Nevertheless, they endure. They endure in the face of today’s powerful workforce management (WFM) solutions, which have an unparalleled capability to support complex environments. The latest WFM platforms have the capacity to manage complex timelines, forecast like never before, and track intraday performance. Industry-leading products can coordinate unique scheduling preferences, skills, and capabilities, and call-volume patterns to optimize profits and employee success. Integration capacities incorporate analytics reports, gamification and forecasting to enhance performance.

Traditional Barriers to WFM Solutions

Despite this impressive roster of functions, thousands of contact centers still rely on the lowly spreadsheet for some or all of their workforce management needs. We like to complain about them, but spreadsheets have some real strengths: They’re low-cost and easy to store and update. In addition, powerful WFM systems of the past required a real commitment of time and resources – and a serious financial investment. Many leaders implementing WFM technology for the first time mistakenly believe that one or two people can properly manage the system in their spare time, but customizable functions are often incredibly complex. Expenses arising from hardware, development, and implementation can be a barrier for many.

While the ROI of a WFM system can be massive for many users, these traditional solutions are not always a viable option for call centers that operate on a smaller scale. The big shops race forward while businesses that rely upon manual, spreadsheet-based tools to manage critical tasks, like forecasting and scheduling, often hit a performance plateau.

The Times They are A’Changing

This disadvantage is shifting. Cloud technology and developments in user interface design have caught up with market needs. The cloud has changed the shape of businesses across industries by allowing anyone to manage major projects without going into debt for hardware or maintenance. This same technology also allows us to work from anywhere around the world.