Systems and methods for scheduling deferred queues

Abstract

A system for scheduling deferred communications is provided. A workload requirement for a deferred queue for each interval of a set of intervals is determined. Each workload may indicate the amount of work predicted for the associated interval. A staffing requirement for an immediate queue is received and may indicate the number of agents needed to handle the immediate communications for the same intervals. The system, for each interval, may consider the number of agents needed for the interval in the immediate queue. Because the deferred communications do not have to be handled at any particular interval, the system may, based on the workloads, schedule agents for the deferred queue where the immediate queue is less busy (a smaller number of agents are scheduled). The goal of the system being to smooth the intervals such that the total number of agents scheduled for each interval across the immediate queue and the deferred queue remains fairly constant.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a first set of staffing requirements for a first queue by a computing device, wherein the first set of staffing requirements includes a staffing requirement for each interval of a plurality of intervals, and the intervals of the plurality of intervals are ordered;   receiving a workload for each interval of the plurality of intervals for a second queue by the computing device;   generating a second set of staffing requirements for the second queue by the computing device based on the received workload for each interval; and   for one or more intervals of the plurality of intervals, distributing, by the computing device, at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval of the plurality of intervals based on a sum of the staffing requirement for the interval of the first set of staffing requirements and the staffing requirement for the interval of the second set of staffing requirements.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second queue is a deferred queue associated with deferred communications and the first queue is an immediate queue associated with immediate communications. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the workloads are associated with a goal time and each interval of the plurality of intervals is associated with a duration of time, and distributing at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval comprises:
 distributing at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval that is within the goal time measured from the interval to the subsequent interval based on the duration of time associated with each interval.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the goal time is based on a type of a deferred communication associated with the second queue. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the type comprises one or more of e-mail, SMS, or twitter. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second queues are associated with a contact center. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a schedule based on the second set of staffing requirements. 
     
     
         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 first set of staffing requirements for a first queue, wherein the first set of staffing requirements includes a staffing requirement for each interval of a plurality of intervals, and the intervals of the plurality of intervals are ordered;   receive a workload for each interval of the plurality of intervals for a second queue;   generate a second set of staffing requirements for the second queue based on the received workload for each interval; and   for one or more intervals of the plurality of intervals, distribute at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval of the plurality of intervals based on a sum of the staffing requirement for the interval of the first set of staffing requirements and the staffing requirement for the interval of the second set of staffing requirements.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the second queue is a deferred queue associated with deferred communications and the first queue is an immediate queue associated with immediate communications. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the workloads are associated with a goal time and each interval of the plurality of intervals is associated with a duration of time, and distributing at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval comprises:
 distributing at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval that is within the goal time measured from the interval to the subsequent interval based on the duration of time associated with each interval.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the goal time is based on a type of a deferred communication associated with the second queue. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the type comprises one or more of e-mail, SMS, or twitter. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first and second queues are associated with a contact center. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 generate a schedule based on the second set of staffing requirements.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
 receive a first set of staffing requirements for a first queue, wherein the first set of staffing requirements includes a staffing requirement for each interval of a plurality of intervals, and the intervals of the plurality of intervals are ordered;   receive a workload for each interval of the plurality of intervals for a second queue;   generate a second set of staffing requirements for the second queue based on the received workload for each interval; and   for one or more intervals of the plurality of intervals, distribute at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval of the plurality of intervals based on a sum of the staffing requirement for the interval of the first set of staffing requirements and the staffing requirement for the interval of the second set of staffing requirements.   
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the second queue is a deferred queue associated with deferred communications and the first queue is an immediate queue associated with immediate communications. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the workloads are associated with a goal time and each interval of the plurality of intervals is associated with a duration of time, and distributing at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval comprises:
 distributing at least a portion of the staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements associated with the interval to a staffing requirement of the second set of staffing requirements of a subsequent interval that is within the goal time measured from the interval to the subsequent interval based on the duration of time associated with each interval.   
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the goal time is based on a type of a deferred communication associated with the second queue. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the type comprises one or more of e-mail, SMS, or twitter. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the first and second queues are associated with a contact center.