Call Center Scheduling Feature Article

August 05, 2011

Simulations Are The Key to Accurate Call Center Forecasting

By Tracey E. Schelmetic, TMCnet Contributor

If you try to run an efficient, profitable call center, you'll know that forecasting demand is the key to a well run call center. If you aren't meeting the demands on your call center without the correct amount of resources – neither under-staffed, which costs you in customer good will and agent burnout, or over-staffed, which costs you in cash – chances are, you'll find yourself called on the carpet sooner or later.

So while every good call center manager knows that forecasting as a component of workforce management is important, the question of how to attain useful, accurate forecasts comes into the picture. Once upon a long time ago, call centers had one person on staff...usually a math-smart person...who messed about with historical data, probability equations and spread sheets, ultimately producing something that he or she hoped was going to help the call center match its resources to the needs of the call center.

It wasn't often right.

When more modern workforce management solutions hit the market, they usually contained some sort of forecasting module. In the early days, they weren't much more accurate than the guy with the graph paper and the memory of his distant college statistics formulas. While forecasting has improved, some workforce management companies have discovered that the best way to effectively meet staffing needs is by simulation.

After all, NASA does it. Why shouldn't your call center?

Workforce management company Monet Software recently blogged (http://blog.monetsoftware.com/2011/08/how-to-improve-call-center-forecasting.html) about the importance of including simulations in call forecasting.

Many successful call centers today are using simulator forecasting engines which analyze all call types and routing policies when creating forecasts. This lets you accurately forecast staffing levels to manage all call types within your center, and build scenarios for budgeting and planning purposes. You can even use simulators to produce center budgets by running a costing of all forecasted agent shifts and agent schedules, says Monet Software.

Building scenarios, an activity enabled by simulation engines, lets you “play” with different scenarios and understand how different factors can change your forecasted needs, helping you gain both a precise understanding of your future needs and better intuition for how unforeseen occurrences: a flu epidemic among agents, budget adjustments, a storm, regional or national economic news, new product or service announcements or publicity (either good or bad) or anything else that will cause an unexpected spike or drop in call volume will affect your call center operations in the future: 15 minutes in the future or six months in the future.

In short, simulation engines can help you become a better call center manager. And in this economy, who can't afford to be good at their job?

For tips about how a simulation engine can help your call center's forecasting needs, visit Monet Software's blog at http://blog.monetsoftware.com/2011/08/how-to-improve-call-center-forecasting.html.

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