The SLM agent selection method is based on user-defined target service levels for SLM-administered skills and the concept of agent opportunity costs.

Target service level: You define specific target service level goals for each SLM skill based on the following format:

SLM target service level = x percent calls answered in y seconds

For purposes of SLM reporting, estimates of service level compliance for a skill are expressed as the Actual service level Relative to the Target service level (ART). At any point in time, an SLM skill can be below, equal to, or above the specified target service level. For example, if a skill has a target service level of 80 percent of all calls answered within 20 seconds and the current service level is 75 percent of all calls to the skill answered within 20 seconds, then the current ART value is -5 percent. Alternately, if the current service level indicates that 90 percent of all calls are being answered within 20 seconds, then the current ART value is +10 percent.

For information on how to administer service target levels for a skill, see Service Level Maximizer in the Administering Avaya Aura® Call Center Elite document.

Opportunity costs: SLM compares actual call service levels to target service levels for each SLM skill, so that when an incoming call arrives at a skill, service level data can be used as the basis to develop agent opportunity cost estimates. The opportunity cost for an agent at a given point in time is represented as a weighted estimate that checks the status of the agents skills relative to the target service levels of each skill.

The process that SLM uses to derive agent opportunity cost estimates can be summarized as follows:

• An incoming call arrives for an SLM skill and agents that are both assigned to that skill and currently available are identified.

• All skills to which the available agents are assigned are also identified. For each of the assigned skills (excluding the skill associated with the incoming call), a current service level estimate is calculated and compared to the target service level.

  Note:

  The opportunity cost for single skill agents is always equal to zero, since the agents can always be selected for an incoming call in the assigned skill with no impact on the service level status of any other skills.

• Based on the current overall service level for the skills of each available agent, SLM derives a weighted estimate that identifies which of the available agents is currently the least needed for their other assigned skills, where the need of a skill is (approximately) defined as the difference between the current service level and the target service level. This agent has the lowest overall opportunity cost.

Because of the way that SLM estimates agent opportunity costs in the agent selection process, available agents whose skills are currently closest to matching their specified target service levels are selected first, while agents whose skills are furthest from matching their specified target service level are selected last. This strategy maximizes the possibility that an agent will be available when a call arrives at a skill whose target service level is at risk.

For example, agents A and B, are both assigned to skill 4 as well as two other skills. When an incoming call arrives at skill 4 and both agents are available, SLM compares the current service level to the target service level for each of the skills to which the agents are assigned. The agent who currently has the lowest opportunity cost is identified and selected to receive the incoming call in skill 4.

The following table shows how the agent with the lowest opportunity costs is selected in two different call service level scenarios:

Skill assignments	SLM skill 1	SLM skill 2	SLM skill 3	Skill 4 (incoming call)
Agent A	X	X		X
Agent B		X	X	X
	For Skill 1, if...	For Skill 2, if...	For Skill 3, if...	Then... Agent with lowest opportunity cost for incoming call is:
Scenario 1	ART (ART = Actual service level relative to Target service level, where the service level is defined as x% calls answered in y seconds.) = -5%	ART = +2%	ART = +2%	Agent B
Scenario 2	ART = -1%	ART = +5%	ART= -6%	Agent A

In scenario 1 in this table, Agent B has the lowest opportunity cost compared to Agent A because the skills other than skill 4 assigned to Agent B (skills 2 and 3) are both above target service level. At the same time, of Agent A’s skills (skill 1 and skill 2), skill 1 is below target. Agent A is selected for skill 1. Therefore, of Agents A and B, it is better to select Agent B for the incoming call to handle skill 4.

In scenario 2, of Agent B’s other skills (2 and 3) skill 2 is above target level but skill 3 is below target by 6%. At the same time, of Agent A’s other skills (1 and 2), skill 1 is only below target by 1%. Therefore, in this scenario, Agent A has the lowest opportunity cost compared to Agent B, since Agent B has a skill in worse shape than Agent A.