An overview of the Zoom Contact Center add-on, which simplifies forecasting and scheduling, and explains key concepts for both admin and user experiences.
In this guide
- 01 Workforce Management Overview - Jumplink to Workforce Management Overview
- 02 Workforce Management Core Concepts - Jumplink to Workforce Management Core Concepts
- 03 Workforce Management Administration - Jumplink to Workforce Management Administration
- 04 Workforce Management Agent Experience - Jumplink to Workforce Management Agent Experience
- 05 Conclusion - Jumplink to Conclusion
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Workforce Management is currently compatible with Zoom Contact Center, with plans to expand to support additional contact centers over time
Workforce Management is currently exclusively compatible with Zoom Contact Center; however, Zoom plans to expand Workforce Management to support other contact center services over time.
Workforce Management is available globally in Zoom’s U.S. cluster and locally within Zoom’s European-specific cluster
Zoom Workforce Management is globally available to all customers hosted on Zoom’s UnitedStates-based cluster (US01). Alternatively, Workforce Management is also available locally within Europe for customers hosted on Zoom’s European-based cluster (EU01). If you are not sure which cluster is applicable to your account, speak to your account team for more information.
Workforce Management is a part of Zoom’s Workforce Engagement Management Suite
Workforce Management is a component of Zoom's Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) suite, which comprises add-on solutions designed to enhance Zoom Contact Center capabilities. When used in conjunction with Quality Management — another WEM suite product — Zoom Contact Center managers can improve their call center and agent performance. Features of Quality Management include conversation analytics, interaction scorecords, trend analysis, and more. To learn more about the Workforce Engagement Management suite, reach out to your Zoom account team.
Scheduling Groups are comprised of agents and contact center queues
Managing Agent Schedule Request Changes
If authorized, Workforce Management agents can use the web portal to submit time off and schedule change requests, simplifying schedule management. Workforce Management admins and supervisors can approve and manage these requests from the web portal.
Accessing and Using Workforce Management
Workforce Management utilizes a per-seat license model
Zoom Workforce Management utilizes a per-set license model, each user that requires access to any features must be assigned a license for the product. For example, one supervisor and nine agents would require a total of 10 Workforce Management licenses.
Users must be granted a role-based permission to access and use Workforce Management
In addition to a Workforce Management license, users must have an appropriate user role with their intended role-based permissions to access the application. For example, agents must belong to a user role with the WFM Agent permission. If necessary, an account admin or authorized user can create or edit user roles to grant users access.
Note
Associating a contact center queue is only necessary if the Scheduling Group will be used for forecasting. Additionally, Forecasting does not currently account for skill-based routing, such as languages spoken.
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Workforce Management offers six unique Activity Types for scheduling and reporting purposes
An Activity Type defines the productive or non-productive nature of an Activity, and is used to categorize Activities for reporting and scheduling purposes. With six different Activity Types, an agent only contributes towards the staffing needs of their assigned Scheduling Group when they are scheduled for a productive activity type. The six Activity Types are:
- Productive: used to indicate that an agent is able to contribute to the staffing needs of their associated scheduling group.
- Time Off: used to schedule an agent as “out of office.”
- Non-Productive: used to represent scheduled time for job Activities that do not contribute to the staffing needs of their associated scheduling group, like meetings, coaching, etc.
- Exception: used to account for time an agent spends out of adherence, such as if an agent is unable to complete their scheduled activity due to an IT issue or emergency.
- Exceptions are not available when building a shift and can only be added to published Schedules on an as-necessary basis.
- Meal: used to represent non-productive time reserved for meals.
- Break: used to represent non-productive time reserved for non-meal breaks.
Activities can be created or customized with additional information to suit an environment
Account or scheduling administrators can create or customize Activities specific to their environment and workflows, helping an account ensure they have sufficient Activities for the various tasks an agent may perform throughout their day. Customizable features for Activities include:
- Name: custom names for customized or new Activities
- Default Duration: how long an activity is scheduled for by default.
- Channel(s): which contact center channels are associated with the Activity.
- Paid status: whether or not the Activity is paid (productive time) or unpaid (meal/break).
- Adherence: whether or not the Activity is calculated in Adherence reporting.
- Allow for Editing: whether or not an agent can request to add, change, or delete an Activity within their Schedule.
Fixed-time Activities can be added to user schedules in bulk
After a schedule is generated, Workforce Management admins and supervisors can bulk schedule fixed-time Activities for a specific group of agents at a designated date, time, and duration, streamlining the scheduling of events such as training sessions or team meetings. When this feature is used, Activities are added to the selected agents' schedules regardless of existing Activities; however, in the event of a scheduling conflict or if an Activity is scheduled while a user is not working, alternative time recommendations can be generated and implemented.
Shifts are the pre-scheduled Activities an agent performs throughout a workday or week
Shifts define an agent’s assigned Activities throughout a given workday or workweek. While an Activity refers to a specific task or responsibility at a given time, a Shift is the combination of an agent’s assigned Activities for a given time frame.
For example, an agent may be responsible for working a phone queue and working a chat queue as two separate Activities at two different times; however, a Shift is the formalized plan that defines when these Activities are to be performed throughout a workday or week.
Shifts support fixed and dynamic scheduling models
When creating a Shift, the scheduling administrator can choose between fixed and dynamic Shift models.
With fixed Shift scheduling, users will typically start and end their shifts and breaks at the same time week-to-week. With dynamic Shift scheduling, admins can adjust settings to optimize flexible start, lunch, and break times day-to-day and week-to-week. For example, an agent’s break could be at 1PM Monday one week, but at 2PM Monday the next week, allowing scheduling administrators to align their staffing schedule with a Forecast to meet expected demand.
Alternatively, if a business schedules without a Forecast, this can help stagger breaks and lunches to prevent overlap.
The following image provides an example of a fixed Shift, where each assigned agent has consistent Activities every day at consistent times.
Alternatively, the following image provides an example of a dynamic Shift, where agents may have fluctuating start, break, and lunch periods each day to fit the needs of the Forecast. In the top half of the image, the flex times for each Activity are specified, while the bottom half reflects an example of their placement within the Shift that coincides with the defined flex times.
Note
Dynamic shifts can only use one default Activity at a time.
Shifts support flexible start and end times for each day
Shifts can accommodate both static and flexible start and end times for each day of the week, customizable to meet diverse scheduling needs.
Example
The scheduling administrator, Alice, can create a simple shift that covers 8-5 Monday through Friday. Alternatively, Alice can also create a Shift that covers 8-5 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with a 10-7 shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or any other preferred time combination.
Example
The scheduling administrator, Alice, created a single Shift for 8-5 with three equal parts of Voice, Video, and Messaging queue time. Alice can assign this shift to agents Bob and Maurice, as well as any additional agents needed.
However, if Alice creates a second Shift for 8-5 covering different Activities, she cannot assign Bob and Maurice or any other Shift-assigned agents unless they are removed from their currently assigned Shift.
Example
The scheduling administrator, Alice, is based in New York (UTC-5) and creates a Shift for 8-5. When Alice assigns an agent to this Shift, the agent will see the Shift's times and duration based on their Zoom account’s configured time zone.
So, if an agent in Los Angeles (UTC-8) is assigned to the 8-5 Shift, they will see the schedule from 8-5 within their local time zone (UTC-8). Similarly, if an agent in New York is assigned to the same Shift, they will see the schedule in their local time zone as well.
In this scenario, both agents are working from 8-5 according to their respective time zones. However, due to the time zone difference between their locations, they will begin working with a three-hour difference. From the perspective of Alice in New York, the Los Angeles-based agent will work from 11-8 based on the time zone-specific display for each agent.
A Schedule is a collection of multiple Scheduling Groups
and their underlying infrastructure/components
The following image provides an example of a Schedule, composed of multiple Scheduling Groups, spanning a day. The various color blocks note the various Activities that each agent is responsible for throughout the day. If desired, Scheduling administrators can further refine this view to see the Schedule by individual agents or specific Scheduling Groups.
Each Schedule can be generated for up to four weeks at a time
When creating a Schedule, the scheduling administrator can create a Schedule for up to four weeks at a time. This does not limit how far out in advance a Schedule can be created, but rather the extent of how long each schedule can be defined at a time. In other words, scheduling administrators can schedule more than four weeks out a time by creating back-to-back Schedules.
Example
In the month of December, the scheduling administrator, Alice, can create a Schedule beginning January 1st, extending four weeks until January 28th. To schedule beyond January 28th, Alce must create a separate schedule, which she can do immediately.
Example
The scheduling administrator, Alice, created a Forecast for the next four weeks. This Forecast uses historical data to predict daily engagement volume in 15-minute increments. Each day's forecasted volume is based on data from corresponding days in the past, meaning Monday’s Forecast is derived from previous Mondays, and Tuesday’s Forecast from previous Tuesdays. As a result, if the hours between 8AM and 2PM are typically busier on Mondays than on Tuesdays, the Forecast will reflect a higher staffing demand for Monday compared to Tuesday.
New customers can import historical queue interval data via CSV files, with up to 10MB of data in each file
Customers new to Zoom Contact Center and Workforce Management can import historical queue interval data via CSV files, with up to 10MB of data per file, to establish baseline Forecasts. Over time, new data will populate through use of the service to continue creating accurate Forecasts.
Forecasts can account for key performance indicator metrics, like a service level target, average speed of answer, occupancy levels, and shrinkage
Scheduling administrators can create Forecasts that include a variety of key performance indicator metrics, such as a service level target answer rate, average speed of answer, average agent occupancy levels, and unexpected staff shrinkage (i.e., absenteeism). Scheduling administrators can use these metrics in any combination as a part of the forecasting process.
The service level target metric helps estimate the necessary staffing to answer a certain percentage of calls within a specific timeframe
Creating a Forecast with the service level target metric will calculate the necessary level of staffing required to answer an average number of engagements within a specific time frame.
For example, if a company’s service level agreement is to answer 75% of all inbound engagements within 30 seconds, the Forecast will account for necessary staffing within each 15-minute period to meet the expected goal.
The average speed of answer metric helps determine the staffing needed to respond to engagements within a specified timeframe
Creating a Forecast with the average speed of answer metric will calculate the necessary level of staffing required to connect a customer placed in a queue to an agent within the specified number of seconds. This metric is similar to the service level target, but does not specify a precise percentage goal of calls answered within the time frame. Instead, the average speed of answer metric will project staffing required for the total number of expected calls.
For example, if a company aims to maintain an average answer speed of 30 seconds, the Forecast will consider the required staffing to meet that target. However, it's important to note that this metric calculates the mathematical mean of the waiting time. For instance, if one call is answered in 1 second and another call in 60 seconds, the cumulative average speed of answer for both calls is approximately 30 seconds.
The occupancy metric forecasts staffing based on the percentage of an agent’s average engagement time
Creating a Forecast with the occupancy metric will calculate staffing to achieve a specific percentage of time that agents spend handling engagements every hour.
For example, if an agent is involved in a customer engagement for 54 minutes out of an hour, the user’s occupancy level is 90%. Consequently, creating a Forecast with a 90% occupancy rate is likely to result in each agent supporting customers for approximately 54 minutes out of every hour.
The shrinkage metric acts as a staffing buffer, and accounts for non-productive Activities and routinely unavailable or absent agents
Creating a Forecast with the shrinkage metric will increase staffing by a designated percentage to account for agents assigned to non-productive Activities, or those who are unavailable or absent, while still meeting necessary staffing levels.
For example, if a Forecast is expected to require 10 agents, but has a 20% shrinkage rate, 12 agents will be forecasted to account for two potential absences. In the event 20% of agents are absent, minimum staffing levels for the Forecast are still met.
Forecasts include suggested staffing levels to meet projected engagement volumes and defined metrics
After a Forecast is generated, Workforce Management can generate staffing suggestions in 15-minute increments to meet both forecasted call volume and calculated performance metrics.
Forecasts can be edited in specific intervals for fine tuning
When reviewing a Forecast, scheduling administrators can edit the Forecast in each 15-minute interval for fine tuning and coverage.
For example, if a company expects unusually high call volume for an hour, a scheduling administrator can manually increase the expected volume to compensate for the expected change.
The following image provides an example of an edited Forecast where the anticipated call volume is significantly raised to account for a short term increase in call volume within a specific frame of time.
Forecasts can also be edited in bulk to account for anticipated changes not captured by historical data
When editing a Forecast, a scheduling administrator can bulk edit the Forecast to account for anticipated changes that would otherwise not be captured through historical data. For example, if a company is launching a new marketing campaign in an upcoming week and expects a 10% increase in volume, the Forecast can be updated to reflect a 10% increase to ensure adequate staffing.
This bulk editing method allows supervisors to modify volume either by a specific number, such as 10 additional (or fewer) calls every 15 minutes, or by a percentage, such as a 20% increase (or decrease) in calls every 15 minutes.
The following image provides an example of a bulk-edited Forecast with an anticipated 10% increase in volume.
Forecast data can be created in increments of up to four weeks
Similar to Schedules, a scheduling administrator can Forecast data in up to four-week increments.
For example, beginning a Forecast on January 1st will forecast out until January 28th, and a second Forecast can be generated for January 29th, extending out to February 25th.
Reviewing a Schedule with an applied Forecast shows total staffing levels and can be fine-tuned to meet requirements
When reviewing a Schedule with an applied Forecast, scheduling administrators can compare scheduled and required staffing levels to determine if staffing requirements are met.
The Staffing sub-section of a Schedule provides a list of all Scheduling Groups applied to the week’s schedule, compares the Scheduled versus Required staffing, and provides the Net Staffing difference. This table allows a scheduling administrator to quickly determine staffing levels for each 15-minute increment, and can dynamically adjust a user’s scheduled Activities to maintain adequate staffing.
The Adherence dashboard measures real-time agent compliance with a published Schedule
The Adherence dashboard tracks the live agent activity against the published Schedule. If an agent's current status does not align with their scheduled Activity, they are marked as out of adherence, and the agent’s daily adherence score is dynamically updated.
For example, if an agent is scheduled for a Phone Queue Activity between the hours of 8 and 10AM, but goes on an unscheduled break at 9, the agent is marked as out of adherence and their daily adherence percentage is dynamically updated until their status returns to their assigned Activity.
This section provides an overview of key features and processes within Workforce Management. Processes described within this section are not exhaustive, and are intended to provide a general introduction to the product. Readers are encouraged to reference topics within the Core Concepts section of this document as necessary to assist with comprehension.
Scheduling
Creating a Schedule
Creating a Schedule within Workforce Management can be understood as a three step process: Setup, Planning, and Refinement. Although these steps require additional sub-processes — like creating a Forecast or a Shift — as Scheduling Groups, Activities, and Shifts are developed within Workforce Management, the process is simplified over time due to the existing scheduling infrastructure.
Setup
To initiate scheduling in Workforce Management, the first step requires establishing the core scheduling infrastructure supporting the process. This includes creating Scheduling Groups, Activities, and Shifts that will be linked to Agents. Once these infrastructure elements are in place for a specific Scheduling Group, a scheduling administrator can proceed to the planning phase.
Planning
The planning phase determines the nature of a Schedule. At product launch, Scheduling administrators have two scheduling methods available:
- Manual Scheduling: Create and customize a Schedule using Activities and Shifts.
- Forecasting: A mechanized scheduling solution that uses Activities and Shift information to schedule agents according to forecasted engagement volume, but may require some manual adjustments.
After deciding the scheduling approach, and doing the necessary sub-processes (if applicable), the scheduling administrator can proceed to the refinement phase.
Refinement
The refinement stage involves fine-tuning a Schedule or Forecast to ensure adequate activity and Shift coverage. For manual scheduling, this entails confirming your scheduled coverage meets your expected demand. For Forecasts, this entails ensuring that there is sufficient net staffing for the anticipated engagement volume.
Forecasting
Creating a Forecast
Forecasts are used to anticipate future contact center engagement volume and maintain sufficient staffing. Although a Forecast depends on the development of additional scheduling infrastructure — like Scheduling Groups — creating a Forecast can be understood in three phases: Initialization, Preview, and Publication.
Initialization
During the initialization phase of a Forecast, the pre-existing infrastructure, particularly Scheduling Groups, is utilized. If a Scheduling Group is set up with at least one contact center queue and its associated agents, the remaining initial steps involve defining essential aspects of the Forecast. This includes assigning a name, specifying the starting date, setting the duration (up to four weeks), and determining the targeted metrics to be considered.
Preview
Following the initialization of a Forecast, the preview stage offers a comprehensive summary of projected call volume and expected staffing requirements. This includes the anticipated volume for each 15-minute interval and the average duration of call handling (i.e., talking + hold time + after-call work). If necessary, scheduling administrators can fine tune or bulk edit the Forecast to account for any anticipated changes in volume that are not otherwise represented through historical data. After confirming the Forecasted volume, scheduling administrators can generate recommended staffing for the Forecast.
Publication
After previewing a Forecast’s call volume and staffing requirements, the final step is to finalize and publish the Forecast to the Schedule. This may involve a second pass of fine-tuning staffing levels to ensure sufficient coverage for projected engagement volume. Once staffing levels are confirmed, the forecasted-Schedule is ready for publication.
Intraday Management
The following section outlines intraday agent and schedule management.
Schedule and Activity Management
Throughout a workday, forecasted engagement volumes and actual agent staffing may not always align, requiring call center supervisors to make ad-hoc adjustments to Schedules and Activities. To handle these changes effectively, supervisors can perform intraday management within the Schedule, allowing them to dynamically add, remove, or replace scheduled activities, either in bulk or for individual agents, as needed.
From the published Schedule, supervisors can perform the following actions for Intraday management:
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Reports
The following sections outline different reports and data available within Workforce Management.
Real-Time Adherence Report
This report was previously discussed in the Overview of this document.
Historical Adherence Report
Similar to the Real-Time Adherence report, the Historical Adherence Report provides a summary of agent adherence performance for a specific timeframe, with up to 30 days in a single report.
When viewing a historical report with multiple days, the report will first display the user’s average adherence for the specified timeframe; however, supervisors can extend the user’s average report and review their adherence for each day.
Schedule Activity Report
The Schedule Activity Report provides a detailed summary of scheduled agent Activities for both past and future dates, visualizing how much time each Activity is allotted each day. Supervisors can filter the report by individual or multiple agents, specific Activities, and Scheduling Groups to help ensure proper staffing and maintain service levels. This report can also be exported into a CSV, facilitating collaboration and thorough examination of work schedules, and enabling better resource management and planning.
Intraday Report
Administrators and supervisors can view an intraday report to compare a Schedule’s Forecast accuracy against a previous or current day’s engagement volume. This empowers supervisors to identify Forecast variances and make dynamic staffing decisions if a day’s engagement volume notably deviates from the Forecast.
Audit Logs
Workforce Management admins and supervisors with sufficient permissions can access the audit log report containing a robust list of actions taken by admins, supervisors, and users within the product. Users with access to the audit logs can filter the logs by date or by specific actions taken. Logs included within the report include:
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Managing Agent Schedule Request Changes
If authorized, Workforce Management agents can use the web portal to submit time off and schedule change requests, simplifying schedule management. Workforce Management admins and supervisors can approve and manage these requests from the web portal.
Accessing and Using Workforce Management
Workforce Management utilizes a per-seat license model
Zoom Workforce Management utilizes a per-set license model, each user that requires access to any features must be assigned a license for the product. For example, one supervisor and nine agents would require a total of 10 Workforce Management licenses.
Users must be granted a role-based permission to access and use Workforce Management
In addition to a Workforce Management license, users must have an appropriate user role with their intended role-based permissions to access the application. For example, agents must belong to a user role with the WFM Agent permission. If necessary, an account admin or authorized user can create or edit user roles to grant users access.
Zoom Recommendation
Due to the varying levels of access within Workforce Management, custom roles are recommended. Caution and attention to detail are recommended when making custom user roles to ensure a continuity of experience and access across the Zoom platform.
Notification Type |
Recipient |
|---|---|
Dynamic Schedule Generated |
Admin, Supervisor |
Forecast Generated |
Admin, Supervisor |
Dynamic Schedule Generated |
Supervisor |
Out of Office Request Updated |
Agent |
Schedule Activity Upcoming |
Agent |
Schedule Activity Updated |
Agent |
Schedule Change Request Submitted |
Supersivor |
This section provides a brief overview of the agent experience within Workforce Management.
Viewing the Schedule
From the web portal, Workforce Management agents can view their published schedules, including their scheduled Activities for the duration of their shifts. If authorized, agents can also use this screen to view the schedules of other agents within the same Scheduling Group.
Schedule Change Requests
Out-of-Office Requests
