Scheduling Calls in a Contact Center

Officials at MonetSoftware offer advice on how you should be scheduling your calls.

First, they say, you should categorize it based on service level importance. Set priorities according to level of impact it has on the service. Consider the work related to your incoming call load, and consider such factors as the call time and the work necessary after the calls, whether inbound calls will trigger outbound calls or chat, if you use it much in your business, how important it is and how much time you want to allocate.

Then there are the other activities you’ll need to schedule, such as the breaks your staff take, such as lunch, and how much time you need to use for training and the sort of absenteeism unavoidable in the business.

Also consider the measurable activities which aren’t a part of your core staffing, such as meetings, administration or other research work, correspondence, e-mails and outbound calls. These are flexibly scheduled when an agent’s available.

Then there are the unproductive, time-consuming activities which you can’t avoid, such as bathroom breaks, smoking breaks -- You’re hiring smokers? -- getting supplies and other such housekeeping matters.

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