HK1256580B - Techniques for behavioral pairing model evaluation in a contact center system - Google Patents

Description

Behavior pairing model evaluation technology in contact center system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to model evaluation for pairing contacts and agents in a contact center, and more particularly to behavioral pairing model evaluation techniques for use in contact center systems.

Background

Common contact centers algorithmically assign contacts that arrive at the contact center to agents that can be used to handle the contacts. Sometimes, a contact center may have a seat available and waiting to distribute incoming or outgoing contacts (e.g., phone calls, internet chat sessions, email). At other times, the contact center may have contacts waiting for an agent to become available for distribution in one or more queues.

In some common contact centers, contacts are assigned to agents that are sorted based on arrival time, and agents receive contacts that are sorted based on time when those agents become available. Such a strategy may be referred to as a "first-in-first-out", "FIFO", or "polling" strategy. In other common contact centers, other policies may be used, such as "performance-based routing" or "PBR" policies.

In other more advanced contact centers, contacts are paired with seats using a "behavioral pairing" or "BP" policy, in which case the contacts and seats can be intentionally (preferentially) paired in a manner that allows subsequent contact-seat pairs to be assigned such that when all assigned benefits under the BP policy are summed, the benefits of FIFO and other policies, such as performance-based routing ("PBR") policies, are exceeded. BP is designed to encourage balanced utilization of seats within the skills queue while still simultaneously improving overall contact center performance beyond that allowed by the FIFO or PBR approach. This is a significant achievement because BP uses the same calls and the same seats as FIFO or PBR methods, utilizes roughly the same seats as FIFO provides, and improves overall contact center performance. BP is described, for example, in U.S. patent No.9,300,802, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Additional information regarding these and other features of a pairing or matching module (also sometimes referred to as a "SATMAP," "routing system," "routing engine," etc.) is described, for example, in U.S. patent No.8,879,715, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The BP strategy may develop an agent model, or agent groups and contact types, from which expected gains for other pairing strategies may be determined. However, there is currently no technique to improve model generation and validation to optimize the expected gains.

In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that there is a need for a system that can improve behavioral pairing model selection to improve the efficiency and performance of pairing strategies designed to select between multiple possible pairings.

Disclosure of Invention

Behavioral pairing model evaluation techniques in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be implemented as a behavioral pairing model evaluation method in a contact center system, the method comprising: determining the sequence of a plurality of seats and determining the sequence of a plurality of contact types; analyzing historical contact-contact result data according to the sequence of the plurality of contacts and contact types to construct a pairing model; and determining an expected performance of the contact center system using the pairing model.

In accordance with other aspects of this particular embodiment, the behavioral pairing correction factor may be applied to the pairing model prior to determining the expected performance.

In accordance with other aspects of this particular embodiment, the pairing model may be a behavioral pairing model and/or a diagonal-based pairing strategy.

According to other aspects of this particular embodiment, a FIFO pairing strategy may be used to determine the second expected performance of the contact center system, and a pairing model may be used instead of the FIFO pairing strategy to determine the expected gain of the contact center system.

According to other aspects of this particular embodiment, a second pairing model may be constructed based at least on a second ordering of a second plurality of contact types that are different from the first plurality of contact types, a second expected performance of the contact center system may be determined using the second pairing model, the second expected performance based on the second pairing model may be compared to an expected performance based on the pairing model, and at least one of the pairing model and the second pairing model may be selected based on the comparison of the expected performance and the second expected performance.

In accordance with other aspects of this particular embodiment, new contact-agent result data may be determined, the pairing model may be updated based on the new contact-agent result data, and an updated expected performance of the contact center system may be determined using the updated pairing model.

In another particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a system for behavioral pairing model assessment in a contact center system comprising at least one computer processor configured to operate in a contact center system, wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to perform the steps in the above-described method.

In another particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as an article of manufacture for behavioral pairing model assessment in a contact center system comprising a non-transitory processor-readable medium and instructions stored on the medium, wherein the instructions are configured to be readable from the medium by at least one computer processor configured to operate in the contact center system, thereby causing the at least one computer processor to operate to perform the steps in the above-described method.

The present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to specific embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Although the present disclosure is described below with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art having access to the teachings herein will recognize additional implementations, modifications, and embodiments, as well as other fields of use, which are within the scope of the present disclosure as described herein, and with respect to which the present disclosure may be of significant utility.

Drawings

In order to facilitate a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are referenced with like numerals. These drawings should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure, but are intended to be exemplary only.

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of a contact center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic representation of a BP model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic representation of a BP model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 shows a flow diagram of a BP model evaluation method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Common contact centers algorithmically assign contacts arriving at the contact center to agents that can be used to handle the contacts. Sometimes, a contact center may have a seat available and waiting to distribute incoming or outgoing contacts (e.g., phone calls, Internet chat sessions, email). At other times, the contact center may have contacts waiting for an agent to become available for distribution in one or more queues.

In some common contact centers, contacts are assigned to agents that are sorted based on arrival time, and agents receive contacts that are sorted based on time when those agents become available. This strategy may be referred to as a "first-in-first-out", "FIFO", or "round robin" strategy. In other common contact centers, other policies may be used, such as "performance-based routing" or "PBR" policies.

In other more advanced contact centers, contacts are paired with seats using a "behavioral pairing" or "BP" policy, in which case the contacts and seats can be intentionally (preferentially) paired in a manner that allows subsequent contact-seat pairs to be assigned such that when all assigned benefits under the BP policy are summed, the benefits of FIFO and other policies, such as performance-based routing ("PBR") policies, are exceeded. BP is designed to encourage balanced utilization of seats within the skills queue while still simultaneously improving overall contact center performance beyond that allowed by the FIFO or PBR approach. This is a significant achievement because BP uses the same calls and the same seats as FIFO or PBR methods, utilizes roughly the same seats as FIFO provides, and improves overall contact center performance. BP is described, for example, in U.S. patent No.9,300,802, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Additional information regarding these and other features of a pairing or matching module (also sometimes referred to as a "SATMAP," "routing system," "routing engine," etc.) is described, for example, in U.S. patent No.8,879,715, which is incorporated herein by reference.

In some embodiments, the contact center may periodically switch (or "cycle") between at least two different pairing strategies (e.g., between a FIFO and a BP strategy). In addition, the results of each contact-seat interaction may be logged, while identifying which pairing strategy (e.g., FIFO, PBR, or BP) has been used to assign that particular contact-seat pair. By keeping track of which interactions produce which results, the contact center can measure performance due to the first policy (e.g., FIFO) and performance due to the second policy (e.g., BP). In this way, the relative performance of one strategy may be referenced to another strategy. The contact center may more reliably attribute performance gains to one strategy or another over multiple periods of time when switching between different pairing strategies. The benchmarking strategy is described in U.S. patent application No.15/131,915 filed on 18/4/2016, for example, and incorporated herein by reference.

The BP strategy may develop an agent model or agent group and contact type from which expected gains for other pairing strategies may be determined. Accordingly, techniques for improved model generation and validation to optimize expected gains are desired.

In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that there is a need for a system that can improve behavioral pairing model selection to improve the efficiency and performance of designing pairing strategies for selecting between multiple possible pairings.

Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a contact center system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The specification herein describes network elements, computers and/or system components and methods for simulating a contact center system that may include one or more modules. As used herein, the term "module" may be understood to refer to computing software, firmware, hardware, and/or various combinations thereof. However, the module should not be construed as software not implemented on hardware, firmware, or recorded on a processor-readable recordable storage medium (i.e., the module itself is not software). Note that these modules are exemplary. Modules may be combined, integrated, separated, and/or duplicated to support various applications. Also, functions described herein as being performed at a particular module may be performed at one or more other modules and/or by one or more other devices without being performed at or in addition to the particular module. Further, modules may be implemented across multiple devices and/or other components, local or remote to each other. Additionally, the modules may be moved from one device and added to another device, and/or may be included in both devices.

As shown in fig. 1, the contact center system 100 can include a central switch 110. The central switch 110 may receive an incoming contact (e.g., caller) or support an outgoing connection to the contact via a telecommunications network (not shown). The central switch 110 may include contact routing hardware and software to facilitate routing of contacts between or to one or more contact centers, including other internet-based, cloud-based, or otherwise networked contact-seat hardware or software-based contact center solutions.

The central switch 110 may not be necessary, such as if there is only one contact center in the contact center system 100, or if there is only one PBX/ACD routing component. If more than one contact center is part of the contact center system 100, each contact center can include at least one contact center switch (e.g., contact center switches 120A and 120B). Contact center switches 120A and 120B may be communicatively coupled to central switch 110. In embodiments, various topologies of routing and network components may be configured to implement a contact center system.

Each contact center switch of each contact center may be communicatively coupled to a plurality of agents (or "agent libraries"). Each contact center switch may support logging a certain number of seats (or "seats") at a time. At any given time, the logged-on agent is available and is waiting to connect to the contact, or the logged-on agent is unavailable for any of a variety of reasons, such as being connected to another contact, performing some post-call function, such as login information about the call, or taking a break.

In the example of fig. 1, central switch 110 routes the contact to one of two contact centers via contact center switch 120A and contact center switch 120B, respectively. Each of the contact center switches 120A and 120B is shown with two agents, respectively. Agents 130A and 130B may be logged into contact center switch 120A, and agents 130C and 130D may be logged into contact center switch 120B.

The contact center system 100 may also be communicatively coupled to a comprehensive service, for example, from a third party provider. In the example of fig. 1, the pairing model evaluation module 140 can be communicatively coupled to one or more switches in a switch system of the contact center system 100, such as the central switch 110, the contact center switch 120A, or the contact center switch 120B. In some embodiments, the switches of the contact center system 100 may be communicatively coupled to a plurality of pairing model evaluation modules (e.g., BP model evaluation modules). In some embodiments, the pairing model evaluation module 140 can be embedded within a component of the contact center system (e.g., embedded in or integrated with a switch). The pairing model evaluation module 140 can receive information from a switch (e.g., contact center switch 120A) about agents logged into the switch (e.g., agents 130A and 130B) and information about incoming contacts via another switch (e.g., central switch 110), or in some embodiments, from a network (e.g., the internet or a telecommunications network) (not shown).

The contact center may include a plurality of paired modules (e.g., a BP module and a FIFO module) (not shown), and one or more of the paired modules may be provided by one or more different vendors. In some embodiments, one or more pairing modules may be components of the pairing model evaluation module 140 or one or more switches such as the central switch 110 or the contact center switches 120A and 120B. In some embodiments, the pairing model evaluation module may determine which pairing module may handle pairing for a particular contact. For example, the pairing model evaluation module may alternate between enabling pairing via the BP module and enabling pairing through the FIFO module. In other embodiments, one pairing module (e.g., a BP module) may be configured to emulate other pairing policies. For example, a pairing model evaluation module or a pairing model evaluation component of a BP module integrated with a BP component can determine whether the BP module can use BP pairing or analog FIFO pairing for a particular association. In this case, "BP on" may refer to a time when the BP module applies a BP pairing policy, and "BP off" may refer to other times when the BP module applies a different pairing policy (e.g., FIFO).

In some embodiments, a single pairing module may be configured to monitor and store information about pairings made under any or all pairing policies, whether the pairing policies are handled by separate modules, or if some pairing policies are emulated within a single pairing module. For example, the BP module may observe and record data about FIFO pairings made by the FIFO module, or the BP module may observe and record data about FIFO pairings emulated by the BP module operating in FIFO emulation mode.

Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic representation of a BP model 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The BP model 200 is a simple 2x2 model with an ordering of two groups of agents (agent group a and agent group B) and an ordering of two contact types (contact type a and contact type B). In a real-world contact center, there may be tens, hundreds, or more seats or groups ordered in the model, and there may also be more types of contacts ordered in the model.

In the BP model 200, there are four pairing possibilities: the contact of contact type A is paired with the seat of seat group A (pairing 201); the contact of contact type A is paired with a seat of seat group B (pairing 202); the contact of contact type B is paired with the seat of seat group A (pair 203); and contacts of contact type B are paired with seats of seat group B (pair 204).

In the assumptions of BP model 200, a review of historical contact result data is shown below: pairing 201 shows the number of 10 contacts and the average revenue of $ 5 per contact; the pairing 202 shows the number of 10 contacts and the average revenue of $ 25 per contact; the pairing 203 shows the number of 25 contacts and the average revenue of $10 per contact; and the pairing 204 shows the number of 40 contacts and the average revenue of $ 20 per contact.

One way to calculate the expected average revenue for each contact between all contact-agent pairs is to calculate a weighted average of all possible pairs, as shown in equation 1 below:

(25 · 10+40 · 20+25 · 10+10 · 5)/(25+40+25+10) ═ 13.5 (equation 1)

Thus, the expected revenue for each contact in a common FIFO pairing is $ 13.50 per contact.

In some embodiments of the BP strategy, the contact center system (via, e.g., a BP component or module embedded in or communicatively coupled to the contact center system) may preferably pair contacts and agents along a diagonal (e.g., diagonal 210) of the model. In the example of the BP model 200, contact type a may preferably be paired with agent group a, and thus contact type B may preferably be paired with agent group B, in view of the availability of the best choice.

One technique under the BP strategy for estimating the expected revenue for each contact is to calculate a weighted average of all preferred pairings, as shown in equation 2 below:

(40 · 20+10 · 5)/(40+10) ═ 17 (equation 2)

Thus, the expected revenue per contact is $ 17 per contact, and the expected gain or boost for the FIFO pairing strategy is $ 3.50 per contact, or nearly 26% higher gain than the FIFO.

The calculation shown in equation 2 implicitly assumes that calls paired using the BP strategy will be evenly distributed throughout the pairs 201 and 204, and calculates the ratio of the weighting of pairs that fall evenly in the square grid of area 10 with pair 201 to the ratio of pairs that fall evenly in the square grid of area 40 with pair 204.

However, in practice, the BP strategy may be closer to the diagonal in terms of distance or Z-score, so that a particular pair of ranked contacts and ranked seats will be lower than the diagonal. A more accurate estimate of BP over the expected gain of the FIFO may account for a narrower set of link-agent pairs along the diagonal, calculating the proportion of pairs that fall evenly along or near the diagonal through each pair. In some embodiments, a weighted average of the proportional lengths according to the diagonal through each preferred pair under the BP strategy may be calculated. Thus, in some embodiments, the adjusted expected revenue for each contact is only $ 15 per contact, and the adjusted expected gain or boost for the FIFO pairing strategy is only $ 1.50 per contact, or about 11% gain.

In practice, the actual gain measured using the BP model 200 is more likely to be 11% than 26%. Therefore, it may be advantageous to determine the "adjusted diagonal" instead of the "unadjusted diagonal" of equation 2. The ability to evaluate the expected values and gains of the BP model has many benefits, including more accurate revenue/cost savings predictions, and an enhanced ability to select the best model. For example, given a choice between two possible models of ranked contact types and positions (e.g., "model A" and "model B"), model A may exhibit a higher gain than model B using an unadjusted diagonal calculation, while model B may exhibit a higher gain than model A using an adjusted diagonal calculation. In this case, it is preferable to apply model B to BP in the contact center system to maximize the expected gain in the real world.

In some cases, the model may appear to have a positive expected gain using unadjusted diagonal calculations, but actually have a negative expected gain (i.e., loss) using adjusted diagonal calculations. An example of such a model is described below with reference to fig. 3.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic representation of a BP model 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Similar to BP model 200 (FIG. 2), BP model 300 is a simple hypothetical 2 × 2 model, with the ordering of two groups of seats (seat group A and seat group B) and the ordering of two contact types (contact type A and contact type B).

In the BP model 300, there are also four pairwise possibilities: the contact of contact type A is paired with the seat of seat group A (pairing 301); the contact of contact type A is paired with a seat of seat group B (pairing 302); the contact of contact type B is paired with the seat of the seat business group A (pairing 303); and contacts of contact type B are paired with seats of seat group B (pair 304).

In some embodiments of the BP strategy, the contact center system (via, for example, a BP component or module embedded in or communicatively coupled to the contact center system) may pair contacts with agents, preferably along a diagonal of the model (e.g., diagonal 310). In the example of the BP model 300, contact type a may preferably be paired with agent group a, and contact type B may preferably be paired with agent group B, in view of the availability of the best choice.

In the assumptions of BP model 300, a review of historical contact result data is shown below: pairing 301 displays the number of 21,000 contacts and the average processing time ("AHT") of 900 seconds per contact; pairing 302 displays the number of 23,000 contacts and the AHT of 850 seconds per contact; pairing 303 displays the number of 25,000 contacts and the AHT of 700 seconds per contact; and the pairing 304 displays the number of 26,000 contacts and the average revenue for each contact for 650 seconds. Notably, an effective behavioral pairing model of AHT should result in AHT reduction (i.e., a lower expected AHT indicates a positive expected gain).

Equations 3 and 4 below calculate the baseline FIFO/random expected performance, the unadjusted BP expected performance, and the adjusted diagonal BP expected performance, respectively:

(21,000. multidot.900 +23,000. multidot.850 +25,000. multidot.700 +26,000. multidot.650)/(21,000 +23,000+25,000+26,000) ≈ 767 (equation 3)

(21,000. 900+26,000. 650)/(21,000+26,000) ≈ 762 (equation 4)

Thus, the apparent, unadjusted expected performance of the BP model 300 is a reduction in AHT per link of about 5 seconds (767 seconds per link from equation 3 minus 762 seconds per link from equation 4), or 0.7% higher gain than the FIFO pair. However, the expected performance of the real-world adjustment of the BP model 300 according to some embodiments is an increase of about 1 second for each link's AHT (767 seconds per link from equation 3 minus 768 seconds per link from the diagonal calculation of the adjustment), or-0.1% gain compared to the FIFO pairing.

In the example of the hypothetical BP model 300, the contact center system might naturally select the BP model 300 as a viable model to achieve a gain of 0.7%. However, based on the adjustment, the contact center system may avoid using the BP model 300 because it is expected to reduce the overall performance of the contact center system.

Fig. 4 shows a flow diagram of a BP model evaluation method 400 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. At block 410, the BP model evaluation method 400 begins.

At block 410, a ranking of the agents (or groups of agents) may be determined, and at block 420, a ranking of the contact types may be determined. The BP module or similar component can assist in defining contact types and/or groups of agents based on various variables (e.g., demographics, psychology). The ordering of the contact types and the agents or groups of agents may be based on various performance metrics or other metrics (sales, AHT, impact, etc.).

At block 430, the historical contact-to-contact result data may be analyzed according to the contact and contact type rankings determined at blocks 410 and 420. For example, consider a historical pairing between an agent Alice and a contact Bob. Analysis of the seating data of seating Alice determines that seating Alice will be considered a member of seating group a under the BP model determined at blocks 410 and 420, and analysis of the contact data of contact Bob determines that contact Bob will be considered a member of contact type B under the BP model. The correlation results of the contact-seat pairing will be attributed to the pairwise pairing group of seat group a and contact type B. For example, if the contact center seeks to optimize sales, the pairing model evaluation module may note that one of the contacts in the pairing group generates some revenue (e.g., $0, $10, $ 100).

The historical result data may include a small amount of result data, a large amount of result data, a threshold amount of result data determined to be statistically significant, and the like. In some embodiments, the result data may be limited to a rolling history window (e.g., 10 days, 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, etc.). In some embodiments, the result data may be confined to results collected during the "off" period when the FIFO pair is in use. In other embodiments, the result data may include random groupings of "on" (e.g., BP) and/or "off" (e.g., FIFO) pairs.

After analyzing the historical result data, the resulting BP model may be similar to BP model 200 (FIG. 2) or BP model 300 (FIG. 3) as long as the grids for the ordered seat or group of seats and the paired pairing group of contact types may indicate the amount of the association coefficient and the average result for each pairing group.

At block 440, a BP correction factor may be applied to the model. For example, as shown with reference to the BP models 200 and 300 (fig. 2 and 3), the behavioral pair adjustment may be applied to compute a weighted average of contacts along the proportional length of the diagonal through the BP preferred pair, rather than a weighted proportion of contacts within the region of the BP preferred pair. For other forms of BP, other comparable techniques may be applied to adjust the gain calculation to real world expectations.

At block 450, an expected gain of the model may be determined based on the BP correction factor applied at block 440. In this way, one model may be favored or abandoned over the other models to optimize the expected gain with respect to the off period pairing strategy (e.g., FIFO, PBR).

After block 450, the BP model evaluation method 400 may end. In some embodiments, the BP model evaluation method 400 may return to block 410 to begin determining an alternative BP model to evaluate and compare with other possible BP models to find a model with higher or optimal gain.

At this point, it should be noted that behavioral pairing model evaluation in a contact center system according to the present disclosure as described above may involve, to some extent, the processing of input data and the generation of output data. The input data processing and output data generation may be implemented in hardware or software. For example, certain electronic components may be employed in a behavioral pair model evaluation module or similar or related circuitry to implement functions related to pair model evaluation in a contact center system according to the present disclosure as described above. Alternatively, one or more processors operating in accordance with instructions may implement the BP-related functions in a contact center system in accordance with the present disclosure as described above. If this is the case, it is within the scope of the disclosure that these instructions may be stored on one or more non-transitory processor-readable storage media (e.g., a magnetic disk or other storage medium) or transmitted to one or more processors via one or more signals embedded in one or more carrier waves.

The scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein. Indeed, various other embodiments and modifications of the disclosure in addition to those described herein will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Accordingly, such other embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, although the present disclosure has been described herein in the context of at least one particular implementation in at least one particular environment for at least one particular purpose, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that the present disclosure may be beneficially implemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes. Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be construed in view of the full breadth and spirit of the present disclosure as described herein.

Claims (18)

1. A method for behavioral pairing model evaluation in a contact center system, comprising:

determining, by at least one pairing model evaluation module communicatively coupled to the contact center system and configured to operate in the contact center system, an ordering of a plurality of agents;

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, an ordering of a plurality of contact types;

analyzing, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, historical contact-contact result data according to the ranking of the plurality of contacts and contact types to determine a pairing model;

selecting, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, at least one agent-contact type pairing for a connection in the contact center system according to the pairing model to optimize performance of the contact center system due to the pairing model;

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, an expected performance of the contact center system using the pairing model;

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, new contact-agent result data;

updating, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, the pairing model based on the new contact-agent result data;

selecting, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, at least one agent-contact type pairing for a connection in the contact center system according to the updated pairing model to further optimize performance of the contact center system as a result of the updated pairing model; and

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, an updated expected performance of the contact center system using the updated pairing model.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module and prior to determining the expected performance, a behavioral pairing correction factor to the pairing model.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the pairing model is a behavioral pairing model.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the pairing model is based on a diagonal pairing strategy.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, a second expected performance of the contact center system using a FIFO pairing policy; and

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, an expected gain of the contact center system using the pairing model instead of the FIFO pairing policy.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

constructing, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, a second pairing model based at least on a second ordering of a second plurality of contact types different from the first plurality of contact types;

determining, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, a second expected performance of the contact center system using the second pairing model;

comparing, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, the second expected performance based on the second pairing model with the expected performance based on the pairing model; and

selecting, by the at least one pairing model evaluation module, one of at least the pairing model and the second pairing model based on a comparison of the expected performance and the second expected performance.

7. A system for behavioral pairing model evaluation in a contact center system, comprising:

at least one pairing model evaluation module communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, wherein the at least one pairing model evaluation module is configured to:

determining a ranking of a plurality of agents;

determining a ranking of a plurality of contact types;

analyzing historical contact-contact result data according to the plurality of seats and the ordering of contact types to construct a pairing model;

selecting at least one agent-contact type pairing for a connection in the contact center system according to the pairing model to optimize performance of the contact center system due to the pairing model;

determining an expected performance of the contact center system using the pairing model;

determining new contact-agent result data;

updating the pairing model based on the new contact-agent result data;

selecting at least one agent-contact type pairing for a connection in the contact center system according to an updated pairing model to further optimize performance of the contact center system as a result of the updated pairing model; and

determining an updated expected performance of the contact center system using the updated pairing model.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one pairing model evaluation module is further configured to:

applying a behavioral pairing correction factor to the pairing model prior to determining the expected performance.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the pairing model is a behavioral pairing model.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the pairing model is based on a diagonal pairing strategy.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one pairing model evaluation module is further configured to:

determining a second expected performance of the contact center system using a FIFO pairing policy; and

determining an expected gain of the contact center system using the pairing model instead of the FIFO pairing strategy.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one pairing model evaluation module is further configured to:

constructing a second pairing model based at least on a second ordering of a second plurality of contact types different from the first plurality of contact types;

determining a second expected performance of the contact center system using the second pairing model;

comparing the second expected performance based on the second pairing model with the expected performance based on the pairing model; and

selecting one of at least the pairing model and the second pairing model based on a comparison of the expected performance and the second expected performance.

13. A non-transitory computer processor-readable medium for behavioral pairing model assessment in a contact center system, comprising instructions, wherein the instructions are configured to be read from the non-transitory computer processor-readable medium by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to the contact center system and configured to operate in the contact center system, thereby causing the at least one computer processor to operate to:

determining a ranking of a plurality of agents;

determining a ranking of a plurality of contact types;

analyzing historical contact-contact result data according to the plurality of seats and the ordering of contact types to construct a pairing model;

selecting at least one agent-contact type pairing for a connection in the contact center system according to the pairing model to optimize performance of the contact center system due to the pairing model;

determining an expected performance of the contact center system using the pairing model;

determining new contact-agent result data;

updating the pairing model based on the new contact-agent result data;

selecting at least one agent-contact type pairing for a connection in the contact center system according to an updated pairing model to further optimize performance of the contact center system as a result of the updated pairing model; and

determining an updated expected performance of the contact center system using the updated pairing model.

14. The non-transitory computer processor-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is further caused to operate to:

applying a behavioral pairing correction factor to the pairing model prior to determining the expected performance.

15. The non-transitory computer processor-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the pairing model is a behavioral pairing model.

16. The non-transitory computer processor-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the pairing model is based on a diagonal pairing strategy.

17. The non-transitory computer processor-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is further caused to operate to:

determining a second expected performance of the contact center system using a FIFO pairing policy; and

determining an expected gain of the contact center system using the pairing model instead of the FIFO pairing strategy.

18. The non-transitory computer processor-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least one computer processor is further caused to operate to:

constructing a second pairing model based at least on a second ordering of a second plurality of contact types different from the first plurality of contact types;

determining a second expected performance of the contact center system using the second pairing model;

comparing the second expected performance based on the second pairing model with the expected performance based on the pairing model; and

selecting one of at least the pairing model and the second pairing model based on a comparison of the expected performance and the second expected performance.