Skills based routing

Skills based routing (SBR), or Skills-based call routing, is a call assignment strategy used in call centres to assign incoming calls to the most suitable agent, rather than simply choosing the next available agent. It is an enhancement to the Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) systems found in most call centres. The need for skills based routing has arisen as call centres have become larger and dealt with a wider variety of call types.

In the past, agents answering calls were generally only able to be assigned to one queue taking one type of call. This meant that agents who could deal with a range of call types had to be manually reassigned to different queue at different times of the day to make the best use of their skills, or face being exposed to a wide variety of calls that they were not trained for. With skills based routing, the skills needed for a particular call are often assessed by the telephone number dialed, the calling number or caller's identity, as well as choices made in any associated IVR system. Given this assessment, a skills based routing system then attempts to match the call to a suitably trained agent. The thinking being that an agent with matching skills will be able to provide a better service than one who does not.

As a consequence, the separate large queues that were characteristic of the ACD driven call centre have disappeared. Instead, each caller seems to have their own waiting area that they may share with only one or two others. Rather than being served in the order of arrival, calls are served as agents with appropriate skills become available.

Manufacturers claim that this technology improves customer service, shortens call handling time, makes training shorter and easier, thus increases agent utilisation, productivity and, hence, revenue. [ [http://www.nortel.com/solutions/ccvp/collateral/nn103640-030703.pdf Beyond ACD--The advantages of skill-based routing in today's contact centers] Nortel Networks 2003, Accessed 16 June 2007, link updated 10 July 2008.] [ [http://www.comtek-intl.com/sbr.htm Skills Based Routing] ComTek International 7 June 2001. Accessed 16 June 2007.] [L'Ecuyer, Mariane " [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3995/is_200305/ai_n9167779 Using skills-based routing to enhance contact center revenue and performance] ". Customer Inter@ction Solutions. May 2003. Accessed 18 June 2007.] Skills based routing has thus become a major selling point, over the simpler ACD that it replaces. [ [http://www.bardtech.com/skillsbased_routing.htm Skill Group Routing] [http://www.bardtech.com/ BARD Technologies Inc.] 2003 Accessed 16 June 2007.] [ [http://www.pipkins.com/articles/sbr_wfms.asp Skill Based Routing and WFM Scheduling] Pipkins, Inc. 2006 Accessed 16 June 2007.]

However, independent analysts and consultants argue that the extra complexity of a skills based routing system may not return the benefits claimed. [Foster, Robin Harris " [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3995/is_200211/ai_n9096758 Myths and realities in successful skills-based routing] ". Customer Inter@ction Solutions. Nov 2002. Accessed 18 June 2007.] They outline the difficulty of predetermining the skills needed and suggest a poorly implemented skills based routing system may result in poor service because the wrong measures of service quality are being used. [Crisafulli, Michael A " [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3700/is_199802/ai_n8790183 Implementing skill-based routing in a service agency environment] ". Telemarketing & Call Center Solutions. Feb 1998. Accessed 18 June 2007.]

Theoretical work on skills based routing system tends to be more limited, with researchers trying to identify suitable queueing theory and operations research models to represent the problems raised by skills based routing systems. [Gans, N. Koole, G. Mandelbaum, A. [http://www.columbia.edu/~ww2040/tutorial.pdf Telephone Call Centers: a Tutorial and Literature Review] . 2 September 2002. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [ [http://www.math.vu.nl/obp/callcenters/ Quantitative management of call centers] - Abstracts of papers in English. Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Accessed 16 June 2007.] [L’Ecuyer, Pierre [http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~lecuyer/myftp/papers/qest06cc.pdf Modeling and Optimization Problems in Contact Centers] . Département d’Informatique et de Recherche OpérationnelleUniversité de Montréal. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Whitt, Ward [http://www.columbia.edu/~ww2040/POMS.pdf Resource Pooling and Staffng in Call Centers with Skill-Based Routing] . IEOR Department, Columbia University. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Mandelbaum, A. [http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/f0503mandelbaum.pdf Skills-Based Routing and its Operational Complexities] Wharton's Call Center Forum. 9 May 2003. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Easton, Fred F. [http://whitman.syr.edu/facstaff/ffeaston/Research/Mmck_2cl.PDF Labor Requirements for Multi-server Multi-class Finite Queues] Working paper. 29 June 2002. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Pinker E. J. Shumsky R. A. [http://www.simon.rochester.edu/fac/pinker/Papers/Crosstraining.pdf The Efficiency-Quality Trade-Off of Cross-Trained Workers] Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter 2000, pp. 32–48 INFORMS 2000. Accessed 18 June 2007.] Some consider it a fruitful area of research. [Koole, G. Pot, A. Talim, J. [http://www.informs-cs.org/wsc03papers/232.pdf Routing Heuristics for Multi-skill Call Centers] . Proceedings of the 2003 Winter Simulation Conference. Accessed 18 June 2007.] Others claim that the traditional queueing theory formula, such as Erlang-C, are no longer relevant for determining staff schedules because they are inaccurate. They also imply that theoretical approaches will not be accurate because of the complexity involved; arguing that simulation needs to be used instead. [Klenke, Maggie [http://www.crmxchange.com/whitepapers/pdf/IEX-Skills_Based_Workforce.pdf IEX White Paper: Realizing the Full Promise of Workforce Management Technology: Avoiding Mistakes That Short-Change Your Investment] . IEX Corporation 2004. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Durr, William [http://www.witness.com/Content/News%20&%20Events/Speaking%20Engagements/Spreadsheets%20&%20WorkforceMgmt%20White%20Paper.pdf Blue Pumpkin White Paper: Spreadsheets and Workforce Management — An Odd Couple] . Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc. 2004. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Leamon, Paul " [http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/cpo/58508107 Workforce Management for Skills-Based Routing: The Need for Integrated Simulation] ". IEX Corporation. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [Stearns, Nathan " [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3995/is_200105/ai_n8934131 Using skills-based routing to the advantage of your contact center] ". Customer Inter@ction Solutions. May 2001. Accessed 18 June 2007.] Though these claim need to be considered carefully as it is also argued that the inaccuracies result from failing to understand the assumptions of the Erlang-C approach, rather than actual inaccuracy with the theory. [ [http://www.portagecommunications.com/content/view/24/37/ A Primer On Call Center Staffing Methods] Stuart Harris, Portage Communications, Inc. Accessed 16 June 2007.] [Vartabedian, Matthew " [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3877/is_199810/ai_n8823265 A little of this, and a pinch of that] ". Call Center Solutions. Oct 1998. Accessed 18 June 2007.] [ [http://www.incoming.com/WebModules/QueueTips/Question.aspx?ID=486 Estimating Service Level] International Customer Management Institute. Accessed 16 June 2007.]

References

Bibliography

# Mandelbaum, Avishai [http://iew3.technion.ac.il/serveng/References/ccbib.pdf Call Centers (Centres) Research Bibliography with Abstracts: Version 6] . Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. 23 December 2004. Accessed 16 June 2007.