Patents by Inventor Zia Chishti

Zia Chishti has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11445062
    Abstract: Techniques for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system comprising: determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the task assignment system, information about a task waiting for assignment in the task assignment system; and selecting, by the at least one computer processor, a hold activity from a plurality of hold activities for the task based on the information about the task, wherein the selected hold activity is expected to improve performance of the task assignment system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jason Delker, Zia Chishti
  • Publication number: 20220286557
    Abstract: There are provided a method, a system configured to perform the method, and a computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of the system cause the system to perform the method. The method comprises determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a plurality of available contacts, wherein each of the plurality of available contacts is available for pairing to an agent of a plurality of agents using either a first pairing strategy or a second pairing strategy, wherein the first pairing strategy is different from the second pairing strategy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2022
    Publication date: September 8, 2022
    Applicant: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia CHISHTI
  • Publication number: 20220272197
    Abstract: Techniques for benchmarking performance in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for benchmarking contact center system performance comprising cycling, by at least one computer processor configured to perform contact center operations, between a first contact-agent pairing strategy and a second contact-agent pairing strategy for pairing contacts with agents in the contact center system; determining an agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy comprising a difference between a first agent utilization of the first contact-agent pairing strategy and a balanced agent utilization; and determining a relative performance of the second contact-agent pairing strategy compared to the first contact-agent pairing strategy based on the agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2022
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Applicant: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia CHISHTI
  • Patent number: 11425248
    Abstract: Techniques for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for hybrid behavioral pairing in a contact center system comprising: determining a first ordering of a plurality of agents according to a behavioral pairing strategy with a balanced agent utilization; determining a second ordering of the plurality of agents according to a performance-based routing strategy with an unbalanced agent utilization; determining a third ordering of the plurality of agents according to a combination of the first ordering and the second ordering having a skewed agent utilization between the balanced agent utilization and the unbalanced agent utilization; and outputting a hybrid behavioral pairing model based on the third ordering for connecting a contact to an agent of the plurality of agents in the contact center system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventors: Zia Chishti, Vikash Khatri
  • Patent number: 11425249
    Abstract: There are provided a method, a system configured to perform the method, and a computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of the system cause the system to perform the method. The method comprises determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a plurality of available contacts, wherein each of the plurality of available contacts is available for pairing to an agent of a plurality of agents using either a first pairing strategy or a second pairing strategy, wherein the first pairing strategy is different from the second pairing strategy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: AFINITI, LTD.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11399096
    Abstract: Techniques for data matching in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for data matching in a contact center system comprising determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the contact center system, an interaction event time associated with a historical contact interaction; determining, by the at least one computer processor, an outcome event time associated with a historical contact interaction outcome; analyzing, by the at least one computer processor, the interaction event time and the outcome event time to determine a correlation; and matching, by the at least one computer processor, the historical contact interaction with the historical contact interaction outcome based on the correlation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11381684
    Abstract: Techniques for behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for pairing in a contact center including ordering one or more contacts, ordering one or more agents, comparing a first difference in ordering between a first contact and a first agent in a first pair with a second difference in ordering between a second contact and a second agent in a second pair, and selecting the first pair or the second pair for connection based on the comparing, wherein the first contact and the second contact are different or the first agent and the second agent are different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: AFINITI, LTD.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11363142
    Abstract: Techniques for benchmarking performance in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for benchmarking contact center system performance comprising cycling, by at least one computer processor configured to perform contact center operations, between a first contact-agent pairing strategy and a second contact-agent pairing strategy for pairing contacts with agents in the contact center system; determining an agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy comprising a difference between a first agent utilization of the first contact-agent pairing strategy and a balanced agent utilization; and determining a relative performance of the second contact-agent pairing strategy compared to the first contact-agent pairing strategy based on the agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11356556
    Abstract: Techniques for benchmarking performance in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for benchmarking contact center system performance comprising cycling, by at least one computer processor configured to perform contact center operations, between a first contact-agent pairing strategy and a second contact-agent pairing strategy for pairing contacts with agents in the contact center system; determining an agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy comprising a difference between a first agent utilization of the first contact-agent pairing strategy and a balanced agent utilization; and determining a relative performance of the second contact-agent pairing strategy compared to the first contact-agent pairing strategy based on the agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Publication number: 20220141340
    Abstract: In the field of telecommunications, methods, systems, and tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums comprising program code are disclosed that comprise receiving a first agent, a second agent, a third agent, and a fourth agent available for pairing to a contact; and selecting the first agent for pairing to the contact based on a pairing strategy, wherein the pairing strategy is configured such that if the third agent and fourth agent had not been available, the second agent would have been selected for pairing to the contact, wherein the pairing strategy is configured such that if the first agent had not been available, the third agent would have been selected for pairing to the contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: S. James P. Spottiswoode, Zia Chishti
  • Publication number: 20220141339
    Abstract: In the field of telecommunications, methods, systems, and tangible, non-transitory computer-readable mediums comprising program code are disclosed that comprise receiving a set of agents defining a first agent, a second agent, and a third agent available for pairing to a contact at a contact center; and selecting the first agent for pairing to the contact based on a pairing strategy, wherein the pairing strategy is configured such that if the third agent had not been available, the second agent would have been selected for pairing to the contact, and wherein the third agent has been waiting the longest and occupied the least among the set of agents.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2022
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: S. James P. Spottiswoode, Zia Chishti
  • Publication number: 20220131977
    Abstract: A method, system and program product, the method comprising: obtaining for each call in one set of calls a respective pattern representing multiple different respective data fields; obtaining performance data for the respective patterns of the calls; obtaining performance data for the respective agents; determining agent performance sensitivity to call pattern performance for agents in a set of agents comprising the agent performance data correlated to call performance data for the calls the agent handles; and matching a respective one of the agents from the set of agents to one of the calls based at least in part on the performance data for the respective pattern of the one call and on the agent sensitivity to call performance for the respective one agent of the set of agents.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2022
    Publication date: April 28, 2022
    Applicant: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ittai KAN, Zia CHISHTI, Akbar A. MERCHANT
  • Patent number: 11316978
    Abstract: Techniques for behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for pairing in a contact center including ordering one or more contacts, ordering one or more agents, comparing a first difference in ordering between a first contact and a first agent in a first pair with a second difference in ordering between a second contact and a second agent in a second pair, and selecting the first pair or the second pair for connection based on the comparing, wherein the first contact and the second contact are different or the first agent and the second agent are different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11290595
    Abstract: A method is provided. The method comprises associating a first pairing strategy to a first plurality of contacts during a first period of time, associating a second pairing strategy that is different from the first pairing strategy to a second plurality of contacts during a second period of time later than the first period of time, and associating a third pairing strategy that is different from the first pairing strategy to a third plurality of contacts during a third period of time later than the second period of time. The method also comprises determining a first performance measurement based on outcomes of the first and second pluralities of contacts, determining a second performance measurement based on outcomes of the third plurality of contacts, and outputting data that enables a comparison of the first and second performance measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: AFINITI, LTD.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11283930
    Abstract: Techniques for behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for pairing in a contact center including ordering one or more contacts, ordering one or more agents, comparing a first difference in ordering between a first contact and a first agent in a first pair with a second difference in ordering between a second contact and a second agent in a second pair, and selecting the first pair or the second pair for connection based on the comparing, wherein the first contact and the second contact are different or the first agent and the second agent are different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Patent number: 11283931
    Abstract: Techniques for behavioral pairing in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for pairing in a contact center including ordering one or more contacts, ordering one or more agents, comparing a first difference in ordering between a first contact and a first agent in a first pair with a second difference in ordering between a second contact and a second agent in a second pair, and selecting the first pair or the second pair for connection based on the comparing, wherein the first contact and the second contact are different or the first agent and the second agent are different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia Chishti
  • Publication number: 20220078286
    Abstract: There are provided a method, a system configured to perform the method, and a computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of the system cause the system to perform the method. The method comprises determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in a contact center system, a plurality of available contacts, wherein each of the plurality of available contacts is available for pairing to an agent of a plurality of agents using either a first pairing strategy or a second pairing strategy, wherein the first pairing strategy is different from the second pairing strategy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicant: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventor: Zia CHISHTI
  • Publication number: 20220078284
    Abstract: Techniques for benchmarking performance in a contact center system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for benchmarking contact center system performance comprising cycling, by at least one computer processor configured to perform contact center operations, between a first contact-agent pairing strategy and a second contact-agent pairing strategy for pairing contacts with agents in the contact center system; determining an agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy comprising a difference between a first agent utilization of the first contact-agent pairing strategy and a balanced agent utilization; and determining a relative performance of the second contact-agent pairing strategy compared to the first contact-agent pairing strategy based on the agent-utilization bias in the first contact-agent pairing strategy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 12, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Inventor: Zia CHISHTI
  • Patent number: 11269682
    Abstract: Techniques for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for behavioral pairing in a task assignment system comprising: determining, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to and configured to operate in the task assignment system, a priority for each of a plurality of tasks; determining, by the at least one computer processor, an agent available for assignment to any of the plurality of tasks; and assigning, by the at least one computer processor, a first task of the plurality of tasks to the agent using a task assignment strategy, wherein the first task has a lower-priority than a second task of the plurality of tasks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Afiniti, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ittai Kan, Zia Chishti, Vikash Khatri, James Edward Elmore
  • Patent number: 11265421
    Abstract: Techniques for estimating expected performance of a task assignment strategy in a task assignment system are disclosed. In one particular embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method comprising receiving, by at least one computer processor communicatively coupled to a task assignment system, a plurality of historical agent task assignments; determining, by the at least one computer processor, a sample of the plurality based on a strategy for pairing agents with tasks; determining, by the at least one computer processor, an expected performance of the strategy based on the sample; outputting, by the at least one computer processor, the expected performance; and optimizing, by the at least one computer processor, the performance of the task assignment system based on the expected performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: AFINITI LTD.
    Inventors: Zia Chishti, Ittai Kan, Vikash Khatri