Taske Call Center Management Tools Traffic Analyzer Instructions Manual

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-1-Table of Contents
TRAFFIC ANALYZER PROGRAM......................................................................3
Introduction.....................................................................................................................3
Overview of the Traffic Analyzer.....................................................................................3
Overview of the Traffic Analyzer Interface.......................................................................4
Traffic Concepts..............................................................................................................6
Blocking............................................................................................................7
Queue Delay/Call Abandons.............................................................................7
Call Duration.....................................................................................................7
Service Criteria..................................................................................................8
Traffic Equations...............................................................................................8
Service Percentage - Level of Abandons........................................................10
Telephone Service Factor - Speed of Answer.................................................10
USING THE TRAFFIC ANALYZER PROGRAM...............................................11
Creating a Traffic Analysis............................................................................................11
Erlang C........................................................................................................................13
Probability of Blockage (ERLC_GOS formula)................................................13
Probability of X or Less Agents Busy (ERLC_X_CHAN formula)....................14
Probability of X and Y Agents Busy (ERLC_INTEG formula)..........................15
Traffic that can be Carried (ERLC_TRAF formula)..........................................15
Probability of Delay (ERLC_DELAYT formula)................................................16
Average Queue Depth (ERLC_AVQ formula).................................................16
Average Delay (ERLC_AVGDLY formula)......................................................17
Agents Required (ERLC_AGENTS formula)...................................................17
Erlang B........................................................................................................................18
Probability of Blockage (ERLB_GOS formula)................................................18
Probability of X or Less Trunks Busy (ERLB_X_CHAN formula)....................18
Probability of X and Y Trunks Busy (ERLB_INTEG formula)..........................19
Poisson.........................................................................................................................21
Probability of Blockage at Call Arrival Rate (POIS_GOS formula)..................22
Probability That Selected Trunks Are Busy (POIS_INTEG formula)...............22
Traffic capacity of Trunks for a GOS (POIS_TRAF formula)...........................23
Trunks Required for a GOS (POIS_TKS formula)...........................................23
TRAFFIC REPORT COMPONENTS.................................................................25
Recalculating your Traffic Analysis with new parameters..............................................26
Switching between Line, Bar and Pie Charts.................................................................26 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-2-STAFFING REQUIREMENTS...........................................................................27
Traffic Model Information panel.....................................................................................27
Data Table panel..........................................................................................................27
Graph panel..................................................................................................................28
THE COST JUSTIFICATION GUIDE.................................................................29
Call Center Cost Dynamics...........................................................................................29
Load Labor Costs.........................................................................................................29
Equipment and Automation Costs.................................................................................30
Transmission Costs......................................................................................................30
Reducing Call Center Costs..........................................................................................30
Increasing Call Center Revenue...................................................................................30 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-3-Traffic Analyzer Program
Introduction
The Forecasting process estimates the expected call load for a Call Center
based on the observed Historical data.  The Scheduling process estimates and
allocates the resources based on the expected call load within the service level
targets set, and the business objectives of the Call Center.  For this reason, part
of the Scheduling process is to calculate the number of Agents and Trunks
required.
The number of Trunks or Agents required to handle the expected call load
depends on the level of service that the Call Center wishes to provide.  For Trunk
calculations, performance is measured by the level of Blocking, or the Grade Of
Service (GOS) that the Trunks provide.  For Agent calculations, performance is
measured against the delay characteristics that are deemed to be acceptable.
These GOS and delay characteristics are typically expressed as the Telephone
Service Factor (TSF), which in turn identifies the probability of the delay
exceeding a pre-determined threshold.
The TASKE Forecasting tool provides a means of analyzing the call data
received from the Telephone System, and a means of performing a what-if
analysis on hypothetical data and parameters.  The Forecasting tool enables
estimating the call duration, number of calls, and number of Agents for a given
set of conditions.  However, there may be other calculations desired, such as
estimating the number of Trunks required, or calculating the average delay in
Queue, for a stated set of conditions.
Overview of the Traffic Analyzer
The TASKE Traffic Analyzer performs various traffic calculations relevant to the
Call Center.  It allows the use of any of the three most commonly applied traffic
equations: Erlang B, Erlang C, and Poisson.  Among the probabilities that can be
calculated are the chance that an incoming call will be blocked, the probability
that an Agent will be busy, and the number of Agents required to achieve a
specified level of service.
The Traffic Analyzer permits viewing the format and graph the results of various
calculations performed by the Traffic Analyzer.
The Traffic Analyzer also has a Cost Justification Guide.  This guide is an in-
depth profile of the cost components of a Call Center and provides various tables
with information on how Call Center statistics are imputed, and how costs are
calculated.  The guide also describes how a Call Center can decrease costs and
increase revenue. 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-4-Overview of the Traffic Analyzer Interface
To open the Traffic Analyzer program, double click on the Traffic
Analyzer icon in the TASKE ToolBox.
The Traffic Analyzer window is presented.
The features available in the Traffic Analyzer program window are described
below.
Menu Bar
In the Menu Bar (top of the window) of the Traffic Analyzer, a set of drop-
down menus is displayed.
The three menus include Calculations, View and Help and are for creating
analyses of the traffic on the phone system, changing the display of
toolbars and menus, and accessing the Traffic Analyzer online help.
Tool Bar
In the Tool Bar (top of window, below menu bar) of the Traffic Analyzer
program, a set of tool buttons is displayed.  The buttons include 2D 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-5-Horizontal Bar Graph, Recalculate Current Statistics, Calculate Required
Staffing, Recalculate Staffing, and Activate Cost Justification Wizard.
These tools are used to create and recalculate new and existing analyses
of traffic, and perform cost justification for a call center.
Main Window
In the Traffic Analyzer Main Window, any analyses of traffic are displayed.
The main window appears blank upon entering the traffic analyzer, but
different graphs and statistics are displayed once created.
Status Bar
The Status Bar (bottom of window) of the Traffic Analyzer displays
statistics about the status of the analysis being displayed in the Main
Window.  The Status bar also displays button names when the mouse
pointer is held over a button in the button bar, as well as displaying a brief
description of menu options as they are highlighted in the drop-down
menus. 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-6-Traffic Concepts
The average number of calls and the average call duration are estimated in order
to determine the degree of Server utilization over a given period of time.
Note  In Teletraffic Engineering terms, a Server is a device that accepts tele-phone traffic.  A Server may be a Trunk which accepts calls that originate from
an Extension, as is the case for Outbound calls, or an Extension or Agent in the
case of Incoming calls.  In both instances, the Server is the acceptor of the call.If a call is not accepted by a Server then it may be Blocked, and the Caller given
a busy signal.  If the Server is not immediately available but the call is allowed to
wait to be accepted, then it will be delayed.  The two key service parameters
affecting the call and the Servers are Blocking and delay.  The traffic load on a
group of Servers is determined by multiplying the average call duration by the
average number of calls over a given period of time, and is expressed in either
Erlangs (number of hours of server time) or CCS (100 call seconds, or centum
call seconds of time).
There can be wide variations in the number of calls received over different
intervals of time.  However, in an ACD Call Center, call arrivals do tend to form
hourly, daily, and seasonal patterns; these patterns can be used to analyze traffic
and perform estimates on expected traffic loads.  Therefore, although telephone
call behavior is essentially random over a short period of time, patterns can be
detected over longer periods of time.
A rough pattern is established for call duration over a very large number of calls.
The pattern is a ‘bell curve’ with very few calls of very short duration and very few
calls of great duration when compared with the average call duration.  However,
most calls approximate the average.  The pattern of call arrivals and call
durations has a great affect on how many calls can be handled successfully.
To determine how many Servers should be provided on a telephone or ACD
system, the concept of a Busy Hour is used.   The Busy Hour is the period of the
day when the traffic is the highest.
There are also seasonal variations in traffic over periods such as the Christmas
season, where an increase or decrease in the number of incoming calls can be
predicted.  The term Busy Season is used to designate these periods.  The Busy
Hour is usually measured in the busy season so that an average Busy Hour is
found for the Busy Season—or Average Busy Season Busy Hour (ABSBH).
Telephone Systems are typically engineered based on the ABSBH traffic model.
This ensures good service at all times, with the exception of peak periods without
being excessively expensive. 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-7-Blocking
Blocking is the term used to indicate a call, which is unsuccessful,
because it cannot be connected, as opposed to a call that connects but
finds the called party busy.  The probability of Blocking lies between 0 and
100%, and typically falls in the range between 1% and 10%.  The
probability of a call being Blocked (expressed as P.01 to P.10) is between
1 in 100, and 1 in 10.
In formal traffic engineering terms this probability is termed the Grade of
Service (GOS).  The higher the GOS, the lower the service provided, the
lower the GOS, the higher the service provided.
Queue Delay/Call Abandons
In an ACD situation, successful Callers are placed in Queue and may face
a delay.  This introduces another measurement of service performance—
the probability of delay.  The less the chance of being delayed and the
less the delay, the better the service and vice versa.
In the following example, a threshold delay of 30 seconds is chosen.
Service might be considered acceptable if 90% of Callers experience this,
or a lesser delay.  This is expressed as a service performance target of a
‘90% probability of delay of less than 30 seconds’.  If a Caller is not
delayed longer than 30 seconds, then service is considered to be
acceptable.  If a Caller is delayed longer than 30 seconds, then service is
considered to be unacceptable.
Call Duration
The duration of an ACD call typically consists of the following three
components.
· The average Queue Time is the time spent in the ACD Queue waiting
for an Agent to become free and is often termed the Average Speed of
Answer (ASA).
· The average Talk Time is the time the Caller actually spends
connected to an Agent, regardless of whether conversation is taking
place or not.
· The average Work Time is the time the Agent spends performing
paper work in connection with a call, but after the Caller has
disconnected.
To a Trunk, the call duration consists only of the Queue Time and the Talk
Time; the Trunk (and the Caller) are not involved while the Agent is
performing paperwork on Work Time. 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-8-To the Extension and Agent, the call duration consists only of the Talk
Time and the Work Time; the Extension and Agent are not involved while
the call is waiting in Queue on Queue Time.
Thus, the duration of a call usually differs from the perspective of the
Trunk carrying the call into the CO or Telephone System PBX from the
Extension or Agent who is handling the call.
Service Criteria
To provide good service requires that a call be responded to within or
approximately within the Callers expectations.  What does a Caller
expect?  Good service might be defined by the three components
illustrated below.
· The Caller expects to have a reasonable chance of obtaining a free
Trunk into the system.
· The Caller expects a response within a reasonable amount of time.
· The Caller expects to be treated with reasonable courtesy and to
be given reasonably accurate and current information.
Traffic Equations
The Grade Of Service (GOS) is primarily related to the number of Trunks
compared to the level of traffic.  The delay characteristic is primarily
related to the number of Extensions/Agents compared to the level of traffic
allowed through by the Trunks.
Traffic engineering revolves around several basic questions concerning
the relationship between the following parameters.
· What is the GOS for a given number of Trunks and level of traffic?
· How many Trunks are required to handle a given level of traffic at a
particular GOS?MITEL  PBX
BLOCKED
CALLS
ACDQ
IMITEL  PBX
ACDQ
GRADE OF SERVICELEVEL OF SERVICEQUALITY OF SERVICE
ACCURATE
CURRENTCOURTEOUS
HOW LONG BEFORE ANSWER CHANCE OF GETTING INTO QUEUETELEPHONE SERVICE CRITERIAABANDONED
CALLS 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-9-· What is the probability of delay and the amount of delay experienced
for a given level of traffic and number of Extensions/Agents?
· What are the delay characteristics?
· How many Extensions/Agents are required to handle a given level of
traffic with particular delay characteristics?
Mathematical models that approximate these relationships have been
developed but they are complex.  The TASKE ToolBox enables the most
common of these equations for you to perform the calculations required
for traffic engineering.
Two of the equations: Erlang B and Poisson relate the GOS to the traffic
and the number of Trunks.  The Erlang C equation relates the level of
traffic allowed through by the Trunks, to the number of Extensions/Agents
and the delay characteristics.
Erlang B is the equation most commonly used for Trunk and Blocking
calculations.  It assumes that there is no queuing and that Callers who get
blocked simply give up and do not try the call again.
Erlang C is the equation most commonly used for Agent and delay
calculations where ACD queuing is employed.  It assumes that all Callers
who reach the Queue wait until the call is answered, no matter how long it
takes.
Poisson is another equation sometimes used for Trunk and Blocking
calculations.  It assumes that there is no queuing, and that all Callers who
get a busy signal retry the call.
The following figure summarizes the different traffic equations and the
assumptions behind them.  The three equations (Poisson, Erlang B and
Erlang C) correspond to idealized situations at the corners of the triangle,
where the assumptions behind the equations are fully applied.  Points A,
B, C, D represent practical situations. 
						

							Traffic Analyzer                      TASKE Call Center Management Tools Version 7.0-10-Service Percentage - Level of Abandons
The Service Percentage is a term used to represent service performance.
This is the percentage of calls which obtain a Trunk and are answered
compared to the total number of calls which obtain a Trunk, and is the
inverse of the rate of abandons.  For example, if 6% of Callers abandon
while waiting in the Queue, then the Abandon Rate is 6%, and the Service
Percentage is 94%.
Telephone Service Factor - Speed of Answer
As mentioned previously, the TSF is the ratio of calls that obtain a Trunk
and are either answered or abandoned before a threshold time, to the total
number of calls which obtain a Trunk.  The Telephone Service Factor is
illustrated below.Erlang BErlang C Poisson
infinite queuing 100% retries
zero queuing zero retrieszero retries zero queuingA
B
CDTRAFEQNS.DRGTRAFFIC EQUATIONSService Parameters024681012141610   20     30    40     50    60      70    80     90    100   110   120   130   140   150   160Time (seconds)Num.
of
CallsAbandoned CallsAnswered CallsService Percentage = (B+D)/(A+B+C+D)Telephone Service Factor =BDCA