Calabrio has introduced self-service scheduling for contact centre agents. The new product uses some of the technology it acquired when it bought Teleopti earlier this year. It strengthens its WFM (WorkForce Management) solution for both on-premises and and cloud customers. Agents are able to request changes to their shifts using a mobile app or from their desktops. The AI embedded in the software identifies whether the call centre will have sufficient staff with relevant skills during the absence to meet the SLA and call volumes.
Magnus Geverts, vice president of product marketing and management at Calabrio commented: “While the concept of self-service for shift preferences, overtime or time-off is nothing new, our latest innovation marks the first time that agents have the power to manage their own schedules as events happen during the day. Self-Scheduling introduces new levels of flexibility that give employees the freedom to focus on delivering exceptional customer service while helping to reduce harmful attrition rates that rack up recruitment and onboarding costs for businesses. It’s the critical next step toward realizing our goal of humanizing the workplace.”
For employees it empowers them with greater flexibility, thus increasing employee satisfaction. For managers it can significantly reduce the burden of checking scheduling to authorise requests. Shep Hyken, chief amazement officer at Shepard Presentations LLC, customer service expert and keynote speaker at the Calabrio C3 convention next week commented: “Technology like Calabrio’s Self-Scheduling is a meaningful move toward true agent empowerment as employees can tailor their schedule to their life.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
This is a practical application of AI and the technology from Teleopti. While at first glance Self-Scheduling for agents may have minimal impact, in terms of employee retention it could be significant. It will allow employees to take control (to an extent). It also frees up managers from mundane administration ensuring that operation of the call centre continues to run smoothly. The result is improved employee satisfaction of all.
