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Senior Writer: Supriya Bajaj
Date: April 12, 2024No one can deny that customer service has become one of the most critical factors of business success in the last few years. In fact, a study by HubSpot found that 50% of customers will switch to a competitor after just one bad customer service experience.
Among the many factors that businesses can work on to improve customer experience is optimizing call center scheduling.
In this blog, we will discuss the top 5 tips to optimize call center scheduling and explore the technical and non-technical aspects of the 7 best call center scheduling software. But first, let’s start with the basics: What is call center scheduling?
Prioritize regular communication and feedback loops with your call center team to understand their scheduling needs and preferences. By developing a collaborative environment, you can boost morale, increase productivity, and enhance overall performance in your call center operations.
What Is Call Center Scheduling?
Call center scheduling refers to the strategic allocation of resources, including agents and technology, to handle incoming calls effectively. It involves creating schedules that balance the workload, agent availability, and customer demand to ensure optimal service levels.
In this entire process, call center scheduling software and tools play a crucial role, automating tasks like forecasting call volume, assigning agents to shifts, and adjusting schedules in real time.
These tools are equipped with various features such as forecasting algorithms, agent performance tracking, and integration with other systems to streamline operations.
Overall, call center scheduling is essential for maximizing productivity, minimizing wait times, and delivering exceptional customer service in a cost-effective manner.
5 Best Tips to Optimize Call Center Scheduling
The following are five essential tips for optimizing call center scheduling, ranging from automation, agent well-being, real-time monitoring, and collaboration. Let’s take a closer look at each one.
1. Invest in Automated Scheduling Solutions
Traditional methods of scheduling are time-consuming, prone to mistakes, and often struggle to assign resources effectively. Using advanced call center scheduling software that automates these processes is key to improving efficiency.
These systems use algorithms to analyze call patterns, agent availability, and skills to create optimized schedules automatically. By removing manual tasks, businesses can streamline operations, cut costs, and ensure they have the right staff for the job.
Additionally, these software solutions provide features like real-time monitoring and analytics. This automation leads to better management of call center operations, improving overall agility and responsiveness.
2. Prioritize Agent Preferences and Well-being
Employee satisfaction and well-being play a vital role in the success of any call center. Modern call center scheduling software, like CallHippo allows agents to input their preferred shift timings and days off, creating more balanced schedules.
Incorporating these preferences into the scheduling algorithm ensures a more employee-friendly approach. Additionally, proactive scheduling practices, like minimizing overtime and ensuring sufficient rest between shifts, can prevent burnout and boost agent morale.
All in all, prioritizing employee well-being fosters a positive work environment, improves retention rates, and enhances overall customer experiences.
3. Implement Real-time Monitoring and Adjustments
To ensure effective call center scheduling, it’s important to continuously monitor and adjust to new challenges and opportunities. Real-time monitoring features in scheduling software help managers track important metrics like call volume, wait times, and agent performance instantly.
With this detailed view of operations, managers can spot bottlenecks, allocate resources better, and tweak schedules promptly.
Additionally, predictive analytics and forecasting tools help predict future demand, allowing businesses to adjust staffing levels ahead of time for smoother customer service.
4. Enable Effective Collaboration and Communication
Effective communication and collaboration are important for making call center schedules work smoothly.
Using features in scheduling software that let everyone see the same calendars, send messages to each other, and assign tasks helps everyone on the team know what’s going on. This makes things clear and helps everyone work together better. Additionally, when managers and agents can talk easily, it helps them understand what they need to do and solve any scheduling problems quickly.
Also, when there’s a culture where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas and feedback, it can help make the scheduling process even better. This means the whole team can find ways to make things run smoother and keep getting better at what they do.
: Top 11 Business Communication Tools Every Company Needs5. Leverage Data-driven Insights for Continuous Improvement
Understanding data is crucial for making call center schedules work well and getting better over time. New call center software can track important numbers and trends, helping companies see what’s going well and where they can do better. With this information, managers can make smart choices, find places to improve, and make the schedule work even smoother.
Regular check-ins and looking back on how things went help companies see if their plans are working and where they can do better. By always looking for ways to improve, businesses can stay quick and ready to handle anything that comes up in the call center.
To sum up, by using the right methods and tools, companies can make schedules work better, improve how things run, and give customers an even better experience.
7 Best Call Center Scheduling Software
Now that you are aware of what is call center scheduling and tips to optimize it let us move ahead to understanding the top 7 call center scheduling tools.
| Brand Name | Rating | Key Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| CallHippo | IVR system Automatic Call Distribution Call queuing Agent performance monitoring | Basic: $0 Bronze: $18 /month Silver: $30 /month Platinum: $42 /month | |
| Talkdesk | Powerful forecasting Skills-based employee scheduling Analytics and insights Agent chatbots | CX Cloud Essentials – $75 per user per month CX Cloud Elevate – $95 per user per month CX Cloud Elite – $125 per user per month Experience Clouds – Custom industry packages | |
| RingCentral | Workforce optimization Supervisor tools IVR system Intelligent call routing | Essentials plan: $19.99 per user per month Standard plan: $27.99 per user per mont Premium plan: $34.99 per user per month Ultimate plan: $49.99 per user per month | |
| Workforce.com | Employee onboarding Staff scheduling Performance tracking Payroll processing | Contact their sales team to learn more. | |
| NICE | Intelligent forecasting Employee self-service Mobile scheduling Scenario modeling | Essential suite- $135/month Core suite – $169/month Complete suite – $209/month |
1. CallHippo
When it comes to call center scheduling software, CallHippo ranks at the top as it offers an extensive array of call management functionalities. It helps businesses offer a seamless omnichannel experience, improve agent productivity, and lower operational costs.
Beyond scheduling, it has other features, like IVR and Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), that help automate call handling and routing. All in all, if you are exploring a free call center scheduling software, CallHippo is a must-try.
Key Features
- IVR system
- Automatic Call Distribution
- Call queuing
- Agent performance monitoring
- Intuitive dashboards
- Gamification
Pros
- CallHippo is easy to set up and can be quickly installed in just 3 minutes.
- The customer support team at CallHippo is very responsive and well-equipped.
- CallHippo’s plans are affordable when compared to other call center scheduling tools.
Cons
- The mobile application needs technical upgradation as there are glitches. As CallHippo functions over the cloud, it requires a stable internet connection.
Pricing
- Basic – $0 per user per month
- Starter- $18 per user per month
- Professional – $30 per user per month
- Ultimate – $42 per user per month
2. Talkdesk
Talkdesk is a popular call center scheduler and it has an extensive workforce management module. It has features that help achieve an optimal agent schedule without major manual interventions. The automated forecasting feature helps forecast customer demand and prepare schedules accordingly. The Talkdesk helps streamline task management effectively without manual intervention.
Key Features
- Powerful forecasting
- Skills-based employee scheduling
- Analytics and insights
- Agent chatbots
- AI-powered tools
- Omnichannel engagement
Pros
- Talkdesk allows easy movement of employees from office to remote without disrupting the regular call flows.
- The automatic call distribution feature of Talkdesk helps connect the right agents quickly.
- The self-service AI channel helps customers access quality support 24/7.
Cons
- The reporting is very basic and lacks fine details.
- Accessing real-time contact details is complicated and this impacts conversation quality.
Pricing
- CX Cloud Essentials – $75 per user per month
- CX Cloud Elevate – $95 per user per month
- CX Cloud Elite – $125 per user per month
- Experience Clouds – Custom industry packages
3. RingCentral
RingCentral is a popular call center scheduling software that helps manage workforce allocation based on dynamic call data and employee availability status. It has features like IVR, text and speech recognition, and ACDs that help route customer calls to the right agent. RingCentral helps contact centers reduce operational and labor costs while achieving greater efficiency.
Key Features
- Workforce optimization
- Supervisor tools
- IVR system
- Intelligent call routing
- Analytics and insights
- Call flow prioritization
- Call filtering
- Multi-level auto attendants
Pros
- RingCentral is available on iOS, Android, and Windows which helps businesses manage their remote workforce.
- The tool can be easily scaled and new agents can be added quickly.
- The customer support team is very responsive and knowledgeable in handling technical queries.
Cons
- The call quality must be improved and there are call drops when the internet is spotty.
- The pricing plans lack flexibility and it gets harder to renew or change the plans.
Pricing
- Essentials plan: $19.99 per user per month
- Standard plan: $27.99 per user per month
- Premium plan: $34.99 per user per month
- Ultimate plan: $49.99 per user per month
4. Workforce.com
The next name on our list of best call center scheduling software is Workforce.com. It is an integrated workforce management tool and helps manage the workforce and payroll processing in one go. It helps forecast the agents needed for each shift based on data points like call times and volumes and make appropriate staffing decisions.
Key Features
- Employee onboarding
- Staff scheduling
- Performance tracking
- Payroll processing
- Integrated employee data
- Time and attendance management
Pros
- The dashboard, tracking, and scheduling features of Workforce.com are highly customizable.
- The bookmarking feature helps save information and retain it without intensive effort.
- Each agent can monitor their session independently and can request time off through the tool.
Cons
- The geotag needs technical modifications to meet the desired purpose.
- The application takes longer to load at times and there are frequent errors with punch in/out.
Pricing
They offer only custom pricing options as per your requirements. Contact their sales team to learn more.
: Fundamental Rules of Workforce Planning in Call Center5. NICE
NICE is a popular workforce management tool that employs AI to forecast workforce requirements and ML to plan schedules. As the entire process is automated, businesses can make staffing changes without much effort. The accuracy of prediction and staffing decisions can be enhanced by modeling different possible scenarios.
Key Features
- Intelligent forecasting
- Employee self-service
- Mobile scheduling
- Scenario modeling
- Intraday forecasting
- Attendance tracking
Pros
- The time off manager in the NICE workforce management module helps agents track their leaves effectively.
- As it employs a robust algorithm, the forecasts are more accurate than other tools.
- The setup and initial data synchronization can be automated.
Cons
- The learning curve is steep, and agents require intensive training.
- The design is outdated and requires updates.
Pricing
- Essential suite- $135/month
- Core suite – $169/month
- Complete suite – $209/month
6. Assembled
Assembled is a robust call center workforce management software that helps access staffing decisions and manage the performance of in-house and outsourced call centers. It helps optimize the workforce by creating data-driven schedules and gaining a consolidated view of the team’s performance. The data and schedules can be uploaded or downloaded on a CSV file in just a few clicks.
Key Features
- Multi-channel forecasting
- Manual adjustments
- Queue-based forecasts
- Data export/import
- Trends report
- Staffing heatmaps
- Agent-driven scheduling
- Time-off management
Pros
- As Assembled makes forecasts based on data, it helps businesses make impactful strategic decisions.
- It can be synced with Google Calendar and reduces manual efforts in scheduling and agent communication.
- The reports are comprehensive and have exhaustive data that help businesses make effective decisions.
Cons
- Reporting and data take a little longer to load.
- Assembled does not get along with many HR tools which in turn requires agents to place time-off requests in two places.
Pricing
They offer only custom pricing options as per your requirements. Contact their sales team to learn more.
7. Cloudtalk
Cloudtalk is a popular call center software with advanced features that automate call handling, routing, and monitoring. It helps businesses plan an optimal workforce allocation and maximize customer support efficiency across all channels. As it automates repetitive tasks, Cloudtalk helps reduce operational costs.
Key Features
- Automatic Call Distribution
- Call recording
- Multi-level IVR
- Customer card
- Business hours
- Call queuing
- Call back functionality
Pros
- CloudTalk has a mobile application that helps businesses manage remote agents effectively.
- CloudTalk is user-friendly and does not require training or additional support.
- CloudTalk can be easily integrated with the existing tech stack without major disruptions.
Cons
- The app logs off frequently and requires users to log in several times a day.
- The mobile application lacks important features and requires improvements.
Pricing
- CloudTalk Starter – $25 per user per month
- CloudTalk Essential – $30 per user per month
- CloudTalk Expert – $50 per user per month
- Custom Plan
How to Choose the Right Call Center Scheduling Software?
When it comes to choosing the right call center scheduling software, here is a list of criteria you must consider.
A. Flexibility and Customization
Look for call center scheduling software that offers extensive flexibility and customization options to align with your specific business requirements. The software should allow you to configure schedules, shift patterns, and agent preferences according to the unique needs of your organization.
With customizable parameters, you can optimize workforce management strategies, accommodate varying call volumes, and ensure seamless operational workflows tailored to your business objectives.
B. Scalability and Integration
Next, select a call center scheduling software solution that demonstrates scalability and seamless integration capabilities. The software should have the ability to grow alongside your business, accommodating changes in call volume, staffing requirements, and technological infrastructure without disruption.
Additionally, ensure compatibility with existing systems, such as CRM platforms and workforce management tools, to facilitate smooth data exchange and streamline operational processes across the organization.
C. Advanced Forecasting and Analytics
Always prioritize call center scheduling software equipped with advanced forecasting and analytics functionalities. These features leverage historical data, predictive algorithms, and real-time insights to accurately forecast future call volumes, identify trends, and anticipate staffing needs.
With comprehensive analytics capabilities, managers can make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and enhance service quality based on actionable insights derived from detailed performance metrics and trend analysis.
D. Real-time Monitoring and Reporting
Choose call center scheduling software that provides robust real-time monitoring and reporting capabilities. Real-time dashboards and customizable reports offer visibility into key performance metrics, agent productivity, and operational efficiency metrics as they happen.
With instant access to performance data, call center managers can identify emerging issues, address operational challenges promptly, and optimize scheduling processes dynamically.
E. Compliance and Security
Lastly, ensure that the call center scheduling software prioritizes compliance with industry regulations and adheres to stringent data security standards. Look for features such as role-based access controls, data encryption protocols, and comprehensive audit trails to safeguard sensitive information and protect against data breaches.
By selecting a secure and compliant software solution, you mitigate potential risks and liabilities associated with data privacy violations, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of customer and organizational data.
Conclusion
Effective call center scheduling is essential for optimizing operational efficiency, enhancing agent satisfaction, and delivering superior customer experiences. By implementing the tips outlined in this guide and leveraging advanced call center scheduling software solutions, businesses can streamline scheduling processes, improve resource allocation, and achieve greater agility in adapting to evolving customer demands.
For more guidance on this topic or to learn how CallHippo’s call center scheduling can benefit your customer support operations, get in touch with our experts.
FAQs
1. How do I make a call center schedule?
To make a call center schedule, utilize call center scheduling software to assign shifts based on agent availability, skill sets, and call volume forecasts. This will ensure maximum productivity.
2. How do I talk to a customer at a BPO?
To communicate effectively with customers at a BPO, maintain a professional demeanor, actively listen to their concerns, offer personalized assistance, and seek resolution to their inquiries promptly and courteously.
3. What are the skills required for a call center agent?
Essential skills for call center agents include strong communication abilities, active listening, empathy, problem-solving skills, and proficiency in using relevant software and systems.
4. What are the weaknesses of a call center?
Some of the major weaknesses of call centers include high employee turnover rates and challenges in maintaining consistent service quality. However, these weaknesses varied from one to another.
Supriya is a highly skilled content writer with over 8 years of experience in the SaaS domain. She believes in curating engaging, informative, and SEO-friendly content to simplify highly technical concepts. With an expansive portfolio of long-format blogs, newsletters, whitepapers, and case studies, Supriya is dedicated to staying in touch with emerging SaaS trends to produce relevant and reliable content.
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