ST. LOUIS, MO (May 5, 2014) – Pipkins, Inc., a leading supplier of workforce management (WFM) software and services to the contact center industry, today announced the 2014 User Group Conference will be held May 12-15, 2014 in St. Louis. Pipkins started the User Group Meeting in 1998 to allow clients to network and exchange ideas with other software users. Since the first User Group conference, clients from across the United States, as well as Canada, United Kingdom and the Caribbean have attended. “We see it as part of our continued customer service,” said Bob Webb, VP Sales. User Group instructors are experts in their fields and provide outstanding feedback and support related to specific situations.
This year’s agenda will include sessions on dashboards, home based scheduling, manual RTA, forecasting, basic trouble-shooting, forecasting strategies, Dayscape, and RTA monitor. Below is a brief overview of some of the sessions we are developing for presentation:
Forecasting
Inaccurate forecasts can result in increased costs of staffing or missing service targets and disappointing customers. If the forecast is the foundation of the workforce management process then the cornerstone of the forecast is the historical data. We will show you some approaches to analyzing the data and recognizing trends, seasonality and special events.
Home Based Scheduling
As one of the most groundbreaking and progressive trends to hit the workforce management (WFM) market in the last 15 years, the concept of work-at-home agents is changing the way companies staff their contact centers and serve their customers. The work-at-home model has garnered attention, and has been put into action by leading organizations worldwide – so much so that it no longer needs to be proven as a viable alternative to traditional call center operations. In addition, the business benefits of at-home workforces are vast – from expanding the pool of talent from which companies can hire, to employing individuals that are happier with their work environments and therefore deliver a better quality experience. However, there are many challenges that relate to effectively scheduling home-based workforces. We will show you how to overcome these challenges and demonstrate the value of home based scheduling.
Dashboard
The Pipkins Dashboard offers valuable ticker-style data in a compact format that arms agents and supervisors with real-time knowledge about individual and contact center performance. Let us demonstrate how you can:
- Leverage five standard data views and customize them to suit your operational needs
- Add and create new views simply and easily utilizing our flexible web interface
- Connect with external systems, like Quality Assurance solutions, to integrate other relevant data into the views
- Drill down into any data set with a single click
- Export to various formats and print drill-down reports directly from the dashboard
Manual RTA
Managing agents throughout the day is a critical component of ensuring operational efficiency. When companies are unable to determine if an agent is adhering to the optimal schedules delivered by Pipkins, they lose time and money. To prevent this from happening, the Pipkins Manual Real Time (MRTA) system allows the agent to document their current activity, activity identifier, and additional notes. For the managers, the MRTA system allows monitoring and reporting through Vantage Point and Web Access. Most users have not viewed the enhanced screen or used these new features. Join us at the User Group to view the enhanced screen and learn all about the new features such as a detailed or summary history display for the agents and options for management.
Most attendees will be arriving on the evening of May 12 and the meetings will begin after breakfast Tuesday morning. Attendees can explore the downtown area of St Louis during their free time in the evening. The St. Louis Union Station Double Tree Hotel is just a short walk or quick metro trip away from many St. Louis attractions and the room rates are a very reasonable $139 per night plus tax. Keep in mind that the Cubs will be in town that week so rooms get filled very quickly. Be sure to let the hotel know that you are with the Pipkins conference.
About Pipkins
Pipkins, Inc., founded in 1983, is a leading supplier of workforce management software and services to the call center industry, providing sophisticated forecasting and scheduling technology for both the front and back office. Its award-winning Vantage Point is the most accurate forecasting and scheduling tool on the market. Pipkins’ systems forecast and schedule more than 300,000 agents in over 500 locations across all industries worldwide. For more information, visit www.Pipkins.com.