Keep call centers on track by monitoring agent adherence

Enterprise Networks & Servers, May 2005 by Cox, Dennis

Call center schedules are notoriously fragile. Agents may arrive late, log in to the wrong work queue, take breaks or lunch at slightly different times than planned or get called away for an unexpected meeting or conference. When too many agents are missing in action, the center's service levels will begin to tumble like the Dow Jones on a bad day.

If 2 percent of agents are not at their assigned posts, for example, the percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds or whatever performance objective has been used in creating the schedule typically will drop by 10 percent. If 10 percent of the agents are out of sync, fully half of the center's incoming calls will likely not be answered within the target time frame.

The repercussions can be severe. Understaffing caused by agents' failure to adhere to their schedules can lead to abandoned calls, irate customers, lost sales and/or an inability to meet service level agreements. This in turn can drive customers to competitors and produce lasting business damage. Overstaffing caused by the same non-conformance issues can translate into wasted labor expense and associated problems.

To avoid these complications, call center supervisors need strategies for nipping adherence violations in the bud. Real-time adherence tools available with many of today's workforce scheduling applications can help by automatically alerting managers when agents are out of compliance. This makes it possible to flag minor lapses before they turn into major crises.

Reasons for non-adherence

Agents' failure to be in the right place at the right time can stem from many factors besides obvious reasons like tardiness, bathroom visits or failure to promptly return to their desks after scheduled breaks.

They may be tied up on a customer phone call when breaks or lunches are supposed to begin. They may be summoned to an unexpected consultation with a supervisor, a last-minute meeting or a training session that schedulers forgot to slot into the calendar. They may be handling incoming calls when they are supposed to be responding to e-mails.

If only a few agents are out of compliance, overall performance probably will not be compromised. But if too many agents are AWOL for too long, the domino effect will kick in. Monitoring adherence on a real-time basis can identify the problem early enough to permit corrective action to be taken before too many dominoes have fallen.

How adherence monitoring works

While call centers with fewer than 50 seats may be able to track agent activity simply by looking around the room, larger operations can benefit from the use of automated agent adherence systems that come as optional modules with the more advanced workforce scheduling programs. These adherence systems communicate with the call center's Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) to determine each agent's current activity and compare that information to his or her assigned schedule.

Supervisors can view adherence status at any time in a special window that is refreshed every 30 seconds or on the timetable of the user's choice. When an agent's "state" does not match the schedule, the system typically spotlights the discrepancy by a visual device such as color-coding.

The more comprehensive systems arm supervisors with important additional information by indicating the nature of the violation (e.g. late start, improper activity, logged out early) as well as the agent's current state (e.g. ACD inbound, logged off, after-call work) and the duration of the problem.

In addition to offering real-time insight into what agents are doing, these systems allow the call center to set adherence targets that define the amount of time an individual agent should be engaged in scheduled activities on a weekly or monthly basis. These targets are then used in reports that track each agent's performance over time to aid in personnel evaluations and ongoing quality-of-service efforts.

Getting results

While real-time adherence monitoring can help strengthen a call center's performance, some managers are reluctant to use it for fear of a backlash by agents who may dislike the idea of having the system constantly look over their shoulders. Call centers can combat this perception, and simultaneously achieve peak results, by following several basic rules.

Rule 1 : Set realistic adherence goals

No agent can be on task every minute of every day. Attempting to force 100 percent compliance will backfire, both by alienating agents and by tacitly encouraging them to end calls prematurely in order to meet their adherence targets. This will take an unacceptable toll on customer service.

For most call centers, adherence goals should be in the 90 percent to 95 percent range - that is, individual agents should be engaged in scheduled activities 90 to 95 percent of the time over the course of a week or a month. This provides some latitude for minor scheduling oversights, unforeseen developments, and necessities like bathroom breaks. Of course, due allowance needs to be made for this when calculating agent numbers.