6 Ways Call Center Management Software Helps with Schedule Adherence
Call center managers need information to flow to them quickly and constantly when they’re measured against strict schedule adherence metrics.
Optimizing schedule adherence is an important part of improving call center performance, but it is only possible with attentive management and accurate, real-time information. For this reason, advanced call center management software is necessary for managers to set schedules for their employees and see how they are performing in real-time against expectations:
-
1. Monitoring: The single most important functional need for a manager at a call center is the ability to monitor agent calls. It allows managers to study their employees in real-time and make the necessary adjustments for the call center to stay on pace and on task. It allows managers to take control of the call center and lead by example.
2. Instant Alerts: With alerts, managers receive a notice anytime one of their call agents gets off the scheduled pace. The manager is then able to take corrective action to get back on track. All call centers are different, so alerts can be customized for each manager’s particular needs.
3. Exceptions: Communications can’t stay on schedule all of the time. Sometimes a call center will exceed expectations, and sometimes the team will fail to meet goals. Those moments are exceptions. Similar to the alerts, managers have the power to view agent exceptions in real time and either approve or deny them. These can be subject to repeat approval in increments, such as every minute. This empowers agents with the flexibility to prioritize and gives extra attention to certain calls on a case-by-case basis.
4. Forecasting: Beyond the ability to make adjustments in the present, call center management software makes it much easier to schedule and plan for the future. Based on analysis of key performance indicators, responsibilities such as staff forecasting, rescheduling and adjustments become a simple process.
5. Quick Scalability: With forecasting and staff adjustments made a quick and easy process, micro and macro scalability becomes a cinch. Be it bulking up the staff for a busy season or scaling down for a predicted slow weekend, managers are able to act quickly.
6. Evaluations: Monitoring provides managers with an opportunity for teachable moments. Evaluations are a way for managers to coach agents on ways to improve their KPIs. In the case of schedule adherence, the manager can use the opportunity to show how to follow a script closer, speak more clearly and purposefully, or engage customers in a more natural way.
Schedule adherence provides return on investment by reducing agent downtime. Instead of getting lost in idle time, they will constantly be active and productive.