Method and system for real time reporting of metrics to fungible agents in omnichannel contact center

A method and a system for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment are provided. The method includes: receiving a service request call from a customer; determining applications that are usable for responding to the service request call from among a predetermined plurality of applications; monitoring the service request call in order to obtain information relating to call timing and events occurring during the call; when the service request call is completed, determining call-specific metrics such as hold time, number of transfers, and or idle time based on the information obtained during the monitoring; and reporting the metrics to a repository. Additional metrics that are specific to an agent assigned to handle the call may also be determined.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

This technology generally relates to methods and systems for reporting metrics relating to customer calls, and more particularly to methods and systems for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

2. Background Information

For a large corporate organization that has many customers, customer service is an important aspect of the business operation. Customers typically expect service requests to be handled in a timely and accurate manner, and if the corporate organization fails to provide such customer service, there may be a negative effect on the reputation of that organization.

Many customer service requests are performed online via the Internet. For such requests, the corporate organization may utilize a contact center that facilitates the provision of various servicing applications from different parts of the organization. However, because of the variety of applications and the scale of the overall operation, software developers may encounter difficulties in integrating newly developed applications with other parts of the software suite that serve the contact center.

Further, in the contact center, fungible agents will take calls from multiple line-of-business servicing applications and, within the same call, shift to service the customer for different servicing applications. When a specialist handles different servicing applications to assist the customer during the same call, it poses a challenge to track metrics regarding the specialist's average handle time, average talk time, etc. for a particular type of servicing application, which is one of many handled by the fungible specialist during the same call. By contrast, typical contact center reporting solutions rely on routing-related information in order to calculate agent and queue statistics; these traditional reporting solutions rely on only one type of servicing application being used to assist the customer which matches the type of call as identified by routing systems. When another type of servicing application is needed, the specialist transfers the customer to another virtual queue with differently skilled specialists. In order to reduce the number of transfers needed and elevate the customer experience, fungible contact center specialists are able to handle different types of servicing requests matching the intent of the customer's query and they can use more than one servicing application.

Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure, through one or more of its various aspects, embodiments, and/or specific features or sub-components, provides, inter alia, various systems, servers, devices, methods, media, programs, and platforms for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment is provided. The method is implemented by at least one processor. The method includes: receiving, by the at least one processor from a first customer, a service request call; determining, by the at least one processor, at least one application that is usable for responding to the service request call from among a predetermined plurality of applications; monitoring, by the at least one processor, the service request call in order to obtain information relating to a timing of the service request call, at least one event that occurs during the service request call, and at least one output of the at least one application; when the service request call is completed, determining, by the at least one processor, at least one call-specific metric based on the information obtained as a result of the monitoring; and reporting, by the at least one processor, each of the determined at least one call-specific metric to a predetermined destination.

The at least one call-specific metric may include at least one from among a hold time, a talk time, an average handle time, a call intent, a call disposition, a speed to answer, a number of calls abandoned, a number of calls dropped, a number of calls handled, an average after-call work time, a percentage of calls held, an average duration of calls held, an after-call work percentage of average handle time, a number and percentage of calls transferred, a number and percentage of calls conferenced, a combined percentage of transferred or conferenced calls, service level percentages, a number of transfers, an idle time, a call count, a type of servicing application used for each service request during the call per specialist segment and team leader, and a number of call recordings.

The at least one call-specific metric may further include intra-day summations of service levels, average handle times, an average speed to answer, a number of calls offered and a number of calls handled, summations and/or averages of metrics over a predetermined interval, such as, for example, 30 minutes, an eight-hour day, a week, or a month. Both per call and interval reporting have goals and thresholds which are also calculated and displayed to specialist and team leader in real time to monitor and take appropriate action.

The method may further include generating trends from such aggregation, which are subsequently used for work force management and forecasting.

The method may further include identifying an agent that is assigned to handle the service request call, and calculating at least one agent-specific metric based on the determined at least one call-specific metric and previously stored agent-specific metric data.

The method may further include capturing at least one metadata item that relates to the service request call. The at least one metadata item may include at least one from among telephony data, user profile data that relates to the identified agent, an identification of each of the at least one application, and information relating to whether the identified agent performed a search function during the service request call.

The method may further include displaying, on a display associated with the identified agent, a user interface that includes information relating to the service request call and information relating to a historical sequence of interactions that corresponds to the first customer.

The at least one application may include a first application that is usable for responding to a first aspect of the service request call and at least a second application that is usable for responding to a second aspect of the service request call.

The at least one call-specific metric may include a first call-specific metric that relates to the first aspect of the service request call and at least a second call-specific metric that relates to the second aspect of the service request call.

The method may further include using a container application that is designed to facilitate interactions between each of the predetermined plurality of applications for performing the monitoring and the reporting.

Additionally, the container application may show the customer journey in the same calls as the specialist-assisted customer with more than one application matching intent or query of customer together with disposition for each application, and tying it to the historical sequence of interactions for the customer's journey in fulfilling the customer intent.

The at least one call-specific metric may also include an amount of time spent and actions taken within the servicing application for business transactions. These metrics and other data that includes customer's devices, first time usage, etc., may be collected as part of click stream events, which may be sent to a post-analytical big data system with business insight visualization.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a computing apparatus for reporting metrics relating to customer calls is provided. The computing apparatus includes a processor; a memory; and a communication interface coupled to each of the processor and the memory. The processor is configured to: receive, from a first customer via the communication interface, a service request call; determine at least one application that is usable for responding to the service request call from among a predetermined plurality of applications; monitor the service request call in order to obtain information relating to a timing of the service request call, at least one event that occurs during the service request call, and at least one output of the at least one application; when the service request call is completed, determine at least one call-specific metric based on the information obtained as a result of the monitoring; and report each of the determined at least one call-specific metric to a predetermined destination.

The at least one call-specific metric may include at least one from among a hold time, a talk time, an average handle time, a call intent, a call disposition, a speed to answer, a number of calls abandoned, a number of calls dropped, a number of calls handled, an average after-call work time, a percentage of calls held, an average duration of calls held, an after-call work percentage of average handle time, a number and percentage of calls transferred, a number and percentage of calls conferenced, a combined percentage of transferred or conferenced calls, service level percentages, a number of transfers, an idle time, a call count, a type of servicing application used for each service request during the call per specialist segment and team leader, and a number of call recordings.

The processor may be further configured to identify an agent that is assigned to handle the service request call, and to calculate at least one agent-specific metric based on the determined at least one call-specific metric and previously stored agent-specific metric data.

The processor may be further configured to capture at least one metadata item that relates to the service request call. The at least one metadata item may include at least one from among telephony data, user profile data that relates to the identified agent, an identification of each of the at least one application, and information relating to whether the identified agent performed a search function during the service request call.

The processor may be further configured to display, on a display associated with the identified agent, a user interface that includes information relating to the service request call and information relating to a historical sequence of interactions that corresponds to the first customer.

The at least one application may include a first application that is usable for responding to a first aspect of the service request call and at least a second application that is usable for responding to a second aspect of the service request call.

The at least one call-specific metric may include a first call-specific metric that relates to the first aspect of the service request call and at least a second call-specific metric that relates to the second aspect of the service request call.

The processor may be further configured to use a container application that is designed to facilitate interactions between each of the predetermined plurality of applications for performing the monitoring and the reporting.

The container may pass the reporting metrics collected for each set of applications to contact center reporting systems and also attach this as metadata for identifying recordings, as well as for analytics, and use it as metadata to enrich the customer's experience when the customer is transferred or contacts the firm again.

According to yet another exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for reporting metrics relating to customer calls is provided. The storage medium includes executable code which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to: receive, from a first customer, a service request call; determine at least one application that is usable for responding to the service request call from among a predetermined plurality of applications; monitor the service request call in order to obtain information relating to a timing of the service request call, at least one event that occurs during the service request call, and at least one output of the at least one application; when the service request call is completed, determine at least one call-specific metric based on a result of the monitoring; and report each of the determined at least one call-specific metric to a predetermined destination.

The executable code may be further configured to cause the processor to identify an agent that is assigned to handle the service request call, and to calculate at least one agent-specific metric based on the determined at least one call-specific metric and previously stored agent-specific metric data.

The executable code may be further configured to cause the processor to display, on a display associated with the identified agent, a user interface that includes information relating to the service request call and information relating to a historical sequence of interactions that corresponds to the first customer.

The at least one application may include a first application that is usable for responding to a first aspect of the service request call and at least a second application that is usable for responding to a second aspect of the service request call.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described herein, various embodiments provide optimized methods and systems for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

Referring toFIG.2, a schematic of an exemplary network environment200for implementing a method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment is illustrated. In an exemplary embodiment, the method is executable on any networked computer platform, such as, for example, a personal computer (PC).

The method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment may be implemented by a Servicing Applications Call Metrics Reporting (SACMR) device202. The SACMR device202may be the same or similar to the computer system102as described with respect toFIG.1. The SACMR device202may store one or more applications that can include executable instructions that, when executed by the SACMR device202, cause the SACMR device202to perform actions, such as to transmit, receive, or otherwise process network messages, for example, and to perform other actions described and illustrated below with reference to the figures. The application(s) may be implemented as modules or components of other applications. Further, the application(s) can be implemented as operating system extensions, modules, plugins, or the like.

The communication network(s)210may be the same or similar to the network122as described with respect toFIG.1, although the SACMR device202, the server devices204(1)-204(n), and/or the client devices208(1)-208(n) may be coupled together via other topologies. Additionally, the network environment200may include other network devices such as one or more routers and/or switches, for example, which are well known in the art and thus will not be described herein. This technology provides a number of advantages including methods, non-transitory computer readable media, and SACMR devices that efficiently implement a method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

The server devices204(1)-204(n) may be hardware or software or may represent a system with multiple servers in a pool, which may include internal or external networks. The server devices204(1)-204(n) hosts the databases206(1)-206(n) that are configured to store data that relates to agent-specific call servicing metrics and customer-specific call servicing.

One or more of the devices depicted in the network environment200, such as the SACMR device202, the server devices204(1)-204(n), or the client devices208(1)-208(n), for example, may be configured to operate as virtual instances on the same physical machine. In other words, one or more of the SACMR device202, the server devices204(1)-204(n), or the client devices208(1)-208(n) may operate on the same physical device rather than as separate devices communicating through communication network(s)210. Additionally, there may be more or fewer SACMR devices202, server devices204(1)-204(n), or client devices208(1)-208(n) than illustrated inFIG.2.

The SACMR device202is described and illustrated inFIG.3as including a servicing applications call metrics reporting module302, although it may include other rules, policies, modules, databases, or applications, for example. As will be described below, the contact center servicing fabric container module302is configured to implement a method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

An exemplary process300for implementing a mechanism for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment by using the network environment ofFIG.2is illustrated as being executed inFIG.3. Specifically, a first client device208(1) and a second client device208(2) are illustrated as being in communication with SACMR device202. In this regard, the first client device208(1) and the second client device208(2) may be “clients” of the SACMR device202and are described herein as such. Nevertheless, it is to be known and understood that the first client device208(1) and/or the second client device208(2) need not necessarily be “clients” of the SACMR device202, or any entity described in association therewith herein. Any additional or alternative relationship may exist between either or both of the first client device208(1) and the second client device208(2) and the SACMR device202, or no relationship may exist.

Further, SACMR device202is illustrated as being able to access an agent-specific call metrics data repository206(1) and a customer-specific call servicing database206(2). The servicing applications call metrics reporting module302may be configured to access these databases for implementing a method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment.

Upon being started, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302executes a process for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment. An exemplary process for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment is generally indicated at flowchart400inFIG.4.

In process400ofFIG.4, at step S402, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302receives a service request call from a customer. At step S404, the call is assigned to an agent, and the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302determines an identification of the agent. In an exemplary embodiment, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302may display a user interface at a workstation associated with the agent, and may include information relating to the call and the customer, such as, for example, information relating to a historical sequence of interactions with the customer. Such information is often referred to as a “customer journey.”

At step S406, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302determines which available software applications would be useful for responding to various aspects of the customer's service request. In an exemplary embodiment, a contact center may use a container application that is configured to facilitate interactions among a large number of applications that are used for various functions that are designed to address customer service inquiries. In this regard, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302may select one or more of the applications that are integrated into the container application for addressing the specific service request presented by the customer. Alternatively, the agent handling the call may simply select which applications would be most helpful. Importantly, in many circumstances, a customer service request call may raise multiple requests and/or may include several aspects that would best be addressed by using different applications.

At step S408, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302monitors the call. In an exemplary embodiment, the call is monitored with respect to timing, events, and outputs of the applications being used to address each separate aspect of the service request. For example, a beginning time and an ending time of the call may be recorded, and any other timing-related aspects such as hold time and/or idle time may be recorded. As another example, if a customer is transferred from a first agent to a second agent, this event may be recorded. Other events and/or application outputs may vary widely based on the particulars of the service request.

At step S410, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302determines a set of metrics relating to the customer service request call. The metrics may include call-specific metrics, such as, for example, a hold time, an idle time, a number of transfers, a call count, and/or call recordings. The metrics may also include agent-specific metrics that are calculable with reference to previously stored agent-specific data. For example, an agent-specific average hold time (AHT) may be calculated by combining previously stored agent-specific AHT data with a hold time for the current call, as determined in step S408. In an exemplary embodiment, the metrics may also include metadata items relating to the service request call, such as, for example, telephony data, user profile data relating to the agent, identifications of which applications were used for responding to the service request, and whether or not a search function was performed during the call.

At step S412, the servicing applications call metrics reporting module302reports the metrics to a call center central repository, such that all interested parties within the call center environment may access the metrics. In an exemplary embodiment, the container application may be utilized for routing the metrics to appropriate destinations.

FIG.5is an architecture diagram500of a system for implementing a method for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment, according to an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in architecture diagram500, an interaction servicing fabric (ISF) container technology archetype enables fungible reporting through a container, which includes multiple servicing applications.

In an exemplary embodiment, during the same call (1a), a specialist assists a customer with multiple servicing applications, also referred to herein as microfront ends, including: (2a) and (2b) retail accounts; (3) credit card inquiries; and (4) automobile loan related requests. The metrics are continuously updated in (1b). The different products may be launched through hot links from one microfront end to another, or with (5) a holistic view microfront end. The container monitors the activity in each microfront end and sends the raw data to the ISF over web sockets. The Web Socket Notification carries servicing application events from the container to the ISF, and communicates calculated metrics from the ISF to the container.

Metrics for each service application used during the call may include any one or more of the following: hold time, talk time, average handle time, call intent, call disposition, speed to answer, number of calls abandoned, number of calls dropped, number of calls handled, average after-call work time, percentage of calls held, average duration of calls held, after-call work percentage of average handle time, number and percentage of calls transferred, number and percentage of calls conferenced, combined percentage of transferred or conferenced calls, service level percentages, a number of transfers, an idle time, a call count, a type of servicing application used for each service request during the call per specialist segment and team leader, and a number of call recordings.

Interval reporting: This may include any one or more of the following: Intra-day summations of service levels, average handle times, average speed to answer, number of calls offered and number of calls handled summations/averages of metrics over an interval, such as, for example, 30 minutes or 8 hours, one week, or one month, with goals and thresholds which are also calculated and displayed to the specialist and the team leader in real time in order to facilitate monitoring and taking appropriate action.

Trends: ISF can generate trends from such aggregation, which is subsequently used for work force management and forecasting.

Interfaces to other systems—Data Lakes, Traditional Reporting Systems, and Analytic Systems: The metrics data and click stream data (i.e., user first time visit, type of device, operating system, time spent, business transaction details, time spent on each click following click stream architecture) is sent to a data lake for historical analytics, business insights, quality, and dashboarding, and also sent to traditional contact center reporting systems. Customer journey visualization can also be drawn through a combination of current call and historical interactions.

Accordingly, with this technology, an optimized process for reporting metrics relating to customer calls for fungible agents that are utilizing multiple servicing applications in a contact center environment is provided.