The International Customer Management Institute has launched its 2010 Call Center Workforce Management Practices survey to provide an analysis of call center best practices, explore the greatest challenges in forecasting and scheduling, evaluate how workforce management technology is being embraced and examine various staffing strategies such as home agents, outsourcing and staff-sharing.

A recent ICMI look at outsourcing found that selecting the proper vendor is of key importance: “Many times, outsourcing relationships bring disappointment and frustration. When I’m called in to resolve outsourcing problems, I find that most of the time, it comes down to a poor match between the company and the outsourcing vendor,” wrote ICMI’s Francoise Tourniaire.

This is “something that could have been prevented through a better selection process,” she noted.

ICMI conducted a similar survey in 2007. The organization’s most recent Contact Center Operations Report, which polled over 430 contact center professionals worldwide representing a range of industries and professions, indicated that 25 percent of centers planned to invest in workforce management system technologies/ enhancements.

More than half of all respondents said they did not use an automated tool.

'Our survey will reveal the types of investments contact centers have made and how they're paying off,' said Layne Holley, ICMI's Director of Community Services. 'We'll also learn how organizations are approaching workforce management from a strategic as well as a tactical perspective.'