Proper Call Center Scheduling Relies on Accurate Forecasting

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.

According to this study, survey participants report that one of their biggest forecasting challenges is in relation to the unpredictable call volume fluctuations. A recent Monet Software webinar focused on how to deal with such intra-day challenges and how to update your forecast. Here, the company offers some insight on how they would recommend best practices for call center scheduling.

The company first recommends that you

 spend some time and effort to ensure you can create an accurate forecast. This step helps to eliminate surprises and puts you on a better path for controlled success. To accomplish this, analyze your call history, anticipate factors that impact call volume, and focus on skill level, skill team and interval level.

When you are evaluating

• Calls received by 10:30 am 417 calls
• Usual proportion of call by 10:30 17 percent
• Revised call forecast for day = 2,452 calls

Apply this trend to the next period or the rest of the day by recalculating the forecast for each interval:

• Proportion for 3:30 to 4:00 6.6 percent (of day)
• New intra-day forecast for 3:30 to 4:00 = 161 calls

To adjust the schedule, you may also need to move things around, such as breaks, trainings, etc. At that point, investigate internal activities to determine the cause for the deviation and learn from the situation. How can you avoid things in the future and manage more appropriate call center scheduling to meet your needs?

It is important in the call center to be properly prepared for what is happening and what to expect. The ideal world would enable you to properly schedule and never have to deviate from the plan. In reality, however, unexpected things can occur, forcing you to be flexible. Have you built in enough flexibility that you can bend when needed?

call center scheduling, you may notice that your actual call volume is different from the forecast. It is best to then analyze deviations and trends for both call volume and average handle time. Let’s look at one example based on call volume fluctuation:
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 Chris DiMarco