Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for controlling interactions between customers and agents. One embodiment is a system that includes an interface which receives a request to initiate a conversation. The system also includes a controller that acts as a message broker for the conversation by initiating a message stream between a customer device and an agent device, and records a time from receipt of each customer message to receipt of a corresponding agent response during the message stream. The controller also identifies an issue that the conversation is directed to, adjusts a permitted time period for agent responses based on a complexity of the issue, calculates an effectiveness score for the agent based on a number of agent responses that were provided within the permitted time period, updates a profile for the agent with the effectiveness score, and uses the effectiveness score as criteria for selecting the agent.