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SimACD

With SimACD there is finally an affordable software simulation tool for inbound call centers!

Refine and improve on the Erlang-C calculations of other workforce management systems by taking into account caller abandonment, call blockage, re-dial behavior, ring delay, overflow, and the correct distributions of talk and queue times.

Enter or download expected call volumes with the number of agents and inbound lines you plan on using for each time period in your workday, along with the abandon and re-try behavior of your callers, and the ring delay and overflow characteristics of your ACD.

* Watch SimACD perform second-to-second, call-by-call simulations for each day in your call center's work week.
* Observe the results of calls arriving, being handled or queued, given busies, abandoning, re-trying, and overflowing.
* The resulting performance statistics are computed and graphed.
* Re-run simulations with different agents and inbound lines until you are satisfied.

SimACD includes our Erlang-C based Call Center Designer tool. Use Call Center Designer to make an Erlang-C baseline of staffing requirements for each time period, and then use the SimACD simulator to refine and zero in on the ideal agent staffing levels for your agent groups.

What is computer simulation?

Industrial and natural processes may often be simulated by a computer program. The program imitates the flow of people, material, or events like phone calls and is used to experiment and see what the effects that alternative configurations of the people, material or events would have on a real-world situation.

How does SimACD simulate an inbound call center?

SimACD compresses a day's worth of call traffic into a short period of time by representing each second of a day with a few microseconds of computer time. Calls randomly arrive in a "virtual" call center created in the computer and are answered by agents, queued, met with busy signals, overflowed, or abandoned depending on the parameters, agent/trunk combinations, and call volumes you define for your call center. The simulator does not calculate Erlang equations in the way other staffing and forecasting products do, rather, it actually acts as an experimental call center that reacts to the random arrival of inbound calls modeled on your real call center.

How do I run a call center simulation?

You enter your call volumes, average talk and work times per call, with the number of agents and inbound lines you plan on using for each time period in a workday. You also enter the caller abandon and re-try behavior of your callers, and the ring delay and overflow characteristics of the ACD.

Click on Go! and watch SimACD perform a minute-to-minute, call-by-call simulation of your call center.

What will the simulation tell me?

At the end of the simulation, you will see how many calls were handled, abandoned, given a busy, queued, and overflowed along with queue lengths, average speed to answer, and actual service levels given to callers.

Perform more simulations with different combinations of agents and inbound lines until you are satisfied with the service levels, agent work load, and call center finances.