Scheduling Software

[ebony5tiffany]

Hello everyone. I am currently researching for a call center scheduling system that schedules employees according to call flow by forecasting. If anyone knows of any inexpensive software available, please let me know. My call center has 75-100 agents and I am only using it for one site. We use a Meridian 08.11 system and our limit is under $5,000. Please let me know. tmiller@actec.net

[dcseay]

Tiffany,

There are three companies that may fit your needs that I have heard good things about. They are Blue Pumpkin, Symon, and IEX. All three get good reviews from people who use them. I can get you more information if you like. My number is (210) 592-0720. I hope this will help you.

David Seay
Scheduling Analyst
ILD Telecommunications, Inc.

[Janet Diven]

Tiffany,
My company has 50-75 agents and has researched both Blue Pumpkin and Symon. I believe that both of those companies would be outside your dollar range. Have you looked at Portage Communications?

[syamnt]

As i have posted earlier in this forum - Using Seagete Crystal reports you can very use scheduling software. Its works really with any kind of DB. we do have tested with Blue pumpkin,Siebel 2000 & CA too.

Suggest to try out this with web based verison

Syam N T - Sr.Tech.Specialist

(syam.naga@wipro.co.in)

[JoeB]

Tiffany,

A low cost solution is to perform a thorough analysis of you call pattern (volume distribution, handling time, abandonment sensitivity etc) and do a static analysis of staffing requirements. By monitoring actual vs. calculated and making adjustments as you go, you achieve very high level of staff scheduling. You can find a variety of staff level calculators, ranging in price and capabilities, but they all pretty much rely on the same queuing theory (Erlang B, Erlang C, Engest, Â…) However, all these tools are somewhat limited in their ability to reflect human behavior, so knowing how to compensate for these limitations and continuous monitoring are key to success.

The alternatives, including call center simulation and workforce management tools that includes call flow forecasting – scheduling based on anticipated performance represent a much more expensive endeavor.

Joe Barkai
DIAGNOSTIC STRATEGIES
www.DiagnosticStrategies.com
Tel. 781-433-0833

[JPalkowski]

Although I am not familiar with it, I noticed a low-cost scheduling program which was being advertised on the ICMI web site. (Easy Start Call Center Scheduler)

Here is the URL to that product page:

http://www.incoming.com/catalog/products/easystart.html

[Bender]

I took a look at the above program and Wow! That's the best product I've seen so far for the price. We use a similar method, only I have created it in MS Access. If I had known about this software before hand, I would have used it.

[Earl]

Tiffany,

I have used TCS/aspect, Blue pumpking, IEX and GMT Planet. All of these do a lot of similar things but the difference between them is the installation and help desk assistance. I really liked TCS before they came out witht he series 5 and 6. But after reviewing the GMT Planet scheduling and forecasting software I was quite impressed. You may want to take a look at GMT Planet