# US 8,787,552 B1 · Call center issue resolution estimation based on probabilistic models

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- Number: US 8,787,552 B1
- Document ID: US8787552B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 13/755,356
- Filed: 2013-01-31
- Published: 2014-07-31
- Granted: 2014-07-22
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-31
- Assignees: Xerox Corporation
- Applicants: Xerox Corporation
- Inventors: Shi Zhao; Han Ye
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8787552B1

## CPC

- H04M 3/5175: {Call or contact centers supervision arrangements}
- G06Q 10/0639: Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

A system implements a method of assessing performance of a call center agent that includes identifying a set of the one-time caller calls that the agent has handled. A first issue resolution rate is determined for the calls in the set that were released by the customer, and a second issue resolution rate is determined for the calls in the set that were released by the call center agent. The method also includes determining a difference between the first issue resolution rate and the second issue resolution rate. The determined difference is used to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of assessing performance of a call center agent, the method comprising:
maintaining, in a computer-readable memory, data corresponding to a plurality of customer calls received from customers and processed by a call center agent, wherein the maintained data comprises:
an indication of whether the call was a one-time caller call, and
for each of the one-time caller calls, an indication of whether the call was released by the customer or whether the call was released by the call center agent; and
by a processor:
identifying, from the plurality of customer calls, a set of the one-time caller calls,
determining a first issue resolution rate for the calls in the set that were released by the customer,
determining a second issue resolution rate for the calls in the set that were released by the call center agent,
determining a difference between the first issue resolution rate and the second issue resolution rate, and
using the determined difference to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
using the determined difference to generate a compensation value recommendation for the call center agent.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein using the determined difference to generate a compensation value recommendation for the call center agent comprises, by a processor:
generating a first compensation amount if the determined difference exceeds a first threshold; and
generating a second compensation amount that is higher than the first compensation amount if the determined difference also exceeds a second threshold that is higher than the first threshold.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining a difference value between a first issue resolution rate and a second issue resolution rate for a plurality of additional call center agents;
comparing the difference values for each of the call center agents; and
using the difference values to generate compensation value recommendations for each of the call center agents.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein using the determined difference to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent comprises:
using the determined difference (δθ) between the first issue resolution rate and the second issue resolution rate to determine a measure of difference (δq) between customer released calls and agent released calls as a function of an indication of call complexity (a) and a probability of a customer making a follow-up call (p) with a new problem as follows:
δ
q
=
δ
θ
a
·
p
2
,
and
considering a higher δq to represent higher level of performance, and
considering a higher δq to represent a higher level of performance.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
the maintained data also comprises:
a measure of complexity for each call, and
for each of the one-time caller calls, an indication of whether the call was released by the customer or whether the call was released by the call center agent; and
wherein using the determined difference to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent comprises using the determined difference to determine a measure of difference between customer released calls and agent released calls as a function of the indication of call complexity and a probability of a customer making a follow-up call with a new problem.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the set of one-time caller calls comprises:
for each of the calls, determining whether the call corresponded to a new problem call or an existing problem call;
determining a probability P1 that each customer that made a new problem call will make the new problem call; and
determining a probability P2 that each customer that made an existing problem call will make a follow-up call.

### Claim 8

A call center agent performance assessment system, comprising:
a first non-transitory computer-readable memory portion storing data corresponding to a plurality of customer calls received from customers and processed by a call center agent, wherein the maintained data comprises:
an indication of whether the call was a one-time caller call, and
for each of the one-time caller calls, an indication of whether the call was released by the customer or whether the call was released by the call center agent;
a second non-transitory computer-readable memory portion storing programming instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause a processor to execute a performance assessment method, the method comprising:
identifying, from the plurality of customer calls, a set of the one-time caller calls,
determining a first issue resolution rate for the calls in the set that were released by the customer,
determining a second issue resolution rate for the calls in the set that were released by the call center agent,
determining a difference between the first issue resolution rate and the second issue resolution rate, and
using the determined difference to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, further comprising additional programming instructions on the second non-transitory computer-readable memory portion that, when executed, are configured to cause a processor to use the determined difference to generate a compensation value recommendation for the call center agent.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions for using the determined difference to generate a compensation value recommendation for the call center agent comprise instructions to:
generate a first compensation amount if the determined difference exceeds a first threshold; and
generate a second compensation amount that is higher than the first compensation amount if the determined difference also exceeds a second threshold that is higher than the first threshold.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, further comprising additional programming instructions on the second non-transitory computer-readable memory portion that, when executed, are configured to cause a processor to:
determine a difference value between a first issue resolution rate and a second issue resolution rate for a plurality of additional call center agents;
compare the difference values for each of the call center agents; and
use the difference values to generate compensation value recommendations for each of the call center agents.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions for using the determined difference to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent comprise instructions to:
use the determined difference (δθ) between the first issue resolution rate and the second issue resolution rate to determine a measure of difference (δq) between customer released calls and agent released calls as a function of an indication of call complexity (a) and a probability of a customer making a follow-up call (p) with a new problem as follows:
δ
q
=
δ
θ
a
·
p
2
,
and
considering a higher δq to represent a higher level of performance.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein:
the maintained data also comprises:
a measure of complexity for each call, and
for each of the one-time caller calls, an indication of whether the call was released by the customer or whether the call was released by the call center agent; and
the instructions for using the determined difference to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent comprise instructions to use the determined difference to determine a measure of difference between customer released calls and agent released calls as a function of the indication of call complexity and a probability of a customer making a follow-up call with a new problem.

### Claim 14 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions for identifying the set of one-time caller calls comprise instructions to:
for each of the calls, determine whether the call corresponded to a new problem call or an existing problem call;
determine a probability P1 that each customer that made a new problem call will make the new problem call; and
determine a probability P2 that each customer that made an existing problem call will make a follow-up call.

### Claim 15

A method of assessing performance of a call center agent, the method comprising, by a processor:
retrieving, from a computer-readable memory, data corresponding to a plurality of customer calls processed by a call center agent, wherein the retrieved data for each call comprises:
an indication of whether the call was a one-time caller call, and
for each of the one-time caller calls, an indication of whether the call was released by the customer or whether the call was released by the call center agent; and
using the retrieved data to generate a performance assessment for the call center agent; and
taking an action corresponding to the performance assessment.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising determining a one-time caller call rate, and wherein using the retrieved data to generate the performance assessment comprises generating the performance assessment based at least in part on a rate at which one-time caller calls were released by the customer or by the call center agent.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein using the retrieved data to generate the performance assessment further comprises:
determining a first issue resolution rate for the calls in the set that were released by the customer;
determining a second issue resolution rate for the calls in the set that were released by the call center agent;
determining a difference between the first issue resolution rate and the second issue resolution rate; and
using the determined difference to generate the performance assessment.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, further comprising, by the processor, generating a compensation value recommendation for the call center agent based on the determined difference.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein:
the maintained data also comprises a measure of complexity for each call; and
wherein generating a performance assessment for the call center agent also uses a function of the measures of complexity and a probability of a customer making a follow-up call with a new problem.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15 wherein:
the retrieved data further comprises, for each calls, an indication of whether the call corresponded to a new problem call or an existing problem call; and
the method further comprises:
determining a probability P1 that each customer that made a new problem call will make the new problem call; and
determining a probability P2 that each customer that made an existing problem call will make a follow-up call.