Contact Center Workforce Management System
Contact center workforce management (WFM) systems basically predict the volume of calls and allocate the optimum workforce to meet projected workload. While doing so it makes adequate provisions to meet any unavoidable eventualities such as employee leave due to sudden illness or any other technical snags. WFM ensures optimum recruitment of staff based on the workload forecast. Maintaining optimum employees is crucial for any organization so that it is neither overstaffed nor understaffed. While understaffing may diminish the standard of service where as the overstaffing may eat into company's bottom lines.
Challenges
Implementing WFM is one of the most challenging exercises for many contact center managers. The methodology used for scheduling tasks is not common in most contact centers. Many of them use their own systems that are customized according to their unique environment and operating methodologies. The scheduling approach differs from one organization to another depending on various factors. In most organizations their operating environments and local regulations influence the particular type of scheduling methodologies.
However, the WFM vendors have come up with systems that can be adopted with any type of organizations, irrespective of their working environments. Over the years WFM vendors have innovated new ideas and technologies and have come up with simplified applications that can perform most of the functions of workforce management easily. There are WFM applications they can handle forecasting and scheduling for multiple locations and channels.
Benefits
WFM applications can deliver innumerous benefits both qualitative as well as quantitative to contact centers, customers and employees. WFM forecasting and scheduling helps in increasing the productivity and efficiency of agents by eliminating and minimizing idle and unproductive time. WFM increases the customer satisfaction levels and decreases the handling time as skill base allocation of resources are done according to the forecast and estimated traffic. WFM can provide better working environment as it eliminates the favoritism and unfair scheduling. Agents can handle their own scheduling and this empowers motivate them perform well.
WFM Functions
WFM applications address various functionalities of contact centers. The most common functionalities found in all leading WFM applications include administration, forecasting, scheduling, intra-day capacity, Real Time Adherence (RTA) & Reporting.
Administration is basically to configure the application and define the rules for agents and also address the security issues. Forecasting modules estimates the incoming call traffic. Scheduling module helps to determine the optimal schedules. Intra-Day capability modules serve as an effective tool for the managers to monitor the daily activities performance. RTA module detects the discrepancies between the scheduling and real time performance. Finally, reporting module provides the reporting function. It gives all standard as well as ad hoc report as and when required.
The recent study by DMG Consulting Contact Center shows that WFM market growth is steady at 15% in 2007. According to this study WFM solutions are making their impact in contact center industry. Many organizations embracing WFM are realizing the immense benefit it can deliver to them.
