Hi,

I've just walked into a call centre with 100 staff, but with no WFM, and no budget for one in the near future. I've used OpenWave and Genesys extensively in the past, but I don't need all the bells and whistles right now - Just a basic good forecasting and scheduling tool. Any suggestions on a 'lower' budget tool that can forecast like Openwave's Shifttrack, and schedule/roster like Genesys WFM ? If I can make an worthy impact using a less expensive tool, getting budget next year for a fully integrated WFM will be significantly easier.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated ! I'm a bit out of my depth here trying to workforce manage a centre using only excel...

Thanks !

Steyl

http://www.qmax.com/

I am not associated with them in any way but have heard that it is cheap and gets the basic job done.

I agree, good tool and reasonably priced.

Thanks for the info !! I've had a quick look at Qmax on their site, and it fits the bill perfectly for what I need it to do - But the plot thickens - I cant find our ACD system ( CIC by Interactive Intelligence ) under the supported ACD list. I did how-ever find that Interactive Intelligence has their own integrated WFM suite caled 'Optimizer' , which might be the answer after all...but I searched for interactive intelligence on this forum, and came up with nothing that even mentioned optimizer. They seem to be very big in the States, but no one knows anything about them.

Thanks again ! I have something to work with now !

Interactive Intelligence are big in the states. They do have a few sites in Europe and as I understand things, are trying to get more.

They focus on providing an entire solution, and therefore they would feel that you should definately have their WFM if you've got their switch!

A common problem with integrated providers is that they may provide one element that excels, although the other elements are pretty run of the mill. I'm not suggesting for a minute that this is the case with II, but be sure that you investigate the product to be sure that it provides the functionality that you're after.

Finally, make sure they're giving you a competitive price. After all, that's supposed to be one of the biggest benefits of getting everything from the same supplier.

Regards,
Darryl

Thanks for the info Darryl - I spent this week looking into their product, double checking our own infrastructure and got in touch with II's vendor - I'm hoping I'll have quote soon - Hoping for the best !

Thanks again !

Steyl