Systems and methods for recomending rules for routing calls

Abstract

In one embodiment, an entity such as a company may desire to use agents associated with a contact center to handle calls for the company. The company may identify customer categories for the calls such as technical support and billing. Rather than have the company create the rules that are used to select agents to handle calls for each category, the contact center may use historical call data, such as performance metrics and customer satisfaction survey information, to recommend rules to the company for each category. The recommended rules may also be based on the specific industry, field, or sector associated with the company.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a customer category for a contact center by a computing device;   retrieving historical performance data associated with the customer category;   determining a rule for selecting agents of a plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the retrieved historical performance data; and   associating the determined rule with the customer category.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a call;   determining a customer category associated with the call;   selecting an agent of the plurality of agents to handle the call using the rule associated with the customer category; and   routing the call to the selected agent.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the customer category is determined based one or more of a language spoken by a customer associated with the call, a country associated with the customer, and a priority associated with the customer. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rule comprises a plurality of attributes. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 recommending the determined rule for the customer category;   receiving an instruction to use the determined rule for the customer category; and   associating the determined rule with the customer category in response to the received instruction.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a sector associated with the contact center and recommending the customer category based on the determined sector. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein determining the rule for selecting agents of the plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the retrieved historical data comprises determining the rule for selecting agents of the plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the determined sector and the retrieved historical data. 
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 at least one processor; and   a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:   receive a customer category for a contact center;   retrieve historical performance data associated with the customer category;   determine a rule for selecting agents of a plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the retrieved historical performance data; and   associate the determined rule with the customer category.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 receive a call;   determine a customer category associated with the call;   select an agent of the plurality of agents to handle the call using the rule associated with the customer category; and   route the call to the selected agent.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the customer category is determined based one or more of a language spoken by a customer associated with the call, a country associated with the customer, and a priority associated with the customer. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the rule comprises a plurality of attributes. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 recommend the determined rule for the customer category;   receive an instruction to use the determined rule for the customer category; and   associate the determined rule with the customer category in response to the received instruction.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to determine a sector associated with the contact center and recommending the customer category based on the determined sector. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein determining the rule for selecting agents of the plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the retrieved historical data comprises determining the rule for selecting agents of the plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the determined sector and the retrieved historical data. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a system to:
 receive a customer category for a contact center;   retrieve historical performance data associated with the customer category;   determine a rule for selecting agents of a plurality of agents to handle calls associated with the customer category based on the retrieved historical performance data; and   associate the determined rule with the customer category.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 receive a call;   determine a customer category associated with the call;   select an agent of the plurality of agents to handle the call using the rule associated with the customer category; and   route the call to the selected agent.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the customer category is determined based one or more of a language spoken by a customer associated with the call, a country associated with the customer, and a priority associated with the customer. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the rule comprises a plurality of attributes. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 recommend the determined rule for the customer category;   receive an instruction to use the determined rule for the customer category; and   associate the determined rule with the customer category in response to the received instruction.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to determine a sector associated with the contact center and recommending the customer category based on the determined sector.