Robust and data-driven approaches to call centers

We propose both robust and data-driven approaches to a fluid model of call centers that incorporates random arrival rates with abandonment to determine staff levels and dynamic routing policies. Resulting models are tested with real data obtained from the call center of a US bank. Computational results show that the robust fluid model is significantly more tractable as compared to the data-driven one and producing better solutions to call centers in most experiments.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: EOR
• Authors: Dimitris Bertsimas, Xuan Vinh Doan
• Keywords: Dynamic Routing Policies, EOR 2010, Fluid Model, Random Arrival Rates