Learn More About Contact Center Workforce Software
Contact Center Workforce Software Features
This type of software includes standard workforce management features such as workforce planning and functionality specific to contact centers, such as intraday management. Contact center workforce software products cover the functions mentioned below, and advanced features are available through integration with other solutions.
Agent availability — Many contact center agents work part-time, which means that they are only available a few days per week. Also, since contact centers may have customers in multiple time zones, they need agents available in the evening and on the weekends. Finally, call centers may have multiple locations in different countries and may allocate resources from multiple teams to the same project. It is therefore critical that companies have complete visibility into the availability of all of their agents.
Shift planning — Managers and supervisors assign agents and physical resources to tasks based on their availability and the requirements of their customers. Planning should consider labor regulations related to the maximum time worked by day or week, breaks, and time off.
Workforce scheduling — Shift planning is the starting point for workforce schedules, but unexpected changes may force supervisors to review scheduling. For instance, customers may require additional work, or agents may have to work additional hours when targets aren't achieved on time. All these changes should be reflected in the work schedules so that supervisors are able to communicate with agents to let them know when they're supposed to work and for how long.
Intraday management — Intraday features ensure that agents adhere to the daily schedule and perform as expected. This functionality rebalances each day’s workload to ensure that there are enough resources to comply with service level agreements (SLAs). Depending on their role and experience, agents are expected to perform within predefined parameters such as the minimum number of calls per hour or average time per call. Consistently low-performance levels may indicate that agents are not motivated or require additional training.
Forecasting — Using historical data, companies create forecasts for future demand and estimate the resources required to fulfill it. Forecasting also considers potential risks that may impact the company's ability to deliver services on time and budget.
Performance analysis — Agent performance is tracked by monitoring multiple factors such as the number of calls performed, the time spent per call, and the quality of their work. Agent performance is evaluated at regular intervals, such as monthly and quarterly. Supervisors may also listen to calls without warning and intervene when required. Supervisor performance is evaluated based on their team's work and their ability to solve unexpected issues such as workforce shortages and dealing with aggressive customers.
Cost tracking — Labor represents the most significant cost of a call center, which is why companies need to monitor all the hours worked by agents. Since time tracking functionality isn't always included in contact center workforce software, this type of software integrates with other systems to import labor data.
Service levels — While contact centers have internal quality standards, many customers have SLAs that need to be respected. SLAs are usually a contractual obligation, and contact centers that do not comply may have to pay penalties or get sued.
Additional Contact Center Workforce Software Features
Workforce optimization — Using machine learning and artificial intelligence, companies identify agents that are more likely to underperform and assign them to less critical tasks. Intelligent technology may also estimate the likelihood of disruptions like bottlenecks, such as when there are more available agents than workstations.
Other features of contact center workforce software include Mobile Access.
