US5828747A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Call distribution based on agent occupancy
Assignee: Avaya Inc
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Filing: 1997-01-28
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Granted: 1998-10-27
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Expires: 2017-01-28
Abstract
Abstract A call-distribution function (150) of an ACD system (101) improves the equity of distribution of calls to agents (106-108) by basing the distribution on the agents' individual occupancies. Illustratively, determining an agent's occupancy involves either determining (304) how many calls the agent has handled within a predetermined time interval, or determining (305) how much time of a predetermined time interval the agent has spent on handling of calls. The occupancy is periodically re-determined, and a next call is allocated to the presently least-occupied one of agents who are available to take the call, or to an agent to whose occupancy the allocation will be most beneficial, such as an available agent to whom allocation of the call will maximize convergence of actual and target occupancies. A queue (135) of agents available is ordered in the inverse order of the agent's occupancies, and a newly-available agent is slotted (inserted) (306) into the queue in a position (202) that ensures the continued inverse ordering of the agent queue. The occupancies of agents are then re-determined (308) and the agents are re-enqueued (310) accordingly.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas S. Fisher
- 👤 Andrew D. Flockhart
- 👤 Roy A. Jensen
- 👤 Joylee E. Kohler
- 👤 Eugene P. Mathews
- 👤 Edward L. Smelko
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 01:57
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/523; H04M3/5232; H04M3/5233; H04M3/5234
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 35
Claim 1
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of distributing calls to a plurality of agents, comprising the steps of: determining individual occupancies of the agents wherein the occupancy of an agent comprises a ratio of one of (a) time worked by the agent and (b) a number of calls handled by the agent, over a staff time of the agent; and distributing the calls to the agents in inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of distributing calls to a plurality of agents, comprising the steps of: determining individual occupancies of the agents wherein the occupancy of an agent comprises a ratio of one of (a) time worked by the agent and (b) a number of calls handled by the agent, over a staff time of the agent; and distributing the calls to the agents in inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining which one of the agents is least occupied; and the step of distributing comprises the step of assigning a next one of the calls to the least occupied agent.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining which agent's actual idle time most exceeds that agent's target idle time; and the step of distributing comprises the step of assigning a next one of the calls to the determined one agent.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of periodically determining individual occupancies of the agents; and the step of distributing comprises the steps of distributing the calls to the agents in inverse order of their present said individual occupancies.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining which agent's individual occupancy would most benefit from a call being assigned to that agent; and the step of distributing comprises assigning a next one of the calls to the determined agent.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
136 words
The method of claim 1 for distributing the calls each one of which needs at least one of a plurality skills to the plurality of agents each one of which has at least one of the plurality of skills, wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining individual occupancies of individual said agents in individual ones of the plurality of skills; and the step of distributing comprises the steps of determining which of the plurality of skills is needed by a next one of the calls, determining, from the individual occupancies in the individual skills of the individual agents and from the skills needed by the next call, which individual agent's occupancies would most benefit from the next call being assigned to that individual agent, and assigning the call to the determined individual agent.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining how many calls each of the agents had handled within a predetermined time interval.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining how much time of a predetermined time interval each of the agents has spent on handling of calls.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the step of determining each agent's occupancy when the agent becomes available to handle a call.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: occasionally re-determining the individual occupancies of at least some of the agents.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of distributing comprises the steps of enqueuing the agents in a queue of agents waiting to handle calls in the inverse order of the agents' individual occupancies; and distributing the calls to the agents in the order in which they are enqueued.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of: occasionally re-determining the individual occupancies of at least some of the enqueued agents; and re-enqueuing the enqueued agents in the queue in the inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of distributing comprises the steps of ordering the plurality of agents into groups according to their individual levels of expertise in a skill; ordering the agents in each group in the inverse order of their individual occupancies; and distributing the calls to the plurality of agents in the order in which they are ordered.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
93 words
The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of determining comprises the steps of determining each agent's individual occupancy when the agent becomes available to handle a call, and enqueuing the agent according to the agent's occupancy in a queue of agents waiting to handle calls and ordered in an inverse order of the agents' individual occupancies; and the step of distributing comprises the steps of dequeuing the agents in the order in which they are enqueued, and distributing the calls to the dequeued agents in the order in which they are dequeued.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
125 words
The method of claim 14 wherein: the step of enqueuing comprises the step of enqueuing the agent having a level of expertise in a skill according to the agent's occupancy in an agent queue that corresponds to the agent's level of expertise of a plurality of agent queues each corresponding to a different level of expertise in the skill, each of the agent queues being ordered in an inverse order of the agents' individual occupancies; and the step of dequeuing comprises the step of dequeuing the agents from the plurality of queues in an order of the queues' corresponding levels of expertise in the skill and from each one of the queues in the order in which the agents are enqueued in said one queue.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
78 words
An apparatus for distributing calls to a plurality of agents, comprising: an effector of determining individual occupancies of the agents wherein the occupancy of an agent comprises a ratio of one of (a) time worked by the agent and (b) a number of calls handled by the agent, over a staff time of the agent; and an effector, cooperative with the effector of determining, of distributing the calls to the agents in inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
78 words
An apparatus for distributing calls to a plurality of agents, comprising: an effector of determining individual occupancies of the agents wherein the occupancy of an agent comprises a ratio of one of (a) time worked by the agent and (b) a number of calls handled by the agent, over a staff time of the agent; and an effector, cooperative with the effector of determining, of distributing the calls to the agents in inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining which one of the agents is least occupied; and the effector of distributing comprises an effector of assigning a next one of the calls to the least occupied agent.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
48 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining which agent's actual idle time most exceeds that agent's target idle time; and the effector of distributing comprises an effector of assigning a next one of the calls to the determined one agent.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining comprises an effector of periodically determining individual occupancies of the agents; and the effector of distributing comprises means for distributing the calls to the agents in inverse order of their present said individual occupancies.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining which agent's individual occupancy would most benefit from a call being assigned to that agent; and the effector of distributing comprises an effector of assigning a next one of the calls to the determined agent.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
143 words
The apparatus of claim 16 for distributing the calls each one of which needs at least one of a plurality of skills to the plurality of agents each one of which has at least one of the plurality of skills, wherein; the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining individual occupancies of individual said agents in individual ones of the plurality of skills; and the effector of distributing comprises an effector of determining which of the plurality of skills is needed by a next one of the calls, an effector of determining, from the individual occupancies in the individual skills of the individual agents and from the skills needed by the next call, which individual agent's occupancies would most benefit from the next call being assigned to that individual agent, and an effector of assigning the call to the determined individual agent.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining how many calls each of the agents has handled within a predetermined time interval.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining how much time of a predetermined time interval each of the agents has spent on handling of calls.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining determines each agent's occupancy when the agent becomes available to handle a call.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of determining occasionally re-determines the individual occupancies of at least some of the agents.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
57 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of distributing comprises storage defining a queue of agents waiting to handle calls, an effector of enqueuing the agents in the queue in the inverse order of the agents' individual occupancies, and an effector of distributing the calls to the agents in the order in which they are enqueued.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
48 words
The apparatus of claim 26 wherein: the effector of determining occasionally re-determines the individual occupancies of at least some of the enqueued agents; and the effector of enqueuing responds to the re-determining by re-enqueuing the enqueued agents in the queue in the inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
68 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of distributing comprises an effector of ordering the plurality of agents into groups according to their individual levels of expertise in a skill, an effector of ordering the agents in each group in the inverse order of their individual occupancies, and an effector of distributing the calls to the plurality of agents in the order in which they are ordered.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
101 words
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein: the effector of distributing comprises storage defining a queue of agents waiting to handle calls and ordered in an inverse order of the agents' individual occupancies, and an effector of dequeuing the agents in the order in which they are enqueued and distributing the calls to the dequeued agents in the order in which they were dequeued; and the effector of determining comprises an effector of determining each agent's individual occupancy when the agent becomes available to handle a call, and an effector of enqueuing the agent according to the agent's occupancy in the queue.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
136 words
The apparatus of claim 29 wherein: the effector of enqueuing comprises storage defining a plurality of agent queues each corresponding to a different level of expertise in a skill, each of the agent queues being ordered in an inverse order of the agents' individual occupancies, and an effector of enqueuing the agent having a level of expertise in a skill according to the agent's occupancy in an agent queue of the plurality of agent queues that corresponds to the agent's level of expertise in the skill; and the effector of dequeuing comprises an effector of dequeuing the agents from the plurality of queues in an order of the queues' corresponding levels of expertise in the skill and from each one of the queues in the order in which the agents are enqueued in said one queue.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
37 words
An apparatus for performing the steps of claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
89 words
A computer-usable program storage device having embodied therein means for effecting distribution of calls to a plurality of agents, said means being computer-readable program code means for causing the computer to perform the functions of: causing individual occupancies of the agents to be determined as ratios of one of (a) time worked by each agent and (b) a number of calls handled by each agent, over a staff time of each agent; and causing the calls to be distributed to the agents in inverse order of their individual occupancies.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
89 words
A computer-usable program storage device having embodied therein means for effecting distribution of calls to a plurality of agents, said means being computer-readable program code means for causing the computer to perform the functions of: causing individual occupancies of the agents to be determined as ratios of one of (a) time worked by each agent and (b) a number of calls handled by each agent, over a staff time of each agent; and causing the calls to be distributed to the agents in inverse order of their individual occupancies.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-10-26 | 2002-04-27 | 2002-10-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-10-26 | 2006-04-27 | 2006-10-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-10-26 | 2010-04-27 | 2010-10-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |