There are provided a method, a system configured to perform the method, and a computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of the system cause the system to perform the method. The method comprises determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a plurality of available contacts, wherein each of the plurality of available contacts is available for pairing to an agent of a plurality of agents using either a first pairing strategy or a second pairing strategy, wherein the first pairing strategy is different from the second pairing strategy. The method further comprises determining, by the at least one computer processor, that a first agent of the plurality of agents is available for pairing, and after determining that the first agent is available for pairing, selecting, by the at least one computer processor, the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy for pairing the first agent to one of the first plurality of contacts based on a time the first agent became available for pairing. The method further comprises selecting, by the at least one computer processor, a first contact of the plurality of contacts using the selected pairing strategy, wherein the first contact was not assigned to either the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy prior to the first agent becoming available, and pairing, in a switch of the contact center system, the first contact to the first agent.

There are provided a method, a system configured to perform the method, and a computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of the system cause the system to perform the method. The method comprises determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a plurality of available contacts, wherein each of the plurality of available contacts is available for pairing to an agent of a plurality of agents using either a first pairing strategy or a second pairing strategy, wherein the first pairing strategy is different from the second pairing strategy. The method further comprises determining, by the at least one computer processor, that a first agent of the plurality of agents is available for pairing, and after determining that the first agent is available for pairing, selecting, by the at least one computer processor, the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy for pairing the first agent to one of the first plurality of contacts based on a time the first agent became available for pairing. The method further comprises selecting, by the at least one computer processor, a first contact of the plurality of contacts using the selected pairing strategy, wherein the first contact was not assigned to either the first pairing strategy or the second pairing strategy prior to the first agent becoming available, and pairing, in a switch of the contact center system, the first contact to the first agent.

Techniques for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising: determining a first ordering of a plurality of agents according to a behavioral pairing strategy with a balanced agent utilization; determining a second ordering of the plurality of agents according to a performance-based routing strategy with an unbalanced agent utilization; determining a third ordering of the plurality of agents according to a combination of the first ordering and the second ordering having a skewed agent utilization between the balanced agent utilization and the unbalanced agent utilization; and outputting a hybrid behavioral pairing model based on the third ordering for connecting a contact to an agent of the plurality of agents in the contact center system.

Systems and methods for a work distribution service. At a multi-tenant platform that provides a work distribution service for a plurality of external systems, a priority is assigned to a first work item of a first external system. The work item is received via a RESTful work item API call request. The priority is assigned based on work item attributes of the work item and a workflow instruction corresponding to workflow information specified by the work item. The workflow instruction is provided by the external system via a RESTful Workflow API. A worker is assigned to the work item based on: the priority of the work item, the workflow information, and worker state managed by the first external system via a RESTful Worker API. The worker state includes worker attributes. The work item is generated by the external system, and the workflow instruction is managed by the external system.

Techniques for behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for pairing in a contact center including ordering one or more contacts, ordering one or more agents, comparing a first difference in ordering between a first contact and a first agent in a first pair with a second difference in ordering between a second contact and a second agent in a second pair, and selecting the first pair or the second pair for connection based on the comparing, wherein the first contact and the second contact are different or the first agent and the second agent are different.

A system and method for providing customer-support services to a user of a website through a web widget. When the user accesses a web page containing the web widget, a call is automatically made from the web widget to a customer-support system. In response to the call, the system obtains status information from the customer-support system indicating whether customer-support agents are available to take telephone phone calls. If the status information indicates customer-support agents are available to take telephone calls, the web widget provides a call-related interface to the user, wherein the call-related interface is configured to facilitate a telephone call with a customer-support agent. If the status information indicates customer-support agents are not available to take telephone calls, the web widget provides a non-call-related interface to the user, wherein the non-call-related interface is configured to facilitate an alternative channel of customer support that does not involve a telephone call.

An electronic communication method and system are disclosed. Exemplary methods include rating agent soft skills using an artificial intelligence (AI) module that continuously evaluates these skills, based on artifacts available from previous interactions with customers. The artifacts can be the voice recordings, chat transcripts, as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used for reporting. Once agents are rated, targeted soft skill-based routing is implemented for high priority calls or calls that are detected by a sentiment analyzer as requiring special attention. For training purposes, the system can be configured to route calls to agents with lower soft skills ratings during off hours. Completed calls may be used as further feedback to the AI module and the soft skill ratings acquired by the AI module may be added to an existing “hard skills” dataset for contact center call routing, to assist with continuous learning of soft skills as well as agent and supervisor training.

A call handler in a contact center is configured to temporarily derogate the skill level of one or more agents in a group having a common skill. During the time period of derogation, incoming calls will be routed to agents with the highest skill level, such that the normally lower skill level agents will be selected to receive calls. If there are more than one agent meeting this criteria, then the agent that has been waiting the longest to receive a call is selected. This allows the lower skill level agents to gain experience in handling calls and improving their call handling capabilities. After a set threshold, the derogation of the agents is terminated, and their skill level is restored to the pre-derogation level. In this manner the lower skill level agents are given limited opportunities for improvement by handling calls.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a communication router and hub. In examples, a communication platform enables communication between a customer and a service. Customer information associated with a customer is stored as part of a customer record. The customer record may be associated with the customer using a customer address (e.g., a telephone number or an email address) and/or a communication address associated with the service. Thus, in response to a subsequent communication, the communication platform may identify the customer record based at least in part on the customer address and the service communication address, thereby enabling improved communication routing for incoming and outgoing communications associated with the customer. Additionally, customer information from the customer record may be presented to an experience agent of the service, such that the experience agent is able to better assist the customer.

Contact centers often provide a restricted amount of time for agents to perform post-call activities, including identifying and selecting a relevant completion code from a large set of codes. Providing automated systems and methods to identify the relevant code or codes can present a limited number of the codes (e.g., quick release codes) to the agent and/or automatically enter the completion code. When the quick release code is entered, the record of the call is then updated with the code and the communication is terminated as a single step.