What are the Advantages of Contact Center Workforce Optimization?

To put it in simple words, Workforce Optimization (or WFO) is the phenomenon of ensuring the satisfaction of the customer by reducing costs through operational data. The main focus is to increase the efficiency of the employees and the organization. Whether marketing, advertising, or managing finances, everything is looked upon through WFO. The significant functions that WFO performs include:

• Reduces Costs
• Increases Employee Productivity
• Enhances Operational Competence
• Reduces Errors
• Enables Process Automation

WFO impacts every aspect of an organization and not just the contact center or call center. Starting from the prominent ones and going down to the most profound detail. A critical facet of WFO is data analysis. Because it’s a set of strategies that combines the considerations related to business performance workforce management. Thus, data collection and its analysis go hand-in-hand with technology.

To optimize performance in a VoIP contact center workplace, these elements are integrated into the WFO system:

• Analytics
• High-Quality Management
• Call Recordings
• Coaching Tools
• Speech Analytics
• Text analytics
• WFM Tools and WFO Dashboards
• Surveys and Feedback

Contact Center workforce optimization is easy to understand if you grasp the concepts of WFO. As the name indicates, Contact Center Workforce Optimization is the application of WFO strategies in the workplace of an on-premise contact center or a remote contact center. WFO is nothing else than a set of techniques that make the efficiency of contact centers higher. So, the elements of WFO are, in other words, aspects of Contact Center Workforce Optimization. 

The key here is not just to know about them but to apply the best contact center benefits and features in your workforce organization. To improve the outcome of the work, the following methods are used in WFO.

Analyze Customer Interactions

meaning that you make the interaction with the customers your topmost priority. Please leave a positive impact on them, which is made possible by Contact Center Workforce Optimization. Because it helps you get an insight into the customers’ needs, you are more likely to make a good impression on them.

Explore Customer Behavior

You can do this through Contact Center Workforce Optimization software. The main idea here is to know the reason for their call, priorities, and pain points. And, thus, focus on solving them.

Address Employee Skills and Performance

Training employees is important to consider when comparing enterprise contact centers and ease of use. Although WFO emphasizes technological strategies, introducing the agents working in the organization is an integral part of Contact Center Workplace Optimization.

WFO, as described earlier, is a set of strategies to get the best from any workplace using various technological tools. WFM is not much different, either. WFM (or Workforce Management) is a subset of Contact Center Workforce Optimization.

WFM offers a tool that WFM utilizes. Its main functions govern agent staffing, organizing, and long-term planning. It makes sure that agent management is enabled effectively. So, if you’re correctly using Contact Center Workforce Optimization, you have to infuse the tool of Workforce Management into your system.

Weighing the pros and cons of enterprise contact center systems can help ensure you choose the best features, including workforce optimization. Some of the essential functions that WFM performs are:

• Forecasts predicted contact center volumes
• Helps you anticipate the number of agents or employees required at any particular time
• Improves operational efficiency to a great extent

You’ll observe that these functions are almost similar to those of WFO. That’s because, in a contact center, Workforce Optimization and Workforce Management go side by side.

The benefits that you may get from hosted contact center workforce optimization and workforce management are:

• Targeted improvement in employee engagement and customer experience
• Forecasted business plans tracking progress made in the organization
• Improved scheduling for agents, depending on their performance and skillset
• Reduced costs through operational data
• Increased revenue
• Ensured customer satisfaction

It's important to know the best enterprise contact center features to look for planning for workforce optimization. It is understood that WFO requires good software. But there are specific ways to distinguish which software is good or bad. Here are the best features that make your Contact Center Workforce Optimization worthwhile.

Agent Interface

Agent interface empowers the agents or the employees to work according to the schedule that suits them best. They can communicate with other agents through it as well. For instance, an agent isn’t comfortable with their work schedule. So, they can swap it with the agent for whom that schedule works best.

With the help of the agent interface, the agents have command over their schedule. Due to this, they are more likely to work in a better way.

Forecasting Algorithm

Forecasting is essential to Contact Center Workforce Optimization. So, what the system does is that it creates different algorithms. And with the aid of those algorithms, forecasts are calculated.

Good software allows users to choose the type of forecasting method that is the most applicable to them. This is done by selecting the best algorithm for your Contact Center Workforce Optimization. Once the correct algorithm is set, the rest of the process takes place smoothly.

Omnichannel Algorithms

Omnichannel algorithms are created on multiple channels like phones, social media, emails, and so on. Although managing various channels' algorithms can generate complexities, the results are more promising. If the software has the feature of omnichannel algorithms, the chances of success are higher. This evolves the strategies of Contact Center Workforce Optimization.

“What-if” Scenario Prep

Even though forecasting plays a vital role in Contact Center Workforce Optimization, uncertainties still exist. No matter how much you predict, there will be scenarios where your predictions might fall short. In that case, good WFO software has the feature of providing you with “what-if” scenarios. Whether the best-case scenario or the worst case, it is highlighted in the right Contact Center Optimization software.

Finding the best software for the Contact Center Workforce Optimization outcomes is essential. Because, even if you’re aware of the techniques but have ineffective software, you won’t be able to achieve efficiency in your work.

Thus, here is the ten best Contact Center Workforce Optimization/ Automation software that you may use in your workforce.

• NICE CXone
• Genesys Multicloud CX
• Talkdesk
• RingCentral
• 8×8 
• Five9

With suitable software, Contact Center Workforce Optimization becomes easy and productive. Contact Center Workforce Optimization is one of the most remarkable techniques that ensures the best possible results when applied to your workplace. However, to make this progression grow, it is crucial that you understand the importance of Contact Center Workforce Optimization. 

Once you become aware of its know-how, you must integrate the elements of WFM with WFO. The efficiency rate increases rapidly with the perfect integration of WFO and WFM. Thus, through proper Contact Center Workforce Optimization techniques and the right software with all the best features, your contact center is destined to flourish.