Case study - ForecastPro

Employee-friendly planning

How can agents be scheduled in such a way that they voluntarily expose themselves to the high demand?

Problem description

400,000 incoming calls, 27,000 faxes, 15,000 letters, and 5,000 emails a month – an average office of 200 employees would come to a standstill with this volume of customer contact.  For T-Mobile Austria’s customer call center, these figures quite simply mean that they are on track to becoming Austria’s number one call center. The fact that the percentage of processed calls is 95%, that average handling time is between two and five minutes, and that an average of 80% of calls are taken within 20 seconds should come as no surprise, in light of such an ambitious goal.

However, these achievements are not only accomplished by the employment of a sufficient number of dedicated agents. In early 1999, in the customer service department of the former max.mobil, it was decided, to employ a specialized tool for staff planning. The system was primarily meant to reduce scheduling time. Furthermore, an important selection criterion was that the software could be easily integrated into the call center’s technological environment. Further requirements were for example ease of use, even when the schedulers alternate, high efficiency, detailed reporting, and agent flexibility during shift selection. The staff council attached great importance to the compliance with all legal requirements, and expected an increase in employee motivation as a result of the new system.

Project description

Max.mobil chose German manufacturer InVision Software’s Staff Planning System – mainly due to the Infothek function. The Infothek allows the agents to enter their schedule requests. An employee will only be given shifts of his or her choice if they are in line with the work volume, the employee’s contract, and all legal requirements. Within this framework, he or she can select the most convenient shifts. More than 80% of chosen shifts are allocated to the employees according to their requests. The schedule does not, as anticipated, become less precise because of the employee influence. Rather, the schedule acquires one additional component: it is completely employee friendly.

Results

Since May 1999, the T-Mobile Austria call center has been scheduling with InVision. Whereas previously, three schedulers worked for a whole month on one monthly schedule for 100 agents, now two schedulers create schedules for 400 agents and as well as completing the entire personnel administration. This is 40 times more efficient than previously. Even the handled call rate has increased within the space of six months, from 67% to 92%. In 2001 the statistic was 95%.

It is not only the hard facts which speak in favor of the system. The staff council has reacted positively, because the software is capable of mapping all of the Austrian legal requirements in the most precise manner. Even the agents themselves are enthusiastic about being able to construct their working hours in such a way that they fit in with their own daily routine. Such success has justified the investment in the InVision Staff Planning System, which is helping T-Mobile Austria to set an example in the Austrian call center sector.