Abstract
A call center is a service operation that caters to customer needs via the telephone. Call centers typically consist of agents that serve customers, telephone lines, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) unit, and a switch that routes calls to agents. In this paper we study a Markovian model for a call center with an IVR. We calculate operational performance measures, such as the probability for a busy signal and the average wait time for an agent. Exact calculations of these measures are cumbersome and they lack insight. We thus approximate the measures in an asymptotic regime known as QED (Quality and Efficiency Driven) or the Halfin---Whitt regime, which accommodates moderate to large call centers. The approximations are both insightful and easy to apply (for up to 1000's of agents). They yield, as special cases, known and novel approximations for the M/M/N/N (Erlang-B), M/M/S (Erlang-C) and M/M/S/N queue.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
