Workforce Management Featured Article
Web-Based Communication Tools Good for Call Center Collaboration
If you’re looking for a way to make your call center workforce’s schedules more flexible to better address fluctuating call volumes, you might want to take a look at something more call centers are doing -- implementing web based communication tools to collaborate between agents and supervisors in almost real-time.
With new wireless, high bandwidth devices, according to officials of Monet Software, these web-based tools “can be literally available from anywhere.”
Company officials say such a setup can provide such benefits as the ability to get alerts on mobile devices based on thresholds such as service level, adherence or any others you might want to set. You can also monitor adherence from anywhere and be able to act right away.
They can also allow you to manage schedule changes on the spot and adjust staffing as needed, manage exception handling between agents and supervisors, especially across multiple locations and shift bidding, Monet officials say, to “open up shifts for bidding and assign agents right from the mobile device.”
Earlier this year TMC’s (News - Alert) Chris DiMarco wrote that 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?
As a WFM provider, Monet Software’s expertise in the field makes the company uniquely qualified to discuss the tenants of proper call center scheduling. With that in mind the company sponsored a TMCnet webinar designed to provide guidance for your communication operation.
The webinar was moderated by TMC’s group managing editor Patrick Barnard and included input from Penny Reynolds, a founding partner of the Call Center School and Chuck Ciarlo, Monet’s CEO. Hit the link to register and view the presentation.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Chris DiMarco