Witness Systems Expands Workforce Optimization in Impact 360

Witness Systems has added new functionality to its Impact 360 Workforce Optimization application that it launched last year. Impact 360 is the application derived through combining Witness Systems' software with technology obtained in its Blue Pumpkin acquisition.

In this release, Witness Systems tightened the integration between the two feature sets, according to Ryan Hollenbeck, a spokesperson for Witness Systems.

More Closely Linked

For instance, Impact 360 allows users to drill directly through to details about agents' training and performance from key performance indicators (KPIs), or scorecards, within the performance management software.

Prior to the acquisition of Blue Pumpkin, this would have involved logging on and off from several different applications, he said.

"Now, as a manager, you can look at an agent's score card and drill straight through the workforce management system to see what is going on -- has that rep had enough training, for example, or does he or she take too long to complete calls -- from whatever application you have been working from," he told CRM Buyer.

Also new is the addition of an ad-hoc reporting data model for performance management, based on Cognos' (Nasdaq: COGN) reporting technology. This allows users to create ad hoc query reports using a graphical-based user interface.

Other features in the application let users combine evaluation scores with other metrics within scorecards; combine workforce management statistics with other metrics in scorecards; drill to interactions from scorecards; turn recordings into training; click to lesson assignment from call replay; link directly to training home pages from schedules; document new competency levels for review during replay; use quality scores as factor in schedules; live monitor from adherence management; and record from adherence management.

Market Position

The market is beginning to recognize that performance management and workforce management must be integrated to meet expectations, Hollenbeck said.

One trend that is driving adoption of such integrated systems, he said, is the growing numbers of home agents that work via VoIP networks.

"This has been a big business problem that customers have asked us to solve. If a company has 20,000 agents dispersed at multiple locations, it needs to know such information as whether there are enough agents working at the moment to handle incoming calls," Hollenbeck pointed out. "These applications can do that, and record in that environment as well."

According to Datamonitor, the workforce optimization technology niche is set for significant expansion through 2009, at a compound annual growth rate of 12.1 percent. The overall market size will exceed US$1 billion in 2006, the firm predicted.