SKILLS-BASED SCHEDULING FOR TELEPHONE CALL CENTERS

A method for scheduling personnel (e.g., agents) in a work environment based on personnel "skill" levels. The method facilitates true skills-based scheduling of agents in a telephone call center using a simulation tool to predict what fraction of scheduled agents from each "skill group" will be available to each "call type" during each time interval being scheduled. A feedback mechanism is used to adjust net staffing and skills usage data between iterations of a call handling simulation until a given schedule being tested through the simulator meets some acceptance criteria.