Contact center workforce management planning - Optimize Your CX
Make accurate workforce planning a reality.
Better anticipate and plan for uncertainties today, tomorrow, and in the future with NICE WFM Enhanced Strategic Planner for contact centers.
AI-based near- and long-term planning.
Aligning hiring plans with future customer demands
Enhanced Strategic Planner empowers organizations to solve short- and long-term staffing challenges, through improved understanding of required FTE, multi-skill efficiency, and reduced attrition, while ensuring that operational goals - such as occupancy, shrinkage and service levels - are met.
“NICE Workforce Management has enabled us to give our people more flexibility and autonomy over their schedules, whilst improving our productivity and forecasting accuracy. It has been crucial to helping us look after our growing customer base.”
Rob Harris Chief Operating Officer, Utility WarehouseView Case Study
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Contact center workforce management planning: FAQs
Future-proof staffing
Plan for tomorrow’s staffing needs, today and position your contact center to survive in a whirlwind of change.
The NICE Workforce Management (WFM) application has been a long-standing market leader providing workforce management and optimization solutions for over 30 years, since 1988. With more than 45 algorithms for maximum forecast accuracy, NICE WFM offers the flexibility to fit forecasting and scheduling to highly specific environments. With its ability to simulate exact routing rules, provide multiple options for business rules and employee preferences, and advanced self-scheduling and communication capabilities, NICE WFM easily supports complex environments. Overall benefits of the NICE WFM solution include:
a. Forecasting Accuracy:
NICE's proprietary forecasting and simulation technology produces the most accurate workforce plan in the market, which helps you effectively serve your customers at the lowest cost possible. NICE does this through the following unique methodology:
b. Simulation-Based Scheduling:
NICE is the only WFM solution on the market that uses simulation during the forecasting and scheduling processes to more accurately predict the balance between customer demand and agent availability and skills. The ability to re-simulate allows you to easily and effectively react to changing conditions.
c. Intraday Analytics:
NICE WFM provides users with automated intraday re-forecasting, accurate net staffing analysis by queue, schedule re-simulation and optimization, and skill- aware change management. These features allow NICE customers to easily and effectively read and react to changing conditions.
What are NICE WFM Differentiators?
NICE WFM is the most comprehensive and configurable WFM solution on the market. Key differentiators include:
a. Forecasting with Artificial Intelligence:
NICE WFM presents the most advanced forecasting solution on the market: 46 algorithms, supported by artificial intelligence, allow NICE WFM to calculate extremely accurate resource requirements to build the most efficient schedules possible.
b. Machine-Learning Multi-Skill Simulation:
Only NICE WFM simulates exact ACD routing, employee skills, skill levels, and schedules with its patented formula; machine-learning algorithms create improving efficiencies.
c. Multi-Channel Support:
Ability to forecast, schedule, and manage all customer contacts and back office work, enabling organizations to be highly productive.
Employee Engagement Manager (EEM):
The EEM solution is a NICE-exclusive staffing optimization tool that provides intelligent, automated staffing management via proactive rules-based schedule adjustments and employee self-service via its mobile app.
EEM helps you engage your employees, optimize schedules, and automatically manage performance, resulting in reduced costs, improved service levels, and increased employee satisfaction.
EEM's Dynamic Workforce Optimization, Automated Intelligent Self-Scheduling, and Gamified Surge Scheduling are patented and exclusive to NICE.
System-initiated schedule changes: NICE Employee Engagement Manager and the Intraday Management feature create unparalleled solutions for managing the organization after schedules have been built, including system-initiated schedule change recommendations.
Analyzes intraday data across contact types to proactively uncover staffing gaps caused by changes in customer demand and/or agent availability.
Identifies the optimal courses of action via its intelligent decision engine, which applies user-definable business rules to current staffing conditions.
Targets specific agents for extra hours, OT, or VTO based on employee preferences, total work hours, performance, and agent attributes.
Recommends business rules to help reduce manual tracking of agent, staffing, and performance data.
Alerts agents, supervisors, and administrators to relevant information so they’re empowered to take the right action at the right time.
Enhanced Strategic Planner (ESP):
Leveraging AI from NICE WFM, NICE ESP helps you intelligently plan for the future by predicting how anticipated or potential staffing scenarios will impact your contact center’s ability to meet performance goals. Powered by AI, it takes into account the needs of your staff, channels, and business rules to make precise predictions. Armed with NICE ESP’s powerful tools, you can consider all variables relevant to your contact center and make decisions based on its unique anticipated staffing needs.
NICE ESP helps you control costs, develop better hiring plans, and improve customer service with these advanced features:
Solution Components
WFM Software Bundle (foundational component)
EEM Software Bundle
NICE is the clear choice for the following reasons:
Value Realization Services (VRS) maximize the value of your investment in NICE products through all stages of solution maturity. Customers buy NICE solutions to drive business impact–the faster, the better. The VRS approach focuses on four key areas:
These activities begin in the initial sales engagement, run parallel to the technical implementation, and continue post “go-live” to ensure stability, value realization, and customer success.
WFM Operational Assessment—Analyze current state (WFM processes, systems in use, functions, organizational structure), conduct KPI baseline measurements (idle time, occupancy, AHT, forecast accuracy, etc.) to build a roadmap and execution plan for engagement model and quick wins.
Functional Design/Configuration—WFM setup and configuration assistance for the customer-specific environment based on recommendations from Operational Assessment.
Application and End User Training—Full core applications training.
Go-Live Support—Expert access (remote) during go-live date to answer any operational/application question (1 day).
Change Management Best Practices—Managing movement from old/manual WFM processes or systems (excel spreadsheets or Aspect) to leveraging NICE WFM features. Define rollout strategy and supporting business readiness activities to accept the WFM solution and drive adoption (communication plan, user enablement).
Solution Adoption—Checking, measuring, and ensuring WFM features are being used as planned. Ensure complete migration from old processes to NICE best practice recommendations. Examples include features such as shift bids, forecasting, vacation bidding, and automatic schedule requests are being leveraged, and agents are using WebStation successfully.
Optimization Workshop—Deeper scenario-based embedding through targeted sessions to improve customer application usage in different areas of the solution. These include forecasting, scheduling, shift bidding, intraday management, etc.
Health Check—Review database to identify unused entities, review KPIs, and compare results against previous baselines, business readiness, and change management progress based on initial recommendations.
Refresher/Upgrade Training—On-demand refresher training, new resource ramp-up, or upgrade training (1 day).
ROI Measurement—Calculating and measuring ROI achieved for customer’s KPIs through our solution. Provide insights on areas of opportunity, including projections and improvement recommendations.
WFM Expert Access—Ongoing access to WFM experts to address just-in-time questions or clarify different WFM-related topics.
Solution Redesign/Business Objectives Alignment—Upgrade planning for feature adoption.
Representative Project Resources
Apple Resources
NICE Resources
Leverage AI in forecasting
Automatically evaluate dozens of forecasting algorithms to determine the forecasting model with the greatest accuracy.
Reverse solve for performance metrics
Improve planning by working in reverse towards your target, inputting tasks as shrinkage metrics to set realistic SLAs.
Balance the art and science of forecasting
Increase the operational efficiency and accuracy of your staffing plan.
Unlimited what-if planning capability
React faster to business changes, and make a case for your hiring needs, before they arise.
Advanced statistical models
Leverage AI-generated forecasts based on your historical data, to facilitate more accurate predictions.
Fully embedded simulation that provides the most accurate required staff in a multi-skill, multi-site, multi-work type environment.
+45 algorithm models, including an AI ‘best pick’ forecast option.
Time-off / scheduling requests and change management tools from mobile.
Scheduling for back office resources per the right workload and measures adherence.
Flexible, feature-rich scheduling.
Self-service portal for automated time off management, collaboration, and employee engagement.
Forecasting with Artificial Intelligence: NICE is the only WFM vendor that offers four unique forecasting models with an Artificial Intelligence Best Pick algorithm that helps users choose the most accurate model for each day of the week for easy-to-use-to-use accurate forecasting.
Analytical Simulation of Requirements: NICE uses patented simulation algorithms to simulate exact routing rules, agent skills, and priorities in a multi-skill environment to ensure accurate coverage of all work across multiple channels and work types.
True-to-Interval (TTI): NICE’s True to Interval technology enables NICE WFM to be the only software that accurately accounts for asynchronous or discontinuous work items typical of digital channels and back office workstreams. In addition, TTI solves for extended synchronous contacts when the handle times are longer than the planning period. By adding two new fields, “Answered” and “Active,” staffing requirements are based on when the work was actually being performed as opposed to when the work item was completed.
Advanced statistical models: ESP leverages AI-generated forecasts from NICE WFM that adapt to your historical data, enabling more accurate predictions and helping you solve future challenges.
Intuitive design: ESP’s user-friendly design adapts to any device and draws from the award-winning user interface of NICE CXOne Pro WFM.
"What-if" planning: ESP enables you to predict the potential impact of scenarios on your workforce and performance metrics, such as a business acquisition or staffing changes, so you can make a case for your contact center’s hiring needs and react faster to business changes.
Anywhere availability: Secure cloud connectivity with infrastructure, maintenance, and management by NICE ensures that your contact center’s data is safely accessible anywhere on most devices. With flexible deployment, ESP delivers a rapid ROI.
NICE IEX Workforce Management Advanced
NICE Enhanced Strategic Planner
High Availability
Advanced AI Forecasting
Workload Manager
NICE Data Explorer
NICE EEM Manager and Agent module
Real Time Alerting
AI-Based Rules and Insights
Adaptive Events
In 2024, independent industry analyst firm DMG Consulting LLC named NICE the market share leader for Workforce Management (WFM) for over ten years in a row.
NICE has deployed our WFM solution to over 3.3 million seats globally.
NICE is the undisputed market leader; according to DMG’s Contact Center WFO Market Share Report, published in 2023, NICE holds a 36.9% share of the WFO market.
NICE consistently scores as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant report. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Gartner recognized NICE as a Leader in the New Magic Quadrant for Workforce Engagement Management, positioned highest in execution and furthest in vision for the fourth consecutive year. 2021 was the last time the Gartner WEM report was published.
NICE dedicates approximately 13-14% of annual revenue to R&D, resulting in expenditures of over $758 million over the past five years.
NICE innovation has been recognized with over 40 product awards in the last two years.
Identifying and capturing ROI at all stages of solution maturity: We provide a return on investment (ROI) roadmap with pin-pointed guidance focused on areas with the most opportunity and overall benefit to maximize business impact.
Connecting system best practices to your unique business processes: Utilizing the features and functionality of the NICE solution to get it right the first time.
Accelerating adoption: Ensuring your organization is ready to adopt the solution. We drive change, top-down and bottom-up, creating smooth transitions from the legacy/current state to the new environment.
Driving business transformation and long-term impact: Leveraging NICE expertise post-go-live. We stay with you, and we are committed to your continued success!
Move beyond traditional inbound customer service into proactive, AI-powered experiences. Complete end-to-end automation of customer service workflows with NICE CXone Mpower.
Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis
NICE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.
