Workforce Management Software Targets SMB Contact Centers

Workforce management software (WMS), although not a new concept, is key to reining in runaway contact center costs, say analysts.
Agent turnover, overstaffing, understaffing and underperformance are among the largest cost factors hitting contact-center bottom lines.

"Without the adequate tools, companies are at risk for either understaffing and alienating customers, or overstaffing and lowering profits," Forrester analyst Elizabeth Herrell told NewsFactor.

Mature Market

The big guys -- companies with big budgets and I.T. departments -- have pretty much got the bases covered. For them, dynamic workloads, staffing pressures, multiple sites, multiple channels, and multiple time zones are pretty much under control.

"The WMS market is relatively mature, with most large organizations having already invested in a WMS solution. Consequently, growth has slowed, although it is not in a decline," Jim Davies, analyst at Gartner, told NewsFactor.

Trouble Keeping Up

It is the small and mid-size market -- the companies with small budgets and restricted I.T. expertise -- that are having the most trouble keeping up.

"Multiple-channel contact centers add several layers of complexity to the forecasting and scheduling of agents that cannot be adequately addressed with outdated tools or manual processes," says Herrell.

But the trouble is not in defining the problem, as much as it is in defining the solution. Until recently, WMS was not scalable or flexible enough to deal with a smaller cadre of agents. Nor was it easy to install in companies with limited I.T. resources.

Changing the Game

A new round of products, like Blue Pumpkin's Director Professional, a quickly deployed and easy-to-learn system for contact centers with up to 150 agents, may change the game.

"The small and mid-size business market is much less saturated and will perform better over the next few years," says Davies.

Blue Pumpkin dominates the small and mid-size market at the moment, but vendors like Aspect are moving toward the space. Smaller vendors, like Pipkins and Rightforce, are also targeting the market.

Eight-Point Checklist

Recommendations for running a successful contact center with WMS products include the following:


Use applications that provide a historical record of traffic patterns and can anticipate future traffic needs based on marketing data.

Clearly communicate goals and provide processes and technologies that allow employees to reach those goals. The ideal application is helpful to both the organization and the individual employee.

Continuously measure agent performance and adherence, as well as center performance, to catch problems early and to adapt to opportunity and obstacles as they appear.

Employ flexible scheduling to reduce overtime.

Allow agents to input preferences for schedules to improve employee morale and retention.

Evaluate vendors on financial stability, customer service and support, vision, and customer base -- in addition to technology merits.

Do not simply select WMS products from a menu of options. Take the time to understand variances and select applications that are relevant to your business.

Compare actual transaction volume with predictions to determine if the application needs tweaking to produce more accurate forecasts and schedules.
New Trends

Just because the WMS market is mature does not mean nothing new is on the horizon.

"Most vendors are expanding their portfolios to embrace the wider concept of workforce optimization through the addition of contact center performance management and e-learning. Ultimately, this will combine quality monitoring as well, but that evolution is 18 months off," says Davies.

By combining these elements, he adds, organizations will be able to evaluate, schedule, train and manage performance, thus optimizing the call center's efficiency and effectiveness.