AT&T's Call Processing Simulator (CAPS) Operational Design for Inbound Call Centers

Since 1978, AT&T has been developing the call processing simulator (CAPS) to design and evaluate inbound call centers. The current version of CAPS is a user-friendly PC-based system employing a discrete event simulation model with animation and queuing models of both the telecommunications network and AT&T's business customer's call center environment. Using CAPS, AT&T can model a network of call centers utilizing advanced 800 network features before its customers make capital investments to start or change their call centers. In 1992, AT&T completed about 2,000 CAPS studies for its business customers, helping it increase, protect, and regain more than one billion dollars in an eight billion dollar 800-network market. While this is impressive alone, the CAPS tool is also the turnkey for more than $750 million in annual profit for AT&T's business customers who received CAPS studies.