README for files : example2.xls (Excel data) and example2.xml (XML data file for the Java simulator) These two files contain the data for the multi-skill call center example with 65 call types (with distinction to skill AND region) and 89 agent types, which appears in the papers: - M. T. Cezik and P. L'Ecuyer. Staffing Multiskill Call Centers via Linear Programming and Simulation. Management Science. Volume 53. 2007. To appear. - A. N. Avramidis, W. Chan, and P. L'Ecuyer. Staffing multi-skill call centers via search methods and a performance approximation. 2006. Submitted. The original raw data is given in the Excel (XLS) file. This data was obtained in 2004 and the real call center has changed since then. The XML file contains the same data in the appropriate format for the multiskill call center simulator available in the Java simulation software ContactCenters. We highly recommend this tool for simulation experiments with call centers. The call center in this example is partitioned into two smaller physical centers located in two different regions, A and B. Calls are originated from regions A or B and they are handled by agents from regions A or B. Agents are defined by their skill set profile, which determines the call types they can handle. The routing policy used is the local-specialist first policy where calls can only be served by agents from the same region during the first 6 seconds. After waiting 6 seconds, calls can then be served by agents from both regions. In the XLS file, the column "Answered" gives the number of calls of a particular type that have been answered. The column "Work Time" gives the number of seconds agents spent answering calls of this type. The column "AHT" (Average Handling Time) is calculated by dividing the "Work Time" by the number of "Answered" calls. This is also considered as the average service time. The XLS file gives the number of answered calls and the average service time (in seconds) for a certain period length. This data was used to generate the XML parameter file for the simulator. To generate the XML file for the simulator, we only used the columns "Destination". We keep the columns "Source" because some call types are present in the profiles and in the "Source" but not in the "Destination" columns. We warn the user that this data has some minor inconsistency for very small call types. The XML parameter file does not match perfectly with the XLS data. The rates of the XML have been adjusted to have a total load of 500 Erlangs. Call types with 0 arrivals have been omitted in the XML file, as well as several very small call types, due to inconsistency in the data. Call types above 55, and some of the 93 profiles, are not present in the XML file. The number of skills per agent type in the XML remains the same as in the XLS file (i.e., an agent can have a skill with an arrival rate of zero). Thus, in the XML file, the skill count of an agent may exceed the number of call classes he can handle (this number can be seen in the file). For a description of the required format of the XML file, we refer the user to the guide available at: http://www.ericbuist.com/contactcenters/msk/guidemsk.pdf W. Chan, A. Avramidis, and P. L'Ecuyer, May 2007.