Exceptional Call Center Scheduling Begins with Accurate Forecasting

Digital transformation is offering simplicity through complexity, as robust solutions are minimizing the minutia of day to day operations and putting team members in a productive position. In the call center, cloud-powered workforce management and call center scheduling solutions are opening the door to a new day it is still critical to keep some fundamentals in mind.

It is critical to ensure your forecasting is accurate; I can’t underscore this point enough. Under-staffing and overstaffing can cost a company money in a big way. It sounds a touch sophomoric but educate call center management on the why and explore ways to promote more accurate forecasting.

 A good tip for driving more accurate forecasting is simulation tools. Sure, it’s not like your call center manager is going to walk into his office and reveal a crystal ball, but by running a number of simulations based on various assumptions can allow for more precise call volume predictions. What about special days, for instance?

Start by analyzing call history data from previous years, keep day of the week front of mind and aply weight to the most recent day, month or year. From there one can take a deeper dive into daily call volumes. The right WFM solution will address these questions automatically, but it is crucial to make forecasting for these type scenarios a priority – even though the preference for intra-day management is via WFM.

One more point of note: the omnichannel. We are no longer in the days of simply answering the phone. Email, chat, social, etc, are introducing new challenges while assisting in improved customer engagement. Some scheduling suggestions include banded work or fully blended, but whichever you choose success starts with accurate forecasting.

The complexity that is the call center will always stick around, but it’s important to turn a guessing game into a fact-finding mission capable of propelling operations through a glimpse into what the future may hold.

What WFM is in your call center?

Edited by Maurice Nagle