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Commissioned Paper: Telephone Call Centers: Tutorial, Review, and Research Prospects

Authors:

Noah Gans,

Ger Koole,

Avishai MandelbaumAuthors Info & Claims

Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Volume 5, Issue 2

Pages 79 - 141

https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.5.2.79.16071

Published: 15 April 2003 Publication History

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Abstract

Telephone call centers are an integral part of many businesses, and their economic role is significant and growing. They are also fascinating sociotechnical systems in which the behavior of customers and employees is closely intertwined with physical performance measures. In these environments traditional operational models are of great value--and at the same time fundamentally limited--in their ability to characterize system performance.We review the state of research on telephone call centers. We begin with a tutorial on how call centers function and proceed to survey academic research devoted to the management of their operations. We then outline important problems that have not been addressed and identify promising directions for future research.

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Braverman ADai JFang X(2024)High-Order Steady-State Diffusion ApproximationsOperations Research10.1287/opre.2022.236272:2(604-616)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/opre.2022.2362
Zhong ZCao PHuang JZhou S(2024)Capacity Allocation and Scheduling in Two-Stage Service Systems with Multiclass CustomersManufacturing & Service Operations Management10.1287/msom.2023.026626:5(1842-1859)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/msom.2023.0266
Lobel IMartin SSong H(2024)Frontiers in OperationsManufacturing & Service Operations Management10.1287/msom.2023.002926:4(1306-1322)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/msom.2023.0029
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Index Terms

Commissioned Paper: Telephone Call Centers: Tutorial, Review, and Research Prospects
1. Applied computing
  1. Enterprise computing
    1. Business process management
    2. Enterprise information systems
  2. Law, social and behavioral sciences
    1. Economics
2. Information systems
  1. Information systems applications
    1. Enterprise information systems

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cover image Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Volume 5, Issue 2

April 2003

99 pages

ISSN:1526-5498

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INFORMS

Linthicum, MD, United States

Publication History

Published: 15 April 2003

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Braverman ADai JFang X(2024)High-Order Steady-State Diffusion ApproximationsOperations Research10.1287/opre.2022.236272:2(604-616)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
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Zhong ZCao PHuang JZhou S(2024)Capacity Allocation and Scheduling in Two-Stage Service Systems with Multiclass CustomersManufacturing & Service Operations Management10.1287/msom.2023.026626:5(1842-1859)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
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Son YChoi AWowak KAngst C(2024)Gender mismatch and bias in people‐centric operationsJournal of Operations Management10.1002/joom.129970:5(686-711)Online publication date: 17-Jul-2024
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