Call Center Management Feature Article

December 12, 2011

Forecasting Simulator to Assist Call Center Management in Scheduling for Success

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Workforce management is a platform designed to provide call center management with the necessary tools to forecast for anticipated call volumes, schedule according to this forecast and agent availability and effectively manage all other activities that need to take place throughout a given day, week or month. One of the most critical steps in this process is forecasting.

This Monet Software blog captures the importance of this activity, highlighting that without accurate forecasts based on historical data, call center management cannot effectively schedule for success. Those charged with the task need to forecast call volume and agent requirements for specific time frames.

On paper, this process demands a forecast for future call volume, agent requirements and average handling time for each 15-minute period throughout the day according to service level objectives. It sounds easy, but call center management have a lot of variables to work with to achieve the desired goal.

Fortunately, forecasting simulation can help to improve forecast accuracy. With a simulator forecasting engine to analyze all routing policies and call types when creating forecasts, call center management can accurately forecast staffing levels so that all call types within the center are properly managed.

The simulator also enables call center management to build scenarios for planning and budgeting purposes. Simulators can also be used to produce center budgets by running a costing of all forecasted agent shifts and schedules. Using these tools, call center management can quickly generate the automatic forecasts necessary for multiple sites, complex routing strategies and even agents with multiple skill sets.

Call center management can use the simulator to accurately forecast staffing levels to manage a full range of call types, as well as build scenarios for planning and budgeting activities. The simulator provides regular intra-day forecast updates and will automatically calculate new forecasts based on activities that have already occurred. This process helps to establish trends that can aid in proactive decision making and overall improvements in the call center scheduling.

Other benefits surround the activities of evaluating and planning for current and future workforce requirements. Call center management can also develop “what if” scenarios that can be used to explore how a small change in call volume or service level goals throughout the day or week can affect the performance of the center overall. The ability to simulate routing rules, schedules by date range, agent skill assignments and more enable call center management to gauge the impact these activities have on staffing and scheduling.

Once call center management has a firm handle on forecasting for anticipated activity, the call center is better equipped for the necessary flexibility demanded as the day or week progresses.  

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