Optimal scheduling in call centers with a callback option

Call centers with a postponed callback offer

We study a call center model with a postponed callback option. A customer at the head of the queuewhose elapsedwaiting time achieves a given threshold receives a voice message mentioning the option to be called back later. This callback option differs from the traditional ones found in the literature where the callback offer is given at customer’s arrival.We approximate this system by a two-dim...

Shift-scheduling of Call Centers with Uncertain Arrival Parameters

This paper considers a multi-periodic multi-shift call center staffing problem with two types of jobs: calls and emails. The arrival rate of calls is random and the workforce presents some flexibility: the agents can be affected to one job type in real-time. At each period of the day, a service quality constraint limits the waiting time for a call. The staffing problem is modeled as a newsboy-t...

Online scheduling policies for multiclass call centers with impatient customers

We consider a call center with two classes of impatient customers: premium and regular classes. Modeling our call center as a multiclass GI/GI/s +M queue, we focus on developing scheduling policies that satisfy a target ratio constraint on the abandonment probabilities of premium customers to regular ones. The problem is inspired by a real call center application in which we want to reach some ...

Optimal balanced control for call centers

An optimal local search procedure for manpower scheduling in call centers

We are concerned with the minimization of multimodular functions. We show that for these functions local search gives the global optimum for a well-deened nite neighborhood. We apply this to a problem arising from manpower scheduling in call centers which has a multimodular objective function.