The evolving landscape of contact centers and the increasing need for efficient workforce management (WFM) strategies:
Increasing Staffing Levels: In 2022, only 48% of contact centers had adequate staffing to meet customer demand. By 2023, this figure rose to 58%, driven by agent-assist technology and higher salaries.
Involvement of External Employees: 47% of companies now involve staff from outside the contact center to support customer queries, with 30% allowing these external employees to communicate directly with customers.
Convergence of CCaaS and UCaaS: The gap between Contact-Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) and Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) platforms is closing, necessitating higher competency in contact centers and tapping into broader organizational expertise.
Centralizing Workforce Management: Today platfroms such as Calabrio are leading efforts to create a centralized WFM platform that integrates various telephony and digital environments, enabling better resource management across departments and locations. These platforms also supports automated employee self-service functions like PTO requests and self-scheduling.
Optimizing Informal Agent Schedules: With centralized demand data, companies can build accurate forecasts and schedules, identifying when additional staffing is needed and allocating informal agents accordingly. Analytics allows planners to delve deeper into forecasts to identify demand drivers and allocate agents effectively.
Innovative WFM Strategies: Intelligent bots and performance data are used to route specific queries requiring expertise to the best-suited internal or external agents. WFM software is also used for unconventional se cases, such as scheduling advisory meetings and understanding time allocation in various roles, including virtual and in-store appointments.
WFM platforms exemplifiesy the shift towards a hybrid and extended contact center model, addressing the needs of modern, diverse customer interactions. This evolution underscores the importance of flexible, comprehensive WFM strategies in managing both formal and informal agents across various customer engagement channels.
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