Workforce management (WFM) involves ensuring the number of agents based on call volume patterns and aligning shifts with peak demand periods.

However, simply hiring more agents will not solve this issue; agents with the right skills and expertise are crucial for achieving first-call resolution. Also, you should forecast call volumes, schedule and staff agents, manage real-time operations, and conduct performance evaluations to ensure efficient operation.

Predicting staffing needs and managing operations cannot be achieved solely through staff and organizational effort. So you should consider workforce management software to ensure that you have the right number of agents to handle all your calls in your call center.

Highlights:

WFM software optimizes staffing and improves service by accurately forecasting demand and automating scheduling, minimizing over- and understaffing.

When selecting WFM software, first identify your primary needs and ensure it can scale with your business and is user-friendly for all users. Also, prioritize compliance, security, and mobile access for modern teams.

What is Call Center Workforce Management?

Call center workforce management (WFM) is the process of making sure there are enough call center agents working at the right times to handle customer inquiries. It includes forecasting call volumes, creating work schedules, and keeping track of how things are going during the day. The goal is to make sure customers get help quickly while keeping things efficient and not overworking or underusing staff.

For example, if a company is launching a new product and expects an increase in customer calls, WFM helps predict how many agents will be needed and schedules them accordingly. If more or fewer calls come in than expected, managers can make quick changes to the schedule. This helps customers get support faster and keeps the call center running smoothly.

Why is Workforce Management Software Important for Call Centers?

Workforce management software helps call centers forecast demand and schedule the right agents to reduce wait times and improve service. It also automates tasks, enables real-time monitoring, and boosts efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Forecasting and Scheduling: WFM system accurately forecasts the call volume based on collected data and schedules agents, minimizing both overstaffing and understaffing to deliver effective service.

Improved Productivity: Proper workload distribution ensures agents can complete tasks and focus on delivering high-quality customer service without feeling overwhelmed or underutilized.

Cost Efficiency: With accurate forecasting, the system minimizes overstaffing, reducing labor costs and unnecessary overtime.

Real-Time Monitoring: You can monitor agents’ performance by observing their call handling times, their attitude towards customers, and their follow-up on call scripts. This helps you make immediate adjustments to schedules and workflows to ensure goals are met.

Enhanced Customer Experience: Utilizing skilled agents enables effective call handling, which reduces wait times and increases first-call resolution rates, thereby enhancing the overall customer experience.

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Top 10 Call Center Workforce Management Software

The best workforce management software solutions are Calilio, Dialpad, Zendesk, RingCentral, and Nice CXone. They ensure that the right people with the right skills and expertise are placed in the correct location. With forecasting, scheduling, and AI automation, the software optimizes staffing levels and allocates shifts effectively.

1. Calilio

Calilio is a WFM software that provides insights on missed calls, incoming calls and outcoming calls. Its real-time dashboards showcase call handling time, waiting time, response times, and other call center key metrics. With these insights, you can analyze agents' efficiency and support or adjust their workload, preventing agents from burning out.

Performance analytics

Unified callbox

Compliance management

Pricing

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is a WFM software that helps businesses forecast call volumes and utilize AI to optimize agent schedules accordingly. It offers omnichannel support, where you can route customer inquiries directly to the appropriate agents, improving response times and overall service quality.

Automated scheduling

Omnichannel routing

Performance tracking

3. Zendesk

Zendesk enables accurate forecasting based on ticket volumes and facilitates the efficient scheduling of support agents. While generating a schedule, you can select the time frame it should cover. It will also highlight whether there is sufficient staff to align with the predicted call volume.

Forecasting

Scheduling

Agent-time tracking

4. Dialpad

Dialpad's Workforce Management (WFM) technology offers detailed performance reports that encompass both human and AI metrics, focusing on productivity and behavioral trends.

Intuitive shift planning

Multi-time zone management

Global planning

5. Five9

Five9 is the best automated WFM solution that utilizes AI-driven forecasting. It enables managers to accurately predict demand and assign shifts. It helps businesses adjust their schedules dynamically in response to unexpected call volume fluctuations or agent absences, ensuring operational efficiency.

Reporting and analytics

Forecasting

CRM integrations

6. Nice CXone

Nice CXone includes a workforce management module that uses AI to analyze past interactions and create accurate staffing forecasts. The module also automatically creates optimized agent schedules to ensure the right agents are available when needed.

Automation and AI

Analytics and reporting

Forecasting

7. Nextiva

Nextiva offers flexible scheduling options to adjust work schedules and change the kinds of customer interactions employees handle. You can even manage shifts across different locations to meet the changing workflow needs.

Shift management

Demand forecasting

Employee engagement tools

8. Talkdesk

Talkdesk utilizes artificial intelligence to generate accurate forecasts based on historical and real-time data. The software optimizes the scheduling process based on agents’ shift templates, break rules, agent skills, and KPI goals.

Intelligent forecast

Automated scheduling

Analytics and insights

9. Verint Workforce Management

Verint WFM uses artificial intelligence to accurately predict call volumes and staffing needs, ensuring optimal resource allocation. You can view agent efficiency and identify areas for improvement to give high-quality service.

AI-powered forecasting

Intraday management

Real-time adherence monitoring

10. Aspect Workforce Management

Aspect WFM is an intuitive WFM system designed to schedule, forecast, and track agents’ performance. It offers dynamic scheduling, which uses historical data and analytics to optimize staffing based on call volume needs.

Forecasting

Scheduling

Real-time management

How to choose workforce management software?

Before choosing workforce management software, you must carefully consider your business needs and scalability to optimize productivity.

Business need: Considering the complexity of the business, determine whether you need better scheduling, forecasting, productivity, or real-time management.

Scalability: Ensure the software can adjust with increased workforce size, expanded locations, and evolving needs.

Ease of use: Choose the one that does not require coding or dense skills, allowing anyone to operate it efficiently after a few training sessions.

Compliance and security: Look for a solution that gives automatic updates for legal changes, ensuring you stay updated and compliant with labor laws.

Mobile Accessibility: Look for WFM tools that offer mobile access. These tools enable agents to view schedules, request time off, and receive notifications conveniently.

Conclusion

Workforce management software is an essential tool for call centers to optimize staffing and enhance productivity. It accurately forecasts and schedules to help businesses align the required number of agents with workload demand. You can also monitor agents’ performance in real time, and automation helps identify areas for improvement. When selecting the WFM solution, prioritize your business needs, scalability, simple interface, compliance, and mobile accessibility to support a modern, dynamic workforce.
 

Calilio is a VoIP telephony system that provides call routing, directing inbound calls to the agent with the relevant skills and expertise for efficient handling. Sign up now!