• Login
  • Status
  • Support
  • Partners
  • Pricing
  • Careers
  • ENLanguages
    • English
    • Deutsch
    • Français
    • 日本
    • 简体中文
    • العربية
    • 한국
    • Español
Customer Experience (CX) AI Platform
  • Customer Experience (CX) AI Platform×
  • Platform

      CXone Mpower Platform

      • Platform Overview

        Complete AI platform for customer service automation

      • Enlighten AI

        Powering smarter CX with AI-driven insights and automation.

      • Cloud Architecture

        Innovative cloud-native foundation to rapidly scale extraordinary CX

      • Voice as a Service (VaaS)

        Crystal-clear, scalable voice interactions for effortless interactions

      • Dashboards & Reporting

        Gain a full operational picture of your contact center, with enhanced visualization of real-time and historical insights

      • Integrations

        Seamlessly connect your business systems with our platform

      • Trust & Compliance

        Securing your trust with every interaction

      Discover the full value of AI in customer service

      Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

      Calculate your savings

    • Products
      • Explore all Products

      • Capabilities

      • Interaction Orchestration

        Interaction Orchestration

        Orchestrate all interactions and workflows across every customer service touchpoint.

        Learn more

        • Omnichannel Routing

          Reduce wait times and boost conversions with smart customer-agent matching.

        • Proactive Engagement

          Generate more revenue, minimize hang-ups, and proactively connect to reduce friction.

        • AI Orchestrator

          Unify and optimize every customer service workflow from intent to fulfillment.

        • Agent Desktop Workspace

          Connect front and back office teams with data, conversations, and workflows together in one place.

      • Workforce Augmentation

        Workforce Augmentation

        Amplify team performance with specialized AI copilots for every role.

        Learn more

        • Specialized AI Copilots

          Elevate human performance with specialized AI copilots for every role.

        • Workforce Engagement Management

          Elevate employees, adapt to flexible work, and meet expectations - without compromise.

        • Automated Agent Notetaking

          Instantly summarize interactions - accelerating resolution times and agent efficiency.

        • Voice of the Customer

          Unlock customer insights to enhance experiences, drive loyalty, and boost business growth.

        • Interaction Analytics

          Gain AI-powered insights from 100% of interactions to drive continuous improvement.

      • Service Automation

        Service Automation

        Automated customer self-service solutions increasing retention rates.

        View Products

        • Intelligent Virtual Agent

          Boost self-service satisfaction and conversion with conversational AI agents.

        • Experience Optimization (XO)

          Synthesize real customer conversations to identify your top automation opportunities.

        • AI Agents

          Instantly create no-code AI agents powered by your data—build once, deploy everywhere.

        • Proactive AI Agent

          Keep customers engaged in conversation from onboarding to installation, service, and retention.

        • Knowledge Management

          Activate AI-powered enterprise knowledge to increase self-resolution rates and loyalty.


      • Solutions

      • By Industry

        By Industry

        • BPO

          Business Process Outsourcers

        • Financial Services

          Customer experiences that count

        • Government

          Elevate citizen trust

        • Healthcare

          Healthy patient experiences

        • Insurance

          Secure policyholder experiences

        • Retail

          Delight customers where they shop

        • Telecom

          CX for Telecommunications

        • Travel & Hospitality

          Boost traveler and guest loyalty

        Discover the full value of AI in customer service

        Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

        Calculate your savings

      • By Business Initiative

        By Business Initiative

        • Grow Revenue

          Boost conversions and win rates to accelerate growth

        • Engage & Empower Employees

          Create a workplace of truly engaged employees

        • Boost Customer Loyalty

          Improve customer loyalty on interactions across the journey

        • Drive Digital Transformation

          Integrate digital technology at the center of CX

        • Small and Medium Business

          Drive growth and boost revenue with smarter, cost-effective customer service built for SMBs.

        • Call Center Software

          Empower agents to provide better experiences

        • Increase Operational Efficiency

          Leverage AI and automation to increase agent retention

        • Move to the Cloud

          Elevate experiences by moving operations to the cloud

        • Improve Compliance

          Protect your consumers with pre-built compliance solutions

        • Proactive Customer Engagement

          Elevate customer satisfaction with proactive conversational AI

      • Integrations & Custom Solutions

        Integrations & Custom Solutions

        • CXexchange Marketplace

          Discover partner solutions to extend capabilities on our platform

        • Pre-Built Integrations

          Seamlessly connect your business systems with our platform

        • Developer Tools & APIs

          Endless customization options with RESTful APIs and robust SDKs

        • Partner Ecosystem

          Embark on a journey of shared success and collaboration

        91% of customers recommend NiCE as a preferred CCaaS vendor

        Gartner® named NiCE the only Customers’ Choice CCaaS vendor in its 2024 Peer Insights™ “Voice of the Customer for Contact Center as a Service” report.

        Get report


      • View All Products
    • Services
      • Explore all Services

      Professional Services

      • Professional Services

        Industry-leading expertise, tools and know-how

      • Implementation Partners

        NICE-certified implementation partners

      • Business Consulting

        Your partner for successful transformation

      Training

      • Contact Center Training

        Tailored education delivered by CX experts

      Support & Assistance

      • Customer Support

        Global support you can depend on

      Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis

      NiCE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.

      Get report

    • Resources

        Knowledge Base

        • All Resources

          Whitepapers, datasheets, demos and more

        • Analyst Perspectives

          Contact center reports from third party analysis

        • Terms Glossary

          Detailed descriptions of industry-related terms

        • FAQs

          Contact center focused frequently asked questions

        • Guides

          Expert insights for superior CX

        Learning & Insights

        • On-Demand Webinars

          Browse our extensive webinar catalog

        • Interactive Product Tours

          Explore the complete platform with our self-guided demos

        • Blog

          CX industry guidance by contact center experts

        • Why NiCE? Video Series

          Step Inside The Room Where It Happened to see CX AI in action

        • NiCE & Simple: Video Demo Series

          Brilliant, bite-sized videos from our top product pros

        Community

        • Events

          Upcoming events and webinars

        • Customer Stories

          Our customer's success is paramount. Read case studies about real CX transformation

        • NiCE Clubs

          Collaborate, learn, and share best practices for customer service excellence

        Discover the full value of AI in customer service

        Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

        Calculate your savings

      • Company

          Company

          • About Us

            Powering seamless cloud experiences

          • Investors

            Investors relations, reports and filings

          • Global Offices

            Interactive map of locations worldwide

          • Careers

            View job openings and learn about our culture

          • NiCE Leadership

            Meet our global leadership and executive team

          News & Media

          • Events

            Upcoming events and webinars

          • Press Releases

            Find the latest updates from NiCE

          • Media Center

            Media contacts and resources

          Corporate Governance

          • NiCE Trust Center

            Securing your trust with every interaction

          • Market Leadership

            Discover why NiCE is the market leader

          • Corporate Responsibility

            In a world where you can be anything, be NiCE

          Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis

          NiCE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.

          Get report

          • ENLanguages
            • English
            • Deutsch
            • Français
            • 日本
            • 简体中文
            • العربية
            • 한국
            • Español
          • Get Started
            • Login
            • Status
            • Support
            • Partners
            • Pricing
            • Careers
          • Home
          • Customer Experience (CX) and Contact Center Library
          • Contact center workforce management – the benefits of getting the basics right
          Icon imageRequest a demo
          Request a quote

          Company

          • About Us
          • Careers
          • Global Leadership
          • Media Center
          • Investors
          • Awards
          • Global Office Locations
          • Contact Us
          • CCaaS
          • Customer Experience
          • NiCE Public Safety
          • NiCE Actimize
          • NiCE RPA

          Partners

          • NiCE Partners Overview
          • Developer Partners (DEVone)
          • CXone Mpower Partner Portal
          • NiCE Help Partner Portal
          • NiCE User Group

          Customer Support

          • Customer Support Overview
          • CXone Mpower Support Login
          • NiCE Customer Support
          © 2025 NiCE
          • Terms of Use
          • Site Map
          • Privacy Policy
          • Legal
          • Cookies Settings
          • Accessibility

          Stay Connected

          © 2025 NiCE

          Contact center workforce management - the benefits of getting the basics right

          Workforce Management (WFM)

          Workforce management is a collection of processes and systems contact centers use to forecast contact volume, schedule agents, and adjust to changing workloads and staffing levels. It's a critical function because staffing impacts several key metrics - understaff and your customer satisfaction suffers, overstaff and you might blow your budget. These impacts are top-of-mind for workforce managers as they negotiate the balancing act of having too many or too few agents scheduled. Like Goldilocks, they're aiming for "just right" when it comes to staffing levels

          Empowering Agents with CXone WFM
          White Papers

          Empowering Agents with CXone WFM

          The AI-powered WFM suite
          White Papers

          The AI-powered WFM suite

          AI-Enabled WFM Improves Customer and Employee Experiences by DMG Consulting LLC.
          White Papers

          AI-Enabled WFM Improves Customer and Employee Experiences by DMG Consulting LLC.

          Workforce management basics

          Workforce management consists of four basic processes that must be mastered. Getting these right will yield significant benefits.

          Employee engagement

          This isn't traditionally included in the list of workforce management processes, but it should be. Many contact centers have embarked on long overdue agent experience initiatives, with the goals of improving satisfaction and retention. These efforts really need to include the scheduling process, since an agent's schedule can significantly impact their satisfaction. Practices like automating time-off requests, shift bidding, and letting agents trade shifts give agents more say in their schedules.

          Forecasting

          Good workforce management begins with good forecasting. This means predicting volume for every support channel by day and time interval (often down to fifteen minute increments). Best practices are to use at least two years of historical data and run it through algorithms that predict the future volume. Workforce managers can use spreadsheets (though cumbersome and not ideal) or sophisticated workforce management software to support this complex task.

          In addition to history, forecasts also need to reflect known business plans that will affect contact volume, such as promotions, catalog drops, upcoming holidays, and infomercials. Once everything is accounted for and the forecast is complete, it's used as an input to hiring plans and agent schedules. Workforce management staff revisit volume forecasts often and update them to reflect trends that are different from projections.

          Intraday management

          Despite everyone's best efforts, sometimes forecasts are widely different from actual volume. Volume could be over forecast if the company website goes down causing an influx of service calls, or it could be under forecast if the big promotion is a dud. Additionally, events like snowstorms can wreak havoc on agent attendance, rendering the existing schedules mostly useless. This is where intraday management comes in to try to salvage the plan.

          In a scenario where a gap between actual volume and forecast is affecting contact center performance, workforce management staff would reforecast volume based on what they're experiencing and then adjust schedules accordingly. Intraday management can also include activities like calling more agents to come in, sending agents home, and assigning agents to skill sets they don't typically work. Contact centers are dynamic places and strong intraday management practices – coupled with automated intraday capabilities from workforce management software - give them the flexibility needed to respond to changing conditions.

          Scheduling

          The forecast will help workforce management teams determine how to schedule agents, but there are other factors that need to be considered. For example, the forecast may show that 245 calls are expected during a specific day interval, but whether they're expected to last 2 or 10 minutes will have a big impact on the number of agents that need to be scheduled for phone support. Therefore, average handle time needs to be factored into the scheduling.

          Additionally, workforce management analysts need to consider skill sets when scheduling agents. For instance, when that infomercial runs, agents with a "sales" skill set will likely convert more callers than those with a "service" skill set, so more sales agents should be scheduled. As if scheduling isn't complex enough, digital channels further complicate the process. For example, each agent will have a different proficiency regarding the number of emails and chats they can have in process at one time. This will affect throughput and needs to be accommodated by the schedules.

          And of course, we haven’t even considered the human factor yet - individual agent schedule requirements and preferences. For example, one agent may need to leave by 4 pm to do school pick-up, while another agent may be unavailable to work Tuesdays because they have college courses.

          Luckily, like forecasting, scheduling can be automated and simplified with workforce management software. The best tools will also help with calculating how well agents are adhering to their schedules, which is a necessary input to determining the effectiveness of agent schedules.

          The benefits

          Having accurate and flexible workforce management practices will help contact centers reap significant rewards. Here are just a few of them.

          Better agent experience

          Being staffed "just right" is good for agent satisfaction because it means agents are neither overworked nor bored. Plus, giving them more of a voice in the scheduling process is empowering.

          Better control of labor costs

          Agents are a contact center's most important asset, but they also account for about 2/3 of their costs. Tight labor budgets benefit from disciplined workforce management processes.

          Better customer experience

          Workforce management is all about having the right agents scheduled in the right quantities at the right times. This is so customers can receive timely and effective assistance. So, the primary benefit is satisfied customers.

          Increased revenue

          When sales calls come in, you don't want them abandoned because wait times are too high due to understaffing. And you need agents staffed for those calls who are skilled at sales so they can convert the leads. Good workforce management addresses both of these situations, and therefore can help increase revenue.

          NiCE workforce management software will set your contact center up for success

          NiCE CXone Workforce Management software (WFM) empowers you to anticipate business demands and optimize your workforce with the industry’s most intelligent and accurate omnichannel forecasting engine. Download our whitepaper to learn more.

          From Data to Decisions: Leveraging Analytics in Workforce Management

          Understand how to leverage data analytics to make informed decisions in workforce management. This session will highlight the importance of data-driven approaches to optimize workforce operations.

          Watch demo now

          Contact us

          If you would like to know more about our platform or just have additional questions about our products or services, please submit the contact form. For general questions or customer support please visit our Contact us page.

          Minimize effort

          Automate workforce management tasks with powerful, AI-infused WFM software. The right tools decrease effort, increase accuracy, and provide the agility busy contact centers need. Get rid of those spreadsheets once and for all. Your customers and agents will thank you for it.

          Improve long-term planning

          CXone WFM makes long-term planning easier. Run "what-if" scenarios and accommodate any number of business scenarios in your forecasts and schedules. The result will be better staffing plans and budgets.