Call Center Management Featured Article
Save Call Center Management Morale - Ditch the Spreadsheet
In the constantly changing and dynamic atmosphere of the call center, the main focus on quality customer service and meeting performance criteria is still a priority. Meeting both criteria on a consistent basis demands the call center management always ensure the right people are in the right seats at the right time.
To accomplish this goal, spreadsheets are often used for forecasting and scheduling. And, while this approach may work just fine for call center management in a smaller environment, it still lacks the necessary tools to maintain schedule adherence – one of the biggest challenges in call centers today.
According to this recent Monet Software blog, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to manage the call center effectively while using spreadsheets. At the same time, call center management will find that forecasting and scheduling tasks can be very challenging in a spreadsheet, especially in a larger environment.
One of the key challenges to using this manual approach is that it lacks some of the functions available in workforce management platforms that can make the call center more productive and ensure the delivery of better service to customers.
Schedule adherenceis an important measurement within the call center, yet spreadsheets are unable to support this element well. Monet Software research suggests that tracking and monitoring agent adherence in real-time has a significant and positive impact on the performance of the call center, making it a critical metric.
Flexibility in scheduling is essential, as fixed schedules are truly the only product of the spreadsheet approach to scheduling. This eliminates the ability to use flexible end-time, start-time and breaks to boost employee morale and service levels.
Exception handling is only handled by call center management as a manual process when a spreadsheet use is in place for scheduling. Workforce management allows for automated exception handling, keeping agents happy and driver higher productivity.
Skills-based scheduling and routing can be tricky for call center management if these tasks are handled manually. As a result, that particular environment likely won’t realize productivity advantages associated with skill-based scheduling.
Call history contributes significant knowledge and data for forecasting purposes. When spreadsheets are used by call center management, real-time and automated data import for large amounts of data is not supported, which could result in reduced forecast accuracy.
Spreadsheets are a great way to get started in the small call center environment, but one you move to multiple call lines and agents, automated processes help you improve accuracy, flexibility and performance.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, happening NOW in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO registration click here.
Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO. Follow us on Twitter.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves