Easy Start Call Center Scheduler User Guide

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2 Overview of Easy Start Call Center Scheduler...1 Installation Instructions...2 System Requirements...2 Single-User License...2 Installing Easy Start Call Center Scheduler...2 Installing from the Easy Start Call Center Scheduler CD...2 Installing files downloaded from the Internet...2 Setting Excel Security Level (does not apply to Excel 97)...2 User Guide...3 Security Issues (Microsoft Excel 2000 and higher)...3 Creating a New Schedule...4 Introduction to the Control Center...5 Scheduling Settings...6 Schedule Date...6 Hours of Operation...6 Time Display...8 Staff Roster...8 Activity Codes...9 Save Your Schedule...11 Phone Work Settings (used for all service level work)...12 Daily Call Volume Forecast...12 Average Handle Time by Interval...13 Adherence Rate by Interval...14 Percentage Call Volume by Interval...15 Service Level Objective...16 Save Your Schedule Work Settings (used for all response time work)...18 Daily Volume/On-Hand Forecast...18 Average Completion Time...19 Efficiency Factor By Interval...20 Percentage Volume By Interval...21 Save Your Schedule...22 Producing the Schedules...23 Viewing, Understanding and Using Your Schedule...24 Phone Projections Worksheet...25 Single-User License...25 Date...26 Daily Call Volume Projection...26 Service Level Percentage Goal and Service Level Time (seconds)...26

3 Interval...26 Interval %...27 Interval Projection...27 Talk Time and After Call Work...27 Staff Required on Phones...28 Adherence Rate...28 Phone Schedule Requirement...28 EM Run Rate Worksheet...29 Date...30 On-Hand Start of Day...30 Daily Volume Forecast...30 Interval...30 Interval %...30 Interval Projection...31 Total Available for Processing...31 Average Completion Time (seconds)...31 Efficiency Factor...31 Expected Production Based on Schedule...32 Projected On-Hand End of Interval...32 Individual Schedules Worksheet...33 Schedule Impact...33 Agent Schedules...35 Activity Code Summary...35 Summary Report Worksheet...36 Rows 1 & Interval...36 Required Phone Staff...36 Scheduled Phone Staff...37 Gap...37 Projected Service Level...37 Projected Occupancy Rate...37 Projected On-Hand...38 Activity Summary Worksheet...39 Working with Schedules...40 Saving a Schedule Template...40 Evaluate Your Schedules vs Actual Results...40 Save Your Old Schedules...40 Bibliography of Additional Resources...41 About International Customer Management Institute (ICMI)...42

4 Overview of Easy Start Call Center Scheduler Easy Start Call Center Scheduler is true to its name: it s easy to get started scheduling agents to meet service level and response time objectives using a customized Excel spreadsheet. The application s intuitive user interface (the Control Center) and fact-filled dialogue boxes allow you to learn as you go making this User Guide supplementary, rather than required reading. There is no substitute for knowledge and understanding, however, when it comes to incoming calls management. If you have attended a course such as ICMI s Essential Skills & Knowledge for Effective Incoming Call Center Management or have read books such as Call Center Management on Fast Forward: Succeeding in Today s Dynamic Inbound Environment, or subscribe to industry journals such as Call Center Management Review, then the scheduling concepts used in Easy Start Call Center Scheduler should be familiar to you. ICMI has been educating call center managers since 1985, and Easy Start Call Center Scheduler is simply an extension using software of the principles of incoming calls management that we ve taught to more than 70,000 of your peers. We can t teach you all the concepts of effective incoming calls management in the few short pages of this User Guide, but we are committed to offering you all the resources you need to master them. That s why we have included with this software an excellent resource for further reading: Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling: The Best of Call Center Management Review. If you have time, we recommend you read the entire book (it s only 91 pages). But we know time can be a scarce resource for call center managers, so we ve made it easy for you to find the parts of the book that will help you the most. You will find references throughout this User Guide to specific chapters in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling that elaborate on or provide valuable explanations of the concepts underlying Easy Start Call Center Scheduler. In addition, at the end of this User Guide there is a bibliography of additional resources related to call center scheduling. There is an even faster way to learn how to set up Easy Start Call Center Scheduler for maximum effectiveness in your operation. You can have the experts who designed it come set it up for you. ICMI s Consultants designed the Easy Start Call Center Scheduler based on years of experience helping call centers solve scheduling problems. If you d like more information about ICMI s Consulting packages, please call or visit our web site at ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 1 of 41

5 Installation Instructions SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Microsoft Windows 9x, NT 4.0, 2000 or XP Microsoft Excel 97 (with SR-2) or Microsoft Excel 2000, 2002 or 2003 (with all latest patches installed) 6 MB free hard disk space Single-User License Each copy of Easy Start Call Center Scheduler that you purchase is a license for installation on one personal computer. Please contact ICMI at or for information about multiple purchase discounts. Installing Easy Start Call Center Scheduler INSTALLING FROM THE EASY START CALL CENTER SCHEDULER CD 1. Verify that Microsoft Excel is not running (close it if it is) 2. Insert the Easy Start Call Center Scheduler CD into your CD-ROM drive 3. Open the file named EasyStartSetup.exe and follow the steps in the installer program. INSTALLING FILES DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET Open the file named EasyStartSetup.exe and follow the steps in the installer program. Only the book, Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling: The Best of Call Center Management Review, will be shipped to you. SETTING EXCEL SECURITY LEVEL (DOES NOT APPLY TO EXCEL 97) 1. Select Tools from the menu bar and select Macro and then Security 2. In the Security dialogue box that opens, select Medium or Low (the High setting disables Easy Start Call Center Scheduler s macros, making it unusable). 3. Click on OK ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 2 of 41

6 USER GUIDE The documentation for EasyStart Call Center Scheduler (which you are reading right now) is provided in the form of a PDF file. To use the Help feature, you must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. You can download a copy of Adobe Reader at Hours of Operation Issue: Do not enter the same start time and stop time for the Hours of Operation. This will cause a circular reference and produce an unusable schedule file. For 24-hour operations, enter 12:00 AM as the start time and 11:59 PM as the stop time. SECURITY ISSUES (MICROSOFT EXCEL 2000 AND HIGHER) Microsoft Excel 2000 or higher has three security settings: High, Medium, and Low. You must set your Excel security to either Medium or Low to use any Excel macros. As part of the installation process (see above), you should have set the security level to Medium. The Medium setting gives you protection against computer viruses by allowing you to decide for each file you open whether or not to enable macros. In order to use Easy Start Call Center Scheduler, you will need to enable macros each time you open a schedule that you have saved, because Easy Start Call Center Scheduler uses Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to store your schedule s settings. Please note that if you install a security update file from Microsoft s web site, your Excel security settings may automatically be re-set to High by Microsoft. If saved schedules fail to function properly, please check your Excel security settings (see Setting Excel Security Level, above) ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 3 of 41

7 Creating a New Schedule After you install Easy Start Call Center Scheduler (see Installation Instructions, above), you ll see a new menu selection in Microsoft Excel: Easy Start. (It should appear between Data and Window in your Excel menu bar.) Click on the Easy Start menu selection and then select Create New Schedule from the list of choices. It usually takes a few seconds for the new spreadsheet to be generated (how long it actually takes depends on your computer). The spreadsheet is ready to use as soon as you see the message box announcing You may now use the Control Center to enter settings for your new schedule. Click OK to proceed ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 4 of 41

8 Introduction to the Control Center The Control Center is the worksheet where you set up your schedule. There are three parts of the Control Center: (1) Scheduling Settings, (2) Phone Settings (used for all service level work), and (3) Work Settings (used for all response time work). All three sections provide the option of using a step-by-step wizard or clicking on buttons representing each of the inputs required to generate a schedule. You must enter all of the required inputs on the Control Center before Easy Start Call Center Scheduler can generate a schedule customized for your operation. After you have generated a schedule, the Contol Center will serve two additional purposes. First, it can be used to make changes to your schedule. Second, it displays a dashboard summary of key inputs for your schedule for handy at a glance reference. Note: Click on Return when you have finished entering values in any of the dialogue boxes in Easy Start Call Center Scheduler. If you change your mind and do not want to use the values you ve entered, click on Cancel instead. If you need more information, click on Help to launch this user s guide ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 5 of 41

9 Scheduling Settings In the upper right section of the Control Center, find the Scheduling Settings. Clicking on the Use Wizard button triggers a step-by-step process for completing the requirements of this section. Since the wizard is intended to be self-explanatory, we ll simply explain in this User Guide how to use each of the buttons individually. SCHEDULE DATE Enter the date for which the schedule is being created. This date will appear on all parts of your schedule, for ease of reference. Note that Easy Start Call Center Scheduler only creates schedules for one day, but you can create as many different daily schedules as you want and save them as separate Excel files. Click on Return when you are finished. HOURS OF OPERATION Enter the time of day that your agents report to your call center for work (the start of the earliest shift), and the time that they end their day (the end of the latest shift). Be sure to select the correct AM or PM button for the start and closing times. If your operation is open 24-hours, enter 12:00 AM for the start and 11:59 PM for the closing time ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 6 of 41

10 Hours of Operation Issue: Do not enter the same start time and stop time for the Hours of Operation. This will cause a circular reference and produce an unusable schedule file. For 24-hour operations, enter 12:00 AM as the start time and 11:59 PM as the stop time. You also must select the interval length for your historical data. ACDs capture and report data for every interval of the day, but different call centers set their ACD s to use intervals of different lengths: 15-minute (quarter-hour), 30-minute (half-hour), or 60-minute (hour). In order to forecast accurately, you ll need to compile historical data from your ACD reports, so you must select the same interval length in Easy Start Call Center Scheduler that is shown on your ACD reports. [For more information about using historical data to develop forecasts, read Chapter 2 of Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 14.] Click on Return when you are finished. WARNING: Once a schedule has been generated, changes cannot be made to the Hours of Operation or Historic Data Intervals without erasing all of the interval-level settings in your schedule. If you need to change the Hours of Operation or Historic Data Intervals later, we recommend you save your current schedule first and then save it again with a new filename. That way you ll still have your original schedule in case the results of all of the changes are not what you expected ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 7 of 41

11 TIME DISPLAY Some call centers use AM/PM time notation while some use 24-hour clock notation (e.g., 15:00 instead of 3:00 PM). Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will display time in whichever format you prefer. Simply select the display mode by clicking in the appropriate circle to the right of the Staff Roster button on the Control Center. The default display setting is AM/PM, and the display can be changed at any time. Different users with different preferences can even share the same file by clicking on the option they prefer each time they open the file. Best practices call for including in the staff roster list all agents who normally work on the day being scheduled. If agents are scheduled to be out of the office (e.g., vacation, long term disability, jury duty, etc.) they should still appear in the staff roster, but their schedules should be filled with codes that represent the reason they will be unavailable. [Also see Activity Codes, below, and for more information on this topic, read Chapter 4 in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 62.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 8 of 41

12 Click on Return when you are finished. NOTE: In order to ensure the integrity of all the calculations built into the Easy Start Call Center Scheduler spreadsheet, you may not modify or sort the agent names or ID numbers on the Individual Schedules worksheet. All staff roster changes must be made by using the Control Center. ACTIVITY CODES Define the Activity Codes that you will use to indicate what each agent is doing during every 15-minute interval of the day. Codes may be one or two characters long, and may consist of either letters, numbers, or both. One code has been defined for you and cannot be changed: P represents work scheduled to meet service level objectives (e.g., Phone Work). You may, however, change the description to anything you like. For example, if the service level work you are scheduling is Text Chat or Call Me work from your Web site, those descriptions would make your schedule easier to understand. DEFINE AT LEAST ONE ACTIVITY CODE: In order to create your schedules properly, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler requires you to define at least one activity code in addition to the "P" for Phone code ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 9 of 41

13 If you want to schedule response time work (e.g., , fax, correspondence processing, etc.) then you must change the default N/A value for work to a code of your choice, and Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will use that code to create the Run Rate calculations for your schedule. You may also change the description for this code from Work to whatever you like. If you do not want to schedule any response time objective work, leave the code as N/A (you can always return to the Control Center and change it later). All other planned activities should be defined with codes so that agents know exactly what they are supposed to be doing throughout the day. Some of the most commonly defined activities include training, meetings, paid break, unpaid break, lunch, and pending work. In the long run, it is also best to create codes that account for the different reasons that agents don t come to the call center (e.g., paid time off, unpaid time off, disability, maternity leave or jury duty) instead of deleting agents from schedules on days when they won t be in the center. The level of detail you use in your activity code tracking is up to you: there is a trade-off between the value of detailed data and the cost of creating and maintaining it. The Activity Summary report will include all of the codes you define, so you ll be able to explain the difference between the number of agents you have on payroll (your rostered staff) and the number available to handle calls and response time work on any given day. [For more information on this topic, read Chapter 4 in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 62.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 10 of 41

14 Click on Return when you are finished. NOTE: In order to ensure the integrity of all the calculations built into the Easy Start Call Center Scheduler spreadsheet, you may not modify or sort the Activity Codes or descriptions on the Individual Schedules worksheet. All Activity Code changes must be made by using the Control Center. SAVE YOUR SCHEDULE If you have not already done so, it would be a good idea to save your schedule after entering all of these settings. We recommend using a descriptive and distinctive filename for each of the schedules you create. Including the date in the filename can prove very useful when searching for the schedule we used on the day after Labor Day last year, for example ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 11 of 41

15 Phone Work Settings (used for all service level work) The Schedule Settings should all be entered before entering the Phone Work Settings, since Easy Start Call Center Scheduler first needs to know your hours of operation and the length of your historic data intervals (see Schedule Settings, above). All of the Phone Work Settings must be entered before Easy Start Call Center Scheduler can generate a customized schedule for your operation. You may use either the step-bystep interactive wizard or the individual buttons to enter the Phone Work Settings. Three of the Phone Work Settings must be supplied at the interval level: Average Handle Time by Interval, Adherence Rate by Interval, and Percentage Call Volume by Interval. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will ask you to enter data for these settings for every interval that your call center is open, at the level of detail that you selected as corresponding to your ACD s settings (see Historical Data Intervals, under Hours of Operation in the Schedule Settings). You may use the Phone Settings to schedule any type of work that has service level objectives. Service level objectives (e.g., the percentage of incoming calls that should be answered within a specified threshold) are appropriate for any work that arrives randomly and must be handled immediately. In addition to incoming telephone calls, some of the newer technology channels are well-suited for using service level objectives: text chat/instant messaging, call me or help me buttons on Web sites, and video conferencing kiosks. DAILY CALL VOLUME FORECAST Enter the total number of calls or other service level work expected for the day being scheduled. [For more information on forecasting, read Chapter 2 in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 14.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 12 of 41

16 Click on Return when you are finished. AVERAGE HANDLE TIME BY INTERVAL Average handle time (AHT) is the sum of average talk time plus average after call work time (also known as wrap time). Enter the average talk time and after call work time forecasts in seconds for each interval of the day. For your convenience during set up, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will apply the initial values you enter for talk time and after call work time to every interval of the day. This will get you started fast, but the best way to forecast AHT is to calculate separate averages for every interval of the day by using a representative sample of historical interval reports from your ACD. Just as calls tend to arrive in consistent patterns during the day, average handle time often varies predictably during the day. [For more information on average handle time, see Getting a Handle on Average Handle Time, by Brad Cleveland, Call Center Management Review, September 1996, ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 13 of 41

17 Click on Return when you are finished. ADHERENCE RATE BY INTERVAL Enter the adherence rate (without the % symbol, meaning 90% should be entered as 90). Adherence rates typically do not vary much by interval, so Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will apply the first value you enter to every interval. You can then change the rates by selecting specific intervals, if you wish. The adherence rate is defined as actual results compared to schedule. For example, an adherence rate of 90% indicates that agents will be logged on for 54 minutes (.90 x 60) of every hour scheduled. When used as part of a staffing calculation, the adherence rate adjusts for those short, unscheduled events that cause an agent to become unavailable. Most organizations that measure this statistic report results between 85% and 95% ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 14 of 41

18 Click on Return when you are finished. PERCENTAGE CALL VOLUME BY INTERVAL Enter the percentage of calls that you forecast will arrive during each interval of the day (do not enter the % symbol, meaning 10% should be entered as 10). Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will forecast the number of calls for each interval by multiplying the Daily Call Volume Forecast times the percentage that you have assigned to each interval. For your convenience, you can see the sum of the values you have entered in the Total % displayed. You will also see the number of intervals remaining ( Intervals Left ) for which you must enter data. When you have entered values for every interval, the sum of these percentages should be 100%. To help you detect data entry errors, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will display a warning message if you click on Return when the total of the percentages entered is not exactly 100%. If your variance from 100% is very small (e.g., within +/- 0.5%), you may find upon checking that it is simply the result of small rounding errors, and so can be safely ignored. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will accept data containing as many decimal places as you wish to enter, but will only display the first three decimal places ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 15 of 41

19 SERVICE LEVEL OBJECTIVE Enter your service level objectives: the percentage of incoming calls that are answered within a specified threshold. In other words, what percentage of calls should be answered in how many seconds? [For more information on service level objectives, read Chapter 1 in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 2.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 16 of 41

20 Click on Return when you are finished. SAVE YOUR SCHEDULE If you have not already done so, it would be a good idea to save your schedule after entering all of these settings. We recommend using a descriptive and distinctive filename for each of the schedules you create. Including the date in the filename can prove very useful when searching for the schedule we used on the day after Labor Day last year, for example ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 17 of 41

21 Work Settings (used for all response time work) The Schedule Settings should all be entered before the Work Settings can be entered, since Easy Start Call Center Scheduler first needs to know your hours of operation and the length of your historic data intervals (see Schedule Settings, above). Most important, you must define an Activity Code other than N/A for in order to use the Work Settings (see Activity Codes, under Schedule Settings, above). All of the Work Settings must be entered before Easy Start Call Center Scheduler can generate a customized schedule for your operation. You may use either the step-by-step interactive wizard or the individual buttons to enter the Work Settings. Three of the Work Settings must be supplied at the interval level: Average Completion Time by Interval, Efficiency Factor by Interval, and Percentage Volume by Interval. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will ask you to enter data for these settings for every interval that your call center is open, at the level of detail that you selected as corresponding to your ACD s settings (see Historical Data Intervals, under Hours of Operation in the Schedule Settings). You may also use the Settings to schedule any type of work that has response time objectives. Response time objectives (e.g., respond to within 6 hours) are appropriate for work that does not have to be handled when it arrives. In addition to , call centers may establish response time objectives for work such as correspondence, faxes, voic , and videomail. [For more information on response time objectives, read Chapter 1 in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 2.] DAILY VOLUME/ON-HAND FORECAST Enter the total volume of or other response time work expected for the day being scheduled. Enter the amount of work expected to be on-hand at the start of the day (work that arrived on a previous day and has not been completed) ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 18 of 41

22 Click on Return when you are finished. NOTE: You cannot use the Work Settings until you have changed the Activity Code for Work. See Activity Codes, above. AVERAGE COMPLETION TIME Enter the average amount of time, in seconds, required to complete a transaction. For your convenience during set up, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will apply the initial value you enter to every interval of the day. Since average completion time does not generally fluctuate according to the time of day, most call centers will not need to change the values for specific intervals, but that option is available by clicking on any interval. Click on Return when you are finished. Try to estimate the amount of time spent actually working, rather than elapsed time. For example, if an is opened at 1:15 and is worked on until a phone call arrives at 1:17 and then work on the same resumes at 1:20 and the work on the is completed at 1:21, then the completion time is 3 minutes (3 x 60 = 180 seconds). Unlike phone statistics, which pour out of your ACD like water, finding good completion time statistics for your response time work may be difficult. In many cases, the best approach is to get out stopwatches, ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 19 of 41

23 observe staff at work, and collect data by making as many observations as you practically can. A shortcut approach is to take the amount of time staff were at their desks working and divide by the number of transactions they completed. However, you won t be able to calculate an Efficiency Factor with such data (see below), and you ll have to make sure no other work (e.g., phone calls) was done, or your average completion time estimate will be distorted. EFFICIENCY FACTOR BY INTERVAL Enter the efficiency factor (without the % symbol, meaning 90% should be entered as 90). Efficiency factors typically do not vary much by interval, so Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will apply the first value you enter to every interval. You can then change the rates by selecting specific intervals, if you wish. Click on Return when you are finished. The efficiency factor is defined as actual results compared to schedule. For example, an efficiency factor of 90% indicates that staff will be actually working on transactions for 54 minutes (.90 x 60) of every hour scheduled. When used as part of a staffing calculation, the efficiency factor adjusts for those short, unscheduled events that cause staff to stop working. Most organizations that measure this statistic report results between 85% and 95% ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 20 of 41

24 PERCENTAGE VOLUME BY INTERVAL Enter the percentage of that you forecast will arrive during each interval of the day (do not enter the % symbol, meaning 10% should be entered as 10). Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will forecast the number of s for each interval by multiplying the Daily Volume Forecast times the percentage that you have assigned to each interval. For your convenience, you can see the sum of the values you have entered in the Total % displayed. You will also see the number of intervals remaining ( Intervals Left ) for which you must enter data. When you have entered values for every interval, the sum of these percentages should be 100%. To help you detect data entry errors, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will display a warning message if you click on Return when the total of the percentages entered is not exactly 100%. If your variance from 100% is very small (e.g., within +/- 0.5%), you may find upon checking that it is simply the result of small rounding errors, and so can be safely ignored. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will accept data containing as many decimal places as you wish to enter, but will only display the first three decimal places ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 21 of 41

25 SAVE YOUR SCHEDULE If you have not already done so, it would be a good idea to save your schedule after entering all of these settings. We recommend using a descriptive and distinctive filename for each of the schedules you create. Including the date in the filename can prove very useful when searching for the schedule we used on the day after Labor Day last year, for example ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 22 of 41

26 Producing the Schedules Once you have entered all of the settings required on the Control Center, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will produce the schedule you have created. First, you ll get one last chance to go back and make changes. If you d like to review the settings, click on the Prev button to see the previously entered settings. When you are ready, click on Finish to create your schedule ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 23 of 41

27 Viewing, Understanding and Using Your Schedule After you have established all of the required settings on the Control Center (see Scheduling Settings, Phone Work Settings, and Work Settings, above), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will create five new named worksheets (or tabs ) within the current workbook: Phone Projections, EM Run Rate, Individual Schedules, Summary Report and Activity Report. Each will be customized for your operation, based on the settings you entered. (If you did not change the Activity Code and enter Work Settings, then you will not see the EM Run Rate tab.) On the Control Center itself you will see a summary of your schedule s inputs. The date and hours of operation are displayed in the Scheduling Settings. The Daily Call Volume Forecast and Service Level Objective are displayed in the Phone Work Settings. In addition, your Average Handle Time by Interval and Adherence Rate by Interval are displayed as weighted averages of the values you entered for each interval in the day. The Daily Volume/On-hand Forecast (New Work and On Hand) are displayed in the Work Settings. And your Average Completion Time by Interval and Efficiency Factor by Interval are displayed as weighted averages of the values you entered for each interval in the day ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 24 of 41

28 Notes: You may not change the names of the worksheets generated by Easy Start Call Center Scheduler. If you do change the names of any of these tabs your schedule will become unusable. You may, however, insert as many new worksheets as you like into your schedule file, and name them as you wish. When Easy Start Call Center Scheduler first generates the worksheets customized for your operation, all agent work assignments are blank. See Individual Schedules, below, to learn how to assign activities to agents for each interval of their day. Phone Projections Worksheet The Phone Projections worksheet is your interval-by-interval forecast of the incoming call workload for the day being scheduled. It breaks down the Daily Call Volume Forecast for each interval and uses Erlang C to calculate the number of agents required to meet your service level objectives. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler is designed to be a foundation upon which you can build as you see fit. You may use any of the columns to the right and the rows below where Easy Start Call Center Scheduler s results are displayed to add any calculations or data that you wish ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 25 of 41

29 NOTE: The color blue indicates areas of the workbook that you can modify directly. You may type or paste new values in any of the cells that display a blue font. DATE The date shown is the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Schedule Settings. Changes to the date can only be made from the Control Center, so that Easy Start Call Center Scheduler can apply changes consistently throughout the workbook. DAILY CALL VOLUME PROJECTION The number shown is the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Phone Work Settings. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change the forecast. As soon as you change the forecast (in cell C2 on the Phone Projections tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. SERVICE LEVEL PERCENTAGE GOAL AND SERVICE LEVEL TIME (SECONDS) The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Phone Work Settings. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change your service level objective settings. As soon as you change the percentage of calls to answer (in cell C3 on the Phone Projections tab) or the threshold for answering calls (in cell C4), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. Organizations rarely change their service level objectives. The option to make changes is provided primarily for what if scenario planning and to simplify set up for call centers that have different service level objectives for different types of calls. INTERVAL This column shows the starting time for each interval of the day, as you specified in the Control Center in the Scheduling Settings. For example, if you selected hourly intervals, an 8:00 AM start time, and AM/PM time display, the 8:00 AM shown in cell A9 would represent the interval of the day that starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 9:00 AM. You may not change the interval values after the schedule has been created, except by erasing all of the interval-level settings in your schedule. The opening and closing time of your call center and the interval length are prerequisites for these settings, so if you need to change them we recommend you save your current schedule first and then save it again with a new filename. That way you ll still have your original schedule in case the results of all of the changes are not what you expected. These changes must be made from the Control Center ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 26 of 41

30 INTERVAL % This column shows the percentage of the total calls expected to arrive during each interval. The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Phone Work Settings. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change these percentages. As soon as you change any of these values (in column B on the Phone Projections tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. If you have calculated these percentages in another Excel spreadsheet, you may copy and paste them here (be sure to only paste the values, not any formulas). Check that the percentages still add up to 100% after your changes: Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will not warn you if they don t, and your forecast will be inaccurate if all of the daily call volume has not been allocated. NOTE: The custom Erlang C calculations used in Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will re-calculate automatically after every change to a cell s value is entered. However, changes in the result of formulas will not be detected, so do not create formulas in the blue cells. You may perform calculations elsewhere (even to the right and below on this worksheet, or in a new worksheet in this workbook) and then paste-value the results here. INTERVAL PROJECTION This column shows the number of calls projected for each interval. It multiplies the Daily Call Volume Forecast times the Percentage Call Volume By Interval, and displays the rounded whole number result. The formulas in this column may not be modified. TALK TIME AND AFTER CALL WORK The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Phone Work Settings. The sum of talk time and after call work time is average handle time, which is used in the Erlang C calculations for the required staff. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change these values. As soon as you make any changes (in columns E or F on the Phone Projections tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. If you have calculated these times in another Excel spreadsheet, you may copy and paste them here (be sure to only paste the values, not any formulas) ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 27 of 41

31 NOTE: The custom Erlang C calculations used in Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will re-calculate automatically after every change to a cell s value is entered. However, changes in the result of formulas would not be detected, so do not create formulas in the blue cells. You may perform calculations elsewhere (even to the right and below on this worksheet, or in a new worksheet in this workbook) and then paste-value the results here. STAFF REQUIRED ON PHONES This column shows the number of agents required to handle the workload (number of calls times average handle time) projected for each interval. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler calculates the agents required to meet your service level objectives by using Erlang C calculations programmed in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Results are immediately re-calculated when you enter any changes to the input values. The contents of this column may not be modified. ADHERENCE RATE The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Phone Work Settings. The adherence rate is defined as actual results compared to schedule (see Adherence Rate By Interval, above). You do not have to return to the Control Center to change these values. As soon as you make any changes (in column H on the Phone Projections tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. If you have calculated these percentages in another Excel spreadsheet, you may copy and paste them here (be sure to only paste the values, not any formulas). NOTE: The custom Erlang C calculations used in Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will re-calculate automatically after every change to a cell s value is entered. However, changes in the result of formulas would not be detected, so do not create formulas in the blue cells. You may perform calculations elsewhere (even to the right and below on this worksheet, or in a new worksheet in this workbook) and then paste-value the results here. PHONE SCHEDULE REQUIREMENT This column shows the number of agents that need to be scheduled on the phone for each interval. It divides the Staff Required on the Phones by the Adherence Rate, and displays the result rounded to tenths. The formulas in this column may not be modified. The Phone Schedule Requirement accounts for the degree to which agents in your call center adhere to their schedules. To meet your service level objectives, you need to assign the number of agents shown in the Phone Schedule Requirement column. For your convenience, these numbers are carried over to the Individual Schedules worksheet, so you can quickly see how well the schedules you have created for agents ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 28 of 41

32 will meet your service level objectives. (See Individual Schedules, below) EM Run Rate Worksheet The EM Run Rate worksheet is your interval-by-interval forecast of the or response time objective workload for the day being scheduled. It starts with the projected On-Hand volume and then breaks down the Daily Volume Forecast for each interval and uses the number of agents scheduled to calculate (a) the amount of work you will complete and (b) have on hand at the end of every interval (your run rate ). [To learn more about scheduling staff to meet response time objectives, especially for , see in particular George Nichols articles listed in the Bibliography of Additional Resources, below.] Easy Start Call Center Scheduler is designed to be a foundation upon which you can build as you see fit. You may use any of the columns to the right and the rows below where Easy Start Call Center Scheduler s results are displayed to add any calculations or data that you wish. NOTE: The color blue indicates areas of the workbook that you can modify directly. You may type or paste new values in any of the cells that display a blue font ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 29 of 41

33 DATE The date shown is the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Schedule Settings. Changes to the date can only be made from the Control Center, so that Easy Start Call Center Scheduler can apply changes consistently throughout the workbook. ON-HAND START OF DAY The number shown is the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Work Settings. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change the forecast. As soon as you change the forecast (in cell C2 on the EM Run Rate tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. DAILY VOLUME FORECAST The number shown is the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Work Settings. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change the forecast. As soon as you change the forecast (in cell C3 on the EM Run Rate tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. INTERVAL This column shows the starting time for each interval of the day, as you specified in the Control Center in the Scheduling Settings. For example, if you selected hourly intervals, an 8:00 AM start time, and AM/PM time display, the 8:00 AM shown in cell A9 would represent the interval of the day that starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 9:00 AM. You may not change the interval values after the schedule has been created without erasing all of the interval-level settings. The opening and closing time of your call center and the interval length are prerequisites for these settings, so if you need to change them we recommend you save your current schedule first and then save it again with a new filename. That way you ll still have your original schedule in case the results of all of the changes are not what you expected. These changes must be made from the Control Center. INTERVAL % This column shows the percentage of the total Daily Volume Forecast expected to arrive during each interval. The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Work Settings. You do not have to return to the Control Center to change these percentages. As soon as you change any of these values (in column B on the EM Run Rate tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately recalculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. If you have calculated these percentages in another Excel spreadsheet, you may copy and paste them here. Check that the percentages still add up to 100% ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 30 of 41

34 after your changes: Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will not warn you if they don t, and your forecast will be inaccurate if all of the Daily Volume Forecast has not been allocated. INTERVAL PROJECTION This column shows the number of or other response time transactions projected to arrive during each interval. It multiplies the Daily Volume Forecast times the Percentage Volume By Interval, and displays the rounded whole number result. The formulas in this column may not be modified. TOTAL AVAILABLE FOR PROCESSING This column shows how many or other response time transactions will be available for agents to work on during each interval. It adds the number of pieces arriving during the interval to the number on-hand at the end of the previous interval, and displays the rounded whole number result. The formulas in this column may not be modified. This column is important because staff cannot process more work than is available. In scheduling staff for or other response time transactions, you need to make sure that the Expected Production Based on Schedule (see below) does not significantly exceed the Total Available for Processing, or you will waste time when your staff runs out of work to process before the end of the interval. Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will alert you when you have scheduled excess staff by displaying the Expected Production Based on Schedule for the interval in red (see below). AVERAGE COMPLETION TIME (SECONDS) The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Work Settings. The average completion time is used in the calculations for the Expected Production Based on Schedule. (See Average Completion Time, under Work Settings, above, for important information about developing these estimates.) You do not have to return to the Control Center to change these values. As soon as you make any changes (in column E on the EM Run Rate tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. If you have calculated these times in another Excel spreadsheet, you may copy and paste them here. EFFICIENCY FACTOR The numbers shown are the same as you entered on the Control Center, in the Work Settings. The efficiency factor is defined as actual results compared to schedule (see Efficiency Factor By Interval, above) ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 31 of 41

35 You do not have to return to the Control Center to change these values. As soon as you make any changes (in column F on the EM Run Rate tab), Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will immediately re-calculate the entire workbook to reflect the changes. If you have calculated these percentages in another Excel spreadsheet, you may copy and paste them here. EXPECTED PRODUCTION BASED ON SCHEDULE This column shows the amount of work (number of pieces of or other response time transactions) that the agents scheduled for each interval would be expected to complete, taking into account the Efficiency Factor. However, these calculations do not take into account how many items are actually available for processing. You must compare the Expected Production Based on Schedule to the Total Available for Processing to ensure that you have not scheduled more staff than is needed for each interval, since staff cannot complete work that has not yet arrived. To help you detect overstaffed intervals, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler displays the Expected Production Based on Schedule in red whenever it exceeds the Total Available for Processing. Since you cannot actually schedule fractions of agents for an interval, your scheduled capacity will rarely match the needed capacity exactly. You should check all red intervals to see whether removing agents produces more desirable results, but slight overstaffing in some intervals may well be unavoidable. The contents of this column may not be modified. PROJECTED ON-HAND END OF INTERVAL This column shows how many pieces of unprocessed or other response time work you can expect to have on-hand at the end of each interval. It subtracts the number of pieces completed during the interval from the Total Available for Processing, and displays the result rounded to tenths. Since it is impossible to process more work than is available, the maximum number of pieces that can be completed is the Total Available for Processing (see Total Available for Processing, above). The On-Hand number can never be negative. The formulas in this column may not be modified. The result shown for the last interval of the day is the amount of work that will not have been completed when your operation closes for the day. In other words, it is the amount that will be on-hand at the start of the next day ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 32 of 41

36 Individual Schedules Worksheet The Individual Schedules Worksheet is where you create schedules for every agent. When you first generate a new schedule with Easy Start Call Center Scheduler, agent schedules are blank until you assign an Activity Code to each interval of each agent s day. Any calculations that depend upon scheduled staff will reflect this. The Individual Schedules worksheet contains all the information you need to adjust agent schedules to meet your service level objectives. There are three main parts of the Individual Schedules worksheet: Schedule Impact, Agent Schedules, and Activity Code Summary. NOTE: The color blue indicates areas of the workbook that you can modify directly. You may type or paste new values in any of the cells that display a blue font. SCHEDULE IMPACT At the top of the Individual Schedules worksheet, rows 5 12 display critical details about the effectiveness of the agent schedules you have created (see Agent Schedules, below, to learn how to schedule agents for activities). The Required Staff (row 6) displays the results calculated on the Phone Projections worksheet (in the ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 33 of 41

37 Phone Schedule Requirement column) for each 15-minute scheduling interval. This is the number of agents you must assign to the phones in order to meet your service level objectives. Occupancy (row 7) displays the occupancy rate expected if you schedule the Required Staff. This is the percentage of agents signed on time that is spent talking to callers or completing after call work. In order to meet service level objectives and account for the random nature of call arrival, idle time must be built into your schedule (100% minus Occupancy Rate = Idle Time). [To learn more about occupancy rates, read Back to the Basics How Incoming Call Centers Behave (Parts 1 & 2): The Laws of Call Center Nature, in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 54.] Staff Assigned (row 9) totals the number of agents you have assigned to the phones for the interval. Net Variance (row 10) subtracts the Required Staff from the Staff Assigned. Net Variance will be a negative number when you have not assigned enough agents to meet your service level objectives (understaffed), and it will be a positive number when you have more than enough agents assigned (overstaffed). Since you cannot assign fractional agents to an interval, the Net Variance will rarely be zero, but you should strive to minimize Net Variances in order to maximize efficiency. You will want to constantly check this row as you adjust your agents schedules. Service Level (row 11) uses Erlang C to calculate the service level you can expect for each interval with the number of agents you have scheduled to be on the phones, after factoring in your planned adherence rate. If you assign too few staff, your expected service level will be below the objective, and if you assign more agents than required, your expected service level will be above the objective. This row is your reality check so you ll know what service levels to expect with the schedules you have created. Particularly in intervals with low call volumes, you may find that adding or removing one agent from the phones can change the expected service level drastically. You ll need to use your judgment and experience to decide whether to overstaff or understaff in those situations. Occupancy (row 12) displays the occupancy rate that you can expect for the number of agents scheduled on the phones, after factoring in your planned adherence rate. This is the percentage of agents signed on time that is spent talking to callers or completing after call work. In order to meet service level objectives and account for the random nature of call arrival, idle time must be built into your schedule (100% minus Occupancy Rate = Idle Time). If your schedules result in under-staffed intervals, the expected occupancy will be higher than the occupancy you would have seen if you were meeting your service level objectives (see row 7 for the occupancy expected with the required number of agents). If you have over-staffed intervals, then your expected occupancy will be lower. [To learn more about occupancy rates, read Back to the Basics How Incoming Call Centers Behave (Parts 1 & 2): The Laws of Call Center Nature, in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 54.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 34 of 41

38 AGENT SCHEDULES The starting time of each interval is displayed in row 13. In the rows directly below are all of your agents schedules. Agent ID numbers appear in column A and names are in column B. You create agent schedules by entering activity codes for every interval that each agent works. You may copy and paste the contents of one cell or a range of cells, as well as drag the lower right corner of cells to copy them, just as you normally do in Excel. Any changes you make to agents assignments will be immediately reflected in your schedule and in all the related calculations in the workbook. Every code you enter in agents schedules must first be defined by using the Control Center. If you enter a code that has not been defined, Easy Start Call Center Scheduler will pop up a warning and turn the color of the invalid code s cell yellow, until you correct it. You can add, change or delete Activity Codes at any time. Just go to the Control Center and click on the Activity Codes button (see Activity Codes, above). Creating agent schedules should be an iterative process. Many call centers begin with base schedules and then make adjustments based on the forecasted staffing needs. You can do that easily by filling in your agents schedules to reflect a typical day, and then save the Excel file to re-use as a starting point in the future. If you save a copy of this base schedule file under another another filename each time you are ready to develop a new day s schedule, you can simply modify an existing schedule instead of starting from scratch. [For more insight on creating schedules, read Chapter 4 in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, Staffing Strategies: Matching Supply and Demand, starting on page 69.] ACTIVITY CODE SUMMARY Directly below your agents schedules (the row number will vary depending on the number of agents you have), you will find the Activity Code Summary section of the Individual Schedules worksheet. Each Activity Code has its own row, and the number of agents assigned to that Activity Code is shown for every interval of the day. The total number of hours assigned to each activity code is displayed in the column directly to the right of the last interval of your center s day (the column letter will vary depending on the number of intervals for your operation) ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 35 of 41

39 Please note that a summary of this information is shown on the Activity Summary worksheet, with a percentage breakout added (see Activity Summary, below). Summary Report Worksheet The Summary Report worksheet provides a snapshot of what you are expecting for the day scheduled. It goes down to the level of 15-minute scheduling intervals, yet contains only the essential information needed to communicate your outlook for the upcoming day. We recommend using this report as part of your call center s daily communication plans. None of the formulas on this worksheet may be modified, but you are free to use any of the columns to the right and the rows below the report area to build your own formulas or enter actual results (e.g., for plan vs actual comparisons). ROWS 1 & 2 The first two rows display the Date, Daily Call Volume Forecast, On-Hand Start of Day, and On-Hand End of Day. These numbers are the same as shown on the Phone Projections and EM Run Rate worksheets. INTERVAL This column shows the starting time for each 15-minute scheduling interval of the day. For example, if you have an 8:00 AM start time and AM/PM time display, the 8:00 AM shown in cell A5 would represent the interval of the day that starts at 8:00 AM and ends at 8:15 AM. REQUIRED PHONE STAFF The Required Phone Staff displays the results calculated on the Phone Projections worksheet (in the Phone Schedule Requirement column) for each 15-minute scheduling interval. This is the number of agents you must assign to the phones in order to meet your service level objectives ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 36 of 41

40 SCHEDULED PHONE STAFF The Scheduled Phone Staff column totals the number of agents you have assigned to the phones for the interval. GAP The Gap column subtracts the Required Phone Staff from the Scheduled Phone Staff. The Gap for an interval will be a negative number when you have not assigned enough agents to meet your service level objectives (understaffed), and it will be a positive number when you have more than enough agents assigned (overstaffed). Since you cannot truly assign fractional agents to an interval, the Gap will rarely be zero, but you should strive to minimize the gaps in order to maximize efficiency. Check this column to quickly see which times of the day pose challenges (understaffed) and which provide opportunities (overstaffed) for non-phone activities (e.g., training, meetings, completing non-phone tasks). PROJECTED SERVICE LEVEL The Projected Service Level column uses Erlang C to calculate the service level you can expect for each interval with the number of agents you have scheduled to be on the phones, after factoring in your planned adherence rate. If you assign too few staff, your projected service level will be below the objective, and if you assign more agents than required, your projected service level will be above the objective. This column is your reality check so you ll know what service levels to expect with the schedules you have created. Particularly in intervals with low call volumes, you may find that adding or removing one agent from the phones can change the expected service level drastically. You ll need to use your judgment and experience to decide whether to overstaff or understaff in those situations. At the bottom of this column is the overall service level projected for the day (the average of each interval s service level weighted by its call volume). PROJECTED OCCUPANCY RATE The Projected Occupancy Rate is calculated from the number of agents scheduled on the phones, after factoring in your planned adherence rate. This is the percentage of agents signed on time that is spent talking to callers or completing after call work. In order to meet service level objectives and account for the random nature of call arrival, idle time must be built into your schedule (100% minus Occupancy Rate = Idle Time). If your schedules result in under-staffed intervals, the expected occupancy will be higher than the occupancy you would have seen if you were meeting your service level objectives (see row 7 of the Individual Schedules worksheet for the occupancy expected with the required number of agents). If you have over-staffed intervals, then your expected occupancy will be lower. [To learn more about occupancy rates, read Back to the Basics How Incoming Call Centers Behave (Parts 1 & 2): The Laws of Call Center Nature, in Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 54.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 37 of 41

41 PROJECTED ON-HAND This column shows how many pieces of unprocessed or other response time work you can expect to have on-hand at the end of each 15-minute scheduling interval. It subtracts the number of pieces completed during the interval from the Total Available for Processing, and displays the result rounded to tenths. Since it is impossible to process more work than is available, the maximum number of pieces that can be completed is the Total Available for Processing (see Total Available for Processing, under EM Run Rate, above). [To learn more about scheduling staff to meet response time objectives, especially for , see in particular George Nichols articles listed in the Bibliography of Additional Resources, below.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 38 of 41

42 Activity Summary Worksheet The Activity Summary worksheet tallies up all the hours scheduled for the day for each Activity Code, and also calculates the percentage of total hours allocated to each Activity Code. The detail provided in this report helps to answer the question every call center manager has asked when calls build up in queue: Where is everybody?!? Tracking and understanding the activities that keep your agents off the phones will help you to develop your rostered staff factor and improve your long-term staff planning and budgeting processes. [For more information on this and related topics, read Chapter 4, Call Center Forecasting and Scheduling, starting on page 62.] ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 39 of 41