Analysis of Two-Level Support Systems with Time-Dependent Overflow-A Banking Application

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barth, Wolfgang; Manitz, Michael; Stolletz, Raik
• 署名单位: University of Cologne; Technical University of Denmark
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1937-5956.2010.01155.x
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 757-768
• 关键词: financial service operations; Performance evaluation; queueing models of call centers; time-dependent overflow

摘要

In this paper, we analyze the performance of call centers of financial service providers with two levels of support and a time-dependent overflow mechanism. Waiting calls from the front-office queue flow over to the back office if a waiting-time limit is reached and at least one back-office agent is available. The analysis of such a system with time-dependent overflow is reduced to the analysis of a continuous-time Markov chain with state-dependent overflow probabilities. To approximate the system with time-dependent overflow, some waiting-based performance measures are modified. Numerical results demonstrate the reliability of this Markovian performance approximation for different parameter settings. A sensitivity analysis shows the impact of the waiting-time limit and the dependence of the performance measures on the arrival rate.