How to create a new forecast profile using data imported via an Excel workbook. This article outlines the steps to building and importing an Excel workbook into CommunityWFM using the Excel Forecast Profile option and then generating a forecast using the new profile.

Contact centers frequently must generate forecasts for scenarios that may not be part of the current production environment.

Scenarios such as:

• How much would it cost to handle these other types of calls?
• What if we forecasted our email demand?
• What would it take to add this new customer?

CommunityWFM supports using an Excel workbook to create a forecast profile for exactly this purpose. It can be used to build a call volume and average handle time (AHT) model, a shrinkage model, service level model, and/or an agent requirement model.

Building your Excel Workbook

The most common type of Excel profile is Contact Volume and AHT. We use three basic elements to create our CV and AHT profiles:

• Interval date and time
• Contact volume
• Average handle time

At a minimum, the Excel workbook should contain a worksheet with these three elements. However, you may have multiple unrelated columns in your worksheet. Column headings are not required but are recommended as they may be used to map the data later in the process. Below is a sample of a valid worksheet.

We can provide a sample workbook to get started but avoid changing the format. You may create additional tabs reflecting other data and activities in the same workbook. Errors during the import of the worksheet are most often the result of formatting changes.

For example, clients may make a worksheet for each activity and build a pattern for each activity for each increment of the day and week. A single profile can have multiple sheets or patterns. The model should not be built to represent all contacts in the center but represent an activity level.

The timeline is simply a timeline of any week, so the dates do not matter. It’s the pattern that matters. If the total volume in the profile model does not represent the total to be forecasted, the total volume can be modified in the revised feature of the forecast after generating the forecast based upon the profile pattern, the same as a forecast based upon history.

To create a pattern, many clients will take multiple weeks of history and average them, then manipulate the pattern based upon changing trends. Then copy the pattern into the call volume and AHT columns for the appropriate corresponding intervals.

You can use the worksheet/workbook to create shrinkage patterns and service level patterns. For example, with shrinkage a center may have more absenteeism on Monday and Friday.

With service level a center may want to temporarily raise or lower their service level because they have a service level goal for a month and not by interval or day. Or a center may want to perform to a lower service level on Monday because the extra volume dictates a different expected service and reaching the same goal is unrealistic.

The last type of model would be an agent requirements model. For example, if a center has a scheduled Activity that has no relation to the phones but has a staffing requirement.

Building an Excel Profile

First complete the Excel workbook with the models you want to import into CommunityWFM. During the import process you will select the type of profile you wish to create, such as Call Volume / AHT, Shrinkage, Service metric, or Agent requirements.

Navigate to Forecast > Forecast profiles

Click Set up new one to launch the profile wizard.

Step 1: Basic Properties: Enter a name, select the type of data, then click Next.

Step 2: Select data source type: Click Select next to Excel Data Profile to open the next step.

Step 3: Define forecast profile collection parameters: Click File specification… to open the upload window.

Click Upload a new file to browse to the location of your worksheet then click Upload a file or drag and drop the file into the window.

Note: The same file name may only be used once for imports, and the file cannot be open on your system while you are uploading.

A confirmation message will confirm a successful upload.

Click Next.

Select the worksheet from the list then click Next.

Select or create the import template.

Click Create a new import template.

This is where you match the column names from your worksheet to the field names in CommunityWFM.

Choose the column heading from the Excel worksheet that corresponds to the data item on the left.

You must map each of the required elements. When finished, click OK.

Select your template from the list (you may need to scroll down) then click Next to verify and import.

Click Import all valid then Finish.

The data is now available for creating a forecast.