Top 10 Buzzwords Sounding Important in Call Center Scheduling and Call Center Staffing

The last time you heard from us was when we discussed top 11 buzzwords of Call Center Outsourcing Services. This time, we are going to take a trip down to call center scheduling and staffing and understanding what are the top ten keywords that keep it alive and kicking?

1) Workforce Optimization (WFO): A technology consisting the tools and weapons of workforce, efficiency and performance management to keep everything under check such as quality monitoring, liability assets, speech analytics and recording.

2) Shrinkage: The percentage of time in which no calls or productivity is reported by agents like calling in sick, vacation time, leaves and training.

3) Erlang B: A modeling formula used in call center scheduling to assess the workforce and number of call joints required to answer calls during a one-hour period.

4) Erlang C: This formula is used to calculate delays or wait times during calls by an agent. Erlang C is based on the factors like number of agents at given time, number of callers waiting to get through and average time to respond.

5) Automatic Call Distributor (ACD): A telephonic facility to manage incoming calls based on the previously stored preferences and handling instructions for caller.

6) Trunk: A trunk is a connective device to handle multiple signals and switching centers. These signals could be voice, data, image or videos.

7) Auxiliary time: It is a time when call center agent is not working and also not taking the calls. This can also be referred as unavailable time.

8) 24-7 Call Center: 24/7 call center is always on the go 24 hours, seven days and 365 days a year. They operate in two or three shifts rotation as per the convenience.

9) Call Volume: The flow or numbers of calls received by call center at given point of time. It can vary as per the demand or season.

10) Night Shift: Generally referred as Graveyard shift it is difficult for both the management and agents. Establishing biological clocks at unusual time demands lots of patience and focus.