Analysis of a Call Center with Impatient Customers and Repairable Server

Analysis of a Call Center with Impatient Customers and Repairable Server

Peishu Chen Yan Chen 

School of Applied Mathematics, Chaohu University Hefei, Anhui 238000, China

Faculty of Science, Jiangsu University Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013, China

Corresponding Author Email: 
cps8@sina.com, 120546881@qq.com
Page: 
142-150
|
DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.18280/ama_a.540110
Received: 
15 March 2017
| |
Accepted: 
15 April 2017
| | Citation

OPEN ACCESS

Abstract: 

This article considers a call center with impatient customers, repairable server and Interactive Voice Response Units (IVRU). Calls enter the center whenever a trunk line is available; otherwise it is lost. After completing the instructions at the IVRU, the call may leave the center or be routed to an available agent. While waiting for the agent, calls may abandon the queue once the waiting time beyond their patience. We consider that each call abandons the queue independently of each other while waiting for the agent after a random amount of time. The failure rate of the server in the idle and busy periods are both exponential variables with different parameters.  We obtain seven performance measures for the stationary distribution of the system. Numerical examples will illustrate the effects of impatience, repair and some other on design parameters.

Keywords: 

IVRU, impatient, repairable, call center, performance measures.

1. Introduction
2. Model Description
3. Derivation of the Stationary Distribution
4. Numerical Examples
5. Conclusion
Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their constructive comments and valuable suggestions on improving this paper. This research is partially sponsored by NSFA (KJ2014A174, KJ2015A270, 1608085QA03). It is also sponsored by key discipline of Chaohu University.

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