Modelling a Call Center

[R.M.Mooy@telecom.tno.nl]

Hello,

Doen anyone know of a model concerning the dynamics of a (telecom) Call
Center? I'm looking for generic model building blocks that might help me
understand the decision processes involved.

Thanks!

Rutger Mooy
From: <R.M.Mooy@telecom.tno.nl>

[Alex leus]

Hi Rutger,
To get started I would sit down with key Supervisor's and employee's to
understand the work flows , computer and communications systems etc. they
use to do their work. This will give you a good picture of the structure of
the process. You would also want to find out about their process measurement
system. From here you can start putting a high level flow & stock etc.
model together that you can take back to the people you interviewed.
Cheers,

Alex
From: ""Alex Leus"" <leusa@tds.net>

[Mark Heffernan]

Try the Xjtek website (www.xjtek.com) and download a demo version of
AnyLogic. I believe that it has some call centre models. Also I think
there are some call centre models that come with Extend. Also there are
some good SD papers around that deal with service quality in Call
Centres but I'm not sure of the references

Regards
Mark Heffernan
From: ""Mark Heffernan"" <MHeffernan@evanspeck.com>

[Justin Lyon]

Rutger,

I've got a simple Powersim model developed to illustrate the use of business
simulation for improving the quality of management decisions at call
centers.

The model consists of a number of parts representing a variety of
sub-systems regarding the market, human resources, customer service, CSR
morale, etc. There are many variables corresponding to market growth and
external factors (e.g. customer behavior) as well as the managerial
decisions such as CSR salary, daily work hours, etc. Using the relationships
defined in the model, each simulation run returns a set of results on the
expected behavior of the system.

Let me know if you have Powersim and I'll send you the model.

Best,
Justin
From: ""Justin Lyon"" <justin1028@yahoo.com>

[Daniel J. McCarthy]

Rutger,

The following is a good article from the Operations Management literature
that provides a basic overview of a call center, some of the dynamics and
performance measures:

Pinker, E. and Shumsky, R. ""The Efficiency-Quality Trade-Off of
Cross-Trained Workers,"" Manufacturing & Service Operations Management,
Volume 2, No. 1, Winter 2000, pp. 32-48.

In addition to providing a basic look into call-centers, it also provides
some analytics that you might find useful.

However, I agree with Alex that you should start talking to some folks in a
call center sooner rather than later so you build your model around their
""reality.""

Good luck.

Dan McCarthy
From: ""Daniel J. McCarthy"" <djmc@MIT.EDU>