Best Time to Send Limited-Content Text Messages to Parties

Abstract

Technologies are disclosed for determining a best time to send a text message to a party over a plurality of contact periods of time to achieve having the party respond to the message with a desired outcome and/or result. Various embodiments of the invention involve determining, for each period of time, an amount of time the party is expected to take to respond to the text message, a cost of sending the message, and a probability of the party responding with the desired outcome and/or result as a result of sending the message during the period of time. A contact attempt value is determined for each period of time based on these variables along with a desirability of sending the message to the party during the period of time. Accordingly, the best time to send the message is identified as the period of time having the highest contact attempt value.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method, comprising:
 for each contact period in a plurality of contact periods:
 determining an expected response time for a text message sent during the contact period; 
 determining a resource cost for the text message sent during the contact period; 
 generating a probability of a desired response to the text message sent during the contact period, the desired response comprising at least one of a desired outcome and a desired result; and 
 generating a contact attempt value based on the expected response time, the resource cost, and the probability of the desired response; and 
   determining a particular contact period in the plurality of contact periods having a highest contact attempt value.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising sending a text message during the particular contact period. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the desired outcome comprises receiving an inbound call. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the desired result comprises a promise-to-pay. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the text message is for a receiving party, and wherein the expected response time is determined and the probability of the desired response is generated based on historical behavior associated with the receiving party. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the text message is for a receiving party,   the receiving party is one of a plurality of receiving parties to receive text messages over the plurality of contact periods, and   the contact attempt value is further based on a desirability of sending the text message to the receiving party during the contact period, wherein the desirability of sending the text message to the receiving party during the contact period is relative to desirabilities of sending text messages to each of the plurality of receiving parties during the contact period.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining the expected response time for the text message sent during the contact period comprises predicting the expected response time based on one or more predictive models. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the resource cost comprises a personnel requirement to handle the desired response, and wherein determining the resource cost comprises reviewing schedules to determine a number of personnel scheduled to work during the contact period. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein reviewing schedules to determine the number of personnel schedules to work during the contact period comprises reviewing schedules to determine the number of personnel scheduled to work at a time within the contact period based on the expected response time. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by at least one computer processor, cause the at least one computer processor to:
 for each contact period in a plurality of contact periods:
 determine an expected response time for a text message sent during the contact period; 
 determine a resource cost for the text message sent during the contact period; 
 generate a probability of a desired response to the text message sent during the contact period, the desired response comprising at least one of a desired outcome and a desired result; and 
 generate a contact attempt value based on the expected response time, the resource cost, and the probability of the desired response; and 
   determine a particular contact period in the plurality of contact periods having a highest contact attempt value.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least one computer processor, cause the at least one computer processor to transmit a text message during the particular contact period. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the desired outcome comprises receiving an inbound call, and wherein the desired result comprises a promise-to-pay. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the text message is for a receiving party,   the receiving party is one of a plurality of receiving parties to receive text messages over the plurality of contact periods, and   the contact attempt value is further based on a desirability of sending the text message to during the contact period, wherein the desirability of sending the text message to the receiving party during the contact period is relative to desirabilities of sending text messages to each of the plurality of receiving parties during the contact period.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the expected response time for the text message sent during the contact period comprise computer-executable instructions to predict the expected response time based on one or more predictive models. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the text message is for a receiving party, and wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the expected response time for the text message sent during the contact period comprise computer-executable instructions to predict the expected response time based on historical behavior associated with the receiving party. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the resource cost comprises a personnel requirement to handle the desired response, and wherein the computer-executable instructions to determine the resource cost comprise computer-executable instructions to review schedules to determine a number of personnel scheduled to work during the contact period. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the computer-executable instructions to review schedules to determine the number of personnel scheduled to work during the contact period comprise computer-executable instructions to review schedules to determine the number of personnel scheduled to work at a time within the contact period based on the expected response time. 
     
     
         19 . A system, comprising:
 at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions;   at least one computer processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and configured to:
 for each contact period in a plurality of contact periods:
 determine an expected response time for a text message sent during the contact period of time; 
 determine a resource cost for the text message sent during the contact period; 
 generate a probability of a desired response to the text message sent during the contact period, the desired response comprising at least one of a desired outcome and a desired result; and 
 generate a contact attempt value based on the expected response time, the resource cost, and the probability of the desired response; and 
 
 determine a particular contact period in the plurality of contact periods having a highest contact attempt value. 
   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one computer processor is further configured to cause a text message to be sent during the particular contact period. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the desired outcome comprises an inbound call, and wherein the desired result comprises a promise-to-pay. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the text message is for a receiving party,   the receiving party is one of a plurality of receiving parties to receive text messages over the plurality of contact periods, and   the contact attempt value is further based on a desirability of sending the text message to the receiving party during the contact period, wherein the desirability of sending the text message to the receiving party during the contact period is relative to desirabilities of sending text messages to each of the plurality of receiving parties during the contact period.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to determine the expected response time for the text message sent during the contact period by being configured to predict the expected response time based on one or more predictive models. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the resource cost comprises a personnel requirement to handle the desired response, and wherein the at least one computer processor is configured to determine the resource cost by being configured to review schedules to determine a number of personnel scheduled to work during the contact period.