Revolutionizing Contact Center Staffing: Embracing Real-Time Variability with Erlang-O
Vicki Herrell, Executive Director of the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP), facilitated a highly anticipated webinar with industry experts on September 5. The event, which featured Ted Lango from Intradiem, Jim Simmons from Queueless and David McCutcheon from Humana, explored how Erlang-O is revolutionizing contact center staffing by addressing the limitations of traditional Erlang models and embracing real-time variability.
Limitations of Traditional Erlang Models for Contact Center Staffing
Traditional models like Erlang-C have long been used in contact centers to predict staffing needs based on call volume, call handle time, and service level targets. However, these models fall short in today’s complex environments, which involve multiple queues, diverse service-level objectives and multi-skilled agents.
Ted Lango explained that Erlang-C fails to account for essential factors such as agent absences, demand variability, and real-time fluctuations in call volume and agent availability—each of which can result in significant service-level risks or excessive costs due to overstaffing.
Erlang-O: A New Approach to Contact Center Staffing
Erlang-O is designed to address these limitations by incorporating real-time variability into staffing calculations. Instead of discarding traditional methods, Erlang-O builds upon them by adding factors like shrinkage, variability, and alternative work channels. This creates a more resilient staffing model that adapts dynamically to real-time conditions, allowing contact centers to meet service-level targets without incurring excessive costs.
Ted Lango highlighted how Erlang-O integrates data on agent availability, off-phone activities, and interval-based variance to provide a more accurate staffing plan. This approach allows for dynamic adjustments to staffing and mitigates the risks associated with overstaffing or understaffing. In addition to safeguarding service levels, Erlang-O improves cost control by efficiently utilizing agent time during natural workflow fluctuations.
How Intradiem Maximizes Efficiency with Real-Time Automation
Intradiem enhances the Erlang-O approach by providing real-time automation that allows contact centers to adjust instantly to changes in queue conditions and agent availability. Jim Simmons discussed the benefits of using Intradiem’s automation technology to deliver training and communications in real-time, which helps manage agent activities more efficiently than traditional methods. Simmons noted that while models like Erlang-C are used for initial planning, they don’t accommodate the real-time variability and complexity of modern contact centers, where demand and supply fluctuate throughout the day.
David McCutcheon highlighted the importance of flexibility in managing variability and efficiency within the call center. He pointed out that Intradiem’s real-time automation supports real-time adjustments, which reduces the need for rigid pre-planning and delivers a more dynamic response to changes in call volume or agent availability. This helps balance center staffing levels, improve service delivery, and support agents more effectively.
A Significant Step Forward
Erlang-O offers a significant advancement over traditional contact center staffing methods. By incorporating real-time variability and overhead factors, Erlang-O offers workforce planners a more adaptive, more efficient staffing model than what has been available up to now. The integration of real-time automation through Intradiem further strengthens the Erlang-O approach and improves contact centers’ ability to maintain service levels, control costs, and provide truly effective support to their agents.
To learn more about this innovative approach, check out the full webinar and discover how Erlang-O and Intradiem are transforming contact center operations.
