It’s a pretty safe guess that you’re engaged in some soul-searching discussions – and making tough decisions – on resources and budgets. This is your (hopefully) helpful and timely reminder: be absolutely sure that those making key decisions have an understanding of staff tradeoffs in a call center (read: real-time) environment.
The table is an example of what you might want to create(using your own numbers) to illustrate key tradeoffs. In this example, 34 agents produce a “middle of the road” service level of just over 80 percent of calls being answered in 20 seconds, with an average speed of answer (ASA) of just over 12 seconds. If you have 30 agents, fewer than a quarter of all calls are answered in 20 seconds, and ASA is over 200 seconds. Occupancy is way high, at 97%. And the load on your telecom network has grown significantly (reason: your ACD has to put all of those queued calls somewhere – kind of like putting aircraft in a holding pattern over Chicago O’Hare).
The table is an example of what you might want to create(using your own numbers) to illustrate key tradeoffs. In this example, 34 agents produce a “middle of the road” service level of just over 80 percent of calls being answered in 20 seconds, with an average speed of answer (ASA) of just over 12 seconds. If you have 30 agents, fewer than a quarter of all calls are answered in 20 seconds, and ASA is over 200 seconds. Occupancy is way high, at 97%. And the load on your telecom network has grown significantly (reason: your ACD has to put all of those queued calls somewhere – kind of like putting aircraft in a holding pattern over Chicago O’Hare).
Your objective in budgeting – and in day-to-day management – should be to get just the right number of people in place at the right times, doing the right things for the business. No more, no fewer. That is fundamental in an environment that requires handling the work as it arrives.
Brad Cleveland
Senior Advisor and Former President & CEO,
ICMI
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