Types of management decisions

Decisions relevant to call centers are also taken by other people and by
software. We discuss all relevant types of decisions.
Strategic decisions Strategic decisions are made by upper management. They concern
the role of the contact center in the company, the type of service that is to be delivered,
etc. It imposes the framework in which the call center management has to work. Upper
management also decides on the budget that is available to the call center.
Tactical decisions Tactical decisions are typically taken by the call center management,
They concern how the resources are to be used. These resources consist of the budget, the
existing ICT equipment, and the (knowledge of) the people working in the call center.
Decisions about structure (e.g., skill-based routing) and organization are taken at this
level, as well as decisions about the hiring and training of agents.
Planning decisions At the operational level we can still distinguish between the timehorizon
in which decision take effect, ranging from weeks to milliseconds. Usually on a
weekly basis new agent schedules are make by a planner at the call center. This is called
workforce management.
Daily control Every day decisions have to be taken to react to the current situation in
the call center. Usually shift leaders monitor service levels and productivity and can react
to that.
Real-time control Finally, certain decisions are taken real-time by software, usually
the ACD. This concerns for example decisions about the assignment of calls to available
agents. Sometimes these decisions involve complex algorithms, for example in the case of
skill-based routing.