Article ID: | iaor20031843 |
Country: | Netherlands |
Volume: | 113 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start Page Number: | 41 |
End Page Number: | 59 |
Publication Date: | Jul 2002 |
Journal: | Annals of Operations Research |
Authors: | Koole Ger, Mandelbaum Avishai |
Keywords: | service |
This is a survey of some academic research on telephone call centers. The surveyed research has its origin in, or is related to, queueing theory. Indeed, the ‘queueing-view’ of call centers is both natural and useful. Accordingly, queueing models have served as prevalent standard support tools for call center management. However, the modern call center is a complex socio-technical system. It thus enjoys central features that challenge existing queueing theory to its limits, and beyond.