Modeling and Optimization Problems in Contact Centers

We give a quick overview of some key issues in (quantitative) call center management: building realistic models, developing efficient tools to simulate these models, finding quick approximation formulas for the performance measures of interest, and developing algorithms and software to optimize the staffing and scheduling of agents. This is discussed in the context of a multiskill center, in which different types of calls are handled by different agent groups (with different skill sets).