Announcing Delay Information to Improve Service in a Call Center with Repeat Customers

Abstract

We study the model of predicting and announcing delays, including customer satisfaction and repeat the behavior. In a call center, anticipated delays affect the customer behaviors of balking and reneging; we characterize the level of satisfaction with delay information to modulate customer reactions. In reality, a customer reacts by repeating behavior upon entering the service with a full perception of the delay. In particular, customers may feel dissatisfied when entering service because they have experienced a delay that is longer than announced. That is how satisfaction with delay information and waiting time affects customers' repeat behavior. Generally, customers may arrive at a higher rate when they are satisfied with the anticipated delay and the waiting experience in a call center. We characterize such performance measures using an M/M/+M queue model. The revenue of a call center is generated by serving customers, and each time a customer abandons a call, the system loses revenue. Interestingly, the model reveals the revenue from the repeat behavior of satisfied customers. The formula used to approximate the arrival process reveals that traditional research could systematically underestimate the total number of call-ins and revenue. We show how call center managers can determine the most economically optimal anticipated delay so that they can control the trade-off between revenue loss and revenue from satisfaction.