As most people know, labor is the single biggest cost facing any contact center. Therefore it's no wonder that organizations are trying harder than ever to find new ways to increase agent productivity and streamline processes, therefore getting more revenue out of their contact center operations.
One of the main ways organizations hold down contact center operating costs is by balancing agent resources with contact volume. However, in this volatile and rapidly changing economic environment, it can be difficult for organizations to accurately forecast their contact center staffing needs. Due to the impact of the recession, it's not like organizations can use their call volume data of the past two years as an accurate indicator of cycles to come.
What's more, organizations need the means to more quickly and frequently update their strategic plans, based on changing market conditions. Creating an annual budget and sticking with it to the end no longer cuts it. Also, organizations need solutions that can help them analyze more than just call volume to arrive at accurate forecasts, as there are so many other elements to consider when compiling a strategic plan. For example, most contact centers today are multichannel, which means organizations need to hire for the right skills and incorporate that into their planning. In addition companies need to ability to create forecasts based on a range of 'irregular' events, occurring both inside and outside of the organization. For example, a cataloger needs the ability to forecast the increase in contacts that occurs after a catalog has dropped; an entertainment company needs the ability to predict the demand that will be generated after tickets go on sale for a leading act; or an e-commerce company might need to forecast the spike in calls that occurs after its nighttime infomercial airs on cable television.
Recent improvements in computer processing speed have enabled a 'simulation-based' strategic planning process that enables organizations to be more responsive. Simply put, the enterprise analytics and planning cycle can now be both accurate and fast. With today's new analytics and forecasting solutions, companies can carry out a wider range of 'what-if' scenarios to ensure preparedness while at the same time keeping contact center staffing 'lean and mean.'
One such solution is BayBridge Decision Technologies' CenterBridge, an integrated forecasting, staff planning, budgeting, and analysis system for large or complex customer contact center organizations.
During a recent webinar, 'Strategic Planning in Action: An in-depth view of CenterBridge,' Dan Mahon, Area Vice President for BayBridge Decision Technologies and Ric Kosiba, co-founder and president of Bay Bridge, provided an in-depth overview of the features and functionality of the CenterBridge platform and also discussed how this powerful planning system can vastly improve contact center operations.
The informative webinar is the first in a three-part series of webinars being presented by BayBridge. The second webinar in the series, 'The Secret to a Good Night's Sleep? Contact Center Strategic Planning,' will be presented Tuesday, June 15, and the third webinar, 'Using Sophisticated Strategic Planning Software, Liberty Mutual, discovers new opportunities,' will be presented Tuesday, October 5.
To access a free copy of the archived version of this educational webinar, click here.
To register for the other, upcoming webinars in the series, click here.