Generate a forecast

Select the forecasting method you want to use, Advanced or Standard. The Advanced method takes into account weekly, monthly, and yearly patterns in your reference period data. The Standard method is not sensitive to such seasonal variations and is more appropriate if you have less than one year of historical data in your reference period.

NOTE   Strategic forecasts use only the Standard forecasting method.

Select the start and end dates of the period that the forecast covers.

Select the interactive or non-interactive service queue type for this forecast.

NOTE   Strategic forecasts can be run only for interactive service queues.

Select the service queue that the forecast is for. Each of the available service queues are of the service queue type you selected and do not have the “Do not generate forecasts or schedules for this service queue” check box selected on the Service Queues page (see Manage service queues). You can select more than one service queue for a production or a strategic forecast. For named forecasts, you can select only one service queue.

NOTE   Strategic forecasts can be run only for interactive service queues.

When you select the service queues for a production forecast, each service queue displays the default shrinkage scenario assigned to it. You can select a different shrinkage scenario if desired or make the Shrinkage Scenario field blank so that no shrinkage is applied to that service queue.

Select the shrinkage scenario you want to apply to the named forecast. A shrinkage scenario consists of up to 12 shrinkage weeks in a specified order (from the current week to twelve weeks out) that are applied to the service queue when the forecast is run.

The default shrinkage scenario is displayed for the service queue you selected. You can select a different shrinkage scenario from the list of scenarios that are assigned to the service queue you selected, or make the field blank so that no shrinkage is applied.

Enter the shrinkage week offset to be used. The default offset is 0, meaning that a schedule will be run the same week this forecast is run. If you intend to run the schedule two weeks after the forecast is run, then the shrinkage week offset is 2. This tells WFM to start counting for Week 0’s shrinkage two weeks from now when you actually run the schedule. There will be more exceptions in the schedule at that time, so your forecasted shrinkage will be a lower value than if you run the schedule now for the period two weeks in the future.

If you are generating a new named forecast, enter a unique name for the forecast. If you are generating an existing named forecast, select that named forecast from the drop-down list.

Select the distribution to be used. If you selected multiple service queues, this must be the production distribution. If you selected one service queue, then this can be either the production distribution or a named distribution. Whichever type of distribution you choose, it must have been run for the service queues you selected.

Select the trend option to be used (see Use trends in forecasting).

• No trend—Use this option if your contact volume remains constant over time.
• Historical trend—Use this option to determine the trend from historical data in two reference periods.
• Expected trend—Use this option if you want to forecast contact volume using an annual growth rate applied to the data in your reference period.

Enter the reference period to be used in the forecast. The reference period depends on which trend option you choose.

Choose the source you want to use for the average talk time (ATT) and average after contact work time (AWT) used to generate the forecast. You can choose to calculate these values from the distribution you selected, or use the ATT and AWT configured for the service queue on the Service Queues page.

(Optional) Enter a contact adjustment factor to adjust the forecasted contact volume up or down. The default value is 1.0, which means no change.

Set the service level objective, if desired.

• If the forecast is for interactive service queues, select the “Configure the service level objective” check box. When selected, a table is displayed that contains the standard service level objective configured on that service queue’s Service Queues page. You can then modify the service level percentage by interval as desired.
• If the forecast is for non-interactive service queues, the Handling Threshold field is displayed. Enter the number of minutes (from 0 to 4320) in which contacts must be handled to meet the service level objective.

Schedule the time and date you want to run this forecast request. By default, the request is run immediately. Once your request has run successfully, you can view the forecast and edit it as needed.