Workforce Management Featured Article
Call Centers Restrict Their Potential with Manual Workforce Management Processes
We like to think that the contact center is a pretty automated place. After all, software solutions to make customers’ (and agents’) lives easier have been around for decades. So most customer-facing organizations are using them, right?
Not necessarily.
It’s astonishing to understand that many contact centers today continue to operate with manual processes for customer records, call recording, scheduling and workforce management. These processes are generally done with outdated technology, spread sheets, and a whole lot of headaches. The idea of manual workforce management processes – still the norm in many contact centers – is one of the most painful, given the benefits of an automated solution, according to a blog post by Monet Software CEO Chuck Ciarlo.
“Many small and midsized contact centers are still attempting to get by without the capabilities, conveniences and cost saving benefits that WFM provides,” wrote Ciarlo. “Yes, it is possible to do so; but it requires that managers and supervisors confront daily challenges that could be streamlined or avoided altogether with software that is readily available, affordable, and easy to implement and employ.”
These challenges include moving around breaks, lunches and non-call activities, which is easy to do with an automated solution, but not so easy with a manual process. For a call center that is handling multiple skills among agents – which means nearly all of them – manual processes are particularly onerous.
Schedule adherence, however, is often the biggest challenge contact centers still engaging in manual processes face. While you can certainly build a schedule with a spreadsheet, comparing it to real-time data is largely impossible. An automated WFM solution can allow a manager to monitor the health of the contact center on a minute-by-minute basis.
“Managers access real-time adherence on a dashboard that compares planned agent activity to actual activities throughout the day, as well as real-time views of forecasted and actual call volumes, handle times and other key performance indicators,” wrote Ciarlo. “WFM systems can be customized to track overuse of ACW, lunches, breaks, or other non-productive or limited statuses. At one glance, the manager can see the exact status of each agent in real time against the planned activity.”
Another very compelling benefit of an automated workforce management solution is its ability to allow managers to play around with virtual scenarios, conducting “what if” experiments.
“With WFM it is easier to run simulations to calculate a precise forecast for future call volume, agent requirements and average handle time for any time interval of the day, based on historical data,” wrote Ciarlo.
Solutions such as those from Monet analyze work history data that has been entered or received through ACD and PBX (News - Alert) systems. They can then calculate a forecast for future call volume, average handling time, and agent requirements for each 15-minute period of the day based on service level objectives. Try doing THAT with a spreadsheet.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi