Simulating abandonment using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis in a shared billing and claims call center

Abandonment is a key indicator of performance and a driver of service level in a call center. Calls that abandon affect the wait times of the remaining calls in the queue and the ability of call center resources to service the remaining calls. This interaction is further complicated when the call center has multiple arrival channels, handled by two groups of resources with a shared pool of resources between them. In this case, a valid call center model necessitates a highly accurate method for modeling abandonment. This paper documents a unique application of Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to model call center abandonment in a discrete event simulation model. The paper also demonstrates the benefits of using KaplanMeier verses another approach.