The essential WFM glossary

Welcome to the comprehensive glossary for workforce management software. Stay ahead of the game with essential resources that will demystify the jargon and empower you to make informed decisions.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
A

Abandon rate (ABN)

The number of customers who abandon the queue after waiting for a given time period (30 seconds, 90 seconds, 10 minutes.etc.), expressed as a percentage of total contacts.

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After call work (ACW)

The "wrap-up time" associated with a contact beyond the actual communication with the customer.

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Agent States

Agent states are the possible states an agent can be in; they include: logged in, away, or on-call. Agent states are taken from your connected support platform. Agent states are used to determine an agent's adherence in the Realtime Overview.

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Attrition

The rate at which employees leave your support team. This can be both external (leave the company) and internal (move to a different team). It can also be voluntary or involuntary.‍

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Agent states

Agent states are the possible states an agent can be in; they include: logged in, away, or on-call. Agent states are taken from your connected support platform. Agent states are used to determine an agent's adherence in the Realtime Overview.

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B

Backlog

The gross number of support contacts that have yet to be addressed or resolved within a set amount of time.‍

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C

CSAT

The score a customer leaves in response to a survey question about their satisfaction after a contact.

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Channels

Channels are the means by which your team interacts with and supports your customers. These include: Email, Chat, SMS, Phone, and Social.

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Cost per case

The average cost per support contact, which can include both fixed costs (such as office payments and Internet expenses) and variable costs (such as scheduled labor, unscheduled overtime, etc.). Also referred to as “cost per contact.”

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D

Default events

Default Event is an Event type that does not impact your staffing requirements. These are typically used for meetings, lunches, breaks, and project time.

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E

Events

Events are discrete blocks of time used to schedule your team. You can create three types of Events: Productive, Default, or Time-off.

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Erlang formulas

A set of industry-standard formulas which allow you to model the relationship between staffing, call volume, and response time. For a given set of inputs, these formulas yield a number of required agents.

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F

‍Forecast Accuracy

The degree to which your prediction of support volume reflects the reality of observed support volume.

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Filters

Filters are selective lists based on predetermined criteria. They allow you to change your view within the Staffing Timeline based on Channel, Team, Queue, Site, and Skill.

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First contact resolution

The percentage of issues handled completely in the initial contact where a customer does not need additional assistance.

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Full-time equivalent (FTE)

The number of hours needed to handle case volume, expressed in units of full-time work weeks (usually 40-hour increments).

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I

Interval

A period of time which is measured and treated independently for volume forecasting, staffing and analysis.

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O

‍Occupancy Rate

The proportion of time that an agent is actively working with a customer contact, either directly engaged with a customer or completing any ancillary work associated with the contact.

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P

People

People in Assembled indicate your team that can log into the platform. People were previously known as agents and/or users.

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Productive events

Productive Events are blocks of time associated with a Channel that impact your staffing requirements.

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Q

Queue

Queues are a Filter that can be used to segment a Channel's volume and map specific tickets within your integrated platform. This allows for more granular forecasting. VIP support or Standard Support are common Queues as they may each have different forecasts and SLAs to follow.

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R

Realtime

Realtime Overview is a live-updating dashboard that gives you insight into your current volume, SLAs, what your team is currently doing and whether they are in or out of adherence.

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S

Sites

Sites are a filter typically used to reflect physical location, such as APAC, EMEA, New York, or San Francisco.

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Shrinkage

The reduction in productivity associated with managing a real-life workforce instead of theoretical FTEs.

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Staffable

If a person is Staffable in Assembled, this indicates that they can be scheduled on the staffing timeline.

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Skills

Skills are a filter that can be used to reflect a specific type of proficiency that is useful for particular cases or customers. If people on your team have specializations, you can indicate that with Skills.‍

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Service level

Your team’s stated objective for the amount of time until your first response to a customer. Also referred to as service level agreement (SLA).

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T

Teams

Teams are a filter used to indicate which agents are a part of which team.

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Templates

Templates allow you to save a schedule and apply it again for a later time period. You save a Template for your entire Team or for specific people based on the Filters and Channels you've set.

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Time-off events

These events are the blocks of time used when someone submits a Time-off request. When doing so, an agent can choose a specific event to associate with the Time-off request.

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U

Utilization rate

The amount of time that an agent is either productive (e.g. occupied) or available to handle incoming contacts as a proportion of their total paid hours.

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V

Volumes

The support contacts expected to be handled by a customer support team. These can be subdivided by the channel through which they're received—e.g. email, chat, phone, SMS.

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Volume forecast

A prediction of the incoming support contacts your team will receive over a given interval—whether that’s a day, a week, a month or the next 15 minutes.

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W

Workforce management

The forecasting, staffing, scheduling and metrics involved in helping your team meet its service goals reliably and efficiently.

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