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Call centers with a postponed callback offer

Author

Listed:
  • Benjamin Legros

    (EM Normandie)

  • Sihan Ding

    (Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI))

  • Rob Mei

    (Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI))

  • Oualid Jouini

    (CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay)

Abstract

We study a call center model with a postponed callback option. A customer at the head of the queue whose elapsed waiting time achieves a given threshold receives a voice message mentioning the option to be called back later. This callback option differs from the traditional ones found in the literature where the callback offer is given at customer’s arrival. We approximate this system by a two-dimensional Markov chain, with one dimension being a unit of a discretization of the waiting time. We next show that this approximation model converges to the exact one. This allows us to obtain explicitly the performance measures without abandonment and to compute them numerically otherwise. From the performance analysis, we derive a series of practical insights and recommendations for a clever use of the callback offer. In particular, we show that this time-based offer outperforms traditional ones when considering the waiting time of inbound calls.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Legros & Sihan Ding & Rob Mei & Oualid Jouini, 2017. "Call centers with a postponed callback offer," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 39(4), pages 1097-1125, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:orspec:v:39:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s00291-017-0487-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s00291-017-0487-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. B. Krishna Kumar & R. Sankar & R. Navaneetha Krishnan & R. Rukmani, 2023. "Multiserver call center retrial queue under Bernoulli vacation schedule with two-way communication and orbital search," Telecommunication Systems: Modelling, Analysis, Design and Management, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 23-51, September.
    2. Barış Balcıog̃lu & Odysseas Kanavetas, 2022. "A dynamic prioritization policy for the callback option in a call center," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 40-64, March.

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