METHOD FOR AGENT SCHEDULING FOR REVENUE AND SERVICE CHANNELS IN A SKILLS-BASED ROUTING ENVIRONMENT

The present invention provides a method for staffing and scheduling agents for revenue and service channels in a skills-based routing environment. Initially, the invention receives forecasts of number of contacts, average handling times, agent shrinkage and sales ratios for a planning period from a forecasting system. Next the initial required staffing levels for different skill groups are determined and agents are scheduled. In the iterative step, a skill group is selected and unscheduled while keeping agents in other skill groups on their current schedules, staffing levels for the skill group selected is updated using a staffing model that applies contact routing rules and includes the number of agents scheduled for work in other skill groups, and reschedules agents in the skill group selected. The invention continues iterations for each skill group until one or more stopping criteria are satisfied.