How to forecast and schedule for multiple channels - calls, emails, chat

With more electronic media such as email, chat, twitter, etc. being used in customer communication in addition to calls, the question of forecasting and scheduling resources for those channel becomes more important. Here are 3 suggestions that might help you better manage multiple channels in your service center:

1. Forecast and schedule based on response time and "urgency” of the various channels:









2. Two models for forecasting workload for non-call channels:

• Use transaction history for each channel: If you have historical numbers, you can forecast based on those:
  =># of emails, average work time for email, efficiency
  => 100 emails/day, 5 min per email, 8.3 hours
  => Apply efficiency factor: 90% => 9.25 hours
  
  
• If you don't have exact numbers, you can use a shrinkage factor: e.g. 10% for email work
  
  

3. Potential approaches for scheduling

• Fully blended: Agents work all channels as work arrives. The danger of this is that agents burn out and is therefore not recommended.
• Banded work: Schedule time blocks based on agent availability throughout the day. Find time "pockets" in the core schedule where agents are available