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Each agent is qualified to respond to any housing related query, and over the last quarter, the contact centre received 300,000 calls, compared to 198,000 calls last year. As a service-led organisation, Wigan & Leigh Housing has a number of key performance targets focused on improving the customer experience and reducing costs. It was necessary for the contact centre to find a simple and affordable solution to scheduling appropriate resources to meet this growing demand.

“Despite the rapid increase in call volume, we were not convinced that we needed to double our staffing levels to meet demand,” explains Mike Waters, Contact Centre Manager at Wigan & Leigh Housing. “During the tender process in May 2006, GMT enabled us to analyse historical call patterns and times and revealed that we didn’t need more agents, we needed better forecasting capabilities in order to utilize our staff to the best of their abilities. It offered the flexibility and scalability to fit our current environment at the best value.”

“GMT offered the functionality we needed to create a highly efficient, automated forecasting and scheduling process,” continued Waters. “The Employee Time Centre provides agents with the visibility to the rotas, ensuring they can identify what the business needs and when staffing is required. It allows them and us to plan the performance of the rota, including scheduling for holidays and ‘what if’ scenarios.”

Set up in 2002 as a not-for-profit arms length management organisation (ALMO), Wigan & Leigh Housing provides services including rent collection, repairs and maintenance, dealing with empty properties and all tenancy matters, alongside other functions such as council house sales and homelessness. Tenants access the ALMO through its six area offices and the contact centre.

Simon Angove, CEO of GMT said, “Whether contact centres have 20 or 200 agents, they share the complexities of forecasting and scheduling to ensure service levels and performance targets are met. The GMT solution delivers enterprise-wide visibility to resources and performance, promoting greater scale economies, improving agent morale and awareness and reducing centre operating costs through more efficient spread of resources.”