In a contact center, accurately forecasting the expected volume of calls, emails, and messages is crucial for optimizing staffing levels. By anticipating contact volume and converting it into staffing requirements, you can ensure that you have the right number of agents with the necessary skills to handle customer inquiries promptly and efficiently.
Let's dive into the details of how forecasting works with Dialpad WFM.
Who can use this
Dialpad WFM is available to all Dialpad users.
Contact your Customer Success Manager to discuss adding Dialpad WFM to your plan.
What is a forecast?
WFM forecasting is a process used in contact centers to predict the future volume of incoming contacts, such as calls, emails, or chats. By analyzing historical data and identifying trends and patterns, forecasting tools help organizations anticipate the number of interactions they will receive and plan accordingly.
Dialpad's forecasting models analyze your historical data and then estimate the number of interactions your team will receive in the next 12 months. This allows you to optimize staffing levels and ensures you have the right number of agents online at all times.
Setting up your forecasts
For Dialpad
Your Dialpad WFM account will be automatically integrated with your Dialpad account, and each of your Contact Centers will be already added as queues.
Navigate to Forecast > Queues.
If there are any Contact Centers that aren’t relevant to your team, you can delete them by selecting the trash icon
.Review the coverage requirement inputs and operating times of each queue to ensure they accurately reflect how the Contact Center is managed. Refer to this article for a detailed guide.
That’s it! You’re ready to go.
For other integrations
You can integrate 10 different CRM or customer service platforms with Dialpad WFM, allowing you to forecast, schedule and monitor agent performance across all channels.
First, you need to integrate your CRM or customer service platforms. View this article for step-by-step guides for each integration.
Next, you need to create queues that represent each of the inboxes, queues or channels that your team staffs and serves. Refer to this article for a detailed guide.
You’ve now set up all of your systems and you’re ready to forecast.
After you create your queues, Dialpad will analyze the historical data for each queue to forecast your expected contact volumes 12 months into the future.
These forecasted volumes are translated into a coverage requirement – telling you exactly how many agents you need on each queue to meet your SLAs.
Viewing your forecasts
To view your forecasts, head to Dialpad WFM, then select Forecasts.
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Tip
You can change the date, forecast granularity (e.g. hourly, daily) and timezone of your data.
Here, you’ll see two graphs displaying agent coverage and contact volumes.
The Inbound Contacts Graph displays the forecasted number of contacts (customer interactions) your Contact Center will receive, including any adjustments. You’ll also see the total contact count over the selected time period.
The Coverage Required graph displays how many agents you’ll need per hour to meet your SLAs (including shrinkage).
You'll also see see the total and peak agent counts during the selected time period.
Forecast breakdown
By default, all of your queues will be combined into one requirement.
Select breakdown by queue to view the forecasted contact volumes and coverage requirement by queue.
Hover over the charts to view the count per queue, per interval.
Compare against previous periods
By comparing current data to historical trends, you can identify significant deviations and make informed decisions about staffing adjustments or process improvements.
For example you might be thinking “is this volume widely different from last week or last month?”, or “how much have our ticket volumes have grown since last year?”.
That’s where our comparing feature comes in handy. Use the date selector to choose any date in the past, then select Same period from the Compare Actuals menu. 
This lets you see the actual contact volume received for that period and the number of agents you needed to handle those interactions.
Adjusting a forecast
While our forecasting systems predict general contact volume trends, external factors can significantly impact your actual workload. Maybe you’re about to launch a new feature, or even a door-breaker sale and you know your volumes will suddenly increase. That’s why Dialpad lets you manually adjust forecasts during events that cause substantial spikes or dips in contact volume.
Read this Help Center article to learn how to adjust a forecast.