Patent ID: 8825507

Claim:
An automated computer-implemented method of facilitating telephone agents' self-scheduling for work, the method comprising, at a computing device: identifying a first timeslot during which a media event identifying a product will be broadcast; estimating a threshold number of telephone agents needed to handle calls for the product during the first timeslot; creating seats for the threshold number of agents in one or more virtual rooms; receiving from a first agent's client device a request for available work; transmitting to the client device a personalized schedule of work available to the first agent; displaying on the client device a plurality of timeslots available to the first agent, including the first timeslot, wherein: said timeslots graphically represent multiple periods of time selectable by the first agent to self-schedule work; and at least one of said timeslots includes a graphical icon indicating a status of the timeslot with regard to the first agent; receiving from the client device a request to to work the first timeslot; and committing the first agent to work the first timeslot if: the agent is qualified to work within a virtual room in the first timeslot; and the threshold number of telephone agents has not already been committed to work the first timeslot; granting a commit budget to the first agent, wherein the commit budget to the first agent indicates number of commitments the first agent can make within a time period accessible by the first agent to self-schedule work; enabling the first agent to request an update to the personalized schedule in real time when work availability and/or schedule of another agent change and to un-commit from the first timeslot the agent has been committed to and commit to a second timeslot based on changes in the work availability and/or the schedule of the another agent without exceeding the commit budget granted to the first agent; keeping the commit budget granted to the first agent unchanged if the second timeslot the first agent commits to is marked as free.