Pipkins' WebAccess System For Contact Center Agents Cuts Overhead By Enabling Agents To View And Modify Schedules Online
Pipkins Inc., now offers an online, do-it-yourself agent schedule viewing and modification system that dramatically reduces schedule-related overhead for contact centers. The WebAccess system frees supervisors of the need to print and distribute agent work schedules, eliminates hours of administrative phone calls every week, and increases agent satisfaction by giving them control over routine scheduling tasks.
Available as an optional module with Pipkins' Vantage Point workforce management software as well as with the company's WorkforceScheduling.com subscription service for smaller call centers, WebAccess enables agents to view their work schedules, request modifications or vacations, sign up for overtime, exchange schedules with other agents, and report absences over the corporate network or the Internet through a Web browser.
Agents can view their schedules by the day, week or month; request schedule modifications for partial days, full days or weeks; swap days or entire schedules with other agents; and use the module's vacation planner to check accrued and used time-off, view available vacation slots, submit vacation requests, and add their names to wait lists. Built-in electronic bulletin board and messaging systems can be used to post trade requests and facilitate agent-to-agent and agent-to-supervisor communication.
Supervisors can approve or deny requests, make schedule changes, and record exceptions with a click. They can also manage the entire vacation planning process online, including establishing and managing vacation limits, wait lists, and blackout and non-operational days. Vacation limits and accrual hours information can be imported from Excel files.
The vacation planner interfaces with the contact center's payroll system, eliminating the need to re-enter the agent's vacation accrual information and ensuring that accurate time-off information is used in calculating paychecks.
"Our WebAccess agent self-help system provides a completely paperless environment for disseminating agent schedules as well as an automated method for both submitting and managing schedule changes," said Jim Hogan, Manager of Customer Care for Pipkins. "This saves hours of time and brings contact centers one step closer to the ultimate goal of workforce management: achieving peak operating efficiency."
About Vantage Point
Pipkins' Vantage Point software optimizes agent scheduling in single or multi-site contact centers in order to minimize headcount, overstaffing, understaffing, overtime, call waiting time and other problems that can cause wasted expense and/or lost business. The software forecasts workload and schedules staff using a proprietary optimization algorithm, advanced skill-based modeling, and exclusive historical trend analysis that fine-tunes call volume forecasts for special events such as mail drops. Pipkins offers the same functionality to smaller call centers through WorkforceScheduling.com.
Vantage Point integrates with leading ACDs, e-mail response systems and other multimedia queuing devices for data collection across multiple sites and time zones. It also provides a full complement of default and custom reports, with an open system design that allows managers to access call center data using any third party SQL reporting package. In addition to WebAccess, optional modules are available for real-time adherence monitoring, Web-based time and attendance, IVR scheduling support, and pop-up agent notification of intra-day schedule adjustments.
About Pipkins Inc.
Pipkins Inc., founded in 1984, is the leading supplier of workforce management software and services to the call center industry. Its Vantage Point product enables managers to solve the complicated operational issues in today's multi-faceted call center environment. Pipkins' systems forecast and schedule more than 100,000 agents in over 300 locations across all industries worldwide. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information, visit www.pipkins.com.