According to the results from our poll, 49% of contact centres still use manual methods of forecasting contact volumes. In addition, there remains a large percentage, 31%, of contact centres that use home grown algorithms.
It also appears that the use of specialist models, such as ARIMA and Holt Winners, is low with just a combined 5% using either.
Poll – “What method of Forecasting Contact Volumes do you use?” – answers
Manual – 49%
Home grown algorithm – 31%
Matching trends by eye – 15%
ARIMA – 3%
Holt Winters – 2%
Source: Call Centre Helper Webinar Poll – Webinar: Excel Masterclass – Designing a Better Forecasting Spreadsheet Sample size – 251 Date: April 2016
We have a Monthly Forecasting Excel Spreadsheet Template you might want to try
I’d be keen to understand why ARIMA and Holt Winters are not being used. We built a forecast based on Holt Winters, and it works very well for us. I’d also love to see some of the “home grown” algorithms used.