Analysis of Two-Level Support Systems with Time-Dependent Overflow—A Banking Application
Wolfgang Barth, Michael Manitz, Raik Stolletz
Production and Operations Management · 2010 · Volume 19 · Issue 6
DOI: 10.1111/j.1937-5956.2010.01155.x
Abstract
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.
Keywords
financial service operations, performance evaluation, queueing models of call centers, time-dependent overflow
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