Call centre workforce management software and services

Workforce management makes sure you have the right people, with the right skills, available at the right times. For most contact centres, staff are the biggest cost, so small planning improvements add up.

• Forecasting: predicts demand for calls, chats, emails and back-office work, usually in 15 or 30-minute intervals.
• Scheduling and rostering: builds rosters that meet service level targets while balancing agent preferences, part-time and hybrid work, and employment rules.
• Real-time adherence: shows how actual staffing compares with the plan, so leaders can act on spikes and absences quickly.
• Time and leave management: records leave and exceptions so shrinkage and history stay accurate.
• Agent self-service: lets agents swap shifts, bid for schedules and request leave from their phone.

Workforce optimisation (WFO) suites add quality management, call recording, speech analytics and performance dashboards to WFM.

• WFM software: your own planners run forecasting, scheduling and intraday management in a specialist tool.
• WFM services: a specialist provider runs some or all of your planning for you, often using your existing software.
• WFM consulting: an expert reviews and improves your planning, then hands it back to your team.

Still rostering in spreadsheets? Specialist software usually pays off once you have several queues, channels or shift patterns. Smaller teams may find the scheduling built into their contact centre platform is enough.

• Forecast accuracy across every channel and back-office queue, not just calls.
• Integration with your contact centre platform, HR and payroll systems.
• Flexible scheduling for part-time, hybrid and split shifts, and your local employment rules.
• Ease of use for planners and agents, including a good mobile app.
• AI that helps: automated forecasting and schedule optimisation you can explain and adjust.
• Support and training from people who understand contact centre planning.

Ask to see your own data in a demo, and talk to a customer with a similar size and mix of channels.