Call Center Management Featured Article
Seven Criteria for Selecting A Workforce Management Product
The good folks at Monet Software have put together a list of some criteria you should consider when selecting a workforce management product for a small to medium sized call center:
Look at the key capabilities. Does it accurately forecast call volumes by supporting the use of historical data and real-time ACD integration? Can you create schedules based on ‘what-if” scenarios, different shift patterns, skill levels and other criteria? Can you easily include agent exceptions (e.g. training, time-off) into the schedule? Can you make intra-day changes to forecast and schedule based on changing call volumes ‘on the fly’ during the work day? Does it give you visibility into agent adherence in real-time? Can you produce performance management reports?
Consider the time and resources to implement. How long does it take to implement the product from start to finish? When can you actually begin to get benefits from the product? (Days, weeks or months?) Can you use the product over the Web without equipment purchase or do you need to buy and install hardware and software? How many people do I need (vendor and own company) to implement the product?
Be aware of the total cost of purchasing, running and maintaining it. Upfront, what are the costs for software, hardware, integration and implementation? What are the ongoing monthly or annual costs such as subscription, maintenance, support, upgrade fees?
Know the other costs: Many tools have hidden costs that many vendors don’t mention but occur within your company such as: your IT people installing and operating the server, your people helping to implement it, integration costs, yearly upgrade costs, etc.
Watch the usability. Is it easy and intuitive for non-IT people to use, making sure that you get the most out of it? Does it focus on your call center needs? Many products have feature overload that are often counterproductive, especially for small and medium size call centers.
What's the risk? Every product carries a success risk within a given work environment, and you should evaluate that risk. If for whatever reason, the product doesn’t work for you, can you “return it” or “turn it off” with no or limited financial risk?
Figure the ROI and payback. You purchase a WFM product to either enhance your ability to grow business or reduce operational costs, or both. So it’s important to clearly understand how long added business or cost savings actually take to recoup the system costs. The sooner the product begins working for you and the lower the upfront costs, the sooner you realize cost and business operational benefits.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2011, taking place Feb 2-4, 2011, in Miami. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Jennifer Russell