Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Proper Exception Handling Doesn't Have to be a Challenge
The process of call center scheduling today involves so much more than simply ensuring the right number of agents are available to work at the right time. Today’s dynamic environments demand an innovative approach to scheduling; one that not only pays attention to all activities in the call center, but also one that can manage exceptions on a daily basis.
Handling call center schedule exceptions is something Monet Software knows well. The call center scheduling solutions provider recently focused on the topic in its blog, highlighting the importance of handling exceptions properly to ensure schedule compliance. All exceptions must be managed in such a way that they minimize the impact on availability and productivity as both can have a negative impact on overall quality of service.
To better understand how to handle exceptions in call center scheduling, let’s take a look at the different types:
Pre-Planned
Exceptions that are pre-planned are often easier to work into the call center schedule. Pre-planned events include training days, vacation days and work time spent on non-call (yet necessary) activities, such as team meetings and coaching sessions.
Unplanned
Even though they aren’t accounted for on a daily basis, every manager anticipates that at some point, an employee will be sick and need to take time off. Likewise, there may also be a technical issue that could prevent an agent or multiple agents from completing customer interactions, which count as unplanned exceptions.
Unplanned, yet Pre-Approved
Performance levels are essential in the call center environment and sometimes a manager has to make an exception to the current schedule to ensure performance expectations are met. Unplanned, yet pre-approved exceptions are those that are initiated by management to protect performance levels.
Unplanned and not Pre-Approved
While not ideal, unplanned deviations can happen. They tend to be reactionary and may be caused by additional coaching sessions or meetings that run longer than expected. The out-of-adherence is not the fault of the agent, but could count against them if not properly managed. The customer on the other end of the interaction doesn’t care what may keep them in the hold queue longer than expected. As such, it’s critical that supervisors manage exceptions in such a way as to preserve customer service levels. Workforce management software can enable this optimal oversight with streamlined data and call center scheduling exception tracking to help all employees keep on task and focused on the ultimate goal: customer satisfaction.