Finalize the staffing forecast

The forecast must be finalized before you can start scheduling for this period.

Apply the previously created standard workload day templates to add the intraday arrival pattern for each day of the week. The intraday arrival pattern defines the distribution within the day and the volume is defined by the long-term forecast.

If you work with preferences, you must apply the workload day templates before opening the preference period. This is important to verify the open hours for each day.

Handle any deviations from the standard volume or intraday arrival pattern.

EXAMPLE   
  • The workload is closed on a bank holiday—Create and apply a special workload day template that is set as closed.
  • The workload has reduced open hours on a bank holiday—Create and apply a special workload day template with reduced open hours and an adjusted intraday pattern.
  • A television commercial is planned and will likely cause higher call volumes—Add a campaign percentage for calls for the affected period.
  • An up-sell campaign is planned and will likely cause a longer average talk time—Add a campaign percentage for talk time for the affected period.
  • You want to use a higher shrinkage percentage for January when the level of sick leave is higher—Create a special skill template and apply it for January.

Continue to revise the forecast as new information is available. This can be done also when the period is scheduled, and the schedule published.

NOTE   To automatically adjust the shrinkage values for the near future, use dynamic shrinkage. See Manage dynamic shrinkage for more information

Prerequisites

  • You have the Forecasts permission.
  • The skill and workloads are created.
  • Standard workload day templates for the workloads are created.

NOTE   If there are seasonal variations, create long-term forecasts for the workloads for the period and scenario you want to work with. Although, they are not required. Volumes can be defined by the workload day templates.

Page location

Client > Forecasts > Open forecast

Procedures

  1. Right-click the skill to finalize the forecast for and select Open forecast.
  2. Select a start and end date to define the period to open the forecast for.
  3. Select for which Scenario you want to create a forecast.
  4. Click OK.

The values in the workload table are divided in forecasted values and actual values. The actual values are presented once the queue statistics for that day are available.

NOTE   If the skill has more than one workload, the tables for each workload are available as tabs above the table.

  • The total values in the Forecasted part of the table are the original forecasted values including any campaign percentage that is added.
  • The calculated volume in the Actual part of the table is calculated using the formula defined when creating the workload. See Calculate workload volume for more information. The same formula is used for calculating the forecasted volume.
Workload table term Description
Calls/chats/emails/tasks Forecasted volume for the month, week, or day interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar.
Campaign calls/chats/emails/tasks % Enter a positive or negative percentage to adjust the forecasted volume up or down for the entire month, week, day, or specific interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar.
Talk time/chat time/handling time The average talk time/chat time/handling time, in seconds, for the month, week, day, interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar.
Campaign talk time/chat time/handling time % Enter a positive or negative percentage to adjust the forecasted talk time/chat time/handling time up or down for the entire month, week, day, or specific interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar.
ACW/AEW/ATW The average after call/chat/email/task work (wrap up), in seconds, for the month, week, or day interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar.
Campaign ACW/AEW/ATW % Enter a positive or negative percentage to adjust the forecasted after call/chat/email/task work (wrap up) up or down for the entire month, week, day, or specific interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar.
Total calls/chats/emails/tasks Calls/chats/emails/tasks + (Calls/chats/emails/tasks *campaign calls/chats/emails/tasks %)
Total talk time/chat time/handling time Talk time + (talktime*campaign talk time %)
Total ACW/AEW/ATW After call/chat/email/task work (wrap up) + (After call/chat/email/task work (wrap up)*campaign after call/chat/email/task work (wrap up)%)
Template Apply the appropriate template for the intraday volume arrival pattern. <LONGTERM> = an intraday arrival pattern is not applied. The total volume is distributed equally among all intervals within the open hours. GREEN = the most up-to-date intraday pattern was applied. BLUE = there is a new pattern available to apply. RED = the template was applied by some other method, for example, an external forecast was imported.
Calculated calls/chats/emails/tasks The actual calls/chats/emails/tasks volume received for the month, week, or day interval depending on the view selected in the ribbon bar. The value is reflective of the calculations configured in the workload properties. For further information, see Calculate workload volume. The data is only available after the actual date has occurred.
Abandoned calls View the actual number of abandoned calls.
Answered calls View the actual number of answered calls.
Talk time/chat time/handling time View the actual average talk time/chat time/handling time in seconds.
ACW/AEW/ATW View the actual average after call/chat/email/task work (wrap up) in seconds.

The skill table is the lower of the two tables. The total values in the skill table are the sums of the total values for all the workloads of the skill.

When you view the skill table on intraday level you can see the skill targets for the day or for selected intervals and adjust them if needed. See Adjust skill targets for more information on how to do that.

The calculated Minimum occupancy and Maximum occupancy shown on intraday level for telephony and chat skills are indications of how busy the agents will be.

Hours inc stands for hours incoming and is used for email and back office skills to describe the forecasted hours of work required to handle the tasks or emails that arrive on a day. On intraday level, Agents inc is used instead.

See How the Skill table parameters work for more information.

Skill table term Description
Total calls/chats/emails/tasks Calls/chats/emails/tasks + (calls/chats/emails/tasks*campaign call/chats/emails/tasks %)
Total talk time/chat time/handling time Talk time + (talk time*campaign talk time %)
Total ACW/AEW/ATW After call/chat/email/task work (wrap up) + (after call/chat/email/task work (wrap up)*campaign after call/chat/email/task work (wrap up)%)
Service level (%) - only available on intraday view The service level percentage for the interval
Service level(s) - only available on intraday view The service level seconds for the interval
Minimum occupancy - only available on intraday view The occupancy is the percentage of the scheduled time on the skill activity that the agent is actively handling contacts. The resource calculation might result in a too high resource need for skills with low volume. Use the minimum occupancy setting to define an acceptable occupancy level and keep the forecasted need lower. This might affect the service level, since it reduces the staffing margins.
Maximum occupancy - only available on intraday view In some cases, the resource calculation results in an extremely high occupancy level for skills with a high volume. Use the maximum occupancy setting to define a manageable occupancy level for the agents and increase the forecasted need.
Minimum agents - only available on intraday view Use this setting to highlight the need for more resources than what the volume on the skill indicates. You must only use this setting when necessary.
Maximum agents - only available on intraday view Use this setting to highlight the need for less resources than what the volume on the skill indicates. You must only use this setting when necessary.
Agents (manual override) - only available on intraday view Use this setting to override the forecasted agents and use your defined target instead.
Shrinkage - only available on intraday view Shrinkage is the loss of resources because of unplanned absences, such as sick leave. You can use shrinkage to calculate the total number of agents to schedule, including the number of agents required to cover for unplanned absences. To automatically adjust the shrinkage values for the near future, use dynamic shrinkage. For more information, see Dynamic shrinkage.
Efficiency - only available on intraday view The efficiency is the percentage of the scheduled skill time that the agents are available to handle contacts. This setting adjusts for the fact that the agents might need to leave their desk, for example, to ask a question. You must define a realistic efficiency level.
Calculated occupancy % - only available on Intraday view The estimated occupancy for the interval.
Agents - only available on intraday view The number of agents required for the interval (excluding shrinkage) with the skill table parameters taken into consideration.
Agents with shrinkage - only available on intraday view The number of agents required for the interval including shrinkage with the skill table parameters taken into consideration
Hours inc Hours inc is an abbreviation for hours incoming. You can use this setting for email and back office skills to describe the forecasted hours of work required to handle the tasks or emails that arrive on a day. 
Hours inc shrinkage Hours needed including shrinkage.
Template (only available on day view) GREEN = most up to date skill template is applied. BLUE = there is a new template available. RED = the values were determined elsewhere, such as an external forecast import or when manually changing a value on a particular interval. GREY = dynamic shrinkage is applied. BLACK = a custom skill template was applied.

Apply the standard workload day templates to all days to define the intraday arrival pattern. The long-term forecast volumes are not changed when you apply a standard template, unless the template says that the workload is closed. If there are no volumes, they are defined by the templates.

  1. Ensure that the workload table is set to Day level. If not, click on the Home tab and select Day in the Workload section.
  2. Click to select the whole Template row in the workload table.

  3. Select the Workload tab and click Apply standard.

    The standard workload day templates are applied to the selected days. Each day of the week has its own standard template, for example the Monday template is applied to all Mondays.

  4. Click Save.

Create special workload day templates to use for days that have different open hours or intraday arrival patterns than this day of the week normally has.

  1. Ensure that the workload table is set to Day level. If not, click on the Home tab and select Day in the Workload section.
  2. Select the Workload tab and click New.
  3. Enter a Name that clearly states what this template is used for.
  4. Click the ellipses in the top right corner to define the Open hours to use in this special workload day template. If this template is for closed days, select the Closed check box.

  5. If you need to define an intraday arrival pattern, see Define intraday arrival patterns for more information on how to select historical data, exclude non-typical days and smooth the pattern.

    EXAMPLE   When creating a special workload day template to be used on New Year's Day, the intraday arrival pattern can be based on historical data from New Year's Days or other similar days in the past.

  6. Click OK and then click Save.

NOTE   Special workload day templates can be adjusted if needed. Right-click the special workload day template in the menu below the standard workload day templates and select Edit.

Apply special workload day templates on days that have different open hours or intraday arrival patterns than this day of the week normally has.

  1. Ensure that the workload table is set to Day level. If not, click on the Home tab and select Day in the Workload section.
  2. Click to select the day to apply the template to in the workload table.
  3. Select the Workload tab.
  4. Click the arrow in the section that lists all workload day templates to show the special workload day templates.
  5. Click the special workload day template that you want to apply.
  6. Click Save.
NOTE   

The colors of the workload day templates have different meanings.

  • Green—A current standard workload day template.
  • Blue—A standard workload day template is applied, but it is not the latest version. It shows the date and time that it was created.
  • Black—A special workload day template. If it is named <WEB> a new forecast period is created in the Forecasts tool on the web.
  • Red—A manual change of the pattern has been made. It no longer matches any template.

Enter a campaign percentage to adjust the forecast for a specific period because of for example larger volumes or longer handling times.

  1. Decide on which level to apply the campaign; Month, Week, Day or Intraday level.
  2. Ensure that the workload table is set to that level. If not, click on the Home tab and select the appropriate level in the Workload section.

  3. Enter a Campaign percentage for the period that is affected.

    Depending on if it is the volume, the handling time or the wrap-up time that is affected, enter the campaign percentage in the appropriate row. Copy and paste to enter the same value to many cells.

    It is possible to set negative values to decrease the forecast.

  4. Click Save.

NOTE   To use external data, you can copy data from a local source and paste it to the Campaign % row. If you are using Windows Virtual Desktop to access Forecasts, you must use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to copy and paste. You must also select Ctrl+V before you start copying content from your local source.

The standard skill templates are applied by default. Create special skill templates for days with different skill settings than this day of the week normally has. You can for example use this to apply a template with a lower shrinkage percentage for the next few days.

  1. Ensure that the skill table is set to Day level. If not, click on the Home tab and select Day in the Skill section.
  2. Select the Skill tab and click New.
  3. Enter a Name that clearly states what this template is used for.
  4. See Adjust skill targets for more information on how to adjust the values in the skill template.
  5. Click OK.

Apply special skill templates on days with different skill settings than this day of the week normally has.

  1. Ensure that the skill table is set to Day level. If not, click on the Home tab and select Day in the Skill section.
  2. Click to select the day to apply the template to in the skill table.
  3. Select the Skill tab.
  4. Click the arrow in the section that lists all skill templates to show the special skill templates.
  5. Click the special skill template that you want to apply.
  6. Click Save.

Review the result of the detailed forecast. The total forecasted hours per day, with and without shrinkage, is shown in the skill table on day level.

  1. Drill down to intraday level to review the forecasted number of agents per interval, with and without shrinkage.
  2. Click Save to save the forecast.

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