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US 2011/0235798 A1Published application
Method for Predicting Call Waiting Times
AssigneeAvaya Inc.
InventorsRouba Ibrahim, Patrick Tendick
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is provided for the production produce accurate waiting time estimates based on at least one of (i) a queue arrival rate and (ii) estimated queue length. In a first embodiment of the present invention, the waiting time for a caller is determined on the basis of a queue arrival rate. In a second embodiment of the present invention, the waiting time for a caller is determined on the basis of a queue length estimate. The queue length estimate is a prediction of the size of the queue at a given time instant.
Claims22
A method comprising:
- establishing, at a contact center, a communication session with a communication terminal;
- placing, at the contact center, the communication terminal in a queue;
- and
- transmitting from the contact center to the communication terminal a message containing an indication of waiting time, wherein the indication of waiting time depends on an arrival rate for the queue.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- establishing, at a contact center, a communication session with a communication terminal;
- storing in a queue, at the contact center, an identifier corresponding to the communication terminal;
- and
- transmitting from the contact center to the communication terminal a message containing an indication of waiting time, wherein the indication of waiting time depends on the ratio of:
- i. the rate at which identifiers corresponding to communication terminals are added to the queue, and
- ii. the length of the queue.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- establishing, at a contact center, a communication session with a first communication terminal;
- storing in a queue, at the contact center, an identifier corresponding to the first communication terminal, wherein the queue contains identifiers for a first plurality of communication terminals that are engaged in communication sessions with the contact center;
- and
- transmitting from the contact center to the first communication terminal a message containing an indication of waiting time, wherein:
- i. the indication of waiting time depends on an estimate of a length of the queue,
- ii. the estimate of the length of the queue reflects the length which the queue is expected to have at time t1,
- iii. the estimate of the length of the queue depends on an abandonment measure,
- iv. the abandonment measure is an estimate of the number of communication sessions, between communication terminals from the first plurality and the contact center, that are expected to be discontinued prior to the communication terminals being connected to a communication terminal that is operated by an agent of the contact center,
- v. the abandonment measure is an estimate of the number of communication sessions that are expected to be discontinued by time t1, and
- vi. the abandonment measure depends on a service rate of the queue.
7 more elements
The method of claim 11 wherein:
- the estimate of the length of the queue is made at time t0;
- and
- t0<t1.
A method comprising:
- establishing, at a contact center, a communication session with a first communication terminal;
- storing in a queue, at the contact center, an identifier corresponding to the first communication terminal, wherein the queue contains identifiers for a first plurality of communication terminals that are engaged in communication sessions with the contact center;
- and
- transmitting from the contact center to the first communication terminal a message containing an indication of waiting time, wherein:
- i. the indication of waiting time depends on an estimate of a length of the queue,
- ii. the estimate of the length of the queue reflects the length which the queue is expected to have at time t1, and
- iii. the estimate of the length of the queue depends on an availability measure for a first agent that is serving the queue.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- establishing, at a contact center, a communication session with a first communication terminal;
- storing in a queue, at the contact center, an identifier corresponding to the first communication terminal, wherein the queue contains identifiers for a first plurality of communication terminals that are engaged in communication sessions with the contact center;
- and
- transmitting from the contact center to the first communication terminal a message containing an indication of waiting time, wherein:
- i. the indication of waiting time depends on an estimate of a length of the queue,
- ii. the estimate of the length of the queue reflects the length which the queue is expected to have at time t1, and
- iii. the estimate of the length of the queue depends on a rate at which identifiers corresponding to communication terminals are added to the queue.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- transmitting from a contact center, an indication of call waiting time, wherein the indication depends on a model for the prediction of a length of a call waiting queue, wherein:
- i. the model depends on a determination, by the contact center, of a proportion of callers that are expected to abandon the call waiting queue, and
- ii. wherein the determination of the proportion of callers that are expected to abandon the call waiting queue depends on a service rate for the queue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.