Call Recording Featured Article

With the contact center market heating up, managers are looking for every edge they can get in hiring and – more importantly, retaining – good employees. One way they’re doing so is by utilizing workforce management software effectively in their contact centers, much like the solutions offered by Coordinated Systems, Inc.

In a recent piece at TechTarget.com, Scott Sachs, president of SJS Solutions, examined this growing option and listed some of the upsides of implementing it. As someone directly involved in the field, his words are worth noting, as SJS is a consultancy that specializes in the development and deployment of contact center technology.

“Workforce management software can help by matching supply with demand, ensuring that staffing is scaled according to the contact center's busiest and slowest times,” Sachs noted. “Building upon historical data with key future business assumptions, such as new product launches, a workforce management system forecasts the future workload for a contact center.”

Sachs broke down the benefits of using such a solution, and his points are worth considering:

It can help meet service-level goals: “Contact center responsiveness is often measured by service level, or the percentage of calls answered over time,” he said. “Workforce management software applies rigorous statistical analysis to key pieces of historical data and can predict staffing requirements for a contact center to attain the target service level.”

It can improve staffing efficiency: “Workforce management software maximizes the amount of time agents interact with customers and minimizes idle time by aligning agent schedules with customer demand,” Sachs says. That’s an important consideration at budget-planning time.

It can promote staff effectiveness: “Contact center agents are on the front lines; they deal most directly with customers,” he observed. “So they must be well-trained and have excellent customer service skills to be effective.”

It can formalize the planning process: “Workforce management planning is a disciplined process that includes several steps, including budgeting, forecasting, staffing and scheduling,” Sachs said. “Even the shift-bidding process can benefit from workforce management by having a process where agents can select schedules based on quality of performance or seniority.”

As the economy continues to heat up, smart managers are seeking every advantage they can get. A software solution that helps manage your workforce for optimal effectiveness is a good first step.