The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a wave of office departures. At one point, it was estimated that nine out of 10 knowledge workers were working from home. And even now, as we return to a new kind of normal, many employees remain work-from-home (WFH), prompting businesses to look at hybrid work solutions in their search for the best combination of flexibility, security, and productivity.

While the success of WFH initiatives was an unexpected silver lining of the pandemic, it also made it more challenging for businesses to mobilize and optimize their workforce. Before COVID, workforce optimization (WFO) was a high priority, particularly for customer-facing businesses that depend on live agents to drive sales and service. But how do you optimize a workforce working outside the traditional boundaries of your information technology systems?

8 features that make a stellar WFO experience

WFO relies on data and analytic insights to improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs, and increase worker productivity. Beyond that, WFO solutions have the potential to improve customer experiences and increase employee satisfaction and retention. Not surprisingly, WFO solutions focus on business areas that “touch” the customer, like contact centers. WFO business solutions should encompass a broad range of tools and applications:

  1. Interaction Recording to gain a complete picture of the customer experience and ensure compliance with industry requirements. This includes voice calls, chat sessions, videos, and screen shares between customers and employees.
  2. Quality Management to monitor the quality of conversations, evaluate employee performance and identify and close employee knowledge gaps with coaching and eLearning tools.
  3. Coaching and Learning for agents to hone their skills using the right tools and tailored training.
  4. Speech and Desktop Analytics to identify keywords, spot trends, highlight critical issues, and detect positive and negative emotions in recorded conversations.
  5. Workforce Management to lower attrition rates and raise schedule adherence by giving agents the power to check their work schedules, trade shifts, request vacation, and add overtime availability.
  6. Customer Surveys to collect valuable information and insight from customers, employees, or constituents.
  7. Performance Management to measure and manage operations with real-time dashboards, key performance indicators, and historical reporting.
  8. Business Analytics with a holistic view of customer journeys to help determine whether you’re meeting service levels and exceeding customer expectations.

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How do you optimize a hybrid workplace?

As organizations navigate the new world of the remote and hybrid office workplace, they must adapt how they approach WFO. Questions that organizations should consider include: Do we need to re-evaluate which WFO tools and solutions will benefit us the most right now? Should we deploy our WFO solution in our data center, private cloud, public cloud, or a combination of these? Do we want to manage the WFO solution ourselves or outsource management to a trusted third party? Should we buy traditional software licenses or take advantage of a subscription-based pricing model?

  • Do we need to re-evaluate which WFO tools and solutions will benefit us the most right now?
  • Should we deploy our WFO solution in our data center, private cloud, public cloud, or a combination of these?
  • Do we want to manage the WFO solution ourselves or outsource management to a trusted third party?
  • Should we buy traditional software licenses or take advantage of a subscription-based pricing model?

Optimize from anywhere with Mitel WFO

To help organizations find the right solution for their business, Mitel offers WFO solutions with a wide range of choices in how you buy, deploy, and manage them.

Mitel WFO Suite

Mitel WFO solutions can be purchased as a perpetual license or monthly subscription. Mitel has bundled tools such as interaction recording, quality management, and analytics in three unique tiers: Essentials, Premier, and Elite.

MIR Bundles

You also have the choice in how you deploy Mitel WFO solutions, whether on your premise, in your private cloud, or in the public cloud managed by you or a Mitel value-added reseller. As my colleague, Martin Bitzinger said, “Mitel is making a clear commitment to continue to provide our customers with a best-in-class solution for every deployment need.

While the definition of the workplace may be changing, the importance of optimizing the workforce for better customer outcomes remains the same.

George Despinic

Senior Product Marketing Manager – Contact Center

George is a 33-year veteran of the communication and contact center industries. He's worked at Nortel, Unify, [24]7.ai and now Mitel in various roles, including product management and marketing. Currently, he is the Senior Product Marketing Manager for Mitel’s contact center portfolio and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in helping companies achieve an exceptional customer experience.

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