Workforce Management & Optimisation Key Trends

Technology can ensure effective  workforce management and optimisation in these challenging economic times.

The contact centre sector, like all industries, is under increased pressure to deliver demonstrable Return on Investment. With this in mind Sabio, a leading contact services and solutions company, has highlighted some key trends in workforce management and optimisation by identifying some key technology and process optimisation trends. As the credit crunch forces more organisations to be increasingly accountable of their ROI, these technology solutions can help the contact centre industry deliver consistent value in a cost effective way to its users and clients. Mediation courses for business could be the answer, some say.

Workforce Management and Optimisation: Tapping into Technology

Delivering continued value is one of the biggest challenges for the contact centre sector as finance is tight. Sabio has highlighted technology solutions that offer a sub 12-month ROI, as well as pointing out areas where organisations can reduce the negative effect of the economy on their customer contact operations. The money saving tips centre on improving workforce management and optimisation.

Budget Saving for the Contact Centre Industry

Sabio report that the increased pressures on demonstrating ROI has put increased attention on proven technology that offers workforce management and optimisation solutions. Existing systems such as Workforce Management (WFM), Integrated Desktop projects and speech applications that offer crucial savings for call centres are at the forefront, offering improved optimisation with higher levels of automation. Sabio also say that contact centres are currently paying around 30% too much on yearly support contracts too.

Optimisation for Improved Customer Experience

Adam Faulkner, the director of Sabio, said their report was about finding technological solutions to improve Workforce Management and find optimisation solutions that can save contact centres money. “Today’s market conditions mean that contact centre operators need to successfully balance making necessary investments to improve their customer service while managing an inevitable pressure on their revenues and costs,” Mr Faulkner said. By identifying the areas in their organisations that can be made more cost-effective or reigning in those areas where there's routine over spending, the contact centre industry can release that budget and invest in technology and initiatives the offer improved customer experience and generate positive outcomes.

As Mr Faulkner added: “That’s why the focus for 2009 has to be on implementing technology solutions that lead directly to better optimised resources, improved systems usage, reduced agent overstaffing and improved attrition, higher levels of automation and enhanced self-service, improved sales conversion rates, and improvements in fraud rates.”

Sabio said that Workforce Management technologies, SIP innovations such as Biometrics, Desktop Integration systems and Voice Selfservice can all offer bottom line benefits by optimising delivered services and delivering more for less.