Call center seating: Keeping track of vacant workstations

Given the multiple and varied shifts of 24/7 call centers, managing real estate and call center agent workstation utilization is a significant challenge. This time-consuming task is frequently handled manually by an individual within the call center. The burden of managing call center seat vacancies is also one of the many reasons why enterprises are exploring the viability of at-home call center agents.

Here are the names of two vendors who provide software solutions to manage call center workstation utilization...

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1. Authority Software offers a product called Central Authority that provides real-time capacity management. It allows users to set up a "forecast" of seat totals and desired occupancy rates. It derives actual usage data to interactively measure and track this information.

2. Lanner offers an application that reads daily team member and call center agent shift pattern data directly from the workforce management system. It then generates seating plans for a day or week at a time. It also specifies desk/floor layouts, identifies which desks are not available at certain times of the day or week and indicates service/desk requirements (specialized equipment available at certain desks only).