Forecasting
ForecastPro
Predictions your business can rely on
- Automated forecasting of your future staffing requirements
- High degree of accuracy thanks to intelligent forecast algorithms
- Calculation methods can be adapted to meet the specific needs of each business area and department
- Graphical representation of all forecast parameters instantly reveals trends, patterns and anomalies
- Graphical editing enables the planners to apply their knowledge to further increase forecast accuracy
Using historical data, ForecastPro provides detailed forecasts of your future staffing requirements.
Why work when you don't have to?
Effective workforce management starts with the calculation of staffing requirements. It is crucial to precisely determine your staffing needs to ensure that your workforce management process is effective – otherwise the adage ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies. For businesses with workloads that fluctuate periodically (hourly, daily, weekly or seasonally), ForecastPro is the ideal tool for accurately forecasting future staffing requirements.
Easy definition of parameter and forecast structures
ForecastPro enables you to freely define the parameters (such as sales, the number of customer contacts, average transaction duration or production volume) that drive future predictions. There are no restrictions on the type of data involved. In fact, even unusual information such as weather statistics can be collated and used.
All of the parameters are stored in a simple user-defined hierarchical structure, from facility and department level to the entire enterprise. Each forecast unit contains the precise information needed to determine staffing requirements for the unit. For example, you would typically base forecasts for your contact center on the number of phone calls and e-mails plus the processing time (AHT) involved. Retail organization forecasts can be derived from hourly revenues, number of transactions, weather statistics or customer count patterns, while forecasts for production facilities can be based on production volumes or machine capacity. What’s more, since you can specify unit opening times individually, anything from 15 minutes a week to 24/7 operations is supported.
Users can easily view and edit all the raw data collated by the system. For example, unusual deviations are graphically highlighted and can be removed from the forecast with a mouse click.
Forecast calender for special events
Using the forecast calendar, you can define special events that require separate forecasts and calculations. And you can do so for each forecast unit. This means that advertising campaigns, catalogue and invoice deliveries, price increases and so on can all be entered and incorporated correctly into the requirement calculations.
Creating and updating typical distribution curves is simple
Typical distribution curves of parameters for days or specified periods (e.g. weeks) are displayed using historical data. For example, you can see how many customers you deal with on a typical Monday or what proportion of your revenue is generated on the second Monday of the month. Data from the previous days or periods is presented graphically, together with a weighted average. The user can manually adjust any of the values by entering new ones or even by dragging the curve using the mouse.
Accurate forecasts of future workloads
ForecastPro’s forecasting assistant combines all of the steps required to calculate future workloads, prompting you to enter the required information. The system automatically recognizes seasonal trends and collates all the necessary information, such as daily and weekly distribution curves, for the specified period. The results are displayed graphically. You can even have them displayed for each 15-minute interval within the forecast period if you wish.
The system is intelligent and adaptive. The more historical data you collate and the more forecasts you make, the more accurate the results. Over time, the need for guesswork is eliminated and accurate forecasts become routine.
Automated conversion of staffing requirements
Regardless of the nature and complexity of the business area involved, ForecastPro provides you with the ideal method for calculating your staffing requirements. With its comprehensive and extensible library of alternative requirement ‘scripts’, ForecastPro lets you decide the best method for turning forecasted workload into staffing requirements. For example, you might base staffing requirements on service level for your call center, average waiting time for your check-outs or service points, average workload for your production facilities, or average reply time for your back office operations. It goes without saying that ForecastPro supports industry standards such as queuing theory, Erlang ‘C’, budgeted hours and multi-skill simulation. And InVision’s patent-pending Multi-Activity Scheduling (see module AutoScheduler) raises the bar for staff planning in multi-skill environments, providing maximum multi-skill efficiencies with a fraction of the time, effort and maintenance required by earlier systems.
Built-in support for virtual structures and multiple sites
Like all of the InVision Enterprise WFM modules, ForecastPro supports virtual structures and multi-site operations, letting you fully exploit economies of scale and employee pooling efficiencies. You can, for example, forecast for the whole enterprise and break down staffing requirements for individual locations. Alternatively, you can dynamically distribute the workload using the local capacity available. In fact, InVision Enterprise WFM offers unlimited possibilities when it comes to centralized and decentralized planning.
No matter how you decide to plan for your various locations, all of the relevant data is always available online throughout the system — consolidated, up to date and without the need to ‘download and save’. And thanks to the system’s comprehensive multi-tier architecture and Web interface, you won’t be frustrated by technical limitations — now or in the future.
Real-Time forecast updates
The OnlineCockpit module continuously monitors the forecasts made by ForecastPro, comparing forecast with actual. Should deviations occur, the current data is used to automatically update the forecast in real-time. This process is known as online re-forecasting. It enables you to see, at any time, how the latest information will affect the rest of the day. In short, it enables you to react to changes more quickly than your competitors.
"What if?" scenarios
Each forecast made with ForecastPro can be saved as a separate version, making it easy to evaluate the impact of changing forecast parameters. For example, if your workload increases by 10% instead of 5%, you’ll be prepared to deal with the consequences. Alternatively, you can accurately evaluate the impact of a higher service level on your staffing requirements or how cutting customer waiting times would affect your costs.
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