Call Center Scheduling

5/17/2013 - To help alleviate the financial burdens of the healthcare industry, Appointment-Plus, a company specializing in workforce scheduling software, explain how scheduling software helps improve efficiency in a medical office.

5/17/2013 - Scheduling and staffing is one of the most expensive resources in the entire call center budget (60 - 80 percent), which means that even a 1 percent increase in productivity will significantly impact the bottom line. With more professionals entering the market of professional photography and related services, competition is on rise. As part of their efforts to manage work schedule and increase productivity, many of them turn to advanced software technologies like scheduling software.

5/16/2013 - Cody's Appliance Repair has announced the integration of new scheduling software that allows customers to book service calls for a variety of repair scenarios including standard repairs, warranty repairs, contract service repairs, and other third-party service needs.

5/13/2013 - Since most call center expenses are related to staffing, it is vital that organizations begin to pay more attention when choosing a workforce management (WFM) solution. Forecasting and scheduling not only help improve accuracy of intra-day trends, but they help monitor agent adherence and other metrics in real-time in order to help centers take immediate action.

5/10/2013 - Online staff scheduling software helps organizations automate one of the most important processes of workforce management - managing shifts and holidays. By doing so, organizations can meet their service levels while controlling agent costs.

5/10/2013 - Online scheduling software is convenient because it allows managers to create and edit schedules online, making shift swaps easier and more efficient, which is why the new ShiftNote Scheduler from ShiftNote is making headway in the industry. This employee scheduling solution allows teams to create and manage schedules online so employees can swap shifts and request time offs without interrupting the shift flow.

5/9/2013 - More small to midsized call centers use spreadsheets to forecast and manage their center's workforce, as most organizations may think it's the best tool for the job. However, Monet Software, a provider of call center solutions, in its whitepaper titled 'The Real Costs of Spreadsheet Based Scheduling' has discovered that this is actually not the case. In fact, using spreadsheets makes it more difficult to manage fewer agents because they need to multi-task, and making skilled-based scheduling is actually more complex. It is also more difficult to correct the schedule once it has been affected by unexpected events.

5/8/2013 - As the call-center industry begins to explode and expand, creating more offices and hiring significant amounts of new agents, one of the most important tasks is scheduling. Without the right amount of agents on call at that certain time of the day when calls spike, the center won't be able to provide its customers with the utmost care and attention.

5/8/2013 - Symmetrics Business Intelligence, a provider of call center scheduling and analysis solutions, has announced its solutions will now be available in the European Union through Avaya DevConnect Select Product Program.

5/6/2013 - ZoomShift, a Milwaukee based provider of employee scheduling software, has released the latest version of its software designed to help small businesses solve the challenges associated with employee scheduling.

5/3/2013 - In today's mobile world where every transaction can be made possible through a mobile device, scheduling software becomes even more important. Appointment-Plus, a provider of scheduling software and related mobile apps, says scheduling software is going to play prominent role in HR recruiting.

5/3/2013 - The growing importance of scheduling software ? is further substantiated by a recent study conducted by Appointment-Plus, a provider of online self-scheduling, automated notifications and payment-processing solutions to fitness trainers. According to Appointment-Plus, scheduling software and related mobile apps are gaining popularity in the fitness industry as they help trainers grow their client base and revenue.

5/2/2013 - Workforce management software is used for a variety of reasons in the contact center. It's critical to schedule building, allowing contact centers to forecast call volume using historical and other data, to predict what kind of coverage they need, setting employee schedules to ensure that all or most calls into the contact center have someone ready to pick them up.

5/2/2013 - Communications technology is not just about improving things on the business end of call centres. Now, more than ever before, the customer has access to instant communication technologies wherever they are, and that access bring with it an expectation of customer service excellence that might make even the most confident marketer second guess themselves. The customer has always been right, and will continue to be, so it is tantamount that businesses allow for customer service accessibility.

5/1/2013 - Call centers are expensive to run, and the single biggest cost is labor. For the average contact center, about 65 percent of costs are directly related to labor. This figure can go even higher when the contact center is over-staffed. While you want to ensure that each time your customer calls, someone is available to take that call, it's important not to overstaff, which is costly and can lead to agent boredom and burnout.

4/30/2013 - Scheduling is an important part of workforce management (WFM) within the call center, although it doesn't seem that most users are aware of the weight that it carries, like reducing costs and significantly improving workflow.

4/30/2013 - NOVAtime Technology, a provider of workforce management and call center schedule software, announced Lep-re-kon Harvest Foods, a local grocery store in Washington, has improved efficiency by upgrading its system to NOVAtime 4000 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Time and Attendance / Workforce Management Solution.

4/26/2013 - Let's face it: few children aspire to be a call center agent when growing up. Yet call centers employ a significant percentage of the U.S. workforce, so it's a reality for millions of people. While it's easy to find call center employment horror stories with a simple Web search, for many Americans, it's a worthwhile way to make a living.

4/23/2013 - In order for call centers to efficiently function on a day to day basis it is vital that they have a systematic scheduling system in place to assure that each agent creates a great customer experience for each customer. Monet Software, a pioneer in scheduling software, has not only created solutions that help organizations solve some of their biggest problems, including meeting service requirements, but has also released an array of helpful tips that can be used in the call center to address these issues.

4/23/2013 - As call centers continue to make headway in the industry, there is one factor that has been an overriding issue for organizations: proper scheduling. Although at first glance this might seem insignificant, efficiently scheduling agents is a critical part of a call center, as 60 - 80 percent of ongoing call center expenses are related to staffing.

4/19/2013 - For call centers to function properly, it's important they have a systematic scheduling system in place to assure that each agent handles a call with a customer giving them the highest level of service experience as possible. For a workforce optimization company like Monet, it's important to create solutions that help organizations solve some of their biggest problems, including meeting service requirements, delivering high quality services and controlling payroll costs. For call centers trying to improve on such topics, Monet offers a few tips.

4/16/2013 - Every call center needs a workforce management (WFM) tool to help manage and track the progress of its agent performance levels. WFM provides businesses the ability to capture and analyze customer interaction across all platforms. Yet aside from its detailed reports, one of the key aspects to such solutions is its visualizations. And as Monet, a provider of WFM solutions points out, visuals are just as important as the words in the reports.

4/8/2013 - "Your call may be monitored for quality assurance." This is one of those phrases that is widely heard when it comes to customer care, but it's not quite fully understood. Call recording is an essential tool for call center management, as it gives managers information on agent performance; how calls are being handled, whether they're being accurately routed, or, if a problem arises, how to use the information for future calls. A call recording system is wonderful for call center management, however, it isn't optimal if it can't provide call scoring as well.

4/8/2013 - What is one thing that can stress a call center manager: manually scheduling for multiple agents covering multiple channels in a busy call center.

4/1/2013 - No matter what industry you work in, if you're a manager, keeping on top of employees' schedules can be a bit of an undertaking, particularly in an environment that does not operate on a normal Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 schedule. For the call center, it's particularly challenging to stay on top of everyone's scheduling needs, ensuring enough staff for busy call times, schedule changes, emergencies and so on.

4/1/2013 - In today's contact center, customers continue to prefer the telephone over all other possible communications media: about 75 percent of the time, when a customer has an issue, he or she picks up the telephone. However, this doesn't mean that contact centers can ignore other media channels, since the other 25 percent of the time, customers are turning to alternatives such as e-mail, mobile apps, social media, self-service and Web-based contact channels.

3/26/2013 - Quality management within the call center is generally listed as a top priority item as organizations compete for market dominance. Quality customer care is often one of the only factors worth negotiation. Without access to quality data, however, achieving that higher level of customer care is a bit more of a challenge.

3/26/2013 - It sounds easy enough - staffing the call center to meet the needs of the organization. The challenge, however, is that needs and volume can change in the blink of an eye. Customer service is always the priority, yet meeting high quality delivery expectations is difficult when the unexpected happens. The key to the truly successful call center is being able to plan for the unexpected.

3/22/2013 - ASC, a provider of call center scheduling and workforce management (WFM) solutions to record, analyze and evaluate multimedia-based communications, has been ranked the third largest vendor of global contact center interaction recording system in an evaluation by an independent marketing and research consulting company Pelorus Group.

3/21/2013 - There are a few headaches when it comes to managing an efficient call center. With so much to keep tabs on, from operational strategies, financial objectives, equipment maintenance and employee schedules, it can be overwhelming serving customers and improving processes. Call center scheduling shouldn't be one of the obstacles when running a smooth operation, but sometimes agent shift swapping can pose as a challenge in keeping things seamless.

3/13/2013 - The color-coded dashboard goes a long way toward simplifying information capture in a variety of environments. In the call center, it can serve as a powerful scheduling and monitoring tool. As much activity that takes place in the typical customer service setting, automating and simplifying the call center scheduling process is critical to ensure optimal performance and efficient operation.

3/12/2013 - The intelligence needed in the call center is greater than the brainpower of its employees. Today's call center must also have intelligent solutions to ensure efficient operation and the delivery on expected performance metrics. The same is true with call center scheduling technology as call center management has a lot to juggle to ensure optimal operation of the center as a whole.

3/5/2013 - Managing the effective call center requires more than just an efficient schedule. Call center leaders have to manage exceptions and minimize the impact any changes have on the level of service provided to the customer base. Planned exceptions are easy to integrate into the schedule, but the unexpected can happen. The success of the center relies on how those exceptions are handled.

3/4/2013 - The call center is the perfect dance of call volume, agent availability and productive interactions - at least that is the goal for every call center manager. The challenge, however, is turning those goals into reality when trying to implement call center scheduling tools. Fortunately, Workforce Management (WFM) Live from Monet Software can help.

2/25/2013 - NOVAtime Technology, a provider of workforce management and call center scheduling solutions, recently showcased its new NOVAtime Live product on Microsoft's Surface tablet at its first User Conference. The new NOVAtime Live on Microsoft's Surface tablet delivers complete mobility and live dashboard update features on Windows 8 platform devices.

2/25/2013 - Did you know that agent out-of-adherence can cost the call center thousands of dollars per month in lost productivity? Did you also know that the best way to reduce out-of-adherence is to properly forecast call volume and schedule according to that forecast? It's a process that can best be described as a complicated dance, but one that doesn't have to trip up the call center manager. Having the right tools in place can help.

2/20/2013 - While many call center organizations use call forecasting software to help them plan their day, week or month, forecasting software isn't magic: it requires a number of human factors to get right. Your forecasting tool can use historical and real-time data to make predictions, but it can't read your mind, it can't foresee your future needs, and it doesn't know what your business plan looks like.

2/19/2013 - For any emergency response agency, the benefits of using scheduling software can be limitless. In fact, after using a desk blotter calendar for 30 long years, The Danville Life Saving Crew, an emergency response service provider, has switched to Aladtec's EMS Manager for more efficient scheduling of its 100-person crew. Aladtec's solution has allowed the agency to save 60 hours every month in associated labor costs.

2/19/2013 - Moving from a manual call center scheduling system to one that is managed online can be a daunting change. You may have a certain way you like to schedule your agents and mixing up the format will require training and a different mindset. If the result is less time spent and an improved operation through efficiency and productivity gains, the switch is well worth the risk.

2/12/2013 - The agent is perfectly suited for the call center job. The agent possesses great customer service skills, can manage multiple communication portals at once, can quickly move the customer through resolution and is familiar with just about every computer technology interface available. The only problem is that the agent's skills are in high demand for coaching others and her availability has changed, creating a scheduling issue for the manager.

2/11/2013 - In the buzz of activity that takes place within the call center, it can be a challenge for managers to forecast anticipated activity, schedule according to agent skills and availability, manage the varying interaction channels and focus on overall performance. In fact, overall performance statistics are the one thing managers often don't know.

2/11/2013 - Advancements in the communication technology have drastically changed the ways call centers operate today, making the tasks more complicated for the managers. From assigning tasks to the agents with appropriate skills to ensuring they are completing them in an efficient manner, a call center manager is always pressed for time. Above all, they have to ensure there are smooth transition between the shifts to ensure maximum labor efficiency and customer satisfaction. So, call center scheduling solutions can significantly simplify the tasks of a manager.

2/6/2013 - Xerox has been named to the Leaders Quadrant by Gartner, in the 2012 Magic Quadrant Customer Management Contact Center Business Process Outsourcing report. Xerox offers business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing services to commercial and government organizations across the world. Some of its services include data processing, healthcare solutions, HR benefits management, finance support, transportation solutions, and customer relationship management services.

2/5/2013 - Call centers can make or break the customer experience. So what can make or break a call center? Workforce management, of course. A good WFM solution can ensure that employees are always working at times convenient to them without the center being understaffed, and ensure that everything is running smoothly.

1/29/2013 - In the call center environment, one of the most valuable assets that contribute to the success of the center is its agents. Individuals trained to handle complex interactions while still delivering first call resolution and customer satisfaction are essential to the call center's overall operation. When these individuals are not engaging with customers, however, they are a drain on profit.

1/28/2013 - While most contact centers monitor their operations to some degree, not all monitoring is created equal. Not too long ago, monitoring was done on only a portion of the call center's operations, and many times, managers had to wait days, weeks or even months to see reports that contained the relevant intelligence.

1/24/2013 - In its annual Call Center Satisfaction Index (CCSI), CFI Group, a customer satisfaction measurement technology and analytics firm, has found that more call centers are transforming into contact centers as they are incorporating Web, e-mail, and social media into customer service strategies.

1/22/2013 - When it comes to reliable and rigid containers, BWAY Holding is the brand that is trusted by a companies that are starting from the manufacturers of consumer goods to the makers of ammunition. With an aim to achieve improved worker efficiency, compliance and cost reduction, BWAY has implemented Staff Management | SMX' workforce optimization solution in some of its plants.

1/16/2013 - Managed unified communications services provider Whaleback Managed Services recently expanded its CrystalBlue Unified Communications Services, with the addition of a new call detail reporting solution called CrystalBlue Call View.

1/14/2013 - Verint Systems is a provider of enterprise intelligence solutions like scheduling and workforce optimization software. The company is well known for its portfolio of Enterprise Intelligence Solutions and Security Intelligence Solutions that help organizations capture and analyze complex and underused information sources to make timely, effective decisions.

1/10/2013 - We've all been there. We've had an issue with a company that we simply cannot seem to resolve. We contact the call center, we send e-mails, we request callbacks, and even if the company picks up our call or answers our e-mail, we get know actual results on our issue. The old-fashioned term for this is "the runaround." While call centers are tasked with solving customers' problems, the companies they represent don't always provide them with the tools they require to offer good customer support.

1/9/2013 - Schedule adherence is one of the key challenges call center managers face every day. Companies that offer call center scheduling solutions must understand that increasing schedule adherence has a huge cost saving and efficiency potential, but customers need the right tools in order to better track all agent activities to get to the next level.

1/2/2013 - If you run or manage a call center, you'll know that data is one of the few things you lack. In fact, you may be finding yourself swamped with data and feeling a bit nervous: like you know you ought to be doing something with all this information, but you're not sure what.

12/27/2012 - Verint Systems, a provider of Actionable Intelligence solutions and value-added services for call center scheduling, has upgraded its Impact 360 Workforce Optimization suite, offering advanced analytical tools along with software unification through alerts and notifications, to meet the growing demands faced by today's enterprises.

12/18/2012 - The most expensive aspect of managing a call center is staffing - ensuring that agents are working efficiently within set schedules is essential to the success of a business. Avoiding reoccurring call center schedule adherence issues and overhead shrinkage is all a matter of scheduling that fits the needs of agents.

12/18/2012 - Running a successful call center is not an easy job. One of the primary challenges is building an efficient call center schedule. There are numerous uncontrollable factors that affect the scheduling of agents, so it takes specific knowledge and measurements to create the most effective schedule. Modern scheduling solutions have helped call center managers build better schedules, but sticking to the schedule is a challenge.

12/12/2012 - The staff scheduling problem is a critical challenge in the call center industry, among countless other industries these days. While staff scheduling has long been an important operations research problem, it has recently become an important component of workforce management software. The need for effective workforce management systems has been driven primarily by the rapid growth of the call center industry in which efficient deployment of human resources is absolutely crucial for success.

12/10/2012 - Call Forecasting Stimulation Makes Workforce Management Efficient During the Holidays Whether you run a call center in a small business or an enterprise, call volume fluctuates at different times of the year, prompting business processes to get complicated. Specifically, during the holidays when call volume grows, you must schedule agents properly in order for your call center to run efficiently. In an era where technology is constantly evolving and improving, why not invest in workforce management (WFM) software to better delegate agent tasks and stay on top of call center processes?

12/6/2012 - The call center is rife with changing workloads and fluctuating staffing needs. When it comes to properly staffing the call center, there are so many variables to consider that aren't exclusive to agent availability and accurately predicting call volume. There's skill sets to keep in mind, what kind of calls you'll receive and when, customer initiatives, response time, call quality and so on. It's enough to overwhelm any manager, which is why there are a few items to think about before scheduling your call center's needs.

12/4/2012 - In the contact center, call volumes are constantly changing. If you try to predict the number of seats needed to keep your customers satisfied while also saving money, the end result will likely be unsuccessful. Because of the changing call volumes and variety of customer inquiries, you must have a workforce management system in place to properly schedule contact center agents.

11/29/2012 - Today, mobility is changing how consumers and professionals find information, communicate, and shop. This in turn is causing businesses to be faced with the challenge of providing a personalized experience across multiple channels to an increasingly mobile customer base.

11/26/2012 - Numbers matter, but usually they are not enough. When scheduling agents to staff a call center, there's more than just the question of how many warm bodies to put in a room. While head count matters, there also are several other considerations that must be taken into account if the ultimate goal is profitability and effectiveness.

11/19/2012 - What's the biggest expense in your call center? If you're like nearly every call center on earth, the top item on your budget is recruiting, hiring and training new agents. Turnover tends to be high in call centers - higher in some industries than other - which makes the constant cycle of hiring a necessary evil.

11/12/2012 - Nobody said running a call center was easy. One of the trickiest tasks in a call center is building a schedule. There are so many unknown and uncontrollable factors, that the process is more of an art than a science. While modern scheduling solutions have gone a long way toward helping build better schedules, this is only half the equation.

11/8/2012 - Workforce management solutions have always been critical for the success of large contact center operating environments. Today, these solutions are also being used to simplify management and scheduling of multinational and multisite agents, including virtual workers in organizations of all sizes

11/7/2012 - Unless your call center consists of one person, you must manage your organizational goals through a workforce of employees. If that workforce is not managed and scheduled properly in order to be productive, the efficiency of goal-achievement suffers and costs go up.

11/1/2012 - Today, contact center technology offers the ability to improve back office functions like workforce management (WFM), sharing customer data, self-service, integrated desktops, and creating visibility. Back office performance management and workforce optimization (WFO) have had a history of being problematic because of difficulty in measuring processes and limited agent performance visibility. But, this has changed due to the recent capability of WFO solutions that can measure activity, schedule staff and even provide performance metrics within the call center.

10/31/2012 - Whenever one reaches a call center, it's common to hear "this call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes." This, of course, is a good thing. Not only does it mean the call center agents will be trying its hardest to do a good job, but it also means you'll have your issues on the record, having something to back you up if you do get a poor agent. Rather than just having "may be monitored," though, the best way to go about that is with call recording.

10/24/2012 - Call center agents that spend most of their time e-mailing, instant messaging and online shopping are hurting your center's scheduling adherence. But, with the right call center scheduling software in place, you can more effectively monitor these agents to make sure they are doing their jobs.

10/22/2012 - Customers today have high expectations when it comes to the call center experience. Yet, under strict cost constraints and tight budgets, it has become increasingly challenging to satisfy the needs of both key decision makers and the consumer. There are several important business metrics that help with the process of call center management. But success does not hinge on numbers alone, rather what people do with that information.

10/17/2012 - Any manager within any customer-facing industry faces a challenge when trying to schedule employees according to the needs of the business. Those responsible for call center scheduling, however, must also pay attention to forecasting for call volume and the productivity of their staff. When a call center employee is doing anything other than the tasks related to his or her job, adherence issues arise.

10/10/2012 - Maintaining a good schedule in the contact center is a two-part strategy. First, of course, there is the building of a high quality schedule that reflects your contact center's business and call/contact traffic. The next part is trickier: adhering to that schedule once it's built. Being out of adherence can cause a number of problems in the contact center, all of them widening out - like a small stone tossed into a pond - in concentric circles to affect the entire call center.

10/9/2012 - The mobile workforce management and scheduling industry is growing with solutions that not only track remote field workers, but also have an evolving focus on managing workflows, enhancing customer engagement, and even creating new revenue opportunities.

10/1/2012 - Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO), a regional, member-owned utility serving more than 150,000 Maryland customers, has deployed Avaya Customer Experience Interaction Management solutions in aims to deliver outstanding customer service over multiple communication channels.

9/26/2012 - Knowlagent, a provider of intraday management solutions for contact centers, announced the selection of its RightTime solution by Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), a global not-for-profit ministry.

9/25/2012 - Once upon a time, a problem many call centers faced was not having enough quality data about their operations. Call center management was more of an art than a science, since experienced managers needed to make a lot of guesses: about call volume, about staffing, about queuing, about average handle times and time callers were on hold.

9/24/2012 - Noble ShiftTrack Workforce Management (WFM) software has been deployed for financial services institution Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Noble Systems provides unified contact center technology solutions. The company is supporting Wealth Management Services for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which serves customers at its more than 500 company and community-owned customer service outlets at locations across Australia.

9/19/2012 - Easycallnow, a provider of cloud contact center services, gives users complete control over exactly how calls are answered and routed. It makes sure customers can quickly get through to the right people while keeping agents productive and making sure every single call is answered efficiently. With Easycallnow, it is even possible to change how calls are handled by creating scheduled call queues and building a specialized menu system for incoming calls.

9/18/2012 - VoIP has advanced rapidly in the call center environment. One area of the call center that has benefited greatly from VoIP is call recording. With the move to an entirely digital call process, it is easier than ever to record and utilize call center interactions.

9/13/2012 - These days, the contact center world is an environment that is constantly changing as new communication channels are developed rapidly, marketing departments routinely devise brand new services that need support, and internal systems are replaced and upgraded soon after agents learn older systems. Because of the rapid evolution of technology, customers today expect service that is quicker, more customized, more accurate, more comprehensive, and even friendlier.

9/12/2012 - Customer contact, workforce optimization and Microsoft platform solutions provider Aspect Software recently launched a completely customizable mobile app built for supervisors and managers in call centers. The application is called the Aspect Workforce Mobile solution.

9/12/2012 - Customer contact, workforce optimization and Microsoft platform solutions provider Aspect Software recently launched a completely customizable mobile app built for supervisors and managers in call centers. The application is called the Aspect Workforce Mobile solution.

9/5/2012 - This month, Cicero Inc., a provider of Customer Experience Management (CEM) and integration technologies, and Pipkins, Inc., a supplier of workforce management and call center scheduling software, are deploying Vantage Point with Cicero's desktop analytics technology to customers.

9/4/2012 - Call center scheduling is tricky for many reasons. For starters, you can only guess how many calls your center is going to receive on any given day, from hour to hour and from minute to minute. Secondly, you can only guess how many agents will call home sick or leave early, not feeling well or for a family emergency. One of the most prominent reasons call center scheduling is so difficult is that call center work isn't simply phone work.

8/30/2012 - "Your call may be recorded for quality assurance" is probably a statement that sounds familiar. Most likely you have heard this if you've ever called a bank, credit card company or insurance company. This is known as call recording, which allows a company to record and archive calls for playback in the future. There are several uses for call recording software designed to help benefit your company.

8/28/2012 - Call center scheduling software keeps your call center running efficiently, keeps your service levels increasing and your customer base and revenues growing. Lately, there have been a lot of analyst reports about the adoption of cloud-based solution in all areas of business, including call center forecasting and scheduling, which can your call center's efficiency to whole other level.

8/21/2012 - The most expensive aspect of managing a call center is staffing; ensuring that agents are working efficiently within their set schedules is essential to the success of a business. Avoiding reoccurring call center schedule adherence issues and overhead shrinkage is all a matter of scheduling that fits the needs of agents and the call center.

8/20/2012 - If you run or manage a call center, it's probable that you spend most of your professional life chasing several goals: keeping costs down, meeting service levels, keeping customer loyalty high and reducing expensive agent turnover. While there's no one magic bullet solution to accomplish all these tasks, a high quality call recording solutions comes close, and can certainly address each goal.

8/13/2012 - Amcom Software's pc/psap 911 call center solution is now listed under the Department of Defense's Unified Capabilities Approved Products List. This solution has received Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certification from the U.S. government and it will ensure secure, reliable communications for both government and civilian organizations.

8/8/2012 - On average, the amount of time that contact center agents wait in between customer calls is two to three minutes. However, when that time is added up throughout the day, research has indicated that call center agents can spend 49 minutes of their day idle, waiting for a call.

8/7/2012 - The staff scheduling problem has remained a critical problem customer contact center industry. But now, real-time schedule adherence can fix this problem by streamlining agent scheduling seamlessly.

8/2/2012 - According to a study from Loudhouse Research, 69 percent of large business respondents believe that call centers are integral to revenue generation. However, with so many options for call center software on the market, managers often have difficulty deciding which products to choose.

8/1/2012 - Today, the call center is an essential part of a business in order for it to run efficiently. Over the years, call center agent duties have evolved from fielding phone calls to handling email and online communications. So, customers now rely on call centers to submit email inquiries, request Web chats, and transmit text messages from cell phones. A call center must be equipped with the right tools to sell products, respond to customer questions, resolve technical-support issues, and handle inquiries in a timely and efficient manner.

7/25/2012 - 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 Inc., a provider of call center workforce management software, shares strategies to ease the effects of having multiple agents simultaneously request vacation time.

7/23/2012 - An unscheduled 10-minute break during a typical eight-hour call center shift doesn't sound costly, but financial implications grow a lot worse when multiplied by an entire call center team and viewed over time. Just 10 minutes of wasted agent time per day translates into 43.3 hours of lost time per agent per year. For a typical agent earning roughly $20 per hour, that's roughly $866 of lost time. Multiplied by a staff of 300, however, and that number becomes a $259,000 financial loss per year when agents waste 10 minutes per day.

7/18/2012 - More than 3,000 self storage facilities signed up for USstoragesearch.com facilities since its launch in March, 2012.

7/18/2012 - TMC this year celebrates 30 years of covering customer interaction, which means it couldn't be a better time to look at where we've been with customer service and where we're going. We're also rebranding and retooling our customer effort. In this installment of our CUSTOMER coverage, we talk with Chuck Ciarlo, CEO of Monet Software Inc. Ciarlo also is on the advisory board of TMC's new CUSTOMER magazine, which launches in September.

7/10/2012 - Delivering on performance expectations in the unpredictable call center environment can be a challenge, unless the right forecasting and scheduling practices are in place. Callers want their problems addressed quickly and service delivered in a way that demonstrates their value to the organization. With effective call center scheduling practices, these demands are more likely to be met.

7/9/2012 - Smart Link Contact Centers, a business process and contact center outsourcing provider in Saudi Arabia, has received three awards at the Middle East Call Center Awards 2012, recently held in Dubai. Smart link was selected for this top honor for the third consecutive year for its diversity in services, flexibility in adapting and penetrating new markets, consistency in service levels and performance quality.

7/3/2012 - Amcom Software, Inc. has unveiled that WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, N.C., will deploy Amcom Mobile Connect smartphone communications for 1,000 users. The healthcare system has already centralized its contact center communications using Amcom's operator consoles, web-based on-call scheduling, emergency notification, and speech recognition solutions. The addition of smartphone communications will expand the foundation with secure mobile messaging for busy clinicians who need immediate contact.

7/2/2012 - Call recording software is a common inclusion in most contemporary call centers. Like most software programs, the widespread use of the call recording software has been influenced by the apparent advantages of such programs. Through the recording software, call centers capture, screen, store, and manage interactions between customers and customer service representative for purposes of upholding quality service provision, scheduling, and compliance.

6/29/2012 - Call centers tend to be very complex and hard to manage. One of the most important things a call center manager can do is create an agent schedule and have them stick to it. Even if only one or two agents fail to adhere to the schedules, this can have a dramatic impact on service level and customer service. Schedule adherence is one of the main ways call center managers achieve labor efficiencies and improve customer service.

6/25/2012 - Call center scheduling software keeps your call center running efficiently, keeps your service levels increasing, and your customer base and revenues growing. Call center scheduling in the cloud could bring the efficiency of you call center to whole other level.

6/19/2012 - When it comes to saving money in a call center, sometimes a simple change in workforce management solutions can make a huge difference. Using the right workforce management software can help prevent over scheduling and cut down on overtime, often resulting in cost savings as high as 10 percent. One company that is trying to spread the word about these savings opportunities - and spread it far beyond it home country of Sweden - is XLScheduler.

6/18/2012 - Outbound call centers can be grouped into two types depending on the types of calls being made. In each type of outbound call center, the agents are either engaged in campaign management or in collections management.

6/14/2012 - Not a long time ago, when employees in call centers worked from remote locations, integrating them into the regular call queues was virtually impossible, scheduling and monitoring performance was difficult and analyzing data was cumbersome, but now with Easy Office Phone's virtual-call-center solution, everything falls neatly into place.

6/12/2012 - Schedule adherence is one of the key challenges for call centers. Companies that offer call center scheduling solutions must understand that increasing schedule adherence has a huge cost saving and efficiency potential, but customers need the right tools to better track all agent activities to get to the next level.

6/6/2012 - Cassidian Communications has recently introduced the latest release of the company's next generation management information system (MIS), Aurora 2.0 to improve 9-1-1 call center management and scheduling. The solution includes new features and enhancements that improve performance and are designed to create a more efficient call center and improve decision making in single and multi-site 9-1-1 call centers.

6/5/2012 - Call centers must be able to automate and manage complex call center scheduling based on business policies in which physical, virtual and cloud-based resources are allocated to ensure that critical workflows are met. Amcom Software, Inc. has announced that Winter Haven Hospital will implement encrypted smartphone communications for more than 500 clinicians in the call center and in other hospital departments with Amcom Mobile Connect.

5/31/2012 - AlJomaih Automotive Company (AAC), the largest GM dealer in the Middle East, has increased call center scheduling, productivity and customer service as a result of deploying Altitude IP Contact Center Suite to handle the fast-paced growth of its customer service operations across Saudi Arabia. Altitude Software provides unified customer interaction solutions, managing dynamic contact centers independently of platforms.

5/31/2012 - Knowlagent, a provider of call center software that increases agent utilization through automated intraday management and dynamic delivery of coaching, training, communications, and other off-phone, shrinkage activities during idle time, partnered with Datapoint, a specialist in enterprise and call center communications infrastructure and applications.

5/24/2012 - Allianz Global Assistance Canada, a travel insurance and assistance provider, has received top honors at the Global Call Center of the Year Awards this month in Seattle. The company earned the Gold Award for the 2012 Global Call Center of the Year in the small-to medium-sized call center category as well as the Silver Award in the Quality Category.

5/23/2012 - Echopass Corporation, a provider of enterprise class cloud-based contact center solutions, will sponsor the 2012 annual Call Center Week conference. This year, Call Center Week will focus on meeting business growth objectives through new social, mobile and traditional customer points of interaction in the call center.

5/16/2012 - These days, global provider of Workforce Optimization (WFO) solutions Monet Software is seeing major trends in the call center industry based on market needs and new emerging technologies. The Internet has become critical for businesses to successfully manage business operations and agents are monitoring social media channels to connect with customers and prospects.

5/16/2012 - When examining the call center, it would be easy to assume that the biggest cost associated with this division of the company may be the expensive phone equipment necessary for each agent, or the ergonomic desks and chairs. Instead, the most costly element within this environment is out-of-adherence to call center scheduling.

5/11/2012 - There may be no corporate function that throws off more data than the corporate call center. Agent performance is measured as every contact is counted, routed, scheduled and scored. Throughout the history of the contact center, much of the analysis of that data has been quantitative in nature like calls received, average hold time, call length, resolution rate.

5/9/2012 - If you are a call center professional interested in learning how to help your call center harness the potential of social media and self service capabilities, you should add "Call Center Management on Fast Forward" to you summer book list.

5/2/2012 - BenchmarkPortal today released its new iBenchmark, an automated benchmarking product that puts patented technology to work for people who manage contact centers, providing benchmarking reports every month without manually inputting a long list of metrics.

5/1/2012 - Steve Bederman, CEO, the Corporation, a gateway company to escort software and technology firms into the US market, blogs on successful business practices. the Corporation has launched the Call Center Corporation to distribute top-rated call center software products in the U.S. Bederman and his team of experts offer a long history of success in call center software including call center scheduling and call center management.

4/26/2012 - Customer Relationship Metrics, L.C. has recently launched Desktop Activity BI, a suite of managed analytics services for call centers and contact centers. Desktop Activity BI analyzes desktop activity and application performance data to provide insight into trends, best practices and needed improvement in the call center. This performance data can guide customers in improving company policies, compliance, scheduling, and application usage.

4/24/2012 - Does your call center run so smoothly that you never have more agents on hand than you need? Do you accurately forecast for anticipated volume so customers are never left waiting in the queue? Are all agents keyed into the importance of schedule adherence so as to keep shrinkage at a minimum? If you can't adamantly answer with a yes to these questions, it may be time for call center scheduling.

4/20/2012 - In the call center culture, workforce management is a common denominator across the board. Call centers need to properly forecast and schedule their call center staff while maintaining service levels and keeping costs in check. The right workforce management software solution can not only help manage the aforementioned, but it's not a solution that has to be a luxury or costly expenditure.

4/17/2012 - Call centers must be able to automate and manage complex call center scheduling based on business policies in which physical, virtual and cloud-based resources are allocated to ensure that critical workflows are met.

4/12/2012 - Provider of risk management, compliance, communication and outreach programs Risk Compliance Performance (RCP) Solutions has appointed veteran call center expert Sharon R. Blake as vice president of call center services. Blake will launch the new U.S.-based, bilingual (English and Spanish) Call Center division. The division combines telephony, integrated interactive voice response (IVR) technology and a team of customer service professionals to support client business needs.

4/10/2012 - If you are a company considering the addition of call recording software, you will find a variety of options to choose from. Most call centers tend to have similar needs, but there are challenges that will cause your unique company to choose certain solutions.

4/9/2012 - Monet Software, Inc., a provider of cloud-based Workforce Management, today unveiled the availability of Monet Record and Monet Quality, expanding its offering to a unified Workforce Optimization (WFO) suite. Call centers can now efficiently automate workforce management, call recording and quality management with one affordable solution, resulting in better utilization of resources, better cost management, increased compliance, and improved service levels.

4/3/2012 - DigitalMojo, a marketing services company, and RingRevenue, the provider of in call-based performance marketing solutions are joining together to deliver more calls, more customers, and more revenue for DigitalMojo and their clients.

3/29/2012 - Global provider of customer experience and workforce optimization solutions VPI (Voice Print International, Inc.) recently unveiled its breakthrough VPI VirtualSource, a groundbreaking, hosted, pay-as-you-go contact center solution. VPI VirtualSource leverages conversational, on-demand virtual agents powered by Artificial Intelligence to automate inbound and outbound calls and reduce mundane tasks from human call center agents.

3/26/2012 - According to the webcast, "Utilizing a Six Sigma Approach to Reduce Unwanted Turnover", Volt Workforce Solutions, the staffing business unit of Volt Information Sciences, Inc., will share expertise improving call center recruiting and retention.

3/21/2012 - Produced by The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), the ACCE Conference & Expo, the premier annual global gathering for the contact center community, will hold a 2012 conference program filled with a variety of course selections. The conference will take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle May 7-10. The event will bring together call center professionals to discover how to improve their centers' performance by better managing people and resources, improving operations, and selecting the right technology.

3/20/2012 - Advanced Systems Concepts, Inc. (ASCI), today announced it is adding a new service to enterprise IT automation through several enhancements to its ActiveBatch Workload Automation and Job Scheduling Software. There will be new core capabilities supporting Microsoft Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange Server as well as an ActiveBatch Extension for Microsoft SharePoin. It is now possible to quickly and easily automate new forms of runbook and IT operations and integrate these procedures into other business and IT operational processes.

3/14/2012 - The varying activities that must take place within the call center require a strategic balance. All channels must be accounted for, agents must be in their seats during scheduled hours and call volume must be forecasted accurately. When all of these elements are in balance, the center has achieved proper call center scheduling.

3/14/2012 - Monet Software has established a list of call center scheduling tips to keep your call center running efficiently, keep service levels increasing, and your customer base and revenues growing. Be sure to follow these scheduling tips to improve the overall operations of your call center.

3/8/2012 - Fairview Health Services has selected Amcom Software solutions to build an approach to critical communications and call center scheduling in an effort to replace an aging call center platform and to expand the scope of its communication functions. Amcom Software gives organizations faster, more accurate communications. Amcom Software's unified communications technologies include solutions for contact centers, emergency management, mobile event notification, and messaging.

3/6/2012 - Telcentris Inc., a leader in cloud communications and VoxOx In Business, today unveiled the commercial availability of its short duration call service, geared toward outbound call centers, resellers, and agents that cater to call center traffic and call center scheduling. Being offered through the company's wholesale division, the short call service is a highly competitive offering in a market that lacks solutions for businesses conducting high volume short duration calls.

2/28/2012 - If you run a small call center, you might think call center schedule adherence isn't all that important; however, if you take a closer look you'll see that schedule adherence can save your company a great deal of time and revenue over the course of a year. Every call center has unique agent activity types, so this flexible approach to agent adherence monitoring gives call centers increased accuracy in managing call center performance. Schedule adherence is not just about whether your agents are showing up for their shifts on time, it's also about whether they are showing up on time for scheduled events such as training and coaching sessions, and then getting back on the phones when they are supposed to.

2/27/2012 - Many smaller call centers still use spreadsheets to manage call center schedules and workforce planning with the idea that spreadsheets are a sufficient tool for fewer call center agents. However, Monet Software recently explained that it is actually more difficult to use spreadsheets to manage fewer agents. Monet Software recently posted a blog explaining why smaller companies need a strategy other than spreadsheets to manage call center schedules. Some of the reasons include: behavior of individual agents have bigger impact on overall call center performance; fewer agents need to multi-task, making skill-based scheduling more complex; and it is more difficult to correct the schedule once it has been upset by unexpected events.

2/21/2012 - Call center scheduling is fragile as agents may arrive late, log in to the wrong work queue, take breaks or lunch at different times, or get called away for an unexpected meeting or conference. The more agents a call center has, the more can go wrong. Therefore, greater return can be reaped from a real-time adherence system. For call center scheduling, advanced agent adherence systems is a great solution.

2/21/2012 - The idea of moving your call center scheduling activities to the cloud may seem like a daunting task, even with the promised benefits on the horizon. If your organization is struggling to make a business case for moving to the cloud, or simply need to weigh the pros and cons, compelling reasons do exist for making the move.

2/15/2012 - Running a call center requires so much more than just making sure all calls are answered in a timely manner. Managers in today's center must monitor and manage adherence to call center scheduling, a task that is nothing short of challenges.

2/9/2012 - While it's common to group all call centers into one category, the reality is that every call center is actually unique. With that unique environment comes the demand for a unique approach to call center scheduling. How do you determine the best approach for your center? Monet Software has a few tips for you to consider.

2/3/2012 - Any mention of the call center and we're quick to think of a row of cubicles, complete with headset-wearing individuals repeating the same speech on each call. While such a scenario may be found in one environment, it isn't always the norm. In fact, today's larger call centers are moving towards more diverse and flexible environments, providing deep integration between multiple communication channels and call center scheduling.

1/18/2012 - Agents working in the call center have an important role to fill - satisfying managers in terms of performance and creating the high quality customer experience. At times, the two goals are at odds, especially when performance metrics require speedy calls and the customer experience is degraded when speed trumps resolution. While call center scheduling aims to minimize this impact, it may require the call center to take it one step further.

1/13/2012 - If you run or manage a call center, you'll know that there are no shortage of challenges, and these challenges would appear to keep multiplying with each year that passes and each new trend comes along. Yet, at the heart of the call center is one overriding rule: provide the best possible customer service to your customers, while spending the least amount of money.

1/10/2012 - For most, the beginning of a New Year is the perfect time to reflect on the accomplishments of the last 12 months and set goals that will define the next 12. This is as true for a call centers as it is for an individual, and as your agents start to filter back in from the holidays it's important to take a look at where you've been and where you want to go. Here are three New Year's resolutions that you can implement in your call center management strategy to increase your effectiveness in 2012.

1/6/2012 - Forecasting - it's one of the most critical and challenging element in call center scheduling. With the use of workforce management tools, call center managers can gather the work history necessary to forecast call volume and agent requirements to match the time frames that must be scheduled in the future.

12/28/2011 - The scheduling requirements within your call center can determine the level of complexity involved in your overall call center management. With the right tools in place, however, you can easily avoid some of the pitfalls that result in over- or under-staffing within the call center, which can lead to even bigger problems.

12/28/2011 - An environment of emotional calls, fluctuating call volumes, varying schedules and time pressure can only describe today's call center. Trying to manage skilled individuals within this type of environment is a challenge without call center scheduling platforms. Putting the right tools in place ensures a smooth operation, and more satisfied customers and employees.

12/22/2011 - The agent that spends most of his time reading emails, taking breaks and navigating online training tools is hurting your schedule adherence and consequently, your bottom line. With the right call center scheduling tools in place, you can better monitor this individual and keep him on the phones.

12/15/2011 - Do you struggle in your role as a call center leader to ensure you have the right number of staff with the right skills available at the right times of the day ? Do your agents show up for work on time and adhere to the schedule for breaks, training and other activities? If you're struggling to keep your staff on track, it may be time to take a closer look at workforce management solutions.

12/15/2011 - Are expenses overwhelming your call center? Have you gotten a handle on staffing to minimize those expenses and drive a wider profit margin? If not, it's probably time to take a closer look at call center scheduling solutions to ease your pain and improve the bottom line.

12/12/2011 - Monet Software has put together another fine blog post on handling fluctuation in call volumes throughout the day -- yes it's still one of the key challenges in managing a call center, as they say.

12/1/2011 - Using a cloud-based solution for call center scheduling has many advantages. Taking that theory a step further and deciding to implement a Monet Software workforce management solution in the cloud for call center scheduling is a win-win situation. Why? The cloud comes ready to use, with no upfront investment and provisioned from a virtualized data center. No matter where the agent is, they can log on and access the system.

11/23/2011 - The dynamics within the call center keep every day more exciting than the last, but you don't want that excitement to stem from poorly planned call center scheduling. When volumes fluctuate throughout the day, you still have to effectively manage the call center. How do you keep scheduling on track while balancing changing challenges?

11/17/2011 - The average call center has a significant list of things to accomplish on any given day. Even with a large and skilled team of agents, the workload can seem overwhelming. With the right call center scheduling in place, however, many of the necessary tasks that must be completed can be scheduled according to availability and call volume, taking the pressure off the agent and his or her supervisor.

11/10/2011 - Call center scheduling for the multi-channel, multi-location environment requires a close examination of various time zones, new communication channels, potential shrinkage and changing agent availability. Without the necessary software tools to automate this process, call center management may have a hard time creating the productive and efficient environment.

11/3/2011 - Scheduling is critical to ensure the smooth operation of the call center - but is it really as easy as set the schedule and agents follow it? How do you ensure it meets your needs and the availability of your agents? How do you design a schedule that keeps customers happy? And, perhaps most importantly, how can you be sure your call center scheduling keeps costs at a minimum?

10/19/2011 - One of the most obvious challenges within the call center space is accurately forecasting for anticipated call volumes. In fact, forecasting is considered to be one of the most critical steps in the workforce management process. If you can perfect this process, call center scheduling is a snap.

10/14/2011 - Is your call center a madhouse of crazed agents who never seem to stay on track with scheduling? Do you find it difficult to schedule every bathroom break, coaching activity and e-mail that will take an agent away from the phones? Have you thought about the potential benefit you could enjoy with the implementation of a call center scheduling solution?

10/7/2011 - The good people at Monet Software recently put up another most helpful blog post, this time concerning employee motivation.

9/30/2011 - If you're like many -- actually, probably most -- small to medium size call centers, you still use spreadsheets to forecast and manage call center schedules and workforce planning. You think hey, this is an okay way to do it, since we have fewer agents. We don't need all that fancy- schmancy software, it's not like we're trying to ride herd on 10,000 agents here.

9/21/2011 - Managing a call center properly can be tough, and the meshing complexities of staff scheduling and technical understanding can quickly overwhelm professionals new to the space. But fear not! Monet Software, a leading workforce management software provider, has outlined some tips that make scheduling a call center workforce a less daunting task.

9/12/2011 - Imagine an environment of ringing telephones, filling e-mail inboxes, sounding social media alerts, scrolling fax machines and agents scrambling to handle all channels according to performance standards. If it sounds like a chaotic environment that could use a little help, you might be right. This scenario hopefully doesn't describe your call center, but if it does, a little help with your call center scheduling may be a good place to start.

9/8/2011 - The channels a contact centers manages have expanded dramatically since the 80's when the telephone was king-adding email, instant messages and SMS along the way. Based on current trends, it's evident that contact centers will be adding another essential channel in the very near future: social media.

8/30/2011 - The management of your call center staff is probably the most critical aspect to a successfully run customer service operation. Managers need to make sure to have enough agents to cover the volume of incoming communications, but when they hire too many they can end up paying agents for idle time. Optimizing schedules to meet the delicate balancing of what's needed for a specific volume requires careful planning on the management end, and it also requires schedule adherence on the agent end.

8/24/2011 - As a call center leader, do you ever feel challenged by the demands put on your team to increase quality of customer service, while also keeping costs in check? This can be a complicated dance when you don't have the right tools in place to achieve your goals.

8/19/2011 - For most people in management, it's been a long time since they were unable to exert any control whatsoever on the course their workday would take. Sure, there are mandatory meetings and deadlines and the usual obligations that must be fulfilled within an organized calendar on a day to day basis, but there is usually not a "boss" to worry about who dictates the course of events on an hourly basis.

8/11/2011 - In the process of developing your approach to call center scheduling, do you take schedule adherence into account? Believe it or not, if your call center is just a few minutes out of adherence from your schedule, it can cost your center considerable dollars you may not have to spend. Fortunately, educating your call center managers and staff about the importance of schedule adherence can improve overall performance and control costs.

8/5/2011 - 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.

7/27/2011 - The constantly changing environment in the call center puts significant demands on those responsible for scheduling according to anticipated call volumes. These individuals not only have to accurately forecast call volumes for a specified period of time; they must also consider the skills and availability of the agent base.

7/22/2011 - According to a recent post on the Monet Software blog, Workforce management in a call center is "the art and science of having the right number of employees, with the right skills at the right times to meet accurately forecasted volumes of work and to do all that at a predetermined service level and minimized costs."

7/14/2011 - The call center is nothing if not dynamic and managers in this space are challenged to produce an effective environment in which all agents perform as expected. Achieving all points is easier said than done, however, and call center management must often look to robust tools to assist in the process.

7/12/2011 - If you've ever been involved with the management of the call center then you understand that scheduling is a critical concern that directly relates to the effectiveness of your operation. In a 2010 survey by DMG, call center managers rated the most mission critical task that they set out to perform daily. The results found that chief among these concerns were the need to schedule phone and non-phone activity, the need to optimize the mix of full-time/part-time/flex workers, strategy to reduce poor agent adherence and the need to schedule multiple channels at once. This list makes it clear; staffing is at the crux of nearly every issue within the call center.

7/5/2011 - For call centers, the single most expensive element of operation is staffing. Making sure your agents are working as efficiently as possible within the schedules you've set for them is essential to the success of your business.

6/30/2011 - Keating Capital has invested $3 million in the Series F Preferred Stock round of Xtime, a software as a service provider of Web scheduling and CRM solutions for automotive service departments.

6/20/2011 - Home agent call centers have proliferated as hosted software and SaaS platforms have developed compliant and reliable solutions. The result has been a gradual acceptance of the home agent as an alternative to the physical customer service office. With the ability to harness a geographically diffuse and demographically varied workforce businesses can now have agents that are not only better trained but more available than in a brick and mortar option. For BPO's like TeleTech, home agents are the future. TMCnet had an opportunity to talk with customer experience management leader TeleTech at this year's Call Center Week in Las Vegas.

6/17/2011 - In the realm of call center scheduling, is there really any correlation between this software platform and the cloud? There is if you want to make the most of your call center operations and reduce your overall cost of doing business.

6/9/2011 - If it's true, as call center vendor Monet Software officials say, that many companies underestimate the sheer volume of shrinkage, are there any good ways to reduce shrinkage?

6/7/2011 - Determining the right schedule for the call center is a challenge for even the most experienced call center manager. This individual not only has to accurately forecast for future volume, he or she must align that forecast with available individuals with the right skill sets. To say there are a lot of variables to manage is an understatement.

6/2/2011 - What is the most effective way to conduct call center scheduling? If you believe this is a loaded question, you're right. There are a number of different elements that have to be considered before you can effectively put together a call center schedule that will work according to the availability of your agents and your accurate forecast. Of course, the more challenging tasks is getting your agents to adhere to the schedule once it has been created.

6/2/2011 - Scheduling for the call center can be a challenging task. You not only need to know what agents you have available for specific times, you also have to know what volume of calls to expect at any given time of time. This requires that you conduct accurate forecasting before you complete your call center scheduling.

5/25/2011 - Call center scheduling - it is one of those necessary evils that not every call center manager jumps at the chance to perform. Regardless of their view of the activity, however, it still has to happen and it has to be optimized to ensure the best performance for the center. This means understanding the availability of all agents, forecasted volumes for a set amount of time and payroll budgets to support the scheduling efforts.

5/17/2011 - A recent webinar title "Six Simple Strategies for Improving Schedule Adherence in your Call Center" was offered by Monet Software, dealing with the thorny issue of ensuring there is the right number of staff with the right skills in their seats at the right times of the day.

5/16/2011 - Now that call centers everywhere have cut staffing to the bone, due to the current economic conditions, call center managers are under even more pressure to ensure agent time is being used efficiently.

5/11/2011 - No matter what line of work a business is in, managing workforce scheduling needs to be a priority in order to keep productivity, profits and customer satisfaction high. Nowhere is this truer than in the contact center environment. And while schedule management is a high priority for contact centers 365 days a year, summer vacation season, which is fast approaching, can make scheduling even more of an issue than usual.

5/3/2011 - An upcoming Webinar, titled "Six Simple Strategies for Improving Schedule Adherence in your Call Center," will be offered in conjunction with Monet Software on Wednesday, May 11, at 2:00 in the afternoon on the East Coast, and 11 in the morning out on the West Coast.

4/28/2011 - The spreadsheet is a powerful tool, but will it provide everything you need to keep track of activities in your call center? Even if you opt for call center scheduling spreadsheets that are often available for free, do you simply get what you pay for?

4/18/2011 - Ask a call center manager to name their biggest challenge in the workweek and they just might point to call center scheduling. This is a significant reference given the number of different elements the call center manager must juggle to deliver on expected performance levels. This recent Monet Software blog focused on call center scheduling and how learning proven practices can help the call center to deliver greater value overall.

4/13/2011 - Call center scheduling is a challenge to even the most seasoned call center managers. The ability to balance personnel with call volume peaks requires not only a deep understanding of your employees and customers, but an adaptable strategy that can account for inefficiency. Workforce management software designed to predict how many people you'll need on a given day can help, but there can still be unexpected issues with your workforce. So how do you get staff to show up for work on time and stick to their planned break times as well as generally acceptable time on various work tasks?

4/8/2011 - Call center scheduling, it is a task that even the most talented of call center managers could easily despise. The challenges that accompany this important task include forecasting for proper call volumes, anticipating absences, training sessions off-site, coaching session on-site, skill-sets of agents, requested time off and so much more. If the call center is trying to manage and schedule for more than 25 agents, doing so on a spreadsheet could turn into a nightmare.

4/1/2011 - Call center managers have a lot to juggle in their efforts to effectively manage a diverse workforce, address all customer issues, ensure performance according to expectations, and keep all operations within specific budgets. Such challenges often require tools to overcome them and many call centers will turn to Monet Software to find the solutions they need to improve overall performance.

3/23/2011 - Scheduling in the call center space is of the utmost importance in fine tuning how effectively your staff is operating. Shrinkage, poor adherence and unexpected call volume spikes can quickly overtake the best staff if it's unprepared. If a company maintains up- to- date information on call volume and a fluid schedule that can account for these challenges, it will be able to offer the best in customer service amongst multiple channels.

3/15/2011 - Call center scheduling - a significant challenge in an increasingly challenging field. Call center managers on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis have to ensure the call center is adequately staffed to meet the volume needs of the center. This can be a difficult challenge when call volumes can vary, call center agent schedules can change and campaigns may or may not be ready to launch.

3/14/2011 - Call center scheduling - it is perhaps one of the most stressful of all the call center manager's tasks, and yet it is also one of the most important. Once an accurate forecast has been determined, the call center manager then has to select the right candidates for the right shifts according to their availability, skill level and knowledge. It can be a complicated dance to determine the best scheduling arrangement to deliver the most value for the call center.

3/3/2011 - In the process of trying to effectively manage the call center, perhaps one of the most challenging of all the tasks assigned to the manager is that of call center scheduling. Not only does this individual need to properly forecast anticipated volume, he or she must also determine which agents are available for particular shifts, how their skills fill these voids and how best to account for both planned and unplanned absenteeism.

2/24/2011 - Call center scheduling could easily be described as one of the most challenging aspects of running a successful call center. Call center managers have to be sure they not only schedule according to forecasted call volumes, but also according to agent availability and skill set. When time off requests, training and other scheduled events must also be accounted for, call center leaders truly juggle a variety of scheduling pressures to get it right the first time.

2/17/2011 - If you were looking for a good rough 'n' ready side by side comparison of workforce management software compared in its cloud and on-premise, installed varieties, well, this is your lucky day, pilgrim. Monet Software's got one right here, excerpts follow comparing how "the different models would impact the cost, implementation, usage and success of the Workforce Management in your organization."

2/10/2011 - Thank the good folks over at Monet Software for their article summarizing "7 Tips for More Effective Call Center Scheduling." Excerpts here:

2/3/2011 - According to officials of Monet Software, as a small or medium-sized call center "you might think you can get by with scheduling and managing your staff using spreadsheets. Maybe you have avoided workforce management software because of the large upfront investment that is associated with traditional premised based WFM software vendors." Yep, that'd be a good reason to avoid them.

1/28/2011 - How important is call center scheduling in the overall performance of the center itself? In truth, this element is crucial, and yet it is increasingly difficult to achieve accurate forecasts to be able to schedule according to actual need. This latest Monet Software blog examined a recent survey by DMG Consulting and the challenges facing call centers today.

1/19/2011 - Last week we discussed the need for real-time adherence monitoring within a call center schedule process. Proper usage thereof can translate into a better understanding of your needs and customer service. The use of adherence monitoring can also let call centers be more flexible when dealing with staffing gaps, but even more useful to these scenarios is the utilization of a flex workforce whose specific job is to cover the shifts others will be missing.

1/14/2011 - Adherence is the single biggest challenge in call center scheduling. Since staffing makes up the bulk of a call center budget holding your employees accountable for their adherence can go a logway in saving money and increasing productivity. But before call center managers can hold their workforce accountable for adherence they need to be monitoring it.

1/5/2011 - As we've reiterated in this space many times before successful forecasting is absolutely paramount to achieving maximum efficiency in the call center space. Too few people on hand when phones start ringing off the hook means money lost on abandonment, too many people on hand when the phones are slow means lost money from shrinkage.

12/29/2010 - In terms of call center scheduling, determining what to expect on any given day can be make or break for your business. While there are ways to determine fluctuations by season and month, day to day changes in call volume are much more difficult to predict. Making sure that you are appropriately staffed is essential regardless of the expected call volume, and will workforce management software can assist in this regards there are still elements call center managers need to watch to remain as efficient as possible

12/23/2010 - With more electronic media such as e-mail, chat, Twitter and others are used in customer communication in addition to calls, according to officials of Monet Software, "the question of forecasting and scheduling resources for those channels becomes more important."

12/17/2010 - Officials at MonetSoftware offer advice on how you should be scheduling your calls.

12/9/2010 - Accellos, a provider of supply chain execution software solutions, unveiled the latest version of its Accellos One Schedule dock door scheduling system. As stated, the new Accellos One Schedule 2.0 adds support for Microsoft Outlook style functionality including recurring appointments, reservations, "drag and drop" scheduling and adjustments, and user-definable appointment "lifecycle."

12/3/2010 - Holiday scheduling can be tricky and leave centers under- or overstaffed. For centers without an automated solution, last-minute staffing problems require supervisors to manually create, print and distribute new intra-day schedules, and talk to agents individually to solicit overtime hours. This is an inefficient method and causes delays that can leave centers temporarily understaffed and negatively affect daily service levels.

12/2/2010 - In the area of workforce management solutions, there are a full range of options on the market. Many of these options promise to deliver the best quality, but how do you truly extract the optimal performance from your solution? The first step is to understand what you need and then select and implement accordingly.

11/23/2010 - TOA Technologies, the cloud-based provider of predictive mobile workforce management and pro-active customer communication software solutions, released the latest version of its browser-based mobile workforce management solution, ETAdirect 4.0. The company's ETAdirect mobile workforce management solution combines a full suite of integrated field service and appointment tools in one Web-based application. It focuses on delivering a unified and enhanced customer experience via intelligent, automated and predictive customer communications.

11/19/2010 - Flexibility in call center scheduling eases the pressure on management and workforce and allows employ effectiveness to be maximized. In these difficult times making sure your customer services reps are happy will go far in keeping them engaged on the task at hand which will ultimately translate to better support for your customer. Keeping the schedule flexible will allow agents to take time when they need it and will prepare managers for the inevitable absences and late-calls from employees.

11/11/2010 - Call center scheduling and workforce management solutions have come a long way since the days of the excel spreadsheets, and the options available to customers both small and large can be mind boggling. Regardless of what a person needs the reality is if you're not managing your workers effectively then you're losing both time and money in the process.

11/5/2010 - Adherence to a call center schedule is one of the biggest challenges for a call center manager to deal with. One can have the finest call center in the world but if they're unable to get agents to come in on time then it's all for naught. In a recent survey and study by ICMI one of the top challenges mentioned by call center managers was "consistent adherence to schedule". In another study by DMG, over 30 percent of call center managers indicated that agent adherence is a key challenge.

10/22/2010 - Call center scheduling is a lot easier with a powerful suite of workforce management software like that offered by Monet. But even with the utilities it provides there are some basic principles that call center managers should take into consideration when optimizing there staff. EHow offers some great tips to keep a call center in tip top shape

10/21/2010 - Workforce management programs are designed to make scheduling for call centers easier and provide the right amount of skilled agents when needed. A large portion of this comes from the software's ability to accurately forecast the level of staffing that will be needed on any given day. With Monet's innovative cloud based solutions a call centers can maintain the most current version of the program without having to patch or maintain system themselves. This ensures that the forecasting in Monet's WFM suite will always have most recent technology when determining a schedule.

10/15/2010 - Shrinkage is the term used to describe the amount of time a call center agent is not on the phones. Many companies underestimate the sheer volume of shrinkage that there force may be subject to. However, improper call center scheduling and workforce management can leach thousands from a company in a year. In a 30 agent call center 20 minutes of down time per agent equates to 10 hours per day in shrinkage. If the agents are getting $12 per hour plus benefits, equaling $15 per hour, you would be losing $150 per day, $750 a week or $39,000 per year. That's a lot more than most companies can afford in the current economic climate.

10/1/2010 - The South Central Public Health District of Twin Falls, ID has chosen eMediashcedule.com to provide online scheduling technology for its patients. This service will allow them to reserve blocks of time with the doctors they'd like to visit.

10/1/2010 - In a climate of depressing reports of growth, revenue and sales, here is some cautious good news for the New Zealand contact center industry: according to a new study, callcentres.net 2010 New Zealand Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report, the country's contact center industry recorded four percent growth in 2010, translating to a rise in contact center seats from 28,730 to 29,000.

9/23/2010 - Monet Software officials recently posted a blogentry noting that in a recent survey and study by ICMI, one of the top challenges mentioned by call center managers was "consistent adherence to schedule." Nobody who's worked as a call center manager is in the least surprised by this, of course.

9/18/2010 - Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River, the medical facility for Patuxent River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland, is now using Microlog Corporation's ServiceFirst Contact Center and Patient Appointment System.

9/8/2010 - With more senior members enrolling in Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefits and Medicare Advantage Plans, the insurance sector is becoming increasingly complicated and given the situation, a U.S.-based health care benefits company has decided to utilize the expertise of a leading call center for enhancing sales and improving customer support.

9/1/2010 - Forecasting in a call center is as much an art as a science. Many workforce management solutions today let you build largely fool-proof schedules for your call center if your calls are steady and volume fluctuates minimally to moderately.

8/27/2010 - If you were to poll a number of contact center managers about their biggest challenges, chances are good that agent adherence will show up near the top of their lists. It's impossible to overstate how critical adherence is a contact center. A contact center may have the best scheduling solution in the world, but it's not going to do a lot of good if agents are always out of adherence and, as a result, service levels begin to slide. Even worse, it certainly doesn't benefit the contact center if managers are not sure what their adherence is, or if they see service level statistics days or weeks after the fact.

8/20/2010 - Once upon a time, a call center was a pretty inflexible place to work. Schedules were generated weeks - or months - in advance, skills were taken into consideration, and changes were made only if the business absolutely demanded it, usually under emergency circumstances. Agents were sometimes able to swap schedules, but this usually required a great deal of administrative time, on both the agents' and the supervisor's part, to approve.

7/27/2010 - Looking for ways to improve the efficiency of your call center? It all begins with accurate forecasting and scheduling.

7/12/2010 - Shiftboard, Inc. is a well known provider of online and mobile scheduling software. Recently, the company launched a new scheduling solution intended to satisfy the dynamic needs of the call center industry. The vital features of Shiftboard's scheduling software such as self-service scheduling are added in the solution.

6/15/2010 - The ability to accurately forecast call volume is the key to call center operational efficiency. An accurate forecast is essential to arrive at an accurate schedule - one which properly balances agent resources with call volume: Schedule too many agents for any given shift and they'll be sitting around waiting for contacts to come in. Schedule too few and call hold times will increase, impacting customer satisfaction.

6/10/2010 - NICE Systems announces deal to acquire eglue, which supplies decisioning and guidance solutions for $29 million, which will enable integration of eglue's solutions into the NICE SmartCenter suite.

6/3/2010 - Ask any call center manager about the advantages of call center scheduling software - aka workforce management software - and chances are they'll start talking about labor efficiencies and reduced operating costs. That's because most call center managers today are focused on the bottom line - and let's face it, they should be.

5/12/2010 - Want to reduce the amount of time your call center managers spend making and adjusting the call center schedule by up to 25 percent?

4/29/2010 - A recent post on call center scheduling solutions provider Monet Software's new blog includes a list of questions that will be helpful to companies shopping for a workforce management solution for a small to medium sized call center.

4/16/2010 - Seeking to bolster its presence in the US, as well as to facilitate future expansion into Europe, call center scheduling solutions provider Monet Software has opened a new sales office in Philadelphia.

4/8/2010 - A survey of call center professionals conducted by call center scheduling solutions provider Monet Software in December 2009 yielded three key findings and associated best practices:

3/23/2010 - Still using spreadsheets to schedule your call center agents? Looking for new ways to make your call center operations more efficient?

3/19/2010 - Verint Systems Inc. has announced enhancements to its next-generation Impact 360 Workforce Management (WFM) software from Verint Witness Actionable Solutions. The solution now enables the contact center to create more flexible scheduling options, monitor back-office work activities more efficiently, manage backlog and model forecasts to meet service levels and processing deadlines.

3/5/2010 - Let's assume that each call center agent is out of schedule -- shrinkage -- 20 minutes per day. Let's assume you can reduce this by 10 minutes, that results in thousands of dollars saved, based on the assumption that each agent generates revenues.

2/16/2010 - Now that call centers everywhere have cut staffing to the bone, thanks to the recession, call center managers are under even more pressure to ensure agent time is being used efficiently.

2/10/2010 - Still using spreadsheets to schedule your call center agents? Looking to improve schedule adherence, reduce shrinkage, lower operating costs and improve customer service?

2/5/2010 - Most people in the call center industry know about the importance of tracking schedule adherence: Because labor is the single biggest operating cost facing any call center, it is incumbent on call center managers to ensure that agents are showing up for their shifts on time, not taking excessively long breaks and not clocking out early.

1/26/2010 - Looking for ways to reduce your call center operating costs and boost revenues -- without impacting customer service?

1/15/2010 - Schedule adherence is one of the main ways call center managers achieve labor efficiencies and improve customer service. Not only must call center managers ensure that agents aren't showing up late or clocking out early, they also must ensure that each agent is staying on schedule for "intra-shift" activities, such as scheduled breaks and training or coaching sessions.

1/4/2010 - Today's Web-based call center scheduling solutions (aka WFM solutions) offer capabilities that go far beyond what spreadsheets can deliver.

12/7/2009 - Despite the recession, agent attrition is still a big problem in call centers – especially in inbound customer service centers where agents don’t make commissions or receive additional compensation for outstanding performance.

11/20/2009 - Depending on how they are used, today's call center scheduling solutions deliver capabilities that go beyond just the daily scheduling of agents in the call center.

11/11/2009 - To achieve new labor efficiencies, many call center managers are discontinuing their use of spreadsheets as a scheduling tool and instead are adopting hosted workforce management solutions for their advanced forecasting capabilities. Using these Web-based systems, which are quick and inexpensive to deploy, call center managers can forecast, with a high degree of accuracy, how many agents will be needed for any given shift.

11/4/2009 - What's the best way to ensure agent time is being used efficiently? Simple: You compare ACD logon time to time-clock entries.

10/26/2009 - The benefits of using call center scheduling software -- also known as workforce management software -- are well-documented. These software solutions, which are increasingly being offered via the software-as-a-service or "cloud"-based model, offer advanced analytics capabilities which help call center managers forecast, with a high degree of accuracy, how many agents will be needed for any given shift.

10/23/2009 - If you're a small to medium sized business with a call center, there's a fairly good chance you've cut back on your agent staffing in the past year, due to the recession. In the meantime, your call center managers are probably under intense pressure to hold down operating costs, while at the same time maintaining service levels.

10/12/2009 - Call center scheduling software – also referred to as workforce management software – continues to see strong adoption, despite the economic downturn. In fact, as companies look for new efficiencies in labor, many of them are viewing the investment in these systems as a cost savings measure for the long term.

9/30/2009 - Workforce management software is seeing increasing adoption in the call center, as businesses come to recognize the advantages it has over spreadsheets and other manual systems for scheduling agents.

9/23/2009 - Are you hungry for tips on how you can improve your call center scheduling? Call center scheduling solutions provider Monet Software will be presenting a free, informative webinar, "Seven Tips for More Effective Call Center Scheduling," from 10 to 11 a.m., PT (1 to 2 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

9/18/2009 - Call center scheduling software company Monet Software has launched a redesigned Website to help customers learn more about, and sign up for, the company's Web-based solutions.

8/25/2009 - Due to the down economy, companies everywhere, especially those operating in the consumer and B-to-B segments, are cutting staff in their call centers. At the same time call center managers are being asked to maintain, if not even improve, service levels.

8/21/2009 - Thanks to the Internet and the advent of social networking, consumers today are increasingly using multiple channels, including email and Web chat, to communicate with the companies they do business with.

7/16/2009 - You can simplify call center scheduling by replacing your spreadsheets with a hosted workforce management solution. This will free up time for more important tasks such as agent coaching and training.

7/13/2009 - In response to the current economic downturn, companies everywhere are cutting back staffing levels in their call centers. At the same time, call center managers are being asked to ensure that service levels are still met.

6/8/2009 - Want to keep your call center agents happy? Then give them flexibility!

5/8/2009 - Shrinkage is a topic that is getting even more attention in the call center today. As companies are struggling to weather the recession and budgets keep getting tighter, making the most of every dollar is essential.

3/31/2009 - Today's call center scheduling solutions, also known as workforce management solutions, have come a long way in terms of their capabilities, especially compared to the "old days" of spreadsheets.

3/27/2009 - Spreadsheets can be a wonderful thing, designed to make tracking and reconciliation a streamlined process. In the call center, spreadsheets have long helped managers to schedule agents according to forecasted needs. While moving to computerized spreadsheets was a smart move years ago, automated call center scheduling solutions are now making spreadsheets look cumbersome and time consuming by comparison.

3/20/2009 - If you're still using spreadsheets to schedule your call center agents, and you're looking to cut costs, gain efficiencies and improve customer service (and what contact center manager doesn't want to accomplish those things?), then you've got to get on board with call center scheduling software.

3/13/2009 - Are you still using spreadsheets to schedule your contact center agents? Time to start saving money and improving customer service with workforce management software!

3/4/2009 - It is not unusual for a call center manager to think about the multiple ways to save money when scheduling for agents within the call center. After all, he or she must be able to keep within specified payroll budgets while also ensuring the right amount of coverage to meet customer service standards.

2/26/2009 - It is somewhat of an understatement to say that call center managers have a difficult job. Not only do they have the responsibility of ensuring an optimal experience for all customers involved in interactions with the call center, they must also effectively manage a variety of people with different skills, educations, work preferences and availability.

2/18/2009 - Call centers have come a long way since their creation. What was once in place to handle live voice calls to and from customers has now morphed into multi-channel customer interaction centers that handle anywhere from thousands to millions of interactions every year.

2/12/2009 - There is a delicate balance that must be achieved within the call center to ensure that the proper number of agents are scheduled for a given time period. While call center managers must properly forecast for call volumes in both peak and non-peak times, he or she must also take into consideration cost of operation.

2/6/2009 - The number of elements that must be managed efficiently to run a smooth call center can seem daunting if each were to be examined separately. It would be even more overwhelming if each of these processes had to be managed and executed manually. The result would likely be a disorganized mess and unhappy customers.

1/28/2009 - Home agents are increasingly being seen by contact centers as a valuable asset, thanks to their increased flexibility and productivity, however concerns still linger regarding remote management, and security.

1/16/2009 - Although the holidays are behind us once again, the one constant is that they will roll around again. When that time comes, will your call center be ready to handle the influx of call volumes and schedule according to changing needs and vacation requests? As customer service continues to be vital for all companies, falling down on the job during a heavy call time is not an option.

1/9/2009 - As attrition costs are a preventable expenditure within the contact center, it is important to understand why employees leave their position. According to an industry benchmarking study, agents cited promotion within a company as the primary reason for agent turnover – a positive reflection on the industry.

12/12/2008 - Call center scheduling is an important aspect of properly managing a call center. In fact, whether or not agents are properly scheduled will determine the level of service provided to customers, the efficiency of the call center, and the satisfaction of each employee. As employee satisfaction plummets, attrition increases.

12/4/2008 - Call centers throughout the global industry have been experiencing increased pressure as a result of the economic turmoil that appears to be running rampant throughout the world. In an effort to ensure that call centers can continue to deliver the high level of service customers have come to expect, many have turned to call center scheduling solutions.

11/24/2008 - More than once a customer has called into a customer contact center, annoyed that he or she has to answer so many questions in the interactive voice response (IVR) stage of the call. While the consumer may view this as an unnecessary step in the process of reaching a live agent, in reality, this is a critical step for the contact center to ensure the caller is matched with the right agent.

11/19/2008 - A stressful work environment can easily create higher rates in absenteeism, increase work-related illness and drive out of control attrition. Such an environment is not unheard of in the contact center industry, yet it does not have to be the rule. Those contact centers who are using workforce management solutions to manage agent scheduling often find they experience less absenteeism and illness, as well as lower attrition.

11/11/2008 - As the economy continues to put a strain on call centers, organizations are struggling to maintain strong customer service deliverables while also cutting costs. In an effort to ensure that their call centers can remain in place and not succumb to offshoring draws, many of these centers are looking to integrated applications that can improve productivity and reduce costs.

11/5/2008 - Unfortunately for contact centers, they often have the stigma of a liability. Sure, they play a vital role in the interaction between customer and company, but it is a cost that does not have a revenue association. In addition, it also has to be managed effectively and efficiently as possible or risk being outsourced.

10/29/2008 - Traditional call centers that existed to merely answer phones or make outgoing calls have morphed over time to become multi-channel contact centers that offer customers a variety of ways to interact with a company, including self-service options via speech automation, Web sites and more. As these changes occurred, the dynamics within call center scheduling also changed.

10/23/2008 - As the global economy faces a tightening of the belt, companies are seeking ways to reduce their operation costs, while also delivering what customers expect to keep them coming back. Proper call center scheduling can play a key role in critical strategies.

10/16/2008 - Scheduling within the contact center can be a delicate matter. If agents are not scheduled according to accurate forecasts, the center will either experience higher payroll costs due to overstaffing, or poor service delivery as the center will lack the necessary agent numbers to handle the volume of calls.

10/6/2008 - Scheduling within the call center can be a tricky task as each agent has a different skill set, call volumes can change according to campaigns or the economy, and proper forecasting relies on variables that cannot be controlled and therefore can prove to be unpredictable at times.

9/30/2008 - Call centers operate in a dynamic industry. Call volumes can fluctuate greatly, increasing and decreasing demand put on the contact center staff. Managers strive to forecast call volumes in order to ensure they have the right number of staff available for any given shift, but the process can be time consuming and flawed when done manually.

9/17/2008 - It really should not be any surprise to learn that for some individuals working in the contact center industry, their chosen profession can be a detriment to their health. Whether they have a hard time handling the stress of the job or their environment is not designed around ergonomics, the reality is that the job can be tasking for some – even to the point of causing long term problems.

8/18/2008 - In the world of contact centers, one of the most valuable, yet underused solution is that of workforce management. Robust workforce management solutions have proven to be able to streamline operations, maximize employee work time, forecast for peaks and valleys in call volume, enhance productivity and provide a better overall environment.

7/16/2008 - The stories of employees so dedicated to their jobs that they struggle to leave the office, resonate throughout a variety of industries. But, is this actual dedication, or is it a result of extreme anxiety due to fear?

5/19/2008 - Most people would be hard pressed to find an individual consumer who has never had the privilege of interacting with a call center. Stories can be both good and bad, but chances are that most of us have had the pleasure of waiting on hold for the "next available agent."

4/23/2008 - Absenteeism in the contact center can have a significant impact on the center's ability to provide proper customer service, meet KPIs, improve performance and meet team goals for the day, week or month.

4/4/2008 - Call center scheduling plays an important role in today's call center for its ability to effectively manage and plan agent work schedules to maximize productivity while also keep agents happy.

2/19/2008 - Workforce management software is considered by some to be one of the key software applications in the contact center that can help promote efficiency and productivity. The challenge in the market has proven to be complete acceptance throughout the contact center.

2/7/2008 - As anybody who manages a contact center knows, the seemingly impossible task that needs to be accomplished every day is, "Make More With Less." While budgets and headcounts get cut, expectations of better sales, better service, greater customer retention and satisfaction rise.

1/10/2008 - To better reflect the product brands it offers, Left Bank Solutions Inc. has changed its name to Monet Software Inc. In addition the company has adopted a new corporate identity, including a new logo and a new website that can be found at www.monetsoftware.com.

1/10/2008 - DMG Consulting has published the "2008 Contact Center Workforce Management Market Report," a comprehensive and timely guide to the essential and evolving contact center workforce management market, products and vendors.

11/26/2007 - The Software as a Service (SaaS) trend continues to sweep the call center industry, as companies are discovering the many advantages of going with hosted versus on-premise solutions. With SaaS for the call center, applications such as IVR, ACD, predictive dialing, workforce management and CRM are hosted on a shared platform in a data center and delivered to the agents via a dedicated network or the public Internet. With these increasingly sophisticated turnkey solutions, which have much greater power and flexibility compared to the ASP solutions of the past, a company can rapidly deploy full featured contact center for fraction of the cost of a new, on-premise system.

8/3/2007 - Left Bank Solutions, Inc., a provider of hosted workforce optimization solutions for the contact center, has released three new versions of its workforce management solution, Monet WFM, each tailored for a specific market segment.

2/23/2007 - Take call center scheduling with a call center that operates on a 24x7 schedule, for instance. In such an environment, call center managers need to know what time of day the center will experience the highest call volumes, what type of calls they will be and how to properly schedule the employees that can address specific issues and others that can handle basic calls. If each of these employees were available 24x7, proper forecasting could go a long way in preparing the call center to handle any number of peaks and valleys.

12/11/2006 - Using an automated WFM solution, it is easier to forecast and develop optimal schedules free from over or understaffing, which could hinder performance or increase cost. With real-time labor tracking, levels of work can be monitored; at whatever time the information is needed.

12/8/2006 - Effective workforce management solutions can be a great tool to use to properly forecast and schedule in the multi-channel contact center.

12/1/2006 - Rich, Web-based customer services are continually increasing and displacing the limitations of the voice-only telephone as a first step for customer access to information and self-service applications.

11/21/2006 - Call Center Scheduling can be a challenge in that the manager wants to ensure that the center is staffed to respond to anticipated call volumes, but not overstaffed so that agents are sitting idle. Understaffing can create an even bigger problem as customers are forced to wait longer to speak with a live agent and agents are stressed with a heavier work load while trying to still deliver excellent customer service.

11/17/2006 - Training in the call center can make the difference between an agent’s success and failure. Ultimately, the same is true for the entire center. The challenge for call center managers is finding the right balance of training among the variety of experience, talents and skills for the different agents.

10/30/2006 - Call Centers challenged with optimizing their call centers in both the workforce management and business intelligence areas will now have a bundled solution with an innovative advantage.

10/26/2006 - One of the most important elements in workforce management solutions of today is scheduling. Call center scheduling not only helps meet staffing needs, but also takes the burden of maintaining schedules and workflows away from managers, and allowing them to focus on business areas that matter most for their operation.

10/9/2006 - Proper forecasting and call center scheduling of employees to handle customer issues from multiple communication channels can be complex to the point that it consumes nearly 100 percent of that manager’s time and 100 percent accuracy is literally impossible.To help combat the challenges that these managers face, many contact centers implement workforce management solutions to better manage employees and projected workflows.

10/3/2006 - Call center scheduling can sometimes seem like a guessing game for managers. Deciding what hours to give agents and working around their schedules, holidays and other events can be daunting enough. Introduce the idea of staffing agents based on their skill sets and the need to change staffing levels based call volumes--- and an even more difficult element is created.

9/27/2006 - The latest news, feature articles, white papers and case studies educate call center management about scheduling solutions using the Call Center Scheduling platform.

9/25/2006 - Considering that the contact center selected will be employing individuals to interact with your customers, treating the selection of such services as a mere inconvenience is putting your future revenue, profit and growth potential at risk. Even if contact center solutions are not your prime area of focus, there are things that you can look for in selecting this outsourced service to ensure that your customer interactions are handled as efficiently and professionally as possible.

9/18/2006 - It is in this type of situation where workforce management makes sense, as it is focused on making agents as productive as possible. Put simply, workforce management ensures that there are plenty of agents on hand for peak call periods and that these agents are not sitting idle during lower volume periods through accurate forecasting and optimization call center scheduling.

8/29/2006 - Contact center supervisors know that proper call center scheduling is one of the biggest challenges that they face in creating efficient operations. Peaks and valleys in call volume dictate the level of staff required and when those levels fall short. Under these conditions, agents can become rushed and stressed and customer service levels can suffer, thus impacting the bottom line.

8/9/2006 - The best call center customer care services consists of the perfect mix of an inbound call center with 24x7 access, a proper workforce management that provides appropriate call center scheduling and call center training, effective call center software that affords the appropriate tools for efficiency and a talented and enthusiastic pool of agents.

8/4/2006 - Call Center Scheduling and Staffing are typically the greatest headache in contact center workforce management – too many staff and costs rise; too few and customer service suffers badly – and if service deteriorates too much, callers will defect to the competition. Striking a balance, therefore, is the key to productivity and efficiency.

6/23/2006 - Contact center managers today are constantly paying attention to performance measures in a bid to improve workforce management. Things like service level, abandon rates, contact rates, sales per hour, resolution rates and more are monitored daily. While these measures are important and necessary to report the effectiveness of workforce management in the contact center, agents are not always aware of how their performance affects those metrics.