Reference checks by prospective buyers and independent marketing firms of installed workforce management software systems indicate a troubling fact. Utilization and understanding of the installed products is very low. Less than 20% of the available functionality is used. The effects of this are difficult for everyone associated with the product, especially the clients of the customer contact centers where the scheduling systems are installed and used to minimum effectiveness.

The result is that customers don't receive the kind of service they deserve or the level of service to keep them as clients. Executive management may view the customer contact center as a necessary expense as opposed to the most visible and effective way of impressing their market. The automated scheduling tool, within the center, makes the most impact on cost control and customer service levels."

Anyone who spends time watching workforce management software systems work in real-time realizes that people -- not software or hardware -- manage processes and people. Schedules document the norm, first-line management controls the exceptions... and call center queues are by definition a series of exceptions.

There are two reasons workforce management software doesn't work effectively and efficiently:

1) Software is designed and written by computer programmers and industrial engineers who have little idea what it takes to control a call center in real time. Their theories work great in cyberspace but not in human reality.

2) Software is the means, not the end. Workforce management software is a tool, not a replacement for first-line, short-interval, operations management. Software is only as effective and productive as the people using the software.

As a species, we like to avoid the hard work and unpleasantness of controlling a process. (Just look at how we avoid parenting and government.) But productivity (which is the blending of quality and profit) can only be controlled by human effort. (See Managing in Turbulent Times by Peter Drucker)