Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
How to Ease Call Center Scheduling Around Agent Vacations
Today’s technology can simplify scheduling call center agents around vacation requests, a universal problem for call centers due to last minute staffing issues that require supervisors to create new intra-day schedules. Call centers risk being temporarily understaffed, which negatively affects customer service. Pipkins (News - Alert) Inc., a provider of call center workforce management software, shares strategies to ease the effects of having multiple agents simultaneously request vacation time.
Pipkins advises that for call centers with more than fifty agents the best option is to utilize the vacation planning module available with call center workforce scheduling systems. An automated vacation planning system that allows agents to submit requests electronically relieves the burden on supervisors and increases scheduling efficiency. A vacation planning module will fit agent requests into available slots based on rules created by call center managers. Vacation schedules stored in the system are accessible to the vacation module, enabling agents to view total slots and slots remaining without the manual data entry. Once vacation time is granted, the system will be updated and the vacation will be in the agent’s schedule.
A vacation planning module should offer some key components to optimize the planning process, including a self-service functions. Agents should be able to:
· Check personal vacation eligibility
· View available vacation slots
· Submit or bid on desired vacation dates
· Check request status
The functionality for call center managers must be much more extensive, however. A vacation planning system should be able to support highly sophisticated scheduling, including corporate policies that will affect vacation booking such as different work weeks or Saturday rotations. Supervisors should have the ability to:
· Import agent vacation eligibility for the year
· Set vacation limits for different parts of the year
· Set ‘blackout’ days where no vacation is allowed
· Support vacation bidding and automatic rules-based approval of vacation requests
· Allocate vacation slots by agent group, in order to prevent too many agents with the same skill set, in the same call center, or in group categories from taking vacation simultaneously
· Limit advance booking of vacation requests, such as permitting only full weeks to be booked more than three months in advance
With a reduced workforce, an intra-day optimization feature enables supervisors to respond to schedule changes quickly and efficiently while maintaining the quality service levels. The intra-day feature should electronically modify agents’ breaks, lunches and work assignments to reflect unexpected absences, meetings and call volumes. It should also contain Web-based exception reporting by call center agents that is automatically integrated into the daily schedule. Last-minute schedule changes can be sent to agents’ computer screens via pop-up messages. Supervisors should have the ability to quickly review the current-day staffing situation, update the forecast, and recalculate daily staffing needs.
The At-Home Agent model has changed call centers, including agent scheduling. With technology enabling agents to self-schedule, vacation planning has gotten easier as agents are able to choose blocks of time in which they can build shifts according to staffing requirements. Agent scheduling has evolved with the at-home model and agents now have control over their work/life balance resulting in improved morale. Self-scheduling software tools allow agents to schedule through a self-service scheduling tool, use a checkout method for self-scheduling to accommodate staffing requirements, and create schedules to accommodate the call center as well as personal needs.
Supervisors also benefit from the at-home agent model. While they are still responsible for setting business rules and establishing staffing needs, agent self-scheduling tools eliminate the need for supervisors to limit agent time off. With a limitless remote agent pool, supervisors have configurations of scheduling options, simplified staffing for special events, and vacations by remote agents with flexible schedules, as well as accommodation for spikes in call volume on short notice by remote agents.
The new scheduling process ensures rules specific to organizational needs are met, including break and lunch times, hours worked, and any other specific needs Intra-day optimization is simplified with agent self-scheduling. When agents cannot fill their allotted time slots, supervisors can notify remote agents and receive help without disruption to service levels. Last-minute schedule changes and overtime requests can be sent to agents’ computer screens via pop-up messages. Supervisors can then quickly review current-day staffing, update forecasts, and recalculate staffing needs through an intra-day analysis and forecasting function.
Before purchasing any call center scheduling software, investigate your options to ensure you are investing in a the right solution that will benefit your call center.
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Edited by Allison Boccamazzo