US6330326B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Dynamic staffing of service centers to provide substantially zero-delay service
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1998-03-27
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Granted: 2001-12-11
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Expires: 2018-03-27
Abstract
Abstract A service system provides substantially zero delay service and dynamically adjusts resources required to provide the service. According to an embodiment of the present invention, future staffing requirements of the service system are predicted by determining, of a number of customers currently in service, how many will remain in service at a predetermined future time and how many customers to arrive to the system in the future can be expected to remain in service at the predetermined future time. For customers in service, customers may be classified according to one or more attributes known for the customer. The attributes may be helpful to identify a type of service being provided to the customer and determine a remaining service time for the customer. Thus, the customer attributes may provide for more accurate staffing predictions than in the prior art.
Inventors
- 👤 Ward Whitt
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 18:32
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q3/00; H04Q3/64; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13072; H04Q2213/13093; H04Q2213/13103; H04Q2213/13164; H04Q2213/13166; H04Q2213/13335
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
128 words
A resource management method in a service system, comprising: for each of a number of customers currently in service: classifying the customer in service according to an attribute known for the customer, and predicting, based on the attribute, a time when the customer in service will terminate service; based on the predicted times of termination of the customers in service, estimating a number of the customers in service that will remain in service at a predetermined future time; predicting a number of customers expected to arrive in the future that will remain in service at the predetermined future time; and scheduling a number of agents sufficient to serve the predicted number of remaining customers in service and the predicted number of new customers at the predetermined future time.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
128 words
A resource management method in a service system, comprising: for each of a number of customers currently in service: classifying the customer in service according to an attribute known for the customer, and predicting, based on the attribute, a time when the customer in service will terminate service; based on the predicted times of termination of the customers in service, estimating a number of the customers in service that will remain in service at a predetermined future time; predicting a number of customers expected to arrive in the future that will remain in service at the predetermined future time; and scheduling a number of agents sufficient to serve the predicted number of remaining customers in service and the predicted number of new customers at the predetermined future time.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the time when the customer in service will terminate service is represented by a probability over time when the customer will terminate service.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the time when the customer in service will terminate service is represented by a probability distribution function.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein the probability distribution function is based on an estimated mean time of service for the customer.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the attribute of classification is a time elapsed since the one customer first began to receive service.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of claim 5 , wherein, for the one customer, the time when the one customer will terminate service is represented by a conditional probability distribution function of a probability over time when the one customer will terminate service given the elapsed time for the one customer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the attribute of classification is the identity of an agent serving the one customer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the attribute of classification is an upper limit service time for the one customer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the attribute of classification is the identity of the one customer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein, for at least one customer in service, the attribute of classification is conduct of the one customer during an elapsed time since the one customer first began to receive service.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of predicting resource requirement for a service system, comprising the steps of: predicting a number of customers currently in service that will remain in service at a predetermined time, predicting a number of future customers expected to arrive to the system before the predetermined time, for each future customer, estimating a holding time of the future customer, estimating a number of future customers that will remain in service at the predetermined time, scheduling a number of agents sufficient to provide service to the number of current customers and the number of future customers that will remain in service at the predetermined time.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of predicting resource requirement for a service system, comprising the steps of: predicting a number of customers currently in service that will remain in service at a predetermined time, predicting a number of future customers expected to arrive to the system before the predetermined time, for each future customer, estimating a holding time of the future customer, estimating a number of future customers that will remain in service at the predetermined time, scheduling a number of agents sufficient to provide service to the number of current customers and the number of future customers that will remain in service at the predetermined time.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein, for at least one future customer, the time when the future customer will terminate service is represented by a probability over time when the customer will terminate service.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein, for at least one future customer, the time when the future customer will terminate service is represented by a probability distribution function.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 13 , wherein the probability distribution function is based on an estimated mean time of service for the future customer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of predicting a number of future customers includes predicting the number of future customers given an actual rate of arrival of customers to the service system.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of predicting a number of future customers includes steps of: predicting a number of future customers to arrive for each of a variety of call types and estimating an aggregate number of future customers based on the predicted number of future customers of each call type.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of predicting a number of future customers includes a prediction based on historical arrival rates of calls to the service system.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
103 words
A resource management method, comprising: for each source of current demand: classifying the source according to an attribute known for the source, and predicting, based on the attribute, a time when the source will cease its demand for service, based on the predicted times of cessation of the source of current demand, estimating a level of demand at a future time from the sources of demand expected to arrive in the future and remain at the future time, and identifying an amount of service resources that will be required that will be required to meet the local level of demand in the future.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
103 words
A resource management method, comprising: for each source of current demand: classifying the source according to an attribute known for the source, and predicting, based on the attribute, a time when the source will cease its demand for service, based on the predicted times of cessation of the source of current demand, estimating a level of demand at a future time from the sources of demand expected to arrive in the future and remain at the future time, and identifying an amount of service resources that will be required that will be required to meet the local level of demand in the future.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-12-10 | 2005-06-11 | 2005-12-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-12-10 | 2009-06-11 | 2009-12-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-12-10 | 2013-06-11 | 2013-12-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |