Scheduling agents in call centres can be challenging for managers. Most centres will have many agents that work on a shift basis on different assignments for different companies. This can be difficult to run efficiently.

Many call centres around the world have found it beneficial to use Workforce management solutions as an alternative.
Workforce management solutions are software based solutions - and are often offered as either a hosted service by the supplier or a sold service that is controlled by the call centre. Their advantage is that it helps the company to analyze the call centre - its function - a forecast of how many agents are need for a shift. It is certainly easier and more headache free than using a traditional spreadsheet or other manual systems.

Certainly it is easy to see that using a Workforce management software help a beleaguered call centre manager to control attendance, productivity and make schedules more flexible. Maybe even to help plan the future growth of the call centre.

As with any software system many suppliers quickly enter the market so sometimes it is hard to determine which is more suitable for an individual company.

Some good questions to ask though:

(1) Usability - will it be easy to use for your company? Some of the people that will be needed to run it may not be very IT savvy.
(2) Is it going to be easy to implement? It should make the workload easier rather than more complicated. How will the turn around period be managed?
(3) Will it be cost effective? How much will it cost to maintain?
(4) And as always - a company should consider the risks that may be associated in purchasing software - what happens if you end up with the less suitable Workforce Management software? Can it be returned and how will it affect the running of the call centre?
(5) And finally in the long run - will there be appreciable business or cost services? How long will it take to recoup the outlay for the software?