On the interaction between retrials and sizing of call centers

M. Salah Aguir, O. Zeynep Aksin, Fikri Karaesmen and Yves Dallery

European Journal of Operational Research, 2008, vol. 191, issue 2, pages 398-408

Abstract: This paper models a call center as a Markovian queue with multiple servers, where customer impatience, and retrials are modeled explicitly. The model is analyzed as a continuous time Markov chain. The retrial phenomenon is explored numerically using a real example, to demonstrate the magnitude it can take and to understand its sensitivity to various system parameters. The model is then used to assess the impact of disregarding existing retrials in the staffing of a call center. It is shown that ignoring retrials can lead to under-staffing or over-staffing with respect to the optimal, depending on the forecasting assumptions being made.

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European Journal of Operational Research is edited by Roman Slowinski, Jesus Artalejo, Jean-Charles. Billaut, Robert Dyson and Lorenzo Peccati

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