Terms and Conditions:

Ger Koole wrote:This e-book can be printed and copied for personal use, as long as it is distributed as a whole, including the cover pages.

Book Excerpts:

This book is written for everybody who is dedicated to improving call center performance. It offers a scientific method to understanding and improving call centers. It explains all generic aspects of call and contact centers, from the basic Erlang formula to advanced topics such as skill-based routing and multi-channel environments. It does this without using complicated mathematical formulae, but by stressing the meaning of the mathematics. Moreover, there is a companion web page where many calculations can be executed. Next to understanding call center phenomena this book shows how to use this insight to improve call center performance in a systematic way. Keywords are data collection, scenario analysis, and decision support.

Intended Audience:

This book is also a bridge between call center management and those parts of mathematics that are useful for call centers. It shows the manager and consultant the benefits of mathematics, without having to go into the details of it. It also shows the mathematically educated reader an interesting application area of queueing theory and other fields of mathematics. As such, this book can also be used as additional material in an applied course for mathematics and industrial engineering students. Basic knowledge of call centers is assumed, although a glossary is added in case of omissions.

Book Overview:

The first chapters are of a general nature, discussing the benefits of call center mathematics and call center management objectives. Then this book continues with those subjects that are relevant to every call center manager or planner: the Erlang C formula, forecasting, and staffing. The final chapters contain more advanced subjects, such as extensions to the Erlang C model and multiple skills. This book concludes with a glossary, an annotated bibliography, and an appendix with the math of the Erlang C formula.