Patent Application
20150347950
The present invention relates generally to a method for ranking agents and in particular to a method and associated system for ranking agents based on expertise and a customer affinity.
Selecting individuals for work assignment typically includes an inaccurate process with little flexibility. Assigning tasks may include a complicated process that may be time consuming and require a large amount of resources. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome at least some of the deficiencies and limitations described herein above.
A first aspect of the invention provides a method comprising: retrieving, by a computer processor of a computing system, historical assignment data describing past associations with agents and associated tickets; identifying, by said computer processor, groups of tickets of said associated tickets, each group of said tickets associated with a different agent of said agents;
extracting, by said computer processor, historical attributes from each said group of said tickets; associating, by said computer processor based on said groups of tickets and said historical attributes, a group of skills to each said different agent; identifying, by said computer processor, new attributes associated with a new group of tickets; generating, by said computer processor based on said historical attributes, each said group of skills, and said new attributes, an absolute score for each said different agent with respect to said new group of tickets; and generating, by said computer processor based on each said absolute score, an ordered list of said new group of tickets for each said different agent, wherein each said ordered list comprises a different order of said new group of tickets for each said different agent.
A second aspect of the invention provides a computing system comprising a computer processor coupled to a computer-readable memory unit, said memory unit comprising instructions that when executed by the computer processor implements a method comprising: retrieving, by said computer processor, historical assignment data describing past associations with agents and associated tickets; identifying, by said computer processor, groups of tickets of said associated tickets, each group of said tickets associated with a different agent of said agents; extracting, by said computer processor, historical attributes from each said group of said tickets; associating, by said computer processor based on said groups of tickets and said historical attributes, a group of skills to each said different agent; identifying, by said computer processor, new attributes associated with a new group of tickets; generating, by said computer processor based on said historical attributes, each said group of skills, and said new attributes, an absolute score for each said different agent with respect to said new group of tickets; and generating, by said computer processor based on each said absolute score, an ordered list of said new group of tickets for each said different agent, wherein each said ordered list comprises a different order of said new group of tickets for each said different agent.
A third aspect of the invention provides a computer program product, comprising a computer readable hardware storage device storing a computer readable program code, said computer readable program code comprising an algorithm that when executed by a computer processor of a computing system implements a method, said method comprising: retrieving, by said computer processor, historical assignment data describing past associations with agents and associated tickets; identifying, by said computer processor, groups of tickets of said associated tickets, each group of said tickets associated with a different agent of said agents; extracting, by said computer processor, historical attributes from each said group of said tickets; associating, by said computer processor based on said groups of tickets and said historical attributes, a group of skills to each said different agent; identifying, by said computer processor, new attributes associated with a new group of tickets; generating, by said computer processor based on said historical attributes, each said group of skills, and said new attributes, an absolute score for each said different agent with respect to said new group of tickets; and generating, by said computer processor based on each said absolute score, an ordered list of said new group of tickets for each said different agent, wherein each said ordered list comprises a different order of said new group of tickets for each said different agent.
The present invention advantageously provides a simple method and associated system capable of selecting individuals for work assignment.
System 100 evaluates expertise levels associated with agents 104 (for performing a task) based on: historical ticket resolutions (associated with tasks), client value factors and affinity scores, and scores (for each agent) relative to a new ticket arriving in system 100. A ticket is defined herein as a service request to address a technical glitch or issue associated with application or infrastructure maintenance. An agent is defined herein as a person belonging to a service provider organization responsible to review and resolve a ticket such that a customer no longer faces any technical issues. A number of displays at each position in a queue of agents are identified based on the expertise levels, a priority, a customer, and a target resolution time associated with a ticket. For example, if a priority ticket (comprising a priority level of 2) is presented to 10 agents at a first position (in the queue), the priority ticket may be retrieved within ten minutes. System 100 enables the following functions:
System 100 comprises a ticketing system 108, a scoring runtime module 110, a ticket ordering runtime module 114, a ticket repository 118, and a skill learning model module 120. Ticketing system 108 retrieves tickets 125 and associated assignment history. Incoming ticket attributes are received by scoring runtime module 110 and associated agent scores are calculated. Ticket ordering runtime module 114 generates a ticket sequence and associated tickets are stored within ticket repository 118. Skill learning model module 120 retrieves an assignment history from ticket repository 118 and generates a model associating agents with skills. System 100 generates an ordered list of tickets for each agent by:
The aforementioned process is performed by:
Algorithm 200 for generating a relative ordered list of tickets (for agents) is described as follows:
A list of tickets 202a is provided and a score S′ij is calculated to normalize ranks for each ticket across rows of agents. The score S′ij is calculated using the following equation:
A resulting list of tickets 202b is generated and an score Ŝij is calculated to normalize each agent across all ticket columns. The score Ŝij is calculated using the following equation:
A resulting list of tickets 202c is generated and score S′ij is calculated again to normalize ranks for each ticket across rows of agents. A resulting list of tickets 202d with respect to each agent is generated.
In step 308, a group of skills are associated with each different agent based on the groups of tickets and historical attributes. In step 310, new attributes associated with a new group of tickets are identified. In step 312, an absolute score for each different agent with respect to the new group of tickets is generated based on the historical attributes, each group of skills, and the new attributes. An absolute scoring process for agents with respect to tickets (i.e., based on skills and efficiency) is executed by calculating a score ST(a) for an agent a with respect to a ticket T for each agent a based on a history of tickets resolved as follows:
w(t) comprises a weight of the terms of a ticket Tt matching with terms in tickets resolved by an agent in a past time Ta. A weight for each term t for an agent is given by:
In step 314, an ordered list of the new group of tickets for each different agent is generated based on each absolute score. Each ordered list comprises a different order of the new group of tickets for each different agent. In step 318, a number of displays required at a given position for each ticket of the new group of tickets at a specified position in a queue is identified. The number of displays may be identified by:
In step 320, a position for each ticket in each associated display for each of different agent is determined based on the number of displays and each absolute score for each different agent such that a ticket associated with an agent associated with an optimal score is presented on a display at a first display position. A position for each ticket may be determined by:
The process is terminated in step 324.
System 400 enables a method for obtaining a skill level of agents and providing an absolute score to agents based on historical ticket assignment and resolution history as follows:
System 400 enables a method for providing an ordered list of tickets for each agent such that each agent selects a most suitable ticket from the overall system as follows:
Aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.”
The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.
The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.
Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.
Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.
These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The computer system 90 illustrated in
Still yet, any of the components of the present invention could be created, integrated, hosted, maintained, deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a service supplier who offers to for perform optimized work assignment based on an expectation of performance. Thus the present invention discloses a process for deploying, creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and/or integrating computing infrastructure, including integrating computer-readable code into the computer system 90, wherein the code in combination with the computer system 90 is capable of performing a method for monitoring, measuring, and tracking costs and benefits associated with an IT infrastructure. In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method that performs the process steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service supplier, such as a Solution Integrator, could offer to for perform optimized work assignment based on an expectation of performance. In this case, the service supplier can create, maintain, support, etc. a computer infrastructure that performs the process steps of the invention for one or more customers. In return, the service supplier can receive payment from the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service supplier can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to one or more third parties.
While
While embodiments of the present invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, many modifications and changes will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to encompass all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.
