Techniques for pairing contacts and agents in a contact center system

A method for pairing contacts and agents in a contact center system comprising:

• determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, whether a contact had a prior interaction with the contact center system;
• and
• assigning, by the at least one computer processor, the contact from a queue of contacts that is not at a head of the queue to an agent based on information associated with the prior interaction,
• wherein the assigning results in a less favorable outcome for the contact assigned to the agent compared to assigning a contact from the queue of contacts that is at the head of the queue, but wherein the assigning of the contact from the queue of contacts that is not at the head of the queue results in an increase in an overall performance of the contact center system.

An article of manufacture for behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising:

• a non-transitory processor readable medium;
• and
• instructions stored on the medium;
• wherein the instructions are configured to be readable from the medium by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system and thereby cause the at least one computer processor to operate so as to:
• assign a contact from a queue of contacts that is not at a head of the queue to an agent based on information associated with a prior interaction of the contact with the contact center system,
• wherein assigning the contact to the agent results in a less favorable outcome for the contact assigned to the agent compared to assigning a contact from the queue of contacts that is at the head of the queue, but wherein the assigning of the contact from the queue of contacts that is not at the head of the queue results in an increase in an overall performance of the contact center system.