Going Beyond Real-Time
Beyond real-time seems like a strange phrase but it is actually a key term for call center operations. We’ll explain why in a moment, but here’s a hint: a workforce management tool will get you there!
It is not uncommon to find team leaders/supervisors spending a significant portion of their day doing a balancing act. They have to balance the call volumes between various voice queues (sales, service, etc.) or other channels (email, web chat etc.) to ensure that the service level objective is achieved as stated by the person who has the “boss” sign on the office door. It is an integral part of successful call center operations regardless of how much automation may exist in your center designed to manage this balancing act. The fundamental tool to have in place to improve this balancing act is a workforce management tool.
A workforce management tool allows you to move beyond real-time into the arena of predicting the future. If you are not predicting the future you are reacting to the future. A workforce management tool will tell you how many staff are needed at any given moment to respond to the number of calls (phone, email, web chat etc.) that come into your call center at any given time. By examining historical call data, a workforce management tool can analyze the trends and predict call volumes for the future with a high degree of accuracy.
About 60% of readers indicate in previous polls that a workforce management tool has already been purchased (participate in our latest highly scientific straw poll). For many it is bought, paid for, installed and not doing much! If you are new to the call center, ask around. You may be surprised that someone has already purchased a workforce management system but didn’t do anything with it! (You may not believe that happens but we have heard of many examples!) The key to really moving your call center beyond real-time is to get focused on using your call center workforce management tool to the maximum.
How?
1. Begin by obtaining a few important call center operations related books. They will help further define the benefits of investing in workforce management. (See our recommended titles below)
2. Specifically dedicate staff to the task. The boss will have to be convinced that it is a worthwhile investment when you ask to hire a “few more people”. You can also look at using a workforce ASP (Application Service Provider). ASP is an outsourced workforce management provider who does all the heavy-lifting for you! See the resource links listed at the end of this article.
3. Get educated about workforce management in the call center. Workforce management is a balance of science and art (see the Leadership article). Learning about workforce takes an investment (time and money). Making that investment will help your operation to shine. No world-class call center achieves world-class standards without using a workforce management tool.
4. Research the various workforce management tools in the market. We are not recommending any one solution but see the list below for leading workforce management providers that will help you go beyond real-time.
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Posted: January 21st, 2007 under Operations.
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