in a virtual contact center;   executing a discrete event-based simulation utilizing the virtual contact center to allocate the events to the contact center resources, wherein, in executing the discrete event-based simulation, the contact center resources are treated as being co-located in the virtual contact center; and   determining recommended allocations of the contact center resources among the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers based on a relative distribution of the events allocated to the contact center resources at each of the two or more geographically distributed sub-centers.