DeskFlex , Wednesday 30 June, 2010 05:29 PM

Room Scheduling software is just what you need for a well scheduled meeting. This software will enable you to plan out your meetings ahead of time. It's an easy web based software that will be accessible to all the employees. Room Scheduling software is an innovative creation of DeskFlex made for companies that frequently conduct meetings. This software is by far the most practical solution to avoid double booking of rooms, this is the key to a well organized booking and planning. 

DeskFlex took advantage of the convenience and the reliability of technology now a days and created room scheduling software to ease booking and planning of meetings. Stay ahead with today's trend in technology as you stay ahead with the current demands of your market, Room scheduling software has opened its gates to hi-tech systems. Better wave goodbye to paper and people based booking systems and avoid double bookings and inadequate resource utilization costing you time and money. 

As a call center manager the most crucial part of your job comprises of managing agent schedules also known as call center scheduling. Call center scheduling methodology aims at producing close to optimal call center agent schedules while considering costs associated with call center agents, customer waiting time and customer abandonment. It is also geared towards finding a desirable staffing plan for any specific number of agents.

You cannot manage call center scheduling if you are unable to measure agent performance. The best and easiest way for a call center manager to do this is to take the help of suitable call center scheduling software from among several good ones available in the market. Well-developed call center scheduling software provides all the necessary tools needed by a call center manager for accurately measuring performance, productivity and quality of call center agents.

 

Call center scheduling software consists of several powerful modules, which have specific applications related to all the different areas of call center management and allow easy measuring and control of agent performance that constitutes the core of call center operations. Calculating staffing needs is another important aspect of call center management requiring minute attention that is also taken care of very easily by using call center scheduling software.

To produce the relevant data for optimal staffing call center scheduling software first captures call history directly from the automatic call distributor or ACD in order to forecast inbound call loads. It then calculates staffing needs for meeting service level goals on the basis of anticipated incoming call volume. The software makes a forecast using planning time frames ranging from half an hour to one month for the entire budget cycle. 

For best staff management call center scheduling software simplifies workforce planning, scheduling and performance analysis in the call center no matter what its size, whether big or small. This includes forecasting the number of agents required for each day and period throughout the day. To do this call center scheduling software takes every half hour into consideration for balancing the staff strength with the workload.

It goes on to reflect the required shifts and agent strength for each shift and extensively analyzes performance on the basis of defined service level goals. This apprises you, the center manager, of the shortages and surpluses in staffing allowing you to take suitable action in time. The data is presented in an easily comprehendible graphical format. The software simplifies forecasting and also investigating the results for different scenarios; for example the effect of a 5 or 10 percent increase in the volume of calls.

Good call center scheduling provides for convenient, improved rostering and optimal agent utilization including cost reduction.

DeskFlex , Monday 30 March, 2009 03:23 AM

For successful running of call center operations you need to have the knack of managing numbers to avoid overstaffing. And among numbers most important is the figure for call center staffing i.e. the number of people who respond to customer calls every hour. Since the biggest part of call center costs, nearly 65 percent, relate to call center staffing it becomes crucial to have the correct number of staff in the right places for maintaining proper service levels and controlling costs. This demands a systematic approach in the calculation of call center staffing requirements and evaluation of service and cost trade offs.  

The very first step for determining the optimum number for call center staffing is forecasting of call loads, analysis of historical data, seasonal patterns and trends in order to create monthly estimates and then use day-of –the-week and time-of-the-day patterns for breaking down the figures arrived at into half-hourly/hourly forecasts.   

For call center staffing the staff workload can be determined by making some simple calculations using the forecasts about anticipated call volumes and realistic assumptions related to AHT (average handling time). These calculations involve multiplying the number of calls forecast for an hour with the AHT (assumed) of each call which includes both conversation time and wrap up time such as that for filling out a form or updating customer database.   

AHT plays a critical role in call center staffing calculations. There are variations in average handling time by the time of the day and the day of the week. Therefore using an average figure for AHT will be imprecise and may contribute to overstaffing or understaffing. Therefore it is essential to use AHT numbers according to the time of the day/day of the week in calculations for deriving optimum call center staffing figures.   

Call center staffing has a significant impact on service levels. Although there are no industry standards for this, in general call center service level goal is pegged at 80. Reliable figures arrived at after detailed calculations show that due to shrinkage i.e. the unproductive time during which agents are not available to handle calls, actual call center staffing for achieving a service level of 80 would need an additional 30% staff. Shrinkage is a reality that exists due to activities like meetings, training sessions, breaks, off-phone work and general unproductivity including that which is due to the random style of inbound calls in call center operations.   

Barring the additional staff needed in call center staffing for maintaining adequate service levels despite shrinkage, any overstaffing is a drain on the center’s financial and other resources and needs to be strictly controlled and can easily be done by using suitable call center staffing software.