Method and apparatus for skill-based routing in a call center

Abstract

Abstract An automatic call distribution (ACD) system has a transaction queue for storing data indicating the skills and the levels of these skills that are required to process the calls at a call center. The ACD system also has a skills inventory database for storing data indicating the skills and the skill levels of each of the agents at the call center. The skills inventory database also stores data indicating the preferences and the preference levels of the call center management to have specific agents process calls with specific skill requirement levels. The ACD system compares the skill levels required by a call with the skill levels and/or preference levels of available agents and distributes the call to the available agent that has the best skill and/or preference match. A match is best with respect to skills if the agent is not underqualified to process the call and if the agent is the least overqualified agent. A match is best with respect to preferences if the call center management most prefers that the agent handle the call. The call center management controls whether the ACD system considers skill matches, preference matches, or both.

Inventors

• 👤 Nancy S. Brooks
• 👤 Paul D. Fryer
• 👤 Gary S. Kaufman
• 👤 Stephen P. Berkson
• 👤 Charles R. Herel
• 👤 Laura M. Brooks

Bibliographic Details