What are the business benefits of workforce management software in call centers?

If your center has not deployed workforce management software, if you have ever scrapped a workforce management project, or if you are not currently experiencing a good return on your workforce management investment, there are several good reasons to reconsider your thinking and position – from a reduction in telecommunications costs to gains in agent productivity, among other benefits.

Workforce management – which includes the art and science of forecasting, scheduling and managing contact center resources – is not a new concept, but the software component has yet to be fully embraced. If word continues to spread of the software’s improvements, however, it shouldn’t be long before it catches on. Although workforce management software is often viewed as a complex and expensive tool used by a select few contact centers, improvements have made today’s software easier to implement and manage.

A complicated past

Workforce management software first entered the market in the 1980s as an elite tool for managers and supervisors. The software resided on a mainframe computer, and was both complex and expensive to deploy and manage. Limited software suppliers who did not provide the level of support needed by such a complicated tool also presented challenges to the software’s widespread acceptance. In general, unless one was part of a large contact center with access to the proper technical and financial resources, workforce management software resided outside the realm of possibility.

Following are past common issues with workforce management software and explanations of how today’s software is different and overcomes these concerns.

The software is too complex.

When workforce management software first entered the market, many call centers hired specialists to help with its management and maintenance – something many call centers now strive to avoid. Managers do not want each new tool to be an all-encompassing science project, and are instead looking for simplicity and integration.

Fortunately, today’s workforce management software offerings are easier to deploy and more open in architecture, integrating easily with quality monitoring tools, training materials and phone systems, among other things.

The software is too expensive.

Whereas the workforce management software of the past was suitable for the big wallet of the large call center, today’s growing market for workforce software includes mid-size call centers. Solutions today are a more financially feasible investment.

The software is unreliable.

Forecasting call volume is comparable to forecasting the weather. If a weatherman was asked today to forecast the path of a storm without the use of historical data, he would be unable to do so. In the same way, call centers that implement workforce management software today may not be in the forecasting business tomorrow. Depending on the amount of available historical data, centers can require one to two years to finely tune their output. Unfortunately, many call center managers give up when the output is not exact from the start – and before the software has a chance to establish patterns and trends based on historical data. A good vendor helps a call center build its forecasting ability and sets expectations over the short term to avoid this type of frustration.

I can’t reverse the “Big Brother” image.

Workforce management software can easily be perceived as a “big brother” monitoring tool if agents don’t fully understand its purpose, use and capabilities. When this happens, agents suddenly feel even more under the microscope and lose their sense of control of their daily work lives.

Workforce management software implementations often fail because of poor planning, such as not adequately informing and preparing call center teams for the change brought about by the software. Projects are most successful when the “why” of workforce management is clearly communicated during the deployment and implementation. When processes and policies surrounding deployment are well planned and implemented consistently across an organization, employees will be more likely to embrace the software.

I have no support.

Implementing workforce management software can be made even easier with vendor support. In order to do so correctly, however, proper vendor selection is important to the project’s long-term success. Also, establishing open lines of communication with a selected vendor is critical for maintaining consistent performance and operations. After the implementation, vendors must be proactive in ensuring the tool continues to be useful, and must continue to monitor and update the software to meet any changing or new call center needs.

Proven ROI (and other benefits)

Today’s workforce management software can offer numerous benefits – including a significant return on investment – thanks to its ability to optimize productivity, limit time spent on scheduling, and reduce overtime through improved efficiency and schedule adherence.

To realize the benefits of workforce management software, a call center must first establish a high level of software expertise within its own walls. Call centers with employees who have the expertise to deploy workforce management software can expect faster and more significant returns than those who start without any established knowledge.

Also, establishing and maintaining an integrated and consistent workforce management process is the next critical piece to fully realizing the software’s benefits. Managers who implement processes that align with and support the workforce management tool can expect a greater level of success than those who install the software without establishing tactics and procedures to support it.

Once these requirements are met, call centers can begin to reap the benefits of today’s workforce management software, including:

• Reduction in telecommunication costs

Workforce management software reduces the time customers spend waiting in queues by optimizing the flow of incoming calls with the output of service and information.

• Increases in sales and customer retention

The faster calls are answered, the more prosperous a business can become. Workforce management software’s schedule optimization increases sales potential and customer satisfaction without adding staff. By scheduling the right person and getting information and inquiries to the right people at the right time, call centers can address customer issues the first time they arise, setting the stage for happier customers and, hopefully, sales increases.

• Improvements in schedule adherence

Workforce management software includes a real-time adherence module that allows continuous control over scheduled and actual agent activity. If a call center implements a systematic control methodology to track schedule adherence, it help save significant productive time in an agent’s workday.

• Cost reduction in payroll extraction automation

Workforce management software extracts data from multiple locations, such as time and attendance data typically sent to various payroll programs, eliminating the need for separate data entries by either administrative staff or supervisors.

• Gains in vacation quotas, calculations, and bid management

Workforce management software includes a vacation module to manage vacation grants and ensure call centers are always adequately staffed.

• Reduction in attrition rates

Attrition rates generally decrease with workforce management software thanks to its empowerment of agents (e.g. enabling agents to specify their preferred days, shifts or even split times). When employees are able to input their own schedule and vacation preferences, they feel empowered and attrition tends to go down.

• Better time/schedule management

Workforce management software identifies the best time for non-call activities, such as training, e-mailing and holding meetings, and schedules agent breaks throughout the day.

• Overtime reduction

By optimizing schedules, workforce management software enables managers to schedule the exact number of agents with the appropriate skills needed to answer incoming calls without resorting to overtime. This reduces labor costs and helps maintain service levels.

• Gains in agent productivity

Using workforce optimization, managers can match quality and productivity data with call center needs, ensuring that customers will reach the best agent possible to address his or her needs.

• Gains in hours spent on forecasting and planning

Workforce management software decreases the time required for complex tasks such as call volume forecasting and schedule planning.

Summary

Once costly and complex, today’s workforce management software is now easy to use and manage, and offers numerous advantages for contact centers. In today’s competitive customer contact world, workforce management software is necessary to keep call centers operating smoothly and efficiently – all while delivering maximum ROI.