Abstract: The present invention is directed to systems and methods for providing an accurate forecast of resource availability within a determined forecast horizon. Statistics regarding time spent by resources in tasks that can be differentiated into or considered as a number of discrete segments are accessed to obtain a probability of resource completion of the task within the forecast horizon. In particular, statistics related to different task segments are combined to obtain a composite forecast of resource availability. Embodiments of the present invention may be applied to predictive dialer applications and workflow systems.

Abstract: A facility for ranking service classes in terms of their relative levels of need for additional server resources is described. The facility utilizes a set of goals, each identifying a service class to which it applies and a goal criterion for the service class, and each specifying a desired service level specifying a minimum percentage of transactions of the service class identified by the goal for which the goal criterion should be satisfied. Each goal further specifies an indication of the level of importance of the goal. For each goal, the facility determines an achieved service level indicating the percentage of completed transactions of the service class identified by the goal for which the goal criterion specified by the goal was satisfied. The facility further identifies any goals whose desired service level exceeds their achieved service level.